JEW'S HARP

jew's harp, or jew's trump (fr. _guimbarde_, o. fr. _trompe_, _gronde_; ger. _mundharmonica_, _maultrommel_, _brummeisen_; ital. _scaccia-pensieri_ or _spassa-pensiero_), a small musical instrument of percussion, known for centuries all over europe. "jew's trump" is the older name, and "trump" is still used in parts of great britain. attempts have been made to derive "jew's" from "jaws" or fr. _jeu_, but, though there is no apparent reason for associating the instrument with the jews, it is certain that "jew's" is the original form (see the _new english dictionary_ and c. b. mount in _notes and queries_ (oct. 23, 1897, p. 322). the instrument consists of a slender tongue of steel riveted at one end to the base of a pear-shaped steel loop; the other end of the tongue, left free and passing out between the two branches of the frame, terminates in a sharp bend at right angles, to enable the player to depress it by an elastic blow and thus set it vibrating while firmly pressing the branches of the frame against his teeth. the vibrations of the steel tongue produce a compound sound composed of a fundamental and its harmonics. by using the cavity of the mouth as a resonator, each harmonic in succession can be isolated and reinforced, giving the instrument the compass shown. the lower harmonics of the series cannot be obtained, owing to the limited capacity of the resonating cavity. the black notes on the stave show the scale which may be produced by using two harps, one tuned a fourth above the other. the player on the jew's harp, in order to isolate the harmonics, frames his mouth as though intending to pronounce the various vowels. at the beginning of the 19th century, when much energy and ingenuity were being expended in all countries upon the invention of new musical instruments, the _maultrommel_, re-christened _mundharmonica_ (the most rational of all its names), attracted attention in germany. heinrich scheibler devised an ingenious holder with a handle, to contain five jew's harps, all tuned to different notes; by holding one in each hand, a large compass, with duplicate notes, became available; he called this complex jew's harp _aura_[1] and with it played themes with variations, marches, scotch reels, &c. other virtuosi, such as eulenstein, a native of wurtemberg, achieved the same result by placing the variously tuned jew's harps upon the table in front of him, taking them up and setting them down as required. eulenstein created a sensation in london in 1827 by playing on no fewer than sixteen jew's harps. in 1828 sir charles wheatstone published an essay on the technique of the instrument in the _quarterly journal of science_. (k. s.) [illustration] footnote: [1] see _allg. musik. ztg._ (leipzig, 1816), p. 506, and beilage 5, where the construction of the instruments is described and illustrated and the system of notation shown in various pieces of music. jezebel (heb. _i-zebel_, perhaps an artificial form to suggest "un-exalted," a divine name or its equivalent would naturally be expected instead of the first syllable), wife of ahab, king of israel (1 kings xvi. 31), and mother of athaliah, in the bible. her father eth-baal (ithobal, jos., _contra ap._ i. 18) was king of tyre and priest of the goddess astarte. he had usurped the throne and was the first important phoenician king after hiram (see phoenicia). jezebel, a true daughter of a priest of astarte, showed herself hostile to the worship of yahweh, and to his prophets, whom she relentlessly pursued (1 kings xviii. 4-13; see elijah). she is represented as a woman of virile character, and became notorious for the part she took in the matter of naboth's vineyard. when the jezreelite[1] sheikh refused to sell the family inheritance to the king, jezebel treacherously caused him to be arrested on a charge of treason, and with the help of false witnesses he was found guilty and condemned to death. for this the prophet elijah pronounced a solemn curse upon ahab and jezebel, which was fulfilled when jehu, who was anointed king at elisha's instigation, killed the son jehoram, massacred all the family, and had jezebel destroyed (1 kings xxi.; 2 kings ix. 11-28). what is told of her comes from sources written under the influence of strong religious bias; among the exaggerations must be reckoned 1 kings xviii. 13, which is inconsistent with xix. 18 and xxii. 6. a literal interpretation of the reference to jezebel's idolatry (2 kings ix. 22) has made her name a byword for a false prophetess in rev. ii. 20. her name is often used in modern english as a synonym for an abandoned woman or one who paints her face. (s. a. c.) footnote: [1] according to another tradition naboth lived at samaria (xxi. 1 [lxx.], 18 seq.; cf. xxii. 38). a similar confusion regarding the king's home appears in 2 kings x. 11 compared with vv. 1, 17. jezreel (heb. "god sows"), the capital of the israelite monarchy under ahab, and the scene of stirring biblical events (1 sam. xxix. 1; 1 kings xxi.; 2 kings ix. 21-37). the name was also applied to the great plain (esdraelon) dominated by the city ("valley of jezreel," josh. xvii. 16, &c.). the site has never been lost, and the present village _zercin_ retains the name radically unchanged. in greek (e.g. judith) the name appears under the form [greek: esdraela]; it is _stradela_ in the _bordeaux pilgrim_, and to the crusaders the place was known as _parvum gerinum_. the modern stone village stands on a bare rocky knoll, 500 ft. above the broad northern valley, at the north extremity of a long ledge, terminating in steep cliffs, forming part of the chain of mt gilboa. the buildings are modern, but some scanty remains of rock-hewn wine presses and a few scattered sarcophagi mark the antiquity of the site. the view over the plains is fine and extensive. it is vain now to look for ahab's palace or naboth's vineyard. the fountain mentioned in 1 sam. xxix. 1 is perhaps the fine spring _'ain el meiyyita_, north of the village, a shallow pool of good water full of small fish, rising between black basalt boulders: or more probably the copious _'ain jalud_. a second city named jezreel lay in the hill country of judah, somewhere near hebron (josh. xv. 56). this was the native place of david's wife abinoam (1 sam. xxv. 43). see, for an excellent description of the scenery and history of the israelite jezreel, g. a. smith, _hist. geog._ xix.