Who Used War Drums? A black drummer boy in the Union Army Before
writing, there was the drum. A clay drum excavated in Moravia,
in central Europe, is dated 6,000 B.C.E. A drum found in Egypt,
4,000 B.C.E. A sculpture of a drum found in Sumeria, where
writing apparently began, is dated 3,000 B.C.E. A drum image on
a temple relief in India, maybe 2,000 B.C.E. The Bible contains
several references to drumming, such as Jepthah’s daughter
playing to welcome her father home from battle. An ancient Greek
vase shows women drumming and dancing. The Japanese "taiko" is
estimated to be well over 2,000 years old, and in recent
centuries could be found in Shinto and Buddhist shrines and
temples as an aid to chanting. Chinese and Korean drums may be
even older. Hollowed logs, their openings tightly covered with
animal skin, were made by many primitive societies. Some peoples
still make them this way. Their obvious use was as a musical
instrument. They were also used in ceremonies by shamans in
Central Asia, North America,