Flute players, death, and music in the afterlife (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26).

Abstract

Insights from ethnomusicology and psychological anthropology suggest a new perspective on the flute players mentioned only by Matthew at the wake service of a twelve year old girl. This paper was read at the International Meeting of the Context Group at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, Spain, July 2006.

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In redacting Mark's report of Jesus' interaction with the dying daughter of a synagogue leader (Mark 5:21-43), Matthew alone mentions the presence of flute players in the house (Matt 9:23). Some scholars explain that this reflects Matthew's interest in "Jewish" tradition (Allen: 96; Rochais: 94; et al.). Flute music and wailing, however, were common elements of the Middle Eastern mourning ritual and not at all unique to Judaism (Bishop: 138; Meyer: 23; Stahlin: 844). In this paper I will first investigate the flute as a musical instrument in antiquity. Then I will propose some culturally plausible explanations for its use in connection with mourning for the dead as reported by Matthew.

Musical Instruments in Antiquity

The Sachs--Hornbostel system for classifying musical instruments was devised in 1914 by the Austrian scholar Eric von Hornbostel and the German-born musicologist Curt Sachs (Hornbostel & Sachs). It allows scholars to classify and arrange musical objects without specific knowledge of their music, culture, or origin. Initially, they designated four major categories each of which was further sub-divided and numbered by a system derived from the Dewey system of library classification. The categories are based on the nature of the initial vibrating body, that is, the way that the sound is produced. Idiophones are instruments constructed of solid material that vibrates. Though some instruments are struck (e.g., cymbals, Ps 150:5), others are shaken, e.g., "shakers" sometimes translated as sistrum or rattle (2 Sam 6:5). Membranophones include instruments whose sound is produced by a stretched (usually skin) membrane. The Hebrew word, lop, is one example. Though frequently translated "tambourine" or "timbrel" (e.g., Gen 31:27), it is preferable to use the generic "drum." A third category, chordophones, includes instruments whose sound is made by plucking or bowing strings stretched over or into a sounding board or box. The lyre (Hebrew kinnor, sometimes rendered harp, 1 Sam 16:16) among similar instruments is a good example. Finally, instruments in the category known as aerophones produce their sound by the vibration of air. The biblical "flute" belongs to this category (I Sam 10:5; Matt 9:23).

A fifth category has since been added: electrophones for instruments whose sound is produced by the pulsing of electricity in a wire. A sixth category, hydrophones, where the vibrator is water based is presently under consideration. Apart from these last two categories, the initial Sachs-Hornbostel system is very helpful for analyzing musical instruments and sounds mentioned in the Bible (e.g., Jones 1992; Werner 1962; 1980).

Aerophones in the Bible

Werner (1980: 619) identified eight musical instruments mentioned in the Bible as aerophones, but that number is quite debatable. The ugab (Heb), which Jubal is said to have invented (Gen 4:21), is not a "pipe" (an aerophone) as the RSV translates it but rather a string instrument (chordophone) as the Septuagint and Josephus confirm (both translate the Hebrew word by the Greek psalterion, a psaltery, harp or similar instrument; see Pilch 2006a: 50). There are two categories of aerophones: one includes instruments that produce the sound at the point where the air enters (e.g., pipes sometimes fitted with reeds); the other includes instruments with which the player's lips produce the sound (e.g., a shofar or trumpet). Group one aerophones include the biblical halil (Heb; aulos--Greek) often translated "flute" but perhaps more appropriately "pipe" as the King James Version consistently translates these Hebrew and Greek words.

Biblical aerophones can be one of three types:

(1) A double pipe, V-shaped, with a reed or reeds at the "V" is perhaps the most common type: 1 Sam 10:5; Jer 48:36; Matt 9:23; Rev 18:22. Images of this kind of pipe are common on coins and monuments (See Stephens: 31, a coin of Domitian [CE 81-96] before a temple; see Figure 1).

