No one really knows what music sounded like in ancient Egypt, but we do know what some of their instruments used during that time looked like. A close look at some of the beautiful hieroglyphics found in the pyramids and in archeological ruins show that Egyptian musicians enjoyed playing harps, drums, hands drums and also used a unique rattle called a sistrum.

A sistrum is a hand-held percussion instrument, that was most often played by priestesses or the court musicians who entertained pharaohs and nobility. Instead of shaking it around like you might play maracas, the sistrum was moved back and forth and the rattles or jingles on the instrument would create a “swooshing” sound.

Can you make your own version? Yes! It’s easy… for a wooden sistrum you just need to find the right branch in the shape of a "Y", then add the wires plus the jingles to create your version of this ancient instrument.

Here are supplies needed for creating a wooden sistrum:

-A tree branch shaped like a “Y”
-Assorted buttons, jingle bells or metal washers
-A small amount of floral wire, jewelry wire, fishing twine or embroidery thread
-A wire-cutter

Thread different kinds of buttons, jingle bells or metal washers onto a small piece of floral wire or jewelry wire. [You can also use fishing twine or embroidery thread, but wire is better at keeping the bangles in place.] Tie or secure the wire in place on each side of the branch by twisting the wire securely around the branch (making sure no pointy parts are sticking out). 

Then try out your instrument. It should make a pleasing sound when “swooshed” from one side to another. Enjoy!

You can find almost 2 dozen multicultural music crafts on DARIA’s world music for kids site.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful craft with us Daria! –Mama Lisa

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

Here are some of the languages you can find links for…

Arabic, English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, Gaelic, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Maori, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh and Yiddish.

Check it out!

One, Two, Three, Shoot! is a choosing game.  A game to settle disagreements between two or more people. 

When I was a kid playing this game, we always played with two people.  It was a perfect game for deciding who would win an argument.  Kids would say, "Let’s shoot for it."  Then they’d play 1, 2,3 Shoot.  It’s similar to "Rock, Paper, Scissors".

One person would choose "Odds" and the other "Evens".  Each player puts their hand in a fist and they say together, "1, 2, 3 Shoot!". On "shoot" each player puts out either 1 or 2 fingers.  If the numbers on the kids fingers add up to an even number, then the one who chose "Evens" wins.  If the numbers on their fingers equals an odd number, the one who chose "Odds" wins.

You can play with either one round – where whoever wins the first round wins the game, or you can play 3 rounds and whoever wins 2 out of 3 rounds wins the game.

Variations of this game have been played since at least the time of the ancient Romans.  In Rome it was called micatio or digitis mieare. A game of chance, combined with skill, also played by two people.  Both would hold up their right hands with closed fists.  Then, at the same time they put out a certain number of their fingers, while calling out at the same time the total number of fingers on both players’ hands.  Whoever guesses the right number wins the game.

The figures in the pictures are from an Ancient Egyptian tomb showing two people playing a variation of this game!  In their version they can use both hands.

This game is also called Morra.

Feel free to share any versions of this game you know in the comments below.

Mama Lisa

Reference: A Dictionary of Roman and Greek Antiquities (1901) by Anthony Rich

The first podcast features Egyptian poets Mohamed Metwalli and Maged Zaher and Chinese poet Zhang Er. They compare Chinese and Arabic poetry to English poetry.

Zhang Er points out that Chinese poetry has no tense – so it has an eternal feeling to it. It has no plurals, no articles and no pronouns. Whereas English poetry is more static – it’s set in time.

Maged Zaher points out that the spoken Arabic language is different from the written language. He said the written Arabic language is more ornamental and rhetorical and that made his poetry more sentimental. To be free of this he writes his poetry in English.

Mohamed Metwalli said he writes in Arabic because that’s the language he dreams in. He speaks English and studied English literature growing up, so there is an influence of it on his poetry. He writes in a modern Arabic form that’s influenced by English.

You can listen to the 1st podcast here.

Click on the icon below to access the group. If you have a Facebook account already, you just need to click on “Join the Group” to join. If you’re not a member, you simply have to sign up for free to become a member and then you can join the Mama Lisa Group…

Looking forward to seeing you in Facebook!

Mama Lisa

“With the introduction of computers and text messages among Arabs, they write a lot of transliterations. They noticed that many Arabic letters were written with Latin letter compounds that made reading difficult. So they decided to create a new way of writing.

Example #1 : Instead of writing ‘Kh’ like Spanish ‘j’ or German ‘ch’ in ‘Bach’, we write the number 5. Graphically speaking, it looks like the letter خ. On top of that, Arabic number 5 is pronounced Khamsa. There’s the letter خ in this number.

Example #2 : Instead of writing ‘Ha’ (strong ‘h’) like Mohamed or Halal, we write number 7. Graphically speaking, it looks like the letter ح.

Example #3 : Formerly, the letter ‘K’ would transliterate both ك and ق, while it should transliterate only the letter ك. As to the letter ق, it’s presently replaced by the number 9. Graphically speaking, 9 looks like the letter ق. To pronounce it, the “k” sound must go out from the bottom of the throat, not from the top of it.

