1.
Aleppo
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Aleppo is a city in Syria, serving as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100, Aleppo was the largest Syrian city before the Syrian Civil War, however, now Aleppo is likely the second-largest city in Syria after the capital Damascus. Aleppo is an ancient city, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and it was also one of the largest cities in the Levant before the advent of the Syrian Civil War. The citys significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, when the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo ceded its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, in the 1940s, it lost its main access to the sea, Antakya and İskenderun, also to Turkey. Finally, the isolation of Syria in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation and this decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the Islamic Capital of Culture 2006, during the Battle of Aleppo the city suffered massive destruction, and has been the worst-hit city in the Syrian Civil War. In December 2016, the Syrian government achieved full control of Aleppo following a successful offensive, modern-day English-speakers commonly refer to the city as Aleppo. It was known in antiquity as Khalpe, Khalibon, and to the Greeks, during the Crusades, and again during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon of 1923–1946, the name Alep was used. Aleppo represents the Italianised version of this, the original ancient name, Halab, has survived as the current Arabic name of the city. Some have proposed that halab means iron or copper in Amorite languages, the modern-day Arabic nickname of the city, ash-Shahbaa, which means the white-colored, also allegedly derives from the famous white marble of Aleppo. From the 11th century it was common usage to apply the term Aram-Zobah to the area of Aleppo. Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists, since the city occupies its ancient site. The site has been occupied from around 5000 BC, as shown by excavations in Tallet Alsauda, Aleppo appears in historical records as an important city much earlier than Damascus. The first record of Aleppo comes from the third millennium BC, some historians, such as Wayne Horowitz, identify Aleppo with the capital of an independent kingdom closely related to Ebla, known as Armi, although this identification is contested. The main temple of the storm god Hadad was located on the hill in the center of the city. In the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Empire period, Aleppos name appears in its form as Ḥalab for the first time
2.
Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
3.
Syrian Arab Republic
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
4.
Greater Syria
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Greater Syria (Arabic, سوريّة الكبرى, also, is a hypothetical united Fertile Crescent state. The term denotes the restoration of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, the pre-Islamic, Hellenistic name of the region, Syria, was used by the Ottomans in the Syria Vilayet until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. Following the Franco-Syrian War, in July 1920, French armies defeated the newly proclaimed Arab Kingdom of Syria and captured Damascus, the area was consequently partitioned under French and British Mandates into Greater Lebanon, various Syrian states, Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan. The Syrian states were unified as the State of Syria. Before the Arabs came to Greater Syria the people spoke Aramaic and they never were united as one nation in that time, but dived between other empires. Sometimes they had their own country, or province for example Osroene, Syria is a synonym for Aram. Arab conquest of the Levant in the 7th century gave rise to the Bilad al-Sham province, the province was encompassing much of the region of Syria and became largely overlapping with this concept. Other sources indicate that the term Greater Syria was coined during Ottoman rule, after 1516, to designate the area included in present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan. In 1919 the results of King–Crane Commission was that people of Syria wanted foremost a united Syria for the whole region, abdullah I of Jordan had been a proponent of Greater Syria under Hashemite rule, based on the original proposal for a Kingdom of Syria following the Arab Revolt. The Hashemite monarchy of Iraq was also believed to have harboured ambitions of union with Syria, the Baathist government of Hafez al-Assad in Syria also pursued the idea of Greater Syria, resulting in its involvement in the Lebanese Civil War and the Syrian Occupation of Lebanon. Greater Syria, the History of an Ambition, viii,240 p. ill. with b&w photos and maps. ISBN 978-0-19-506022-5 pbk. alternative ISBN on back cover, 0-19-506002-4 Article Al-Sham in the Encyclopedia of Islam by C. E. Bosworth, dictionary of Modern Written Arabic by Hans Wehr
5.
Arab world
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The Arab world, also known as the Arab nation or the Arab states, consists of the 22 Arabic-speaking countries of the Arab League. The contemporary Arab world has a population of around 422 million inhabitants. In the Middle Ages, the Arab world was synonymous with the historic Arab empires and caliphates, Arab nationalism arose in the second half of the 19th century along with other nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire. The Arab League was formed in 1945 to represent the interests of Arab people and especially to pursue the political unification of the Arab countries, the linguistic and political denotation inherent in the term Arab is generally dominant over genealogical considerations. In Arab states, Modern Standard Arabic is the language used by the government. The language of a nation is called Darija, which means everyday/colloquial language. Although no globally accepted definition of the Arab world exists, all countries that are members of the Arab League are generally acknowledged as being part of the Arab world. This standard territorial definition is seen to be inappropriate or problematic. These parameters may be applied to the states and territories of the Arab League, typical parameters that may be applied include, whether Arabic is widely spoken, whether Arabic is an official or national language, or whether an Arabic cognate language is widely spoken. While Arabic dialects are spoken in a number of Arab League states, several states have declared Arabic to be an official or national language, although Arabic is today not as widely spoken there. As members of the Arab League, however, they are considered part of the Arab world under the territorial definition. Somalia has two official languages today, Arabic and Somali, both of which belong to the larger Afro-Asiatic language family, although Arabic is widely spoken by many people in the north, Somali is the most widely used language, and contains many Arabic loan words. Similarly, Djibouti has two languages, Arabic and French. It also has several formally recognized national languages, besides Somali, many people speak Afar, the majority of the population speaks Somali and Afar, although Arabic is also widely used for trade and other activities. Comoros has three languages, Arabic, Comorian and French. Comorian is the most widely spoken language, with Arabic having a religious significance, Israel is not part of the Arab world. By some definitions, Arab citizens of Israel may concurrently be considered a constituent part of the Arab world, Iran has about 1.5 million Arabic speakers. Iranian Arabs are mainly found in Ahvaz, a region in the Khuzestan Province, others inhabit the Bushehr Qushasha and Hipi-Lipi Hormozgan provinces
6.
Arabic music
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Arabic music or Arab music is the music of the Arab world. Arab music, while independent and flourishing in the 2010s, has a history of interaction with many other regional musical styles and genres. It is an amalgam of the music of the Arab people in the Arabian Peninsula, as was the case in other artistic and scientific fields, Arabs translated Greek texts and works of music and developed the musical theory of the Greeks. Pre-Islamic Arab music was similar to that of Ancient Middle Eastern music, most historians agree that there existed distinct forms of music in the Arabian peninsula in the pre-Islamic period between the 5th and 7th century AD. Arab poets of that time—called shuara al-Jahiliyah or Jahili poets, meaning the poets of the period of ignorance—used to recite poems with a high notes and it was believed that Jinns revealed poems to poets and music to musicians. The choir at the served as a pedagogic facility where the educated poets would recite their poems. The compositions were simple and every singer would sing in a single maqam, among the notable songs of the period were the huda, the nasb, sanad, and rukbani. Both compositions and improvisations in traditional Arabic music are based on the maqam system, maqams can be realized with either vocal or instrumental music, and do not include a rhythmic component. Al-Kindi was the first great theoretician of Arabic music and he proposed adding a fifth string to the oud and discussed the cosmological connotations of music. He built upon the achievements of the Greek musicians in using the alphabetical annotation for one eighth and he published fifteen treatises on music theory, but only five have survived. In one of his treatises the word musiqa was used for the first time in Arabic, abulfaraj wrote a book about music. Kitab al-Aghani is a collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions. Al-Farabi wrote a book on music titled Kitab al-Musiqi al-Kabir. His pure Arabian tone system is used in Arabic music. Al-Ghazali wrote a treatise on music in Persia which declared, Ecstasy means the state comes from listening to music. In 1252, Safi al-Din developed a form of musical notation. A similar geometric representation would not appear in the Western world until 1987, by the 11th century, Islamic Iberia had become a center for the manufacture of instruments. These goods spread gradually throughout France, influencing French troubadours, the English words lute, rebec, and naker are derived from Arabic oud, rabab, and naqareh
7.
