MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS - online book

The History And Development Of Musical Instruments From The Earliest Times.

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	MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.                       25 frequently by females. We find it in the hands of Miriam, when she was celebrating with the Israelitish women in songs of joy the destruction of Pharaoh's host; and in the hands of Jephtha's daughter, when she went out to welcome her father. There exists at the present day in the East a small hand-drum called doff, diff, or adufe—a name which appears to be synonymous with the Hebrew toph. The Sistru.m. Winer, Saalfchutz, and several other commen­tators are of opinion that the maiaantim, mentioned in 2 Sam. vi.
	5, denotes the sistrum. In the English Bible the original is trans­lated cymbals. Cymbals. The tzcllzclim, mdzilloth, and mctzilihaim, appear to have been cymbals or similar metallic instruments of per­cussion, differing in shape and sound. Bells. The little bells on the vestments of the high-priest were called phaamon. Small golden bells were attached to the lower part of the robes of the high-priest in his sacred ministrations. The Jews have, at the present day, in their synagogues small bells fastened to the rolls of the Law containing the Pentateuch : a kind of ornamentation which is supposed to have been in use from time immemorial.

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