Example #4 : Formerly, the letter ‘A’ would transliterate the letter أ while it’s pronounced rather “eh” than “ah”. So number ‘2′ was adopted because graphically speaking, it looks like the symbol on the top of the letter أ, that is to say ء.

Example #5 : Formerly, the letter ‘T’ would transliterate both ت and ط, while it should only transliterate the letter ت. As for the letter ط it’s presently replaced by number 6 because graphically speaking, it looks like the letter ط. The letter ت is pronounced ‘t’ like in ‘tea’ (without the ‘explosion’ of English ‘t’ pronunciation) and the letter ط is pronounced ‘Ta’ (i.e. curving the soft palate upwards).

Example #6 : Instead of writing ‘Aa’ to transliterate the letter ع an ‘ah’ sound going out from the bottom of the throat, we write number 3 because it graphically looks like it.

Example #7 : The letter هـ (pronounced ‘h’) is replaced by number 8 because graphically speaking, it looks like the letter هـ.

Following those principles, we can show the transliteration of a specific children’s song from Tunisia. First you’ll see it in the Arabic text, then the transliteration, followed by an English translation…

Transliteration

3andi dbeyyib ya ma7le8 ya ma7le8
Gannooshoo 5ashmoo wate8 (x2)
Shoofoo shoofoo 3yoonoo (x2)
Barra9a min koth’r thke8.

All the R’s are rolled.”

English Translation

I have a nice soft Teddy Bear
His nose looks very fine
Look, look, his eyes,
Shining with intelligence.

Many thanks to Ilyes Bekri for contributing this song and to Monique Palomares for the English translation. Thanks also to Mourad Bendjennet for help with the song and such an interesting commentary about the new way to transliterate the Arabic language.

Come visit our Arabic Children’s Song Page for links to all of our Arabic kids songs.

You can also read this post about Arabic transliteration in French or Spanish.

Mama Lisa

Dear Mama Lisa!

I came across your website today after doing a Google search looking for children’s songs and lullabies from Morocco… Recently I just moved to Morocco, with my baby, and was interested in learning some songs.

I have picked up a few songs while I was here, and thought that I would share them with you. Unfortunately, I am not able to type in Arabic, so I will do my best transliteration. I hope you are able to use them! They are all sung in Morocco, although they may not all be from true Moroccan origin because of all the different cultural influences present in the country, as I know lots of Egyptian and French songs are popular here. Thank you and enjoy!

This one is a children’s song, the added (a) sound at the very end is if a girl sings since it is a language that uses different forms of words for different genders, without the (a) at the end is for boys.

Arso mo baba
Arso mo mama
bil alwan, bil alwan
Arso mo alami
Foq alqemami
Ana fanan(a)

I draw my father
I draw my mother
With all the colors, with all the colors
I draw a flag
Up on the cliff
I am an artist.

This song is a lullaby, and as far as I know is repeated over and over until the little one sleeps…

Endi baba wa endi mama
doma miyo
h’tah fil nom

I have my father, and I have my mother
Always with me
Even in sleep.

This one is a children’s song that makes use of animal sounds, so the mool is like a cow, the ma and ba’s are like sheep and goats, and the mia is like a cat, it is cute and one of my favorites!

Mool dar
Ma-lo
ba-ha
ba-shahal
mia-mia

The owner of the house
What’s with him
The house is for sale
How much is it
Hundreds and hundreds.

Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Jennie

If anyone can help with the original Arabic text of any of these songs, please email me. We’d also love to learn more about their origins. If you know anything about any of these songs, please let us know in the comments below.

Thanks to Jennie for sharing these lovely lullabies!

-Mama Lisa

The first class symbolizes financial prosperity. This type of food is round like coins. Often, the dish will be round beans, like lentils, that will expand when it cooks, symbolizing expanding fortunes. Another financial symbol is food with big green leaves, representing paper money. The green may also be for growth. Foods like this are cabbage, collard greens and kale. Golden colored foods are also good for financial rewards in the New Year.

The second type of New Years food symbol represents the hope of having food on the table throughout the year. Pork is one important symbol of eating well year round. It’s also a sign of prosperity. In the olden times, if your family had a pig, you were doing well!

In some countries, actually having food on your table and/or plates at the stroke of midnight is a sign that you’ll have food throughout the year.

A third symbol involves eating sweet food in order to have a sweet year. In some countries people bake a coin in a sweet cake and the person who gets the coin will have good luck throughout the year. In Spain, Portugal, and parts of South and Central America, 12 sweet grapes, one for each month of the year, are eaten at midnight. The hope is to eat 12 sweet grapes to have 12 sweet months!

Fish is thought to symbolize good luck in many countries.

Another symbol for good luck involves eating food in a ring shape – like doughnuts or ring shaped cakes. This represents coming full circle to successfully complete the year – that’s good luck.

In Japan, long Buckwheat Soba noodles symbolize long life. Just don’t break them while you’re eating them!