(2) A single pipe (Isa 5:12; 30:29; see Stephens: 141, mosaic floor of a Roman Villa, copy of 4th century BCE painting by Pausanias; Corinth Museum; see Figure 2); and (3) "flute-like" pipes (1 Kings 1:40; 1 Cor 14:7) which completes the typology.

[FIGURES 1-2 OMITTED]

Many of these "flute- like" pipes are made from animal bones (see Figure 3, below). Group one aerophones also include the biblical nehiloth (also translated "flute"; see Psalm 5; the King James Version simply transliterates the Hebrew) which appear to be used predominantly for lamentation. Group two aerophones are such that the lips of the musician make the sound. Examples in the Hebrew Bible include the shofar (Lev 25:9); the qeren and the jubal (horn in each case; see Josh 6:5), and the hasoserah (trumpet; Num 10:10). Werner distinguishes a war trumpet from this one used in Temple services, and his eighth aerophone is the mashroqita (pipe; only in Daniel 3). The association of these instruments with the Sachs--Hornbostel system as just presented is mainly that of Jones (1992). However, beyond the generic identification of a biblical instrument as an aerophone, all the sub-distinctions seem to be conjectural, since they are based on interpretation of texts rather than on analysis of material remains of which there are very few if any. Millar's conclusion is still valid: "Whether the halil was a single or double flute, or a flue or reed pipe, we do not know" (see Millar: 461).

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Naming the Bible's Aerophones

Musicologists agree that the English word "flute" is erroneous, indeed anachronistic, in describing any aerophone from any culture in antiquity (Grout & Palisca: 3). The contemporary transverse flute so familiar in marching bands or symphony orchestras really has little to nothing in common with its ancient predecessors. This modern flute descended from the German flute which was revolutionized by Theobald Boehm in 1832. Thus, according to A. Schaeffner (as reported in Haik-Vantoura: 417), to translate the names of aerophones by the word flute gives us a "falsely sweet, glossed-over image" of ancient music. Indeed, musicologists know that it took a very long time for the ancient "forerunner" of the modern flute--whatever it may have been, though the best guess is something like a whistle (a pipe)--to develop into a really melodious instrument.

The "flute-like" pipes, which are made from animal bones (see Figure 3), can help contemporaries to understand what these aerophones might have sounded like.

While no such pipes are mentioned in the Bible, the Mishna refers to an animal that has a voice which be comes seven times stronger after it dies: "its horns provide two trumpets, its two legs provide two flutes, its hide a drum (Kinnim III.6)." Gerson-Kiwi (1429-30) notes that a number of bone-flutes have been found in Palestine at Megiddo, Jericho, Tell-beit-Mirsim, and Gezer among other sites. The Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem has some on display. All these bone "flute-like" pipes date from the Chalcolithic Age to Iron II (9th to 6th century BCE).

Nelson Glueck, who excavated Tel el-Kheleifeh (1938-1940; identified as Ezion-geber, near the Gulf of Aqaba) claimed to have unearthed a 5th or 4th century BCE mouthpiece and a portion of a halil. He concluded that this aerophone was a "primitive clarinet." His identification was subsequently repeated and elucidated by Werner (1962: 472; 1980: 619) who believed that the halil was for all practical purposes identical with the Greek aulos and ought to be translated by the English word "shawm" (a double-reed "forerunner" of the oboe). Sachs argued that the halil must have been an oboe (Sellers: 41). Werner is widely quoted even though he gives no specific reference to any published statement about or photograph of Glueck's discovery. That is not surprising since Glueck never published the final report on his excavations (Pratico; Dever).

