A Lyre Common to Etruria, Greece, and Anatolia: The Cylinder Kithara

Author(s): Bo Lawergren
Source: Acta Musicologica, Vol. 57, Fasc. 1 (Jan. - Jun., 1985), pp. 25-33
Published by: International Musicological Society
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/932686
Accessed: 24-10-2018 06:56 UTC

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 Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung 25

H. Moeck, 1955, Die Skandinavischen Kernspaltflbten in V

in: STM (1954, Stockholm).
H. Moeck, 1969, Typen europiiischer Kernspaltflbten (S
Popularis I, Stockholm).
C. Reimers, 1979, Benflbjter frin det medeltida Schleswig
Musikmuseet, Stockholm).
R. Sevig, 1973, Det gjallar og det laet (Oslo).

A Lyre Common to
Etruria, Greece, and Anatolia: The Cyl
BO LAWERGREN (NEW YORK CITY)

Introduction: Lyres
Various types of ancient lyres have been identified. The best known one
perhaps, the large Sumerian lyre1 from about 2500 B. C., the fat2 and thin3 Egyp
lyres flourishing one millennium later. Greece, still another millennium closer to
had a considerable variety of lyres such as the Lyra , the Concert Kithara
Barbiton6, and other more rare ones. One of the latter will be considered her

The Cylinder Kithara

While inspecting Etruscan sites in Italy a few years ago, it became evident
there is quite a number of tomb paintings at Tarquinia7 of a distinctive, rou
bottomed, type of lyre known from Athenian Vases. Furthermore, Etruscan
stones (cippi) from Chiusi8 frequently have pictures of the same lyre type sc
in relief. Apparently, it has not been emphasized (in our time at least) how comm
this round-bottomed lyre was in Etruria relative to other types. One reason for t
may be the fact that many wall paintings of this instrument are damaged while
relatively uncommon lyra, evocatively painted in Tarquinia, has become a pos
best-seller.

The subject of this paper, the ubiquitous lyre, had already been named t
Cradle-kithara by Max Wegner9 due to its rocker shaped bottom. There ar
number of this type of lyre painted on Attic Vases10 between 550 and 400

1 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. SADIE (London 1980), vol. 11, s. v. Mesop
figure 3a.
2 Ref. 1, vol. 6, s. v. Egypt, figure 4.
3 Ref. 1, vol. 6, s. v. Egypt, figure 2.
4 Ref. 1, vol. 6, s. v. Etruria, figure 3 (rightmost instrument); Ref. 1, vol. 7, s. v. Greece, figure 2 (middle).
5 Ref. 1, vol. 10, s. v. Kithara, figure.
6 Ref. 1, vol. 2, s. v. Barbiton, figure; Ref. 1, vol. 7, s. v. Greece, figure 1 (left of middle).
7 Some of these wall paintings can now be seen in MARIO MORETTI, New Monuments of Etruscan Painting
(Pennsylvania State University Press 1970), no. 3242 (p. 291-297), no. 3226 (p. 206-312, especially 208), no. 578
(p. 175-184), no. 809 (p. 93-102), no. 238 (p. 195-203, especially 208).
8 Ref. 1, vol. 6, s. v. Etruria, figure 1 (middle).
9 MAX WEGNER, Das Musikleben der Griechen (Berlin 1949), p. 30-32.
10 Ref. 1, vol. 7, s.v. Greece, illustration 1 (middle); MAX WEGNER, Griechenland, Musikgeschichte in
Bildern, Band II: Musik des Altertums (Leipzig n. d.), figures 22, 24, and 89.

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26 Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung

Curiously, we have both a front and a back-view

pair of vases painted by the same painter (the
period (about 460 B. C.): a well-known lekytho
little-known lekythos in Stockholm, (figure 1) ex

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Figure 1: White figure lekythos at the Stockholm National Museum, G

painter, 460 B. C.

11 H. A. GROENEWEGEN-FRANKFORT and BERNARD ASHMOLE, The Art of the A

York n. d.), color plate 36.
JOHN BOARDMAN, Greek Art (London 1973), figure 173.

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Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung 27

The body of the instrument is shaped like the letter D

parallel, vertical, arms are joined to the upper corn
shoulders). At their top is a horizontal yoke. String
body, via a moderately wide bridge, to the yoke. A
consistently appears at the shoulder.
However, there are other distinctive types of round-b
world between 1000 B. C. to 300 B. C.12 and a singl
would be misleading. Among these other types one
between several sub-species but it suffices here to
prominent circular feature at the shoulder.
Wegner9 thought that his 'cradle kithara' was confi
seen, it was also abundant in Etruria. The fact that
instruments existed in more than one of the great
occurrence of greater significance than noticing isolated
country. The study of this instrument can significantly
of archaeology: evaluating trade routes, cross-cultur
the time-honored question of Etruscan origins.'3
Paintings never give side views of the Cylinder K
body thickness, bridge depth, sound holes etc. from
relief representations of both the back and front of
three dimensional information. The Chiusi cippi' on
Sphinx in Copenhagen'4 reveals the back of the lyre.
frontal views of most known representations of the Cy
tion of the instrument is shown in figure 3.

