04-13-2018, 05:15 AM
Good find, Jay. A couple of things come to mind. There was precious little social mixing between sexes in the Ancient Hebrew world. Men and women generally operated in parallel societies, even in small villages where everyone was related. Everyone got more done that way. It encouraged individuals to develop multiple talents, as well, because the experts were typically one's one gender. There were plenty of things that were available to both, but the segregation was not just by law; it reflects the tendencies we recognize from today's red-pill lore. Most of the Hebrew people simply preferred it that way.
The pace of life was a lot slower in the first place. There were days when the task at hand required hard work all day, but that came in pretty short bursts, typically at the various types of harvest and things like sheep-shearing. A week or two of exhausting labor, and then a day or two to celebrate as life slides back into a slower pace. Most of the year there was plenty of time for socializing and sharpening talents and skills that had more of a religious and social value.
A given village had groups of men and women who associated around certain crafts, such as the above mentioned dirges and victory celebrations. A few folks seemed capable of doing almost everything and anything, just as today, while most people picked out things that gave their lives meaning, a place in society.
I dare say their idea of musical "talent" would not likely coincide with ours all that much. Most of what we think of today as "Jewish music" is actually eastern European folk music, which also bears little resemblance to the ancient styles. Scholars admit they don't really know what ANE music sounded like; it's mostly guesswork. Chances are good typical Arabic music styles come closer, but there's no way to estimate how far things have drifted in 2000+ years.
The pace of life was a lot slower in the first place. There were days when the task at hand required hard work all day, but that came in pretty short bursts, typically at the various types of harvest and things like sheep-shearing. A week or two of exhausting labor, and then a day or two to celebrate as life slides back into a slower pace. Most of the year there was plenty of time for socializing and sharpening talents and skills that had more of a religious and social value.
A given village had groups of men and women who associated around certain crafts, such as the above mentioned dirges and victory celebrations. A few folks seemed capable of doing almost everything and anything, just as today, while most people picked out things that gave their lives meaning, a place in society.
I dare say their idea of musical "talent" would not likely coincide with ours all that much. Most of what we think of today as "Jewish music" is actually eastern European folk music, which also bears little resemblance to the ancient styles. Scholars admit they don't really know what ANE music sounded like; it's mostly guesswork. Chances are good typical Arabic music styles come closer, but there's no way to estimate how far things have drifted in 2000+ years.