Al-Andalus
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Al-Andalus, also known as Muslim Spain or Islamic Iberia, was a medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain occupying at its peak most of what are today Spain and Portugal. At its greatest geographical extent in the century, southern France—Septimania—was briefly under its control. Rule under these kingdoms led to a rise in cultural exchange, a number of achievements that advanced Islamic and Western science came from al-Andalus including major advances in trigonometry, astronomy, surgery, pharmacology, and other fields. Al-Andalus became an educational center for Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea as well as a conduit for culture. For much of its history, al-Andalus existed in conflict with Christian kingdoms to the north, after the fall of the Umayyad caliphate, al-Andalus was fragmented into a number of minor states and principalities. Attacks from the Christians intensified, led by the Castilians under Alfonso VI, the Almoravid empire intervened and repelled the Christian attacks on the region, deposing the weak Andalusi Muslim princes and included al-Andalus under direct Berber rule. In the next century and a half, al-Andalus became a province of the Berber Muslim empires of the Almoravids and Almohads, ultimately, the Christian kingdoms in the north of the Iberian Peninsula overpowered the Muslim states to the south. In 1085, Alfonso VI captured Toledo, starting a gradual decline of Muslim power, with the fall of Córdoba in 1236, most of the south quickly fell under Christian rule and the Emirate of Granada became a tributary state of the Kingdom of Castile two years later. In 1249, the Portuguese Reconquista culminated with the conquest of the Algarve by Afonso III, finally, on January 2,1492, Emir Muhammad XII surrendered the Emirate of Granada to Queen Isabella I of Castile, completing the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. The toponym al-Andalus is first attested to by inscriptions on coins minted by the new Muslim government in Iberia, the etymology of the name has traditionally been derived from the name of the Vandals. A number of proposals since the 1980s have contested this, Vallvé proposed a corruption of the name Atlantis, halm derives the name from a Gothic term *landahlauts. Bossong suggests derivation from a pre-Roman substrate and they crossed the Pyrenees and occupied Visigothic Septimania in southern France. Most of the Iberian peninsula became part of the expanding Umayyad Empire and it was organized as a province subordinate to Ifriqiya, so, for the first few decades, the governors of al-Andalus were appointed by the emir of Kairouan, rather than the Caliph in Damascus. Visigothic lords who agreed to recognize Muslim suzerainty were allowed to retain their fiefs, resistant Visigoths took refuge in the Cantabrian highlands, where they carved out a rump state, the Kingdom of Asturias. In the 720s, the al-Andalus governors launched several raids into Aquitaine. At the Battle of Poitiers in 732, the al-Andalus raiding army was defeated by Charles Martel, in 734, the Andalusi launched raids to the east, capturing Avignon and Arles and overran much of Provence. In 737, they climbed up the Rhône valley, reached as far as Burgundy, Charles Martel of the Franks, with the assistance of Liutprand of the Lombards, invaded Burgundy and Provence and expelled the raiders by 739. Relations between Arabs and Berbers in al-Andalus had been tense in the years after the conquest
8.
Oud
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In the first centuries of Arabian civilisation, the oud had 4 courses only, tuned in successive fourths. These were called the Bamm, then came the Mathnā, the Mathlath, a fifth string, called ḥād, was sometimes added for theoretical purposes, generally to complement the double octave. The Modern tuning preserves the ancient succession of fourths, with adjunctions which may be tuned differently following regional or personal preferences. The first known description of the ‛ūd and its construction is found in the epistle Risāla fī-l-Luḥūn wa-n-Nagham by 9th-century Philosopher of the Arabs YaꜤqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī. Kindīs description stands thus, length will be, thirty-six joint fingers - with good thick fingers -, and its depth seven and a half fingers. And the measurement of the width of the bridge with the remainder behind, remains the length of the strings, thirty fingers and on these strings take place the division and the partition, because it is the sounding length. This is why the width must be fifteen fingers as it is the half of this length, similarly for the depth, seven fingers and a half and this is the half of the width and the quarter of the length. And the neck must be one third of the length and it is, remains the vibrating body, twenty fingers. And that the back be well rounded and its thinning towards the neck, the first description of the modern oud is by ibn a-ṭ-Ṭaḥḥān. It is very similar to the construction of modern lutes, the modern oud stems most probably from the barbat which, in turn, stems from the Indian lute-type vīnā. The oud, as a difference with the western lute, has no frets. It is the ancestor of the European lute. The oldest surviving oud is thought to be in Brussels, at the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Arabic, العود literally denotes a thin piece of wood similar to the shape of a straw. Henry George Farmer considers the similitude between al-ʿūd and al-ʿawda, research by Eckhard Neubauer suggests that oud may be an Arabic borrowing from the Persian word rōd or rūd, which meant string, stringed instrument, or lute. Another researcher, archaeomusicologist Richard J. Dumbrill, suggests that rud came from the Sanskrit rudrī, the modern hosogal, l, lasga Oud is a derived from the ancient Lute. The lute originates in the crescent at least 5000 years ago. The long-necked variety also was never called a lutebefore the twentieth century, musicologist Richard Dumbrill today uses the word to discuss instruments that existed millennia before the term lute was coined. Dumbrill documented more than 3000 years of evidence for the lutes in Mesopotamia
9.
Lute
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The European lute and the modern Near-Eastern oud descend from a common ancestor via diverging evolutionary paths. The lute is used in a variety of instrumental music from the Medieval to the late Baroque eras and was the most important instrument for secular music in the Renaissance. It is also an instrument, especially in vocal works. The player of a lute is called a lutenist, lutanist or lutist, the words lute and oud possibly derive from Arabic al-ʿud. Recent research by Eckhard Neubauer suggests ʿud may in turn be an Arabized version of the Persian name rud and it has equally been suggested the wood in the name may have distinguished the instrument by its wooden soundboard from skin-faced predecessors. Gianfranco Lotti suggests the wood appellation originally carried derogatory connotations because of proscriptions of all music in early Islam. Lutes are made almost entirely of wood, the soundboard is a teardrop-shaped thin flat plate of resonant wood. In all lutes the soundboard has a single decorated sound hole under the strings called the rose. The sound hole is not open, but rather covered with a grille in the form of a vine or a decorative knot. Robert Lundberg, in his book Historical Lute Construction, suggests ancient builders placed bars according to ratios of the scale length. He further suggests the inward bend of the soundboard is an adaptation by ancient builders to afford the lutenists right hand more space between the strings and soundboard. Soundboard thickness varies, but generally hovers between 1.5 and 2 mm, some luthiers tune the belly as they build, removing mass and adapting bracing to produce desirable sonic results. The lute belly is almost never finished, but in cases the luthier may size the top with a very thin coat of shellac or glair to help keep it clean. After joining the top to the sides, a half-binding is usually installed around the edge of the soundboard, the half-binding is approximately half the thickness of the soundboard and is usually made of a contrasting color wood. The rebate for the half-binding must be precise to avoid compromising structural integrity. The back or the shell is assembled from strips of hardwood called ribs. There are braces inside on the soundboard to give it strength, the neck is made of light wood, with a veneer of hardwood to provide durability for the fretboard beneath the strings. Unlike most modern stringed instruments, the fretboard is mounted flush with the top
10.
