THE ROLE OF TURKISH PERCUSSION IN THE HISTORY AND ...

The cymbal received its name from its shape. Karl Peinkofer takes thorough notice of
this in Handbook of Percussion Instruments by translating the word “cymbal” from the Greek
kýmbre, meaning cup or bowl. The German name Becken is synonymous with the German
word for a shallow bowl, as is the Italian piatti with the word for (dinner) plate.
Cymbals are of ancient origin as evidenced by two types of cymbals referred to in the
fifth verse of Psalm 150 in the Old Testament of The Holy Bible. “Praise Him upon the loud
cymbals (mesiltayim); praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals (selselim).” 6 Making
their way from the Middle East via the Roman Empire, cymbals have been found in the early
civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, Indonesia, and China. Their size and forms
varied from region to region, and include the small finger-type (also known today as antique
cymbals or crotales), the inverted-funnel type, and the flatter soup-plate type. The largest and
loudest cymbals were used historically as designations of war. Smaller cymbals were used in
the temples of worship and as ornaments of adornment. Each of these types of cymbals is
found in European history, but the inverted-funnel type of cymbal does not survive in the
present-day percussion family. 7
Cymbals (zil) were heavily used in the mehter beginning as early as the fourteenth
century. The modern history of cymbals began in the early seventeenth century when an
alchemist of Constantinople named Avedis discovered a still secret process to produce
cymbals with extraordinarily clear and powerful sound. He was given the name “Zildjian,”
6 nd
Ps. 105:5 KJB (King James Bible); The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2 ed., (2001), s.v.
“Cymbals.”
7 Gangware, The History and Use of Percussion Instruments in Orchestration, 113-116.
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