Gerson-Kiwi (1430) not only enthusiastically accepts Werner's observations (published already in the 1954 edition of Werner 1980) but claims that shawms (including clarinets and oboes) are indigenous to the region. They are characterized by a piercing nasal sound. A couple of silver oboes dating from 2800 BCE were discovered at Ur and are currently located in Philadelphia. As noted above, Gerson-Kiwi is not deterred if an instrument is not mentioned in the Bible. She finds cues in other literary and artistic witnesses. She concludes that the oboe is of west-central Asiatic provenance and spread quite far West. According to her, it is the only wind instrument among the Arab population of Israel (arghul, mighwiz) along with some occasional flutes (shubaba). As ancient records indicate, these reed instruments were used in pairs, in a V shape. The difficulty posed by the identifications of ancient instruments by Werner, Gerson-Kiwi, and others is that they create a misleading impression that the ancient instrument sounded like its contemporary descendent (clarinet; oboe). One can avoid this either by using the Hebrew or Greek name or by using the generic "aerophone."

The Sound of the Biblical Aerophones

While many (most) musical instruments of antiquity perished, some--particularly aerophones--have survived. The challenge for contemporary scholars is to "discover" how to produce the sound that would have been heard in antiquity. While contemporaries know how to produce sound with the shofar, they don't know the melodies or patterns that were distinctive in antiquity. Nor for that matter can they really be certain of the melodies or patterns that were distinctive in medieval times. Nevertheless, some musicologists believe that it is appropriate to use the living music of a given culture to flesh out the sparse and fragmentary evidence of the past (Shull: 87-111; Bagby: 28). This would help one to construct a "music scenario" somewhat similar to a "reading scenario." People design reading scenarios to help them "imagine" with plausible cultural accuracy what they are reading. Similarly, a person can construct a music scenario to help him or her imagine the sound or melody that might be heard on the basis of a written report (whether verbally descriptive or recorded in notation). One such researcher is Ali Jahid Racy, a Lebanese-born ethnomusicologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose research and publications shed precious light on ancient musical puzzles. Racy's work illustrates Arab music especially as it contrasts with Western music. In general, whereas Western music often represents images and concepts, Middle Eastern music specializes in evoking intense emotions and ecstasy (Racy: 1). These insights are very helpful for appreciating biblical references to musical instruments and music.

As already noted, the general sound of ancient aerophones is shrill like a pipe or whistle. The sound was produced in one of two ways: one could blow into a pipe to make the sound like blowing into a reed instrument; or one could make the sound with one's lips and send it through the instrument as with a trumpet or bugle. The halil belongs in the first group; the shofar belongs in the second group. Ancient monuments depict musicians playing the halil. Usually it is a "double-pipe" instrument, that is, it has two pipes or cones with a single mouthpiece (see Figure 1). The player wrapped his mouth around the entire mouthpiece. His mouth became, as it were, the windbag of a bagpipe. He would inhale through his nose yet keep a steady flow of air through the pipe. Modern musicians including singers know this technique as circular breathing. The mouthpiece contained a reed or reeds with which the player produced the sound. Of the two pipes descending from the mouthpiece, one had many holes while the other had just one. Thus the melody would be played on one pipe while the other pipe served as a drone.

An Austrian musical ensemble specializing in paleolithic music recorded a CD entitled "Knochenklang: Sounds from the Stone Age" (Vienna: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2000) featuring an "original" bone flute discovered at the Gudenus cave near Krems (about 16,000-10,000 BCE). It is very similar to the bone-flute in figure 3. Cut #3 ("Die Jagd beginnt") features this flute unaccompanied by rattles or drums as on the other cuts. It sounds like a pipe or a whistle. The sound is monotone, and the volume increases or decreases by the airflow of the one blowing into the instrument. Another sample (and photograph--see page 20 of the illustrated booklet accompanying this acoustical guide) of this same bone-flute can be heard on the CD: "Klangfuhrer durch die Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente" (Wien: Kunsthistorisches Museum, 1993--cut #1). These are quite plausibly the kinds of sounds heard at the wake of the young girl in Matthew (9:23), though the Austrian research ensemble admits that the music they recorded is "not proven but just joyful speculation."