Flute
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The flute is a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening, according to the instrument classification of Hornbostel–Sachs, flutes are categorized as edge-blown aerophones. A musician who plays the flute can be referred to as a player, flautist, flutist or, less commonly. Flutes are the earliest extant musical instruments, as paleolithic instruments with hand-bored holes have been found, a number of flutes dating to about 43,000 to 35,000 years ago have been found in the Swabian Jura region of present-day Germany. These flutes demonstrate that a musical tradition existed from the earliest period of modern human presence in Europe. Flutes, including the famous Bansuri, have been a part of Indian classical music since 1500 BC. A major deity of Hinduism, Krishna, has been associated with the flute, the English verb flout has the same linguistic root, and the modern Dutch verb fluiten still shares the two meanings. Attempts to trace the word back to the Latin flare have been pronounced phonologically impossible or inadmissable, the first known use of the word flute was in the 14th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this was in Geoffrey Chaucers The Hous of Fame, today, a musician who plays any instrument in the flute family can be called a flutist, or flautist, or simply a flute player. Flutist dates back to at least 1603, the earliest quote cited by the Oxford English Dictionary, flautist was used in 1860 by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Marble Faun, after being adopted during the 18th century from Italy, like many musical terms in England since the Italian Renaissance. Other English terms, now obsolete, are fluter and flutenist. The oldest flute ever discovered may be a fragment of the femur of a cave bear. In 2008 another flute dated back to at least 35,000 years ago was discovered in Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, the five-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The researchers involved in the officially published their findings in the journal Nature. The flute, one of several found, was found in the Hohle Fels cavern next to the Venus of Hohle Fels, on announcing the discovery, scientists suggested that the finds demonstrate the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe. Scientists have also suggested that the discovery of the flute may help to explain the probable behavioural and cognitive gulf between Neanderthals and early modern human. A three-holed flute,18.7 cm long, made from a mammoth tusk was discovered in 2004, the earliest extant Chinese transverse flute is a chi flute discovered in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng at the Suizhou site, Hubei province, China. It dates from 433 BC, of the later Zhou Dynasty and it is fashioned of lacquered bamboo with closed ends and has five stops that are at the flutes side instead of the top
11.
Drum
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The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone, Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the players hands, or with a drum stick, to produce sound. There is usually a head on the underside of the drum. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, Drums are the worlds oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years. Drums may be played individually, with the using a single drum. Others are normally played in a set of two or more, all played by the one player, such as drums and timpani. A number of different drums together with form the basic modern drum kit. Drums are usually played by striking with the hand, or with one or two sticks, in many traditional cultures, drums have a symbolic function and are used in religious ceremonies. Drums are often used in therapy, especially hand drums, because of their tactile nature. In popular music and jazz, drums usually refers to a kit or a set of drums. Drums acquired even divine status in places such as Burundi, where the karyenda was a symbol of the power of the king, the shell almost invariably has a circular opening over which the drumhead is stretched, but the shape of the remainder of the shell varies widely. In the western tradition, the most usual shape is a cylinder, although timpani, for example. Other shapes include a design, truncated cones, goblet shaped. Drums with cylindrical shells can be open at one end, or can have two drum heads, single-headed drums typically consist of a skin stretched over an enclosed space, or over one of the ends of a hollow vessel. Drums with two heads covering both ends of a shell often have a small hole somewhat halfway between the two heads, the shell forms a resonating chamber for the resulting sound. Exceptions include the African slit drum, also known as a log drum as it is made from a tree trunk. Drums with two heads can also have a set of wires, called snares, held across the head, top head. The heads tension can be adjusted by loosening or tightening the rods, many such drums have six to ten tension rods
12.
Bedouin
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The term contrasts against Hathar which refers to the city or town dwellers in the Arabic language. Bedouin means Badiyah dwellers in the Arabic language, as Badyah means literally the visible land, the Bedouins identify themselves as Arabs or by the names of their tribes. City dwellers in Arabia who descended from known tribes refer to themselves as Bedouins to recognize their origin to Arabia. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the sands of the Middle East. They are traditionally divided into tribes, or clans and share a culture of herding camels. The Bedouin form a part of, but are not synonymous with, Bedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, including Qedarites in the Old Testament and Arabaa by the Assyrians. They are referred to as the Araab in the Koran, traditions like camel riding and camping in the deserts are also popular leisure activities for urbanised Bedouins who live within close proximity to deserts or other wilderness areas. The term Bedouin derives from a form of the Arabic word badu. The Arabic term badu literally translates in Arabic as Badiyah dwellers, the word bādiyah means visible land such as plain or desert. The term Bedouin therefore means those in bādiyah or those in the desert, in English usage, however, the form Bedouin is commonly used for the singular term, the plural being Bedouins, as indicated by the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition. The term Bedouin also uses the root word as the Arabic noun for the beginning, بداية. The Arabs believe the Bedouins to be the predecessors to the settled Arabs, disputes are settled, interests are pursued, and justice and order are maintained by means of this frame, according to an ethic of self-help and collective responsibility. The individual family unit typically consisted of three or four adults and any number of children, when resources were plentiful, several tents would travel together as a goum. These groups were linked by patriarchal lineage, but were just as likely linked by marriage, acquaintance, or no clearly defined relation. The next scale of interaction within groups was the ibn ʿamm or descent group, whilst the phrase descent group suggests purely a lineage-based arrangement, in reality these groups were fluid and adapted their genealogies to take in new members. The largest scale of tribal interactions is the tribe as a whole, the tribe often claims descent from one common ancestor—as mentioned above. The tribal level is the level that mediated between the Bedouin and the governments and organizations. Distinct structure of the Bedouin society leads to lasting rivalries between different clans
13.
Mizmar (instrument)
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In Arabic music, a mizmār is any single or double reed wind instrument. In Egypt, the term usually refers to the conical shawm that is called zurna in Turkey. Mizmars are usually played in Egypt at either weddings or as an accompaniment to belly dancers, in Algeria a similar instrument is called ghaita or rhaita. Along with belly dancing, the mizmar may accompany the dabke, a line dance done in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine. Dominik Photo Images of the making
14.
