Zang (bell)

Zang (Persian: زنگ) means bell in Persian, for both large bells and small. The term has historically been applied to a number of ringing metal musical instruments, including large bells with clappers worn by elephants, smaller 3-9 inch bells worn on camels, horses, donkeys and cattle, 2-3 inch sheep bells,  and tiny bells tied to the legs of hawks. It also applies to clusters of small bells worn by musicians and dancers, sewn onto cloth bracelets and anklets, or laced on a long string to be wrapped around the waist or hung as a necklace.

Additionally, the name in many forms has been applied to cymbals, especially small finger cymbals (Persian: sanj angshati سنج انگشتی) used by dancers, known worldwide today as zills, but also to some larger cymbals including the Iranian sanj or Iraqi zanj.

That cymbals and bells have been differentiated in Persian can be seen in the Shahnameh which refers to both instruments together: His elephant-attendants' crowns of gold, Their golden girdles and their golden torques, Their golden Sanj (cymbals) and their golden Zang (bells)... --Ferdowsky, Shahnameh, text number 7.

Near East
Cast metal bells may have first been made in China as early as 3000 B.C., as the angular harp originated in the Near East. Connections between the Near East and China by the 5th century B.C. is considered a fact now, given the discovery of horizontal angular harps in China.

In Mesopotamia, the first bells were made of clay, later ones of bronze or other metals and were decorated with symbolic signs. Bells in the 1st millennium B.C. usually had a meaning to ward off evil, which is why they were worn by priests on a cord around their necks.

Babylonian terracotta figures from the 2nd millennium B.C. have been found holding small pairs of cymbals in their hands, the originals of which were probably made of bronze. Such bronze basins from about 1200 B.C. were found in Syria and from the mid-ninth century B.C. were found in Egypt. From the 17th Egyptian dynasty (16th century B.C.) we know of professional musicians employed by mural paintings, such as the drummer Emhab, who has been handed down by name. Terracotta figurines with basins from Ancient Egypt are dated to the Greek period. Many of the bronze, silver and gold bells used in Egypt and the Middle East also date from this period.

The oldest bronze bells unearthed in Palestine come from Tel Megiddo dated to the 9th/8th century B.C. The bells with clapper are made of bronze, 2.5 to 6.5 centimeters high, roughly hemispherical in shape and have an eyelet for hanging. The numerous finds of bells in the Palestine area in the Greco-Roman period are somewhat smaller. Ever since they were mentioned in the Old Testament (in connection with pomegranates), the bells have had a magical protective function.

Central Asia
Bronze bells, which were probably hung on horses, do not appear until the 12th century BC at the earliest in an area from the north of the Iranian highlands to the southern Caucasus. They probably belonged to nomad riders who traveled with pack horses. The horses of Assyrian rulers were from the 9th century BC. hung with several bells. By the 5th century B.C. individual bells hung on horses and camels throughout the Orient to the Balkans.

It was common for the Turkic peoples and Mongolians to use bells made of two differently shaped half-shells on the harness, so that the enclosed balls produced two tones. The sound of the bells of slowly walking camels gave a specific drum rhythm of classical Persian music the descriptive name zang-e schotor ("camel bells [rhythm]") in Persian.

Bells as weapons of war
In ancient Persia, bells were something hung on an animal or worn by a person. They were sounded in war as a weapon of terror, and worn by animals, signaling the large size of the approaching army. Animal bells could also be sounded by the men in the armies to add to the din. Cymbals too merged functions of war and music, as men clashed them.

A manuscript of the Shahnameh made in Tabriz around 1370 depicts a turbulent battle scene in which the weapons of the Persian troops fighting the Mongols included noise-making devices intended to instill fear in the enemy. For this purpose, a hydraulic organ and a mobile frame with large bells called ghulghul al-siyāh ("noisy bell") were transported.

Noise as a weapon of war is much older and already known from antiquity: The Parthians in the Iranian highlands and southern Central Asia gave battle signals with trumpets and drums and frightened their opponents with large, fur-covered hollow bodies, which, in addition to their loud thunderclap, made a shrill noise because of the rattles and bells attached to it, as Plutarch describes the battle of Carrhae in 53 B.C. According to ancient Indian sources and Greek mythology, the use of trumpets and "battle drums" with metal bells in them ultimately goes back to an Indian tradition.

Word spread


Zang bell and sanj cymbal are linguistically related.

