Abstract
The terms which we can identify as musical instruments in the Ugaritic texts are knr “lyre”, tlb “pipe”, msltm cymbals” and tp “hand-drum”. There are some other terms alleged as musical instruments in Ugaritic texts such as the terms rimt “cow-instrument”, mrqdm “castanet”, 'd “lute” and nbl “strings-instrument”. But these identifications remain problematic.
We find that the the term knr “lyre” is deified in Ugaritic texts. So it is possible to say that lyres had a special divine power in Ugaritic rituals. We can see that a drum and cymbals were used in the exorcistic ritual for curing a sick man in ancient Babylonia. It is possible that string instruments were used in some kinds for magic or in some rituals for manipulating the gods' feelings in the ancient Near East. It may be said that the lyre's magical practice for manipulating the gods' feelings was a motive for its deification in ancient Ugarit.
In the Ugaritic personnel list we can find mslm “cymbalists” together with šrm “singers”. So it is possible that cymbals was an important musical instrument in the Ugaritic kingdom related to religious rites. In the passage of KTU 1.3:I:18-22 it seems that cymbals was an indispensable instrument in this Baal ritual for the celebration of Baal's sovereignty.
The terms tlb “pipe” and tp “hand-drum” occur in the King List of Ugarit. Perhaps they were used in an invocation of the deified kings.
We can find in the the other Semitic languages the cognate terms as the Ugaritic knr, msltm and tp. As for the Ugaritic knr, we can identify the same root not only in the Semitic language but also in the Hittite, Egyptian and Greek languages. This fact might be evidence for cultural contact in the ancient world. Since these instruments mostly occur together with the verbs *šyr or bd which denote “to sing” in Ugaritic, instruments were used mainly to accompany vocal music.
