Ancient Cymbals: Oman Find Reveals Trade

Ancient Cymbals Discovery

Excavations at an approximately 4,000-year-old settlement near the modern town of Dahwa in Oman have discovered two copper cymbals with far-reaching cultural implications, state archaeologist Khaled Douglas of Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, Oman, and coworkers.

Shared Musical Traditions

These findings indicate that contact between ancient communities on both sides of the Arabian Gulf resulted in shared musical traditions central to rituals and religious beliefs, Douglas’ team says.

Oman Origins of Cymbals

In spite of looking similar to previously uncovered copper cymbals from a Bronze Age world in what’s now Pakistan’s Indus Valley, chemical analyses fix the Dahwa cymbals as products of copper sources in Oman, the scientists report April 7 in Antiquity. That recommends homeowners of the Dahwa settlement used neighborhood metals to make regionally unique cymbals.

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These findings indicate that contact in between ancient communities on both sides of the Arabian Gulf led to common musical practices central to routines and faiths, Douglas’ group states. Social impacts of this sort fostered close ties amongst disparate cultures, the researchers suspect.

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Cymbals in Rituals

Bronze Age sites from the Middle East to South Asia have written summaries and creative representations of cymbal gamers. Cymbals commonly appear among other instruments, including drums, made use of at ritual occasions such as temple ceremonies.

Scientists discovered the Dahwa cymbals in the edge of a rectangle-shaped building that forgot a tiny settlement. Excavations revealed that the tools had actually been placed, one atop the various other, under a rock floor, possibly as an offering to gods.

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Direction of Cultural Influences

The direction of these social influences remains uncertain. “Ritual practices in which the Dahwa cymbals were utilized might have been transferred from southeastern Arabia to the Indus Valley, or the other way around,” Douglas claims.