The Sphinx comes from Cyzicus located on the pr

just south of the Bosporus. It dates to 550 B. C. a tim
dominated Anatolia. The Cylinder Kithara has, thus,
and in a third culture.
The archaeological evidence considered thus far ha
time, maybe for a century. However, recently exca
support for the existence of the Cylinder Kithara in
lished'5 fragments (e. g. figure 4) of wall paintin
(Phrygia, central Anatolia) show the round-bottome
ders".
All in all, it is the first documented instrument
elaborate, structure and was truly international (show

12 Ref. 10, figures 1, 2, 3, 5, 19; Ref. 1, vol. 5, s. v. Etruria, illustratio

13 MASSIMO PALLOTTINO, The Etruscans (Pelican Books 1978).
14 EKREM AKURGAL, Die Kunst Anatoliens von Homer bis Alexand
1' MACHTELD J. MELLINK, private communication. I am most grateful
prior to the publication of the Gordion catalog.

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Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung 29

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48 cm.

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30 Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung
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round-bottomed lyres12 seem to occur only sporadically and be quite changeable in

form. On the other hand, the famous Concert Kithara5 was very stable in form over
more than two centuries (600 B. C. to 400 B. C.) but it was unique to Greece and its
colonies.,6
Table 1: Representations of Cylinder Kitharas

Provenance Medium Date (B. C.) I Sample size

Athens, Vase paintings 520-430 - 35
Greece
Chiusi, Cippi, reliefs 480-475 6
Etruria
Vulci, Sarcophagus, relief 300-280 1
Etruria
Tarquinia, Tomb (wall) painting 550-390 ~ 6
Etruria
Cyzicus, Sphinx, relief 555-550 1
Anatolia
Gordion, Tomb (wall) painting sixth century 2
Anatolia

16 There are hundreds of Attic vase paintings of the Concert Kithara and many reliefs from main
there are only a handful of representations from the colonies although some are among the earli
e. g. a plaque in Gortyn, Crete, from about 625 B. C. and a metope in Selinus, Sicily, from about

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 Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung 31

Where did the Cylinder Kithara originate?

There is much evidence'7 that East Greek craftsmen worked in Etruria at this
time (600-450 B. C.) and recent archaeological finds in Anatolia also support this
view. Painted tombs have been found in Lydia (central Anatolia)"8 and in Lycia
(south-western Anatolia)99 which strongly resemble Etruscan tombs." Both these
Anatolian sites were under Ionian artistic influence at this time (sixth century
B. C.). Likewise, clothing fashion in Etruria correspond to those that occurred in
Ionian cities and spread to Athens during the period 550-450 B. C.21 Our sample of
Cylinder Kitharas is small but, significantly, one of the finds from Anatolia comes
from the Ionian settlement Cyzicus.22 The geographic distribution of the Cylinder
Kithara fits well into the pattern established in other fields. From the point of view of
the present evidence, it is reasonable to assume common migration patterns for such
diverse fields as the fine arts, dress, and the Cylinder Kithara (maybe also music).
Summarizing the evidence for painting and sculpture, Otto Brendel wrote: "Since
direct connections between these widely distant monuments can hardly be assumed,
the existing similarities are best explained as the symptoms of an international style
which from a Greek Ionian center radiated to northern Asia Minor in the east, Italy
in the west. While the original center as yet cannot be identified, the evidence being
too fragmentary, it still does not seem unlikely that this rather erratic appearance of
related stylistic and perhaps cultural traditions in outlying provinces of the ancient
Mediterranean came to pass in the wake of enforced migrations such as the
evacuation of Phocaea earlier in the [sixth] century".23 The origin of the Cylinder
Kithara should be sought in Anatolia.