The "Aerophone" and the Funeral

The young girl on the verge of death (Mark 5:23//Luke 8:42) died before Jesus arrived in Mark (5:35) and Luke (8:49). In Matthew, she is already dead when the father comes to request a favor from Jesus (9:18). It seems clear that the Evangelists agree that Jesus is dealing with a very recently deceased young girl. How did the ancients determine death? Certainly not with contemporary scientific sophistication. And it would seem that they sometimes erred in their judgment. The Christianized ending of the Paraleipomina Ieremiou (4 Baruch 8:12-9:32; about 130 cm) described Jeremiah's death and immediate preparations by his disciples to bury him. But a voice cautioned them: "Do not bury one still living, for his soul is coming into his body again" (4 Baruch 9:11). Three days later Jeremiah's soul returned to his body, and he stood up to reveal what he had learned in the interim. At the end of his preaching, his enemies killed him. This "death" was final! While the Christian overtones are clear, the warning against mistakenly burying someone who is still alive suggests that such events did occur. Perhaps for this reason scholars such as Olshausen (389) have suggested that the girl was in a deep coma and not truly dead. After reporting Olhausen's hypothesis, Davies and Allison (131) caution that "such speculation can never be dismissed out of hand." They, of course, argue that the gospel evidence confirms that the girl indeed was dead. For the sake of exploring the significance of the sound made by the aerophone players, we shall consider both scenarios. Our interest is not in determining the facticity of the report (Level 1). Rather our interest is to appreciate how the original third generation audience might have heard and interpreted the evangelist's report (Level 3). In other words, our interest is to present scenarios that would be most appropriate for understanding and interpreting ancient documents like the Gospels (Malina: 3-23).

Scenario One: The Girl Is in a Coma.

Olshausen observes that the scientific medicine of his day distinguished syncope from asphyxia. Syncope is a partial or complete but temporary suspension of respiration and circulation due to cerebral ischemia. The result is sudden pallor, cold skin, and partial or complete loss of consciousness. It would surely look like death, but the condition is temporary. Asphyxia (similar to suffocation) is a lack of oxygen or excess of carbon dioxide in the human body that results in loss of consciousness. This condition is potentially more fatal than syncope. In Olshausen's judgment, the girl may have been in a deep faint (syncope). Contemporary scientific medicine recognizes many etiologies of syncope but categorizes them into cardiac, non-cardiac, and "unknown" groupings (Morag & Brenner).

From the perspective of contemporary neuroscience, the girl may have been in a very deep alternate state of consciousness (Pilch 2004). Significantly, Morag and Brenner include "other states of altered consciousness" in their discussion of syncope. Human beings are capable of more than thirty different levels of consciousness and readily shift from one to another throughout the day (and night). If she were presumed to be dead and the aerophone players were summoned to begin their role in the mourning services, they could have contributed with their sounds to lengthening the duration of her ASC, which can last as long as eight hours and longer (Pilch 2006b).

Some commentators observe that members of the Canaanite musical ensemble which led the band of prophets down from the shrine at Gibeath-elohim ("Hill of God" 1 Sam 10:5) were playing instruments that were capable of inducing and sustaining alternate states of consciousness: the harp, the tambourine, the flute [better: halil], and the lyre. These prophets were in an alternate state of consciousness (v 5) Saul, who was instructed by Samuel to meet these prophets and join them, also entered into an ecstatic state induced by the music as well as the "energy" of group trance (v 6; see Pilch 2004: 15-16; 2006b).

A similar story is reported in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas (1.5ff; 3rd century CE). The Apostle Thomas was sent by the Risen Lord to preach in India. After his arrival, he was swept up in a crowd going to attend the wedding of the king's only daughter. At the banquet, a flute girl was entertaining the guests but stayed a long time by Thomas. Her music threw him into an ecstatic state, and he began to sing. The crowd noticed that his appearance had changed. The crowd understood nothing since he sang in Hebrew. But the flute girl, a Hebrew also, understood, and loved him greatly.

