Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg Memorial Website
European Colonies on the Black Sea
Galleys

     "... we should recall the sophistication of Arab Byzantine culture in the tenth century: as well as the high frequency of cultural exchange that was often associated with conflicts between East and West. It therefore comes as no surprise that the earliest representations, dating from the tenth century, of plucked and bowed instruments in European art are Hispanic in origin and are to be found in the Mozarabic Beato de Liébana manuscripts (ca. 920-930) ..." The manuscript was entitled "Kitâbu ilni'l- musikî alâ vechi'l- hurûfât" ("The Book of the Science of Music with Notation") compiled by Moldavian musician Prince Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723). The Book of the Science of Music and the Sephardic and Armenian musical traditions, Jordi Savall, Berkeley, CA, Berkeley Festival and Exhibition of Early Music, June 2012.
     The musical piece you are hearing was composed by Dimitrie Cantemir using the original Turkish musical notation of Cantemir, for use of the Ottoman Court. It is felt that the music was popular dance music, and slowed down to obtain greater dignity, and is likely to have been performed between 1718 and 1730, known as the "Lâle devri ("era of the black tulips").

Although the paintings above depict Venetian galleys, the galleys used by the Genoese were effectively identical

The galleys moved very slowly, and if they had to transport slaves from the Keffe region of the Black Sea to the Bosphorus at the Dardanelles, and then to Alexandria, this would have taken a great deal of time. Often there were storms, which created further delays. Thus, a high mortality rate among the slaves would be expected.

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