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Music of Mesopotamia

Music was ubiquitous throughout Mesopotamian history, playing important roles in both religious and secular contexts. Mesopotamia is of particular interest to scholars because evidence from the region—which includes artifacts, artistic depictions, and written records—places it among the earliest well-documented cultures in the history of music. The discovery of a bone wind instrument dating to the 5th millennium BCE provides the earliest evidence of music culture in Mesopotamia; depictions of music and musicians appear in the 4th millennium BCE; and later, in the city of Uruk, the pictograms for ‘harp’ and ‘musician’ are present among the earliest known examples of writing.

Music played a central role in Mesopotamian religion and some instruments themselves were regarded as minor deities and given proper names, such as Ninigizibara. Its use in secular occasions included festivals, warfare, and funerals—among all classes of society. Mesopotamians sang and played percussion, wind, and string instruments, and instructions for playing them have been discovered on clay tablets. Surviving artifacts include the oldest known string instruments, the Lyres of Ur, which includes the Bull Headed Lyre of Ur.

There are several surviving works of written music; the Hurrian songs, particularly the "Hymn to Nikkal", represent the oldest known substantially complete notated music. Modern scholars have attempted to recreate the melodies from these works, although there is no consensus on exactly how the music would have sounded. The Mesopotamians had an elaborate system of music theory and some level of music education. Music in Mesopotamia influenced, and was influenced by, music in neighboring cultures of antiquity based in Egypt, East and West Africa, and the Mediterranean coast.

Much of what researchers know about Mesopotamian music comes from clay tablets. Scribes would use a reed stylus to make wedge-shaped impressions in wet clay, and the tablets would be baked. Using this cuneiform script, they recorded texts that listed genres and song titles, included instructions on how to play instruments, and articulated their music theory. By piecing together thousands of surviving tablets, as well as examining surviving artworks and instruments, researchers have been able to offer a detailed picture of Mesopotamian music culture.

Religious

Music played a central role in ancient Mesopotamian religion. In the Old Babylonian period (c. 1894 BCE – c. 1595 BCE), when music was performed as part of a religious ceremony, the practitioners, known in Sumerian as gala priests, sang in a dialect of Sumerian called Emesal. There were two types of Emesal prayers, the Balag and the Ershemma, named after the instruments used in their performance (the balag and shem, respectively). In some depictions of religious festivals, musicians were accompanied by dancers, jugglers, and acrobats.

Evidence from the city of Mari offers a picture of how the musicians were situated within the temple. An instrument called Ninigizibara was placed opposite a statue of that city's deity, Eštar. Singers sat to the right of the instrument, an orchestra sat to its left, and female musicians stood behind the instrument. Ritual acts were performed during these sung lamentation prayers, whose purpose was to persuade the local deity not to abandon the city. Moreover, some laments included grief over the loss of music itself during the destruction of a city and its temple. In one such work, the "weeping goddess" Ninisinna laments the destruction of her city, Isin, not only bemoaning the loss of food, drink, and luxury, but also because there were “no sweet-sounding musical instruments such as the lyre, drum, tambourine, and reed pipe; no comforting songs and soothing words from the temple singers and priests.”

Some rituals involved the instruments themselves, deified, and capable of receiving animal sacrifices as gods. In a ritual closely associated with a drum described in an Akkadian text, a bull was brought to the temple and offerings were made to Ea, god of music and wisdom. Various parts of the bull were burned with a torch during the ritual. Twelve linens were placed on the ground, and a bronze image of a god was placed on top of each linen. Sacrifices were made and a drum was put into place. The bronze images were then put inside the drum, incantations were whispered into the bull's ears, a hymn was sung accompanied by an oboe, and the bull was sacrificed.

Secular
The Akkadian word for music, nigūtu, also meant ‘joy’ and ‘merriment’, well illustrated by a seal in the Louvre showing a peaceful scene of a shepherd playing a flute to his flock. Music was a normal part of social life in Mesopotamia and was used in many secular contexts. Music played important roles at funerals, among royalty, and was also depicted in relation to sports and sex. Mesopotamian love songs, which represented a distinct genre of music, nevertheless shared features in common with religious music. Inana and Dumuzi, often featured in laments, are also prominent as the divine lovers in romantic songs, and both genres used Emesal, a dialect associated with women. The use of Emesal by women singers extended into wedding songs as well, but over time these singing roles were taken over by male performers, at least among the elite. In the Early Dynastic III period, music was depicted at banquets, but the purpose is unclear. The celebration may have been “a regular calendrical event, such as the New Year’s festival” or the occasions may have been “extensions of temple practices or celebrations of successful military campaigns.”