Etruscan musical culture

The Etruscan Cylinder Kitharas vary little from specimen to specimen and from
those found in Anatolia. On the other hand, Attic Cylinder Kitharas show larger
diversity (shown in columns D-H, figure 2) although, of course, the basic cylinder
structure is present. Naturally, one would expect larger diversity of shapes simply
because of the larger sample size of Attic Cylinder Kitharas but such a statistical
argument hardly seems sufficient to explain the profuse variety seen in Athens.
Athens seems to have been conducive to the development of the variants while
conditions in Etruria must have favored stability. The very late find on the Vulci
sarcophagus (table 1) at a date when Attic Cylinder Kitharas had stopped being

17 Ref. 13, p. 156-157. Unfortunately, cetra is translated incorrectly as zither instead of kithara.
'8 RODNEY S. YOUNG, The Campaign of 1955 at Gordion: Preliminary Report, in: American Journal of
Archaeology (AJA) 60 (1956), p. 255-256.
19 MACHTELD J. MELLINK, The Painted Tomb near Emali, in: AJA 74 (1970), p. 251-253.
MACHTELD J. MELLINK, Excavations at Karata?-Semayiik and Emali, Lycia, 1971, in: AJA 76 (1972),
p. 257-269.
MACHTELD J. MELLINK, Excavations at Karata?-Semayiik and Emali, Lycia, 1973, in: AJA 78 (1974),
p. 351-359.
20 OTTO J. BRENDEL, Etruscan Art, The Pelican History of Art (Penguin Books 1978), p. 351-359.
21 LARISSA BONFANTE, Etruscan Dress (Baltimore & London 1975), p. 38.
22 JOHN BOARDMAN, The Greeks Overseas (London 1980), p. 240.
23 Ref. 20, p. 170.

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32 Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung

depicted since, at least, 100 years, also tend

society. Vase paintings reveal that the Attic
Since some time is required before the varia
occurred well before that time. From studies24 of the commerical activities of the
Ionian Greeks, it is known that Etruria imported luxury goods as early as 675 B. C.
Musical instruments might well have been among these.
At any rate, three unique features characterized the Cylinder Kithara in Etruria:
(1) It was the string instrument represented most often in art
(2) It lacked variants
(3) It lasted longer than elsewhere
Such features imply that it was a kind of "national" instrument in Etruria just as the
Concert Kithara was the string instrument par prefirence in Athens.
As already mentioned, there is another remarkable facet to Etruscan organology:
the absence of any Concert Kitharas. This instrument is never shown on native
Etruscan artifacts although it is found often enough on the imported Attic vases.
With the large quantity of such vases available in Etruria a rather curious situation
existed: pictures of Concert Kitharas must have graced many an Etruscan drinking
party, kitchen, and tomb but its sound would have been unfamiliar. The Etruscans
seem to have consciously avoided the Greek Concert Kithara. This notion goes
against the view expressed25 by Boardman: "The Etruscans accepted all they were
offered, without discrimination. They copied or paid Greeks, and perhaps immi-
grant easterners, to copy - with little understanding of the forms and the subjects
which served as model".

What was the purpose of the cylinders?

So far we have analyzed the instrument seen in pictures and sculptures as to form
and shape. Let us try to go beyond that stage and inquire into the purpose of the
described details. For most of these details the purpose is self-evident; the function
of the cylinders is less clear. Their position at the junction of two functionally and
dimensionally distinct parts is suggestive: they may be (1) reinforcements or they
may be (2) hinges resulting in rigid and movable joints, respectively or they may,
simply, be decorations. In absence of extant examples, the replica (figure 3) was
furnished with hinges to check if flexibility would be of practical value to a
performer of the instrument. It was found that the pitch of a string could be made to
change (up to a whole tone) if the arms were pushed sideways. This, clearly, could
have been of musical value if one wished to modify the pitch of a single string. On
the other hand, it would be useless as a means of tuning all the strings (usually 7) at
once (e. g. changing scordatura) since the pitch change of each string is influenced
by many, uncontrollable, factors (initial string tension and physical property,
position of the string on yoke and bridge).
However, for single-string playing the method could, in principle, be useful since
the pitch of a plucked tone could be changed continuously within a small range,

24 MAURO CRISTOFANI, L'arte degli Etruschi. Produzione e Consumo (Turin 1978), p. 42, 43, 81.
2 Ref. 22, p. 200.

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Musikarchiiologie als Traditionsforschung 33

portamento style. However, I doubt it happened beca

iconographic material. By necessity one of the player
arm structure while the other is plucking. I know of on
shows this situation but the player seems to tune his in

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Figure 5: White gr
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Javanese Gamelan Seka

Its Sanctity and Age
MANTLE HOOD (BALTIMORE, MARYLAND)

It is generally accepted that the Holy Javanese gamelan Sekati was firs
constructed in the 16th century.2 Unlike more orthodox forms of Islam, which for
usage of music as part of religious worship, Javanese Islam requires that game
Sekati play throughout the Muslim Holy Week or Sekaten, after which the gamelan
is named. Formerly, two such gamelan alternated continuously outside the mosq
for 24 hours each day during Holy Week. In the 1950s, there was a brief period

Based on research reported in: MANTLE HOOD, Legacy of the Roaring Sea, Book II, The Evolution
Javanese Gamelan (Wilhelmshaven 1984).
2 JAAP KUNST, Music in Java, 3rd ed. (The Hague 1973) [hereinafter cited as MJ], p. 17 n 2.

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