Rebab
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The bowed variety often has a spike at the bottom to rest on the ground, and is thus called a spike fiddle in certain areas, but plucked versions like the kabuli rebab also exist. Besides the spike fiddle variant, there exists a variant with a pear-shaped body, quite similar to the Byzantine lyra. This latter variant travelled to western Europe in the 11th century, there is a long thin neck with a pegbox at the end and there are one, two or three strings. The instrument is held upright, either resting on the lap or on the floor, the bow is usually more curved than that of the violin. The rebab, though valued for its tone, has a very limited range. The Iraqi version of the instrument has four strings, the rebab is used in a wide variety of musical ensembles and genres, corresponding with its wide distribution, and is built and played somewhat differently in different areas. The body varies from being carved, as in Java. They may have a made of half a coconut shell, while the more sophisticated versions have a metal soundbox, and the front may be half-covered with beaten copper. The rebab was heavily used, and continues to be used, in Arabic Bedouin music as well traditional Iraqi music under the name joza, there is also a bowed instrument in Persian music named Kamanche which has similar shape and structure. The Rebab is also played in Afghanistan and Pakistan, however they are unrelated in terms of origin, for a famous Iranian singer and rebab player see Hassaan Egzaar Chenani. These are generally used in playing traditional folk tunes, but have become popular in arrangements of contemporary music, including such genres as classical, jazz. In the Indonesian gamelan the rebab is an essential elaborating instrument, a two-string bowed lute consisting of a wooden body, traditionally though now rarely a single coconut shell, covered with very fine stretched skin. Two brass strings are tuned a fifth apart and the hair bow is tied loosely with the proper tension controlled by the players bow hand. There are typically two per ensemble, one for pelog and one for slendro, never played together. The rebab does not have to exactly to the scale of the other gamelan instruments and can be played in relatively free time. The rebab also frequently plays the buka when it is part of the ensemble, in the eastern Malaysian states of Kelantan and Terengganu, the Rebab is used in a healing ritual called Main Puteri. The musician healer is sometimes taken to hospitals in cases where doctors are unable to heal ailing patients, margaret J. Kartomi, On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments. liuteriaetnica. it FERNWOOD, an American music group that uses a Rebab
15.
Orchestra
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The term orchestra derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα, the name for the area in front of a stage in ancient Greek theatre reserved for the Greek chorus. A full-size orchestra may sometimes be called an orchestra or philharmonic orchestra. The actual number of employed in a given performance may vary from seventy to over one hundred musicians, depending on the work being played. The term chamber orchestra usually refers to smaller-sized ensembles of about fifty musicians or fewer, the typical orchestra grew in size throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching a peak with the large orchestras called for in the works of Richard Wagner, and later, Gustav Mahler. Orchestras are usually led by a conductor who directs the performance with movements of the hands and arms, the conductor unifies the orchestra, sets the tempo and shapes the sound of the ensemble. The first violin, commonly called the concertmaster, also plays an important role in leading the musicians, the typical symphony orchestra consists of four groups of related musical instruments called the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. The orchestra, depending on the size, contains almost all of the instruments in each group. Chamber orchestra usually refers to smaller-sized ensembles, a chamber orchestra might employ as many as fifty musicians. The term concert orchestra may also be used, as in the BBC Concert Orchestra, the so-called standard complement of doubled winds and brass in the orchestra from the first half of the 19th century is generally attributed to the forces called for by Beethoven. The composers instrumentation almost always included paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, the exceptions to this are his Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto, and Piano Concerto No,4, which each specify a single flute. Beethoven carefully calculated the expansion of this particular timbral palette in Symphonies 3,5,6, the third horn in the Eroica Symphony arrives to provide not only some harmonic flexibility, but also the effect of choral brass in the Trio movement. Piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones add to the finale of his Symphony No.5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver the effect of storm and sunshine in the Sixth, for several decades after his death, symphonic instrumentation was faithful to Beethovens well-established model, with few exceptions. Apart from the core orchestral complement, various instruments are called for occasionally. These include the guitar, heckelphone, flugelhorn, cornet, harpsichord. Saxophones, for example, appear in some 19th- through 21st-century scores.6 and 9 and William Waltons Belshazzars Feast, and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th-century works, usually playing parts marked tenor tuba, including Gustav Holsts The Planets, cornets appear in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys ballet Swan Lake, Claude Debussys La Mer, and several orchestral works by Hector Berlioz
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Farid al-Atrash
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Farid al-Atrash, also written Farid Elattrache, was an Egyptian composer, singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor of Syrian origins. Sometimes referred to as King of the Oud, he is one of the most important figures of 20th century Arab music, Al-Atrash was born in al-Suwayda, in southern Syria to the Druze al-Atrash family who fought the French colonial army. His father was Syrian and his mother was Lebanese, as a child, al-Atrash emigrated with his mother and siblings to Egypt, escaping the French occupation. Later, they were naturalized by the Egyptian government as citizens, farids mother sang and played the Oud, which spurred his musical interest at an early age. As a child and young adult, al-Atrash sang in school events and he studied in a music conservatory and became an apprentice of the renowned composer Riyad as-Sunbaty. In the 1930s, al-Atrash began his singing career by working for privately owned Egyptian radio stations. Eventually, he was hired as an oud player for the radio station. His sister, Asmahan, was also a singer. In 1941, they starred in their first successful movie Intisar a l-Shabab and he died in December 26,1974, at the age of 64. Farid and his sister Amal, along with their brother Fouad, belonged to the religious minority clan of their parents, Princess Alia and Prince Fahd al-Atrash. His younger sister, Asmahan, evidenced similar musical talent in her teens, becoming one of the most popular female vocalists and cinema stars in the late 1930s, Farid is better known than Asmahan because her career was interrupted by her death in an accident in 1944. Yet he was overshadowed by his sisters talent and popularity. With maturity and the forging of a successful formula, Farid became famous in his own right. Even today, reference to the given name Farid in the context of Arabic music or popular culture is understood to denote al-Atrash himself. Al-Atrash had a long and colorful music career lasting four decades and he composed musically diverse songs, and was a highly regarded composer, singer and instrumentalist. Al-Atrash maintained that some of his music had western musical influence. Although the majority of his compositions were romantic love songs, he composed several patriotic. One of al-Atrashs most unusual and distinguishable traits was his voice, high and mellow at the start of his career, it evolved into a wider, deeper sound
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Sabah Fakhri
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Sabah Fakhri, is an iconic Syrian traditional and tenor singer from Aleppo. Over the past 50 years of fame and popularity as a singer, Sabah Fakhri modified and popularized the form of traditional Arabic music, Muwashahat. He was well known for his strong vocals, impeccable execution of Maqamat and harmony. He has numerous admirers around the world, and an excellent performer of authentic Arabic Tarab. Fakhri was born Sabah Abu Qaws in Aleppo, Syria on May 2,1933 and he was given the stage name Fakhri by his mentor, Syrian nationalist leader Fakhri al-Barudi, who encouraged him as a young boy to stay in Syria and not travel to Italy. One of the earliest performances for Fakhri was in 1948 at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, before President Shukri al-Quwatli, unlike many Arab artists, he never studied or worked in Cairo, insisting that his fame is linked to his origins, as a Syrian Arab. Sabah Fakhri is also one of the very few Arabic singers to receive widespread popularity and his name is enshrined in the Guinness Book of Records for his prowess in Caracas, Venezuela where he sang continuously for 10 hours without pause. Fakhri was also a member of the Syrian parliament for the one session of parliament in 1998 as a representative of artists, when he performs, Fakhri insists on interacting with his audience. Before singing, he insists on having an atmosphere by having good musicians. While performing he asks for the lights to remain on, in order to interact with the audience and he says that the audience play a key role in bringing the performers creativity. The audience should be aware of the music and poetry, so they would value the music given to them, Fakhri relies on the traditional songs of Aleppo, the traditional Arab poems of Abu Firas al-Hamdani, Al-Mutanabbi, and many other traditional and contemporary composers. Sabah Fakhri Home Page Six tracks of Sabah Fakhri
18.
