f Egyptian music, we may be allowed to conjecture that it was
studied on scientific principles; and, whatever defects existed in the
skill of ordinary performers, who gained their livelihood by playing
in public, or for the entertainment of a private party, music was
looked upon as an important science, and diligently studied by the
priests themselves. According to Diodorus it was not customary to make
music part of their education, being deemed useless and even
injurious, as tending to render the minds of men effeminate; but this
remark can only apply to the custom of studying it as an amusement.
Plato, who was well acquainted with the usages of the Egyptians, says
that they considered music of the greatest consequence, from its
beneficial effects upon the mind of youth; and according to Strabo,
the children of the Egyptians were taught letters, the songs appointed
by law, and a certain kind of music, established by government.

That the Egyptians were particularly fond of music is abundantly
proved by the paintings in their tombs of the earliest times; and we
even find they introduced figures performing on the favorite
instruments of the country, among the devices with which they adorned
fancy boxes or trinkets. The skill of the Egyptians in the use of
musical instruments is also noticed by Athenaeus, who says that both
the Greeks and barbarians were taught by refugees from Egypt, and
that the Alexandrians were the most scientific and skillful players on
pipes and other instruments.

It is sufficiently evident, from the sculptures of the ancient
Egyptians, that their hired musicians were acquainted with the triple
symphony: the harmony of instruments; of voices; and of voices and
instruments. Their band was variously composed, consisting either of
two harps, with the single pipe and flute; of the harp and double pipe,
frequently with the addition of the guitar; of a fourteen-stringed
harp, a guitar, lyre, double pipe, and tambourine; of two harps,
sometimes of different sizes, one of seven, the other of four, strings;
of two harps of eight chords, and a seven-stringed lyre; of the guitar
and the square or oblong tambourine; of the lyre, harp, guitar, double
pipe, and a sort of harp with four strings, which was held upon the
shoulder; of the harp, guitar, double pipe, lyre, and square
tambourine; of the harp, two guitars, and the double pipe; of the harp,
two flutes, and a guitar; of two harps and a flute; of a
seven