Sambuca (instrument)
A sambuca (also called a sambyke or sambyx) was a stringed instrument that was in use in ancient times. The Greeks may have taken it over from the Phoenicians and passed it on to the Romans. According to legend it is said to have been invented by Ibykos . According to Athenaios (Deipnosoph. XIV, 34) the Sambuca was in use by Parthians , Syrians and Troglodytes . Little is known today about the exact shape of the sambuca. What is certain is that it was triangular and had four strings that produced very bright tones. It is assumed that the sambuca was a harp that was mainly played by women (so-called sambucistriae ) as a musical accompaniment to meals.
Word relationships
Both the word sambuca , which the Romans used, and the Greek sambyke , were a foreign word in the respective language. The root word presumably comes from an Asian language. The Romans also called sambuca a siege tool that was used in naval combat, but also in the siege of fortresses. It is believed that the name of the siege weapon derives from that of the musical instrument because both were of a similar shape. In addition to the stringed instrument, there was also a flute called sambuca, the name of which is derived from the elder (sambucus), the wood from which the flute was made. It was therefore assumed that the stringed instrument was also made of elder wood.
literature
- Curt Sachs : Real Lexicon of Musical Instruments . Georg Olms Verlag, 1979, ISBN 3-487-00205-1
- Stefan Link : Dictionary of Antiquity . Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-520-09611-0 .
- Pierer's Universal Lexicon of Past and Present , Volume 14.Pierer Publishing Bookstore, 1857
- Johannes Hoops : Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Walter de Gruyter, 1999, ISBN 3-11-016423-X
- Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius : Five books on music , translated by Oscar Paul. Georg Olms, 1985, ISBN 3-487-04629-6
Web links
- Helmut Brand: Ancient Greek musical instruments.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius: Five books on music , translated by Oscar Paul. Georg Olms Verlag , page 183
- ↑ Meyers Konversationslexikon . Publishing house of the Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, page 252
- ↑ Stefan Link: Dictionary of Antiquity . Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, page 782
- ^ Curt Sachs: Real Lexicon of Musical Instruments . Georg Olms Verlag, page 330