It is important to remember that neither Saul nor Thomas heard a modern flute. They heard instead a reed instrument that produced a shrill, strident tone. Contemporary research by members of Cuyamungue: The Felicitas D. Goodman Anthropological Institute with similar sounds made by Peruvian "whistles" helps to appreciate what the ancients may have been hearing. These Peruvian clay figurine whistles are aerophones. Each is shaped like a miniature person with a round belly, hands folded over the belly. The air is blown into the instrument through a mouthpiece behind the figurine and emerges through an opening between the mouthpiece and the figurine. The whistles produce a shrill sound, but its quality depends on the force of air moving through the opening. The sound can be so shrill as to be intolerable, or the shrill quality can be soft enough to be pleasing and trance-inducing. This would seem to be the kind of sound reputed to have been heard from the ancient halil. It's not quite possible to play a melody on these Peruvian whistles (or on the bone flutes). One can only adjust the pitch of the sound (higher or lower). If too high, the sound will not induce trance. It disturbs the neurophysiological harmonies that induce and sustain trance. True, these whistles do not contain reeds, but they come close to replicating the ancient "reed" instruments as musicologists have described them.

On the other hand, the halil or aulos as a (double) reed instrument had sensuous associations in the ancient world (Westermyer: 22; Wilson-Dicksen: 19). Aristotle makes this interesting observation: "Among the modes, the Phrygian has the same power as the flute among instruments, for both are orgiastic and both heighten consciousness" (Aristotle, Politeia 8, 7, 1342b). In the mysteries, the reason for heightening consciousness with music was to prepare a person to be more receptive to union with God (Quasten: 36). Presuming the girl in a coma heard this music which sustained her ASC, she may well have stayed in it for a long time in union with God. If the assembled mourners shared in this ASC experience, that could add another interpretation to their mocking laugh at Jesus' comment that the girl is asleep and not dead. It may well be that they knew people often made mistakes about death (as noted above). While they acted as though she were dead, they knew from their own ASC experience that she might be united with God in trance, a temporary blessed and blissful state. Why should anybody disturb either possibility?

If the girl is not dead but in a deep alternate state of consciousness, the aerophone players help to sustain that state. The sound may also induce ASCs in others present in that place. An ASC can last as long as eight hours and longer. The mourners' wails and laments could enhance the effect of the aerophones. The totality of the environment is conducive to ASCs. Without having yet seen the girl but hearing the shrill noise even outside the house, Jesus says: "Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." While the majority of exegetes recognize that sleep and death are often used in the Bible synonymously, and that Jesus claims the girl is really dead (compare John 11:11-14), suppose he suspects she is in an ASC. Suppose that is what some of his contemporaries thought when they heard Jesus' statement. Or suppose that is the scenario constructed by third-generation believers when they heard the Synoptic reports, each of which contains his statement.

After the crowd is removed from the house, Jesus enters and takes the girl by the hand. He rouses her from her ASC, she returns to waking consciousness and gets up. Mark's note that Jesus orders some food be given to her (Mark 5:43) suggests that she might not have eaten for a while. Fasting is a common strategy for inducing an ASC experience. Olshausen thinks Jesus' deed here is no less significant than an actual "resurrection." He concludes with a "theological" reflection on the power of Jesus' voice (see John 5:25).

Scenario Two: The Girl Is Really Dead

The majority of exegetes interpret the Synoptic report to mean that the girl has really died. That requires a different scenario. Practically all exegetes who discuss Matthew's mention of the "flute" players at the dead girl's home point out that it was a part of the mourning ritual. Davies and Allison (130) list rabbinic references witnessing to the fact that this was part of yet not exclusive to the Israelite tradition. Lightfoot (172) offers a good translation of Mishna Kethubim 4.4: "Even the poorest among the Israelites [his wife being dead] will afford her not less than two pipes, and one woman to make lamentation." (Davies following Glueck substitutes "clarinets" for pipes in his quotation). Among the commentators consulted, only Meyer (202) explains that the "flutes" (and horns) were used because they produce "lugubrious" strains. Yet flutes were also used on joyous occasions (e.g., weddings) and surely not because of their "lugubrious" strains (Stahlin: 844, note 96). Here are some fresh insights from history, anthropology, musicology, and neuroscience that might help to understand the function these aerophones were expected to fulfill at funerals.