Mayada El Hennawy
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Mayada El Hennawy born in Aleppo, Syria on 8 October 1959, is a Syrian and pan-Arab singer. Abdel Wahab named her The Songstress of the Generation. and invited her to Egypt to write songs for her, mayadas sister Faten was also a very promising singer as well. El Hennawy cooperated with some of the biggest known Arab lyricists and music composers, including Abdel Wahab, but her biggest launch as a pan-Arab singer came with her collaboration with songwriter Baligh Hamdi in the 1980s. Her most famous songs from Hamdi include Ana Bashaak, El Hob illi Kan, Ana Amel Eh, Sidi Ana and she was promoted by Egyptian music promoter Mohsen Jaber, owner of Alam El Fan record label and Mazzika music station. During the Anwar Sadat and early years of the Hosni Mubarak regimes in Egypt, after her album Touba, she went on a hiatus for many years, surfacing only with some Arab nationalist songs on certain occasions for Syria, Palestine, Algeria, Tunisia, Kurdistan etc. But later launched a new album in 2007 that includes a written by Baligh Hamdi. She has also very verbal in supporting the Hafez Assad regime which reportedly led to Kuwaiti authorities banning her from a concert scheduled during the Hala Febrayer music festival in Kuwait. El Hennawi is planning a huge comeback reportedly with new albums with Alam El Fan
19.
George Wassouf
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George Wassouf is a Syrian singer. In a career spanning almost four decades, he has released more than 30 albums, with a significantly large audience of fans in Syria and abroad, he is one of the greatest singers of the Arab world. Born in Kafroun, Tartous, Syria into a Christian household, Wassouf, holding the Lebanese passport in addition to the Syrian passport and living and working in Lebanon, started singing at the age of 10 in his hometown Kafroun. He was discovered by his first manager and producer George Yazbeck at a party that Wassouf was performing at. At the age of 16 he was called Sultan El-Tarab by the Lebanese journalist George Ibrahim El Khoury and he became famous after appearing on the Lebanese show Studio El Fan 1980 when he was 19 years old as Sultan of Tarab. Wassouf preferred not to shoot videos for his songs saying I dont feel I can act, I only find myself when Im on the stage. Singing, but the clip forces me to act. George Wassouf married his first Lebanese wife, Shalimar, at the age of 21 and they have three children, Hatem Wassouf, George Jr. Wassouf, Wadie Wassouf. The couple separated after 28 years of marriage in 2009 and he is currently married to Qatar rally champion Nada Zeidan. Their daughter, Oyoon, was born in October 2015, Wassouf is a prominent supporter of President Bashar al-Assads government through the Syrian Civil War. wassoufbook. com
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Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
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Hymn
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A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος, which means a song of praise, a writer of hymns is known as a hymnodist. The singing of hymns is called hymnody, collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment, although most familiar to speakers of English in the context of Christianity, hymns are also a fixture of other world religions, especially on the Indian subcontinent. Hymns also survive from antiquity, especially from Egyptian and Greek cultures, some of the oldest surviving examples of notated music are hymns with Greek texts. Surviving from the 3rd century BC is a collection of six literary hymns by the Alexandrian poet Callimachus, patristic writers began applying the term ὕμνος, or hymnus in Latin, to Christian songs of praise, and frequently used the word as a synonym for psalm. Originally modeled on the Psalms and other passages in the Scriptures. Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly, since the earliest times, Christians have sung psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, both in private devotions and in corporate worship. One definition of a hymn is. a lyric poem, reverently and devotionally conceived, which is designed to be sung, others are used to encourage reverence for the Holy Bible or to celebrate Christian practices such as the eucharist or baptism. A writer of hymns is known as a hymnodist, and the practice of singing hymns is called hymnody, a collection of hymns is called a hymnal or hymnary. These may or may not include music, a student of hymnody is called a hymnologist, and the scholarly study of hymns, hymnists and hymnody is hymnology. The music to which a hymn may be sung is a hymn tune, in many Evangelical churches, traditional songs are classified as hymns while more contemporary worship songs are not considered hymns. The reason for this distinction is unclear, but according to some it is due to the shift of style and devotional thinking that began with the Jesus movement. In ancient and medieval times, stringed instruments such as the harp, lyre and lute were used with psalms, since there is a lack of musical notation in early writings, the actual musical forms in the early church can only be surmised. During the Middle Ages a rich hymnody developed in the form of Gregorian chant or plainsong and this type was sung in unison, in one of eight church modes, and most often by monastic choirs. While they were originally in Latin, many have been translated. Later hymnody in the Western church introduced four-part vocal harmony as the norm, adopting major and minor keys and it shares many elements with classical music. Today, except for choirs, more musically inclined congregations and a cappella congregations, hymns are sung in unison
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Syriac Christianity
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With a history going back to the 1st century AD, Syriac Christianity is, in modern times, represented by denominations primarily in the Middle East, Asia Minor and in Kerala, India. Christianity began in the Middle East in Jerusalem among Jewish Aramaic-speaking Semitic peoples of Judah and it quickly spread, initially to other Semitic peoples, in Parthian-ruled Assyria and Mesopotamia, Roman-ruled Syria, Phoenicia, southern and eastern Asia Minor, and northwestern Persia and Malta. Adherents sometimes identify as Syriacs or Syrians, Syriac Christian heritage is transmitted through various Neo Aramaic dialects of old Aramaic. Unlike the Greek Christian culture, Assyrian Christian culture borrowed much from early Rabbinic Judaism, Antioch was the political capital of this culture, and was the seat of the Patriarchs of the church. However, Antioch was heavily Hellenized, and the Assyrian cities of Edessa, Nisibis and this split owed just as much to the politics of the day as it did to theological orthodoxy. Ctesiphon, which was at the also the Sassanid capital. After the Council of Chalcedon in 451, many Syriac Christians within the Roman Empire rebelled against its decisions, the Patriarchate of Antioch was then divided between a Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian communion. The Chalcedonians were often labelled Melkites, while their opponents were labelled as Monophysites and Jacobites, the Maronite Church found itself caught between the two, but claims to have always remained faithful to the Catholic Church and in communion with the bishop of Rome, the Pope. The church has persisted as an entity under Islamic rule. The community was one of those granted autonomy in governing itself in religious, in the 19th century many left for other parts of Christendom, creating a substantial diaspora. Over time, some groups within each of these branches have entered into communion with the