Zang
Persian zang means "bell" and "cymbal"; zangūla stands for the jingles on the frame drum, corresponding to dayereh-e zangi (dāyera zangī or dayere zangi), a dayereh with jingles. On Persian miniatures from the end of the 14th to the beginning of the 18th century (Timurids to Safavids) dayereh with five metal plates are most often depicted. In Afghanistan, in addition to zang for "cymbal", the word tal, which is widespread in India and derived from Sanskrit tala, is also used ("palm", "beat", "meter"), derived from the rhythmic structure of Indian music. In Afghanistan, the cymbal zang is distinguished from the Jew's harp tschang(čang). Zang occurs modified from Medieval Armenian zangak, "bell", zangakik (zangulak), "little bell" and zangakalezou, "bell clapper", as well as a Georgian loanword (zangalawi, zangalaki), "little bell". Zang-e sarangoshti (saringoshti) are the zill finger cymbals played during dances in Iran, which, according to the representations on Persian miniatures, belong to the old oriental dance tradition. In northern Afghanistan, the player of the long-necked lute dambura produces an accompanying rhythm with the zang-i kaftar bells worn on the wrist. In Uzbekistan, zang stands for a chain of small copper or brass bells that dancing girls wear on their wrists or ankles.

Sanj
The word ṣanğ (xsanj, sanj, plural ṣunūğ) for "cymbal" occurring in medieval Arabic literature probably comes from the Persian čang (tschang), at the same time ṣanğ was a less common term than ğank for the Arabic harp. The historical angular harp tschang (chang) was widespread in the Near and Middle East. In addition, tschang (chang) is a dulcimer resembling the Persian santur, which is occasionally used by Uzbeks and Tajiks in classical Shashmaqam. A Central Asian Turkic source from the 11th century inscribed çenğ finger cymbals, which are now called zill in Turkish. The word has survived in Turkish as çeng-i harbî for a musical genre played by mehterhâne (military bands) and as çengi (belly dancer). In Uzbek, cymbals and bells are called zang (tschang, chang) and in Tatar Чаң (tschang), but among the Uzbeks in Afghanistan they are called tüsak. The Arabic-Persian sanj or jhanj is one of the many names for Indian cymbals, along with manjira, tal or elathalam. The kettle drum pairs naqqāra, long trumpets nafīr and sanj, along with other loud-sounding musical instruments, formed the Naubat Palace Orchestra in the Mughal Empire.

Everyday use
In Iraq, zanj is usually understood as paired cymbals made of brass or bronze, which come in different sizes. The cords for holding on are attached to a hole in the center of the hump. Iraqi paired cymbals were used in military music, in churches and for all kinds of other processions. In addition to the cylinder drum dammām, they provide the musical accompaniment for Shiite passion plays. Less commonly, small finger cymbals with a diameter of four to five centimeters are called zanj.

In the "fitness center" Zurchaneh ("Power House"), which has a long tradition in Iran and neighboring countries, men strengthen their muscles to the rhythm of a hanging bell zang-e zurchaneh and the goblet drum, tombak or zarb. A musician, who plays both instruments and occasionally sings, sits on the raised edge of the arena, which is always octagonal. The music is intended to create a relaxed atmosphere during strenuous strength training and competitions. The zang also marks the beginning, the change and the end of the exercises.

In South Khorasan, Iran, zang are still made by local blacksmiths for herd animals such as cows, and sheep to wear. The bells are made of welded and hammered sheet metal, about the size of a man's hand. The bells date to the Safavid to Qajar eras.

The oldest bronze bells excavated in Armenia date from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The Armenian bell zangak was or still is occasionally used to accentuate the rhythm of some chants in the liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, sometimes together with cymbals. The zangak is hemispherical, has a small iron clapper and is made in different pitches. The zangak is otherwise not used in Armenian music.



The zang-i kaftar ('dove bell') is a pair of ring-shaped jingles tied together on a short string and used in light music in northern Afghanistan. A clamp with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters consists of a sheet metal strip that has been bent in a circle so that the long edges meet in the middle of the outside. The cords that connect the two bells are attached to metal pins that produce the sound of rattling inside the bells. A player of the long-necked dambura lute occasionally wears four or five connected pairs of jingles on his right wrist and shakes them while plucking the strings. The dambura player – mainly of Uzbek origin – performs in teahouses (samowad) as a soloist with his singing or he accompanies two singers. Ensembles in tea houses also play the two-stringed fiddle ghichak, the goblet drum zerbaghali and finger cymbals (zang, Uzbek tüsak). The finger cymbals in northern Afghanistan probably go back to Indian influence. The method of rhythmic accompaniment points to the relationship of teahouse songs to dance music.

Literature
Jeremy Montagu: Zang, and Zanj. In: Laurence Libin (ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 5. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York 2014, p. 371