Here’s a list of some symbolic food types and the places where they’re eaten for the New Year. Feel free to let us know what’s eaten for New Years in your country, in the comments below.

Round Food (Like Coins for Monetary Luck)

Italy, Brazil & Germany (Lentils)
Germany (Pancakes)
Philippines (Round Fruit)
Southern US (Black-eyed Peas)

Green Leafy Vegetables (Like Paper Money for Monetary Luck)

Southern USA (Collard Greens & Turnips)
Denmark (Kale)
Germany (Sauerkraut)

Golden Food (Like Gold for Monetary Luck)

Southern USA (Corn Bread)

Pig (Symbol of Plentiful Food in the New Year)

Hungary (Roast suckling pig with a 4 leaf clover in its mouth)
Italy (Cotechino con lenticchie – pork sausage with lentils)
Germany (Kassler mit Sauerkraut – financial luck)
Pennsylvania Dutch (USA – Pork with Sauerkraut)
Austria
China

Food on the Table or Plate at Midnight (Symbol of Plentiful Food in the New Year)

Germany
Philippines

Sweets (Symbolic of a Sweet Year or Good Luck)

Hungary (Doughnuts)
Greece (Round cake called Vasilopita – made with a coin baked inside – whoever gets the coin is lucky throughout the year)
Israel (Jewish New Year – Apple dipped in honey & grapes)
India
Egypt (Candy for kids)
Korea (Sweet Fruits)
Norway (Rice Pudding with an almond inside – good luck to the one who gets the almond)

12 Grapes at Midnight (Symbolizing 12 Sweet Months)

Spain
Portugal
Mexico
Cuba
Ecuador
Peru

Ring Shaped Food (Good Luck)

Mexico (Rosca de Reyes – Luck)
Netherlands (Olie Bollen – Doughnut)

Fish (Symbol of Good Luck)

Germany (Herring & Carp)
Poland (Pickled Herring)
Denmark (Boiled Cod)
Italy (Dried Salted Cod)
Japan (Red Snapper – Pink is a lucky color)
Vietnam (Carp)
China
Sweden (Seafood Salad)

A Happy, Lucky and Prosperous New Year to All of You!

Mama Lisa

Many thanks to Ed Gawlinski for pointing out that they eat lentils in Italy for the New Year, which lead me on this long quest that resulted in this discussion!

UPDATE: You can read about symbolic food for the New Year in Iran on Mama Lisa’s World Blog.

Matt, a music teacher from Rhode Island, wrote a question to me, the other day, about Mama Lisa’s World:

Hey Mama,

I love the concept of your site. It’s been exciting to watch it grow. My only frustration is not being able to find either written (preferably) or audio music to accompany the lyrics. How do I find the tunes for all these great lyrics?

Matt
Music Teacher, Rhode Island, USA

Here’s what I wrote back, I’m sharing it with you, in case it helps you too…

Hey Matt,

Thanks for writing!

We’ve just added basic sheet music to a lot of songs on the Germany, France, Hungary, Spain and Mexico pages – plus many others.

We’re now in the process of converting the whole site to a database. We’re halfway through. Hopefully by the summer we’ll have a feature that will let you do a search on songs that have sheet music, midis or mp3’s. Midis play the tune of a song. MP3’s are recordings – usually of someone singing the song.

But for now, the songs on the countries that are in the database are working on a simple system. On the country pages they have symbols next to the song if they have special features. Here’s the key…

KEY TO SYMBOLS
– this song has sheet music
Midi – this song has a Midi tune
MP3 – this song has an MP3 recording
– this song has a Video recording

If there’s anything in particular you’re looking for, you’re welcome to ask – in case I know if we have it or not – I may be able to guide you to the right place to find what you’re looking for.

And, of course, we’re always looking for more sheet music, midi’s and mp3’s, so if you’d like to contribute any from your culture, we’d be thrilled!

I hope this helps!

Mama Lisa

When you consider how many languages there are in those cultures – that’s a lot of information! In order to make it easier to access all of the songs, we are in the process of converting the sites to a database. The database allow our visitors to search for songs on the site by language, by songs with sheet music, recordings, etc.

While we’re putting the songs into the database, we’re trying to obtain as much information as possible about each song. So if we can find the tune, we’ll include a midi tune and sheet music. If we find a recording of the song on the internet, we’ll provide a link to the recording. Sometimes we’ll make a recording ourselves. Anything we can do to help you know everything possible about that song.

If you happen to see any songs on the site that are missing a tune or recording and you know it, we’d be very pleased if you could help us get the tune. We’re able to make midis from sheet music, if that’s what you can send. We’re also happy to post recordings if you’d like to sing the song, play it on an instrument, or even hum it. Really, anything to help others get an idea how to sing or play the song.

Once the database is complete Mama Lisa’s World will have 98 countries and cultures and over 850 songs. How great is that!

-Lisa

UPDATE: The Database is now complete! We have 100 countries and cultures. We’re now working on a Spanish version of Mama Lisa’s World which will feature children’s songs, folks songs and nursery rhymes from around the world with Spanish translations.