Life in the Afterlife.

The Polish exegete Maciej Munnich recently reviewed Israelite thinking about the after-life. He identified two basic concepts of the world in which the dead now resided. One posited Sheol as a gloomy and dark world where the decedent was entirely passive. This concept was strengthened by Yahwism and emergent monotheism. God was uninterested in Sheol and in the dead (see Psalm 30:9-10; Isa 38:18-19a; etc.). The Sadducees maintained this tradition. The second concept derived from Syro-Canaanite beliefs according to which those who died were active and knowledgeable in the afterlife. In Syria, survivors offered sacrifices to the dead, hoping both to please them and to gain favors or information from them. The Phoenicians put into the graves of their dead food, lamps, amulets, scarabs, and perfumes among other things. Rachel took the household gods not just to get even with Laban but to assure their continued protection in her new life (Gen 31:34). Thus the optimistic view of the world of the dead expects blessings from deceased relatives and believes they are enjoying a "happy" life. This concept characterized west Semitic culture. While "official" Judaism pushed this notion to the side, it remained very vibrant in folk traditions and beliefs. Eventually it gave birth to belief in a resurrection, a future and just reward for one's behavior. This concept characterized the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Christians.

One might argue that "folk" Judaism is reflected in this Synoptic episode about the dead girl. Certainly her father had strong faith that Jesus could make her live again. But even if she is now already in the realm of the dead, she is living an active and happy life. In this context, the function of aerophones and those who played them at wakes takes on new meaning.

Alternate States of Consciousness.

The mourners at the girl's wake were sunk deep into their grief (whether real or feigned). The sound of the aerophones could induce an alternate state of consciousness in the mourners whereby they might experience and communicate with the beloved deceased. Contemporary cross-cultural evidence indicates that such communication can take place for as long as ten years or longer after a person has died (Pilch 1998). In ASCs, those present at the girl's wake might have been in contact with her. This would make sense of the derisive laughter directed toward Jesus when he said she is not dead but asleep (Matt 9:24). Their ASC experience might have confirmed that the girl was already on her way to the land of the dead.

Yet another interpretation indicates that music would render the deceased tractable to the survivors. With music they could lead the spirit to the grave and the afterlife. The Bible offers no reflections on the notion of someone leading a "soul" to alternate reality, the realm of the dead. The apocryphal books, however, speak of holy people (e.g., Enoch, Isaiah) making journeys to alternate reality, the realm of God, often with the aid of spirit guides, e.g., angels. The anthropologist Felicitas Goodman identified strategies cross culturally that she described as "psychopomp" activities, that is, a kind of assistance survivors could give to the deceased to help them reach their new home (Goodman: 160-67). The later mystical tradition beginning with Origen but with roots in Platonism speaks of an anagogical reading of the Scriptures, that is, a reading that would help lead the believer back to God the source. It is at least remotely plausible that music at a wake was viewed as a means of helping the deceased to successfully complete the journey to a new home. The beliefs surrounding such practices include the conviction that the dead person might want to return to life.

Apotropaic Effects of Aerophones.

The ancients believed that at the moment of death, demons or evil spirits would try to thwart the deceased from journeying to alternate reality, the realm of the dead. The ancients also believed that demons did not like loud noises, hence humans used such noises to keep them away from certain events (Stahlin: 832). Horns (and presumably other aerophones as well), gongs, and bells were considered especially effective (Quasten: 15-16). The combined noise of aerophones and lamentation at the girl's wake would therefore ensure a safe passage to the world of the dead. She would not be subject to demonic attacks or interference along the way.