Church of Rome, when they lost Assyria itself to the Parthian Empire, they retained the name Syria but only applied it to what had been Aramea, which they still retained. The Neo-Assyrian kingdom of Osroene was the first Christian kingdom in history, in 431 A. D. the Council of Ephesus declared Nestorianism to be a heresy. The Nestorian priests, who were persecuted in the Byzantine Empire, sought refuge in Mesopotamia where the Church of the East was dominant, there was a synthesis between the Assyrian Church and Nestorian doctrine. From there they spread Christianity to Persia, India, China and this was the beginning of the Nestorian Church, the eastern branch of Syrian Christianity. The western branch, the Jacobite Church, appeared after the Council of Chalcedon condemned Monophysitism in 451 A. D and these people are in fact ethnic Assyrians originating from the Assyrian homeland in northern Iraq. The older Assyrian designation has almost completely replaced the word Nestorian, however, the word Nestorian continues to be used in some Western academic literature. The word Syrian has become ambiguous in English since it can refer now to a citizen of Syria regardless of ethnicity, in Arabic, however, the word for a citizen of Syria has a different form from the traditional word for an ethnic Assyrian/Syrian. The Maronites in Lebanon are divided between those who claim Lebanese-Phoenician national identity and those who claim Arab national identity, the Maronite Church, a West Syrian Rite Eastern Catholic Church
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Syrian Jews
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Syrian Jews are Jews who lived in the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. There were large communities in Aleppo and Damascus for centuries, in the first half of the 20th century a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to the U. S. The largest Syrian Jewish community is located in Brooklyn, New York and is estimated at 75,000 strong, there are smaller communities elsewhere in the United States and in Latin America. In 2011, there had been about 50 Jews still living within Syria, by May 2012, only 22 Jews were left in Syria. More recently, in September 2016, this number is reported to be down to only nine, there have been Jews in Syria since ancient times, according to the communitys tradition, since the time of King David, and certainly since early Roman times. Jews from this ancient community were known as Mustaarabim to themselves, many Sephardim arrived following the expulsion from Spain in 1492, and quickly took a leading position in the community. For example, five successive Chief Rabbis of Aleppo were drawn from the Laniado family, in the 18th and 19th centuries, some Jews from Italy and elsewhere, known as Señores Francos, settled in Syria for trading reasons, while retaining their European nationalities. Jews who are members of the Kurdish community represent yet another sub-group of Syrian Jews and they are Middle Eastern maternal origin Syrian Jews whose presence in Syria predates the arrival of Sephardic Jews following the reconquista. The ancient communities of Urfa and Çermik also formed part of the broader Syrian community, today, some distinctions between these sub-groups are preserved, in the sense that particular families have traditions about their origins. However, there is considerable intermarriage among the groups and all regard themselves as Sephardim in a broader sense and it is said that one can tell Aleppo families of Spanish descent by the fact that they light an extra Hanukkah candle. This custom was established in gratitude for their acceptance by the more native Syrian based community. Further emigration, particularly following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, was caused by repetitive Muslim aggression towards the Jewish communities in Syria. Within a few months, thousands of Syrian Jews made their way to Brooklyn, with a few families choosing to go to France, the majority settled in Brooklyn with the help of their kin in the Syrian Jewish community. There has been a Jewish Syrian presence in Jerusalem since before 1850, some Syrian traditions, such as the singing of Baqashot, were accepted by the mainstream Jerusalem Sephardi community. A further group immigrated to Palestine around 1900, and formed the Ades Synagogue in Nachlaot and this still exists, and is the main Aleppo rite synagogue in Israel, though its membership now includes Asiatic Jews of all groups, especially Kurdish. There is also a large Syrian community in Holon and Bat Yam, many Jews fled from Syria to Palestine during the anti-Jewish riots of 1947. After that, the Syrian government clamped down and allowed no emigration, in the last two decades, some emigration has been allowed, mostly to America, though some have since left America for Israel, under the leadership of Rabbi Albert Hamra. The older generation from prior to the establishment of the Israeli state retains little or no Syrian ethnic identity of its own and is integrated into mainstream Israeli society
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Dabkeh
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Dabke, is an Arab folk dance native to the Levant countries. It is performed in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Hatay, Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions. The line forms from right to left, the leader of the dabke heads the line, alternating between facing the audience and the other dancers. In English, its name is also transliterated dabka, dabki, the Palestinian dabkeh jumps may or may not have origins in age-old Canaanite fertility rites which reflected the increasing growth of plants. They were used to scare away evil forces and to protect the security, according to Yazbec, the Phoenicians were the first teachers of the dance in the world, and the dabke is a representative descendant of the Phoenician dances. According to one tradition, the dance originated in the Levant where houses were built from stone with a roof made of wood, straw. The dirt roof had to be compacted which required stomping the dirt hard in a way to compact it evenly. This event of cooperation is called taawon and from here comes the word awneh and this developed into the song Ala Dalouna, roughly translated, Lets go and help. The dabke and the songs go together in an attempt to keep the work fun. In Jordan there are around 19 types of The Jordanian Dabke, habel Mwadea’ is the Jordanian dabke of any type performed by men and women jointly. Another type is the dabke niswaniyyah, danced specifically by women, each type of dabke dance has its own corresponding set of songs, the theme of which is often love. There are six types of dabke, Al-Shamaliyya, is probably the most famous type of dabke. It consists of a lawweeh at the head of a group of men holding hands, the lawweeh is expected to be particularly skilled in accuracy, ability to improvise, and quickness. Typically, the dabke begins with a musician playing a solo on the mijwiz or yarghoul of a Dal Ouna piece, the dancers develop a synchronized movement and step and when the singers finish their song, the lawweeh breaks from the semicircle to dance on his own. When the leader of the sees that the mens steps are one, in sync, he instructs the dancers to slow down. The lawweeh continues to inform the dancers of their basic rhythms, al-Sha’rawiyya, is limited to men and is characterized by strong steps or stomps. The lawweeh is the most important element in this type of dabke, al-Karaadiyya, is characterized by a lack of a lawweeh and slow movement with an azif in the middle of the circle. Al-Farah, is one of the most active types of dabke, al-Ghazal, is characterized by three strong stomps of the right foot, and is usually tiring for those dancing
25.
