Ancient sounds heard in Liverpool Cathedral

Mar 24 2008

IT IS reckoned to be the earliest stringed instrument ever discovered and is the forerunner of the modern guitar.

Now an exact, playable replica of the 4,500-year-old Gold Lyre of Ur can be seen and heard for one morning only at Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral.

It has been painstakingly made from scratch, with genuine materials such as wood from Iraq, after the original was looted and badly damaged in the ransacking of Baghdad’s museum of antiquities following the US-led invasion five years ago.

The authentic cedar wood was donated by Muslim Aid in Baghdad to the artists and craftsmen working on the project, and brought to the UK by the RAF.

The recreated instrument – similar to a modern harp – also has a strong Merseyside connection, as some of the work was done by Lairdside Laser Engineering Centre, part of the University of Liverpool.

The whole five-year project was masterminded by Andy Lowings, himself a harp player and a civil engineering graduate from Liverpool, who has taken the instrument to several countries around the world.

It was originally due to be heard at the cathedral for the gala dinner of the Classical Association’s annual conference, which takes place in Liverpool from Thursday (mar27).

However, it was then decided that it should stay an extra day to allow members of the public to hear the unique sound made by the instrument.

The original lyre of Ur predates the construction of the Pyramids and even Stonehenge.

Mr Lowings said: “Everything about it is, as far as possible, exactly the same as the original, including the wood, stone, and bitumen. It is also covered in gold worth $25,000.

“It sounds spooky, primitive. The gold bull on the front was regarded as highly iconic and revered as a god. It’s a rather mysterious story that we tell: the original instrument was found in a grave dating from 2550BC in Iraq, along with 60 or so female attendants who’d all committed suicide with it. The story of when it was last played is traumatic. The last player still had her hand over the instrument.

“It gets its name because the underground chamber where the instrument was found is 50ft down in the ground in Ur – which was also the birthplace of Abraham – 200 miles south of Baghdad.

“The original one is now in bits. The replica has taken up five years of my life and is indicative of the importance of reconstructing something that was of significance to both Iraq and musicians.” “It also brought together four very different groups to work on the project - the UK-based artists and craftsmen, Muslim Aid, the Iraqi community, and the coalition forces.

“It’s a wonderful example of how art and music can do things that politics can’t.

“So far it has been taken to Brussels, Cairo, Israel and the British Museum, and I’m thrilled to be bringing it to and playing it in Liverpool.”

Eryl Parry, director of hospitality at Liverpool cathedral, said: “This is one of those magical things that ought to happen in Capital of Culture year. In the magnificent setting of the cathedral, it will go down a storm.”

The Golden Lyre of Ur will be on display at the cathedral on the morning of Saturday, March 29, and can be heard from 11.30am to noon.

alanweston@dailypost.co.uk

FACTS

In 1929 archaeologists discovered old graves in the City of Ur during excavations between Baghdad and Basra in Iraq.

It appeared that these were Royal graves, from a time around 4,500 years ago, and were the result of a mass suicide.

Tens of bodies lay, as if asleep, dressed in similar costumes, and identical jewellery. In a corner of one of the graves lay a pile of very deteriorated musical instruments, three lyres and a harp.

These instruments, or what remained of them were restored and distributed between the museums that took part in the digs. The finest of them was given to the Baghdad Museum and is called The Gold Lyre of Ur.

In April 2003, the millennia old lyre was damaged by looters and found in the car park of the museum, broken in pieces and stripped of its silver and pure gold sheet covering.

The Bull’s Head was later found in the National Bank of Iraq.