This also sheds light on the Israelite mourning period of seven days (Gen 50:10; 1 Sam 31:13; Sirach 22:12), which was divided into two periods: aninah, until the sealing of the grave (Matt 9:23) and abilah, for seven days after the sealing (John 11). Josephus exaggerates when he says Jerusalem mourned for his reputed death for thirty days (Wars 3.437). This was true of Aaron (Num 20:29), Moses (Deut 34:8), and kings. What is significant in Josephus's remark, however, is the presence of "hired flute-players" for that entire alleged period. Seven (or thirty?) days of non-stop music and wailing would assure that demons would be kept at bay, and that the decedent could make a safe and peaceful journey to the afterlife.

After-life Activity.

We already mentioned that the Israelite folk tradition deriving from Syro-Canaanite beliefs envisioned activities. Ancient sarcophagi give us some interesting clues about the kinds of activities the dead would enjoy. An Etruscan stele in the museum at Fiesole, Italy, shows the deceased at a meal for the dead in the upper panel. The middle panel shows a "flutist" followed by two dancing figures. The museum notes indicate that this is what the dead do in the afterlife: music and dancing refresh them (Quasten 1983: 154, also plate 32). More than that, it was believed that singing and instrumental music, playing, and dancing were what the dead were consigned to in the afterlife (Quasten: 156). Lucian of Samosata (about 170 CE) writes about a sky journey to the Isle of the Blessed: "Now and then one could also hear very clearly different sounds--not noisy, but such as would come from a banquet when a few people are playing the flute or the cithara" (Verae Historiae II, 5, 108). This is one explanation of the depictions on many sarcophagi of survivors giving musical instruments to their beloved departed. They will need them in the next life.

Conclusion

Music in the ancient world is a fascinating if still puzzling topic (Pilch 2006c). What were the flute players doing at the little girl's wake (Matt 9:23)? Surely they were part of the mourning process. Perhaps they were keeping evil spirits at bay so that they would not interfere with the process of death and transition to the afterlife. Perhaps they were leading the youngster to her eternal abode and her eternal occupation: making music. Perhaps they induced an ASC in the mourners who could retain some contact with their dearly beloved departed. Jesus' command that the flute-players depart was possibly a sign of his conviction that she was not really dead nor on her way to that realm. Conversely, as the majority of exegetes believe, Jesus' command indicated his resolve to snatch her from the realm of the dead and restore her to her family.

Works Cited

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Bagby, Benjamin. 2002. "Searching in Song for My Lost Germanic Ancestors." Early Music America 8: 24-29.

Bishop, Eric F. 1955. Jesus of Palestine: The Local Background to the Gospel Documents. London, UK: Lutterworth Press.

Davies, W D., & Dale Allison. 1991. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St.Mark. Edinburgh, UK: T&T Clark.

Dever, William G. 1995. Book Review of Gary D. Pratico. Nelson Glueck's 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh. A Reappraisal. American Schools of Oriental Research Archaeological Reports 3. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1993.

Gerson-Kiwi, E. 1956. "Musique. Les Instruments." Dictionnaire de la Bible Supplement. Paris: Letouzey et Ane. 5:1141-68.

Goodman, Felicitas D. 1990. Where the Spirits Ride the Wind: Trance Journeys and other Ecstatic Trance Experiences. Bloomington & Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.

Grout, Donald J., & Claude V. Palisca. 2001. A History of Western Music. Sixth Edition. New York, NY/London, UK: W. W. Norton & Co.

Haik-Vantoura, Suzanne. 1991. The Music of the Bible Revealed. Translated by Dennis Weber, edited by John Wheeler. Berkeley, CA: Bibal Press/San Francisco, CA: King David's Harp, Inc.

Hornbostel, Erich M., & Curt Sachs. 1961 [1914]. "Systematik der Musikinstrument." Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie. 45: 3-90, 553-90. Translated by A. Baines & K. Wachsmann as "A Classification of Musical Instruments." Galpin Society Journal 14: 3-29.

Jones, Ivor H. 1992. "Musical Instruments.' Anchor Bible Dictionary IV: 934-39.