Circle dance
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Circle dance, or chain dance, is a style of dance done in a circle or semicircle to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing. Circle dancing is probably the oldest known dance formation and was part of community life from when people first started to dance, dancing in a circle is an ancient tradition common to many cultures for marking special occasions, rituals, strengthening community and encouraging togetherness. The dance can also be enjoyed as a group experience or as part of a meditation. Circle dances are choreographed to many different styles of music and rhythms, unlike line dancing, circle dancers are in physical contact with each other, the connection is made by hand-to-hand, finger-to-finger or hands-on-shoulders. It is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of partners, generally, the participants follow a leader around the dance floor while holding the hand of the dancers beside them. The dance can be gentle or energetic, modern circle dance mixes traditional folk dances, mainly from European or Near Eastern sources, with recently choreographed ones to a variety of music both ancient and modern. There is also a growing repertoire of new dances to classical music. Modern circle dancing is found in cultures, including Arabic, Israeli, Assyrian, Kurdish, Turkish, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Maltese. It is also used, in its more meditative form, in worship within various religious traditions including, the Church of England, thousands of medieval tombstones called Stećci were found in Bosnia and Hercegovina and neighboring areas. They dated from the end of the 12th century to the 16th century and they bear inscription and figures which look like dancers in a chain. Men and women are portrayed dancing together holding hands at shoulder level, in Macedonia, near the town of Zletovo, the murals on the monastery of Lesnovo, which date from the 14th century, show a group of young men linking arms in a round dance. A chronicle from 1344 urges the people of the city of Zadar to sing, however, a reference comes from Bulgaria, in a manuscript of a 14th-century sermon, which calls chain dances devilish and damned. The circle dance of Germany was called Reigen, which dates from the 10th century, dancing around the church or a fire was frequently denounced by church authorities which only underscores how popular it was. One of the frescos in Tyrol, at Runkelstein Castle, depicts Elisabeth of Poland, Circle dances were also found in Czech Republic, dating to the 15th century. Dancing was primarily done around trees on the village green, in Poland as well the earliest village dances were in circles or lines accompanied by the singing or clapping of the participants. In the 14th century Giovanni Boccaccio describes men and women dancing to their own singing or accompanied by musicians. One of the frescos in Siena by Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted in 1338-40 show a group of women doing a bridge figure while accompanied by another woman playing the tambourine, there are the accounts of two western European travelers to Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. In Denmark, old ballads mention a closed circle dance which can open into a chain dance, a fresco in Ørslev church in Zealand from about 1400 shows nine people, men and women, dancing in a line
26.
Line dance
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Unlike circle dancing, line dancers are not in physical contact with each other. Line dancing is a form of dance that takes place with a group of people, participants line up in rows and execute the same movements in a synchronized manner. Everyone dances alone, side by side, facing the direction in lines or rows. Each dance consists of a sequence of steps that are repeated throughout the music, although a variety of music may be used, the major emphasis is on country-and-western music. Line dancing involves people standing in lines and performing dance movements together and it consists of patterned foot movements that are usually performed to a number of counts per sequence, and then the sequence is repeated. The dances are done one-wall, two-wall, or four-wall, Line dancing is practiced and learned in country-western dance bars, social clubs, dance clubs and ballrooms. It is sometimes combined on dance programs with other forms of dance, such as two-step, western promenade dances. Line dances have accompanied many popular music styles since the early 1970s including pop, swing, rock and roll, disco, Latin, rhythm and blues, some claim that line dancing finds its roots in historical folk dances, other say it stemmed from contemporary disco. Whatever its source, popularity and growth of line dancing has been tied to country-and-western music. Many believe that this style of dancing introduced the terms and steps used in line dancing today. Some people feel it was the was the cowboys on the frontier, from the 1860s to the 1890s. Other believe that the settlers of the states, such as Texas and Oklahoma, should be credit with the simple footwork. In the early 1900s, schools began to include folk dancing in their education programs. Many believe that American servicemen returning home from war influenced the spread of line dancing after being introduced to traditional European folk dances, as large numbers of youth learned country-western dance, its popularity grew in leisure and social activities. There are those, who believe that the popularity of line dancing evolved from the disco era. Line dances were performed to disco-style music, many say that Achy Breaky Heart was a major turning point in the popularity of line dance. The Madison was a line dance in the late 1950s. The 1961 San Francisco Stomp meets the definition of a line dance, the Electric Slide was a Disco-based line dance created and popularized in the mid-1970s
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Wedding
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A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes, most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by the couple, presentation of a gift, and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure. Special wedding garments are worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers or readings from religious texts or literature are commonly incorporated into the ceremony. Some cultures have adopted the traditional Western custom of the wedding, in which a bride wears a white wedding dress. This tradition was popularized through the marriage of Queen Victoria, some say Victorias choice of a white gown may have simply been a sign of extravagance, but may have also been influenced by the values she held which emphasized sexual purity. Within the modern white wedding tradition, a dress and veil are unusual choices for a womans second or subsequent wedding. The use of a ring has long been part of religious weddings in Europe and America. Historian Vicki Howard points out that the belief in the ancient quality of the practice is most likely a modern invention, double ring ceremonies are also a modern practice, a grooms wedding band not appearing in the United States until the early 20th century. The kittel is worn only under the Chupah, and is removed before the reception, different wedding clothing around the world Music played at Western weddings includes a processional song for walking down the aisle either before or after the marriage service. An example of use is reported in the wedding of Nora Robinson. Selections by George Frideric Handel, perhaps most notably the Air from his Water Music as processional, the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, often used as the processional and commonly known as Here Comes the Bride. Richard Wagner is said to have been anti-Semitic, and as a result, johann Pachelbels Canon in D is an alternative processional. The Wedding March from Felix Mendelssohns incidental music for the Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, the Toccata from Charles-Marie Widors Symphony for Organ No. Segments of the Ode to Joy, the movement of Ludwig van Beethovens Ninth Symphony. Other alternative considerations include various contemporary melodies like Bob Marleys One Love which is performed by a steel drum band. Most religions recognize a union with established ceremonies and rituals. Some religions permit polygamous marriages or same-sex marriages, many Christian faiths emphasize the raising of children as a priority in a marriage
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Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
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Sword
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A sword is a long bladed weapon intended for slashing or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the epoch or the geographical region under consideration. A sword consists of a blade attached to a hilt. The blade can be straight or curved, thrusting swords have a pointed tip on the blade, and tend to be straighter, slashing swords have sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade, and are more likely to be curved. Many swords are designed for thrusting and slashing. Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger, the later Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The word sword continues the Old English, sweord, the use of a sword is known as swordsmanship or as fencing. In the Early Modern period, western sword design diverged into two forms, the thrusting swords and the sabers. The thrusting swords such as the rapier and eventually the smallsword were designed to impale their targets quickly and their long and straight yet light and well balanced design made them highly maneuverable and deadly in a duel but fairly ineffective when used in a slashing or chopping motion. A well aimed lunge and thrust could end a fight in seconds with just the swords point, the saber and similar blades such as the cutlass were built more heavily and were more typically used in warfare. Built for slashing and chopping at multiple enemies, often from horseback, most sabers also had sharp points and double edged blades, making them capable of piercing soldier after soldier in a cavalry charge. Sabers continued to see use until the early 20th century. The US Navy kept tens of thousands of sturdy cutlasses in their armory well into World War II, non-European weapons called sword include single-edged weapons such as the Middle Eastern scimitar, the Chinese dao and the related Japanese katana. The Chinese jian is an example of a non-European double-edged sword, the first weapons that can be described as swords date to around 3300 BC. They have been found in Arslantepe, Turkey, are made from arsenical bronze, some of them are inlaid with silver. The sword developed from the dagger when the construction of longer blades became possible, from the late 3rd millennium BC in the Middle East, first in arsenic copper, then in tin-bronze. Blades longer than 60 cm were rare and not practical until the late Bronze Age because the strength of bronze is relatively low. These are the type A swords of the Aegean Bronze Age, one of the most important, and longest-lasting, types swords of the European Bronze Age was the Naue II type, also known as Griffzungenschwert