As in neighboring cultures, Mesopotamian music played an important role in the military. While the musical instruments of war varied from culture to culture, the intention of the music was the same — to “carry terror to the hearts of the foe.” Martens writes:

Musicologist J. Peter Burkholder lists genres of secular music including "work songs, nursery songs, dance music, tavern music, music for entertaining at feasts, and epics sung with instrumental accompaniment." Vibrant wall paintings illustrate dancing, and several genres of dance can be distinguished on wall reliefs, cylinder seals, and painted pottery; depictions of musical instruments accompany them. Secular music was comforting to the Mesopotamian people: one incantation tells of a homesick scribe who was stuck and ill in Elam-Anšan; he longed “to be healed by the music of the horizontal harp with seven strings.”

Education
As in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamian schools taught music. Active by the 3rd millennium BCE, these schools—known in Sumerian as edubbas—were chiefly for educating scribes and priests. Extant clay tablets often record information on student activities in edubbas, and indicate that their examinations included questions on differentiating and identifying instruments, singing technique, and analyzing compositions. Other tablets include information on how to play musical instruments. Sumerian texts indicate that choral training occurred by 3000 BCE in the temple of Ningarsu in Lagash; choral performances developed into highly complex responsorial chanting with instrumental parts, which the musicologist Charles Plummeridge notes "must have required expert tuition and direction."

In the 18th century BCE, a nascent music school existed in Mari, where young musicians may have been purposefully blinded. The fact that Mesopotamians connected blindness with musicianship is expressed in literature. Gabbay writes: “In the Sumerian myth Enki and Ninmah, the goddess Ninmah creates various human creatures, and their destiny is then fixed by the god Enki. When Ninmah creates a blind person, Enki allots him the “art of the musician.”” Texts reveal that a disproportionate number of Mesopotamian musicians were blind.

Outside of the classroom, music was taught through one-on-one apprenticeship. Both male and female musicians were trained, some of whom lived with their teachers. Contracts for training were either official, as among royalty, or in a private agreement between two families; music was also passed down within a family. Among the elite class, children received a comprehensive education in reading, writing, religion, the sciences, law, and medicine, among other topics; whether music was included is largely uncertain. Some evidence suggests that Mesopotamians had toy instruments.

Societal role
Sumerian and Akkadian language texts provide insight into the role of musicians in society. Two distinct types of musicians are known, the gala and the nar. Both classes of musicians were highly regarded, and associated with religion and royalty, but their roles differed. The gala (Akkadian: kalû) musician was closely associated with temple rituals; it has been suggested by the musicologist Piotr Michalowski that their job was "normally less glamorous and perhaps temporary". Musical instruments associated with the gala priests include a small drum (Sumerian: ub, Akkadian: appu), a timpani (Sumerian: lilis), and a sistrum or cymbals (Sumerian: meze), although not much is known about these instruments. There are hundreds of individual named musicians, such as the gala musician Ur-Utu, who are known from administrative documents. In some cases, archaeological findings have identified the homes and family histories of these musicians, revealing their high status in society. Gala musicians were associated with the god Enki.

The nar (Akkadian: nāru) musician, who had a close association with royalty, was known to play and transport musical instruments and to have a close correspondence with the king. The chief musician of the palace directed musical performances and also taught apprentice musicians. In the royal harem, which included the king's wives, concubines, children, and servants, the king also kept young apprentice musicians. The possession of musicians was a sign of status, and musicians were traded over long distances, including as diplomatic gifts and in war. When the Assyrian military conquered a city, they would spare the musicians and send them to Nineveh with the spoils. An epic tale called “The Death of Gilgamesh” details how Gilgamesh offered gifts to the gods on behalf of his wives and children, but also on behalf of his musicians. Musicians sometimes accompanied royalty to their graves. In the Royal Cemetery at Ur, archaeologist Leonard Woolley found a girl musician lying down, harp in hand, inside the tomb of Queen Puabi.

The gender of ancient Mesopotamian musicians is debated. Some sources indicate that gala priests, for example, were either genderfluid or regarded as a third gender. Gabbay writes, "The term Gala/kalû should be understood as a general concept, relating to a third gender which shares features of both female and male, but which is an independent gender category." Other sources suggest they may have been homosexual or intersex. Still, other texts, including music instruction texts, differentiate between male and female apprentice musicians. Some of the ambiguity surrounding the gala's gender could be explained by the history of lamentation prayers, which may have originated with the funerary laments of women. The earliest documented gala performance was in the context of a funeral, with women lamenters accompanying the gala in the mourning. These origins may explain why female characteristics, and the dialect associated with women, Emesal, have long been associated with the gala and temple