Lightfoot, John. 1979. A Commentary on the NT from the Talmud and Hebraica. Vol. 2, Matthew-Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker House (reprinted from the 1859 edition of Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae).

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Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm. 1890. Critical and Exegetical Hand-Book to the Gospel of Matthew. Translated by Peter Christie, revised by F. Crombie & W. Stewart. New York, NY: Funk and Wagnalis.

Millar, James. 1903. "Music." Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by James Hastings. New York, NY: Scribner's. III: 456-62.

Morag, Rumm, M.D., & Barry Brenner, M.D. "Syncope." http://www.emedecine.com/emerg/topic876.

Munnich, Maciej. 2003. "Przemiany pierwotnych wierzen dotyczacych swiata umarlych w biblii hebrajskiej na tle wierzen bliskowschodnich" ("Transformations of Primitive Beliefs Concerning the World of the Dead in the Hebrew Bible Against the Background of the Near East Beliefs"). Roczniki Humanistyczne 51: 5-27.

Olshausen, Hermann. 1858. Biblical Commentary on the New Testament. Translated by A. C. Kendrick. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co.

Pilch, John J. 2006a. "A Window into the Biblical World: The Sound of the Flute." The Bible Today 44/1: 49-52.

2006b. "Music and Trance." Pp. 38-50 in Music and Altered States: Consciousness, Transcendence, Therapy and Addictions. Edited by David Aldridge & Jorg Facher. London, UK/Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

2006c. "Masters Corner: The Music of our Ancestors." GIA Quarterly 18:12-13 and 40.

2004. Visions and Healing in the Acts of the Apostles: How the Early Believers Experienced God. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press.

1998. "Appearances of the Risen Jesus in Cultural Context: Experiences of Alternate Reality." Biblical Theology Bulletin 28: 52-60.

Pratico, Gary D. 1985. "Nelson Glueck's 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A Reappraisal." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. No. 259. Pp. 1-32.

Quasten, Johannes. 1983. Music and Worship in Pagan & Christian Antiquity. Translated by Boniface Ramsey. Washington, DC: National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

Racy, A J. 2003. Making Music in the Arab World: The Culture and Artistry of Tarab. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Rochais, Gerard. 1981. Les recits de resurrections des morts dans le Nouveau Testament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sellers, Ovid. R. 1941. "Musical Instruments of Israel." The Biblical Archaeologist 4: 33-47.

Shull, Jonathan. 2006. "Locating the Past in the Present: Living Traditions and the Performance of Early Music." Ethnomusicology Forum 15:87-111.

Stahlin, Gustav. "Kopetos." Theological Dictionary of the New Testament 3:830-60.

Stephens, William H. 1987. The New Testament World in Pictures. Paula A. Savage, designer. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

Werner, Eric. 1980. "Jewish Music." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie. New York: Macmillan. Vol. 9: 614-45.

1962. "Musical Instruments." Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Abingdon. 3:469-76.

Westermeyer, Paul. 1998. Te Deum: The Church and Music. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.

Wilson-Dickson, Andrew. 1992. The Story of Christian Music. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress (1996 reprint of 1992 text).

Discography Illustrating "Flutes"

Klangfuhrer durch die Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente 1993. Wien: Kunsthistorisches Museum. Track 1.

Knochenklang--Palaolithisches Ensemble. 2000. Knochenklang: Klange aus der Steinzeit. Wien: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Track 3.

Music of the Nile Valley. n.d. New York: Lyrichord Disks, Inc. Notes and recordings by Alain Weber. Tracks 4 & 5.

John J. Pilch, Ph.D. (Marquette University) is Professorial Lecturer at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, since 1993, and Visiting Professor at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Hong Kong, SAR China. He is the author of many books and articles applying social scientific methods to the interpretation of the Bible, most recently Visions and Healing in Acts of the Apostles: How the Early Believers Experienced God (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2004) E-mail: [e-mail].