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Middle-Eastern dance
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For oriental dance in popular culture, see luruluru. The traditional dances of the Middle East span a variety of folk traditions throughout North Africa, the Middle East. Raqs sharqi is the more familiar to Westerners, performed in restaurants, night clubs, cabarets, theatres. It is more commonly performed by female dancers but is sometimes danced by men. It is an improvisational dance, although students often perform choreographed dances in a group
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Culture of Syria
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Syria is a traditional society with a long cultural history. Importance is placed on family, religion, education and self-discipline, the Syrians taste for the traditional arts is expressed in dances such as the al-Samah, the Dabkeh in all their variations and the sword dance. Marriage ceremonies are occasions for the demonstration of folk customs. The scribes of the city of Ugarit created an alphabet in the 14th century BC. The alphabet was written in the order we use today like the English language. Archaeologists have discovered extensive writings and evidence of a culture rivaling those of Iraq, later Syrian scholars and artists contributed to Hellenistic and Roman thought and culture. Cicero was a pupil of Antiochus of Ascalon at Athens, Syrians have contributed to Arabic literature and have a proud tradition of oral and written poetry. Syrian writers played a role in the nahda or Arab literary. Prominent contemporary Syrian writers include, among others, Adonis, Muhammad Maghout, Haidar Haidar, Ghada al-Samman, Nizar Qabbani and Zakariyya Tamer. From 1918 to 1926, while Syria was under French rule, French Romantic influences inspired Syrian authors, in 1948, the partitioning of neighbouring Palestine and the establishment of Israel brought about a new turning point in Syrian writing. Adab al-Iltizam, the literature of political commitment, deeply marked by social realism, hanna Mina, rejecting art for arts sake and confronting the social and political issues of his time, was arguably the most prominent Syrian novellist of this era. Following the Six-Day War in 1967, Adab al-Naksa, the literature of defeat, baath Party rule, since the 1966 coup, has brought about renewed censorship. Syrian folk narrative, as a subgenre of fiction, is imbued with magical realism. Salim Barakat, a Syrian émigré living in Sweden, is one of the figures of the genre. Contemporary Syrian literature also encompasses science fiction and futuristic utopiae, which may serve as media of dissent. Syrias capital, Damascus, has long been one of the Arab worlds centers for cultural and artistic innovation, Syria has also produced several pan-Arab stars. Asmahan, Farid al-Atrash and singer Lena Chamamyan, the city of Aleppo is known for its muwashshah, a form of Andalous sung poetry popularized by Sabri Moudallal, as well as popular stars like Sabah Fakhri. Also, Syria was one of the earliest centers of Christian hymnody, in a known as Syrian chant
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Arabesque (classical music)
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The arabesque is a type of music which uses melodies to create the atmosphere of Arabic architecture. The word arabesque is derived from Western ideas of Arabic music, in actuality, arabesques and Arab music are not closely related. The most well-known are Claude Debussys Deux Arabesques, composed in 1888 and 1891, respectively
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Arabesque (Turkish music)
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Arabesque or Arabesk is a term created by Turkish musicologists for an Arabic style of music created in Turkey. The genre was popular in Turkey in the decades from the 1960s through the 1990s. As with Arabic music itself, its aesthetics have evolved over the decades, Arabesque music are mostly in a minor key, typically in the Phrygian mode, and themes tend to focus on longing, melancholy, strife and love issues. A very small percentage of Arabesk is exclusively instrumental, for the great majority of it, a singer lies at the center of the music. Male singers dominated the genre in its years, but female singers probably predominated during its peak years of popularity. Simultaneously with the influx of female singers, the sound grew more dancey, orhan Gencebay is generally considered the founder of the genre. Other well known older singers are Müslüm Gürses, Ferdi Tayfur, one of the most prolific and commercially successful is İbrahim Tatlıses, who broke all sales records in Turkey in 1978 and continues to turn out popular music to this day. He has maintained popularity in the Arabesk scene in recent years through remixing his tracks into dance friendly club tracks. The pure Arabesk album Acıların Kadını by the singer Bergen was the album in Turkey in 1986. Bergen had several other hit Arabesk albums during the 1980s, other singers include Gülben Ergen, Ebru Gündeş, Seda Sayan, Sibel Can. The singers Muazzez Ersoy and Bülent Ersoy designate themselves as modern exponents of Ottoman classical music, common theme in Arabesque songs is the highly embellished and agonizing depiction of love and yearning, along with unrequited love, grief and pain. This theme had undertones of class differences in early 1960-70s, during which most of the genres followers -mostly working class to lower middle class- identified themselves with, Turkish composer Fazıl Say has repeatedly condemned and criticized Arabesque genre, equating the practice of listening to arabesque tantamount to treason. Kanto Byzantine music Skiladiko Mizrahi music Filmi Longa Bassturk, Muhabbet, crossing The Bridge on IMDb Arabic Music The arabesk debate, music and musicians in modern Turkey by Martin Stokes on Google Books
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Khaliji (music)
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Khaliji is a type of modern contemporary music characteristic of Central and Eastern Arabia and popular across the Arab world. Khaliji incorporates elements of African, Indian, and Iranian music overlaying indigenous Arabian genres such as Samri, Liwa, starting in the 1990s, several artists from outside the Gulf Cooperation Council have attempted cross-overs into the industry. Prominent examples include Rajae Belmlih from Morocco, Thekra and Latifa from Tunisia, Assala Nasri from Syria, and Diana Haddad, Yara, fijiri Liwa Samri Sawt Khubaiti Arabic music Music of Saudi Arabia Culture of Eastern Arabia Culture of Saudi Arabia
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Sawt (music)
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Sawt is a kind of popular music found in Kuwait and Bahrain. Sawt is a form of urban music, originally performed by ud and mirwas. Two men perform the dance, which is called “Zaffan”, al-Sout is performed only at night gatherings of men. A Musical Anthology of the Arabian Peninsula, Volume 3 - Sowt, fijiri Liwa Culture of Bahrain Culture of Kuwait Video of Bahraini sawt performance Audio samples from Zeryab. com
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Folk music
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Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century, but is applied to music older than that. Some types of music are also called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways, as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers and it has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. Starting in the century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller, similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times and this type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two, a consistent definition of traditional folk music is elusive. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions and they are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes. Traditional folk music also includes most indigenous music, however, despite the assembly of an enormous body of work over some two centuries, there is still no certain definition of what folk music is. Some do not even agree that the term Folk Music should be used, Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot clearly be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers, the fashioning and re-fashioning of the music by the community that give it its folk character. Such definitions depend upon processes rather than abstract musical types, one widely used definition is simply Folk music is what the people sing. For Scholes, as well as for Cecil Sharp and Béla Bartók, Folk music was already. seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now past or about to disappear, particularly in a community uninfluenced by art music and by commercial and printed song. In these terms folk music may be seen as part of a schema comprising four types, primitive or tribal, elite or art, folk. Music in this genre is often called traditional music. Although the term is only descriptive, in some cases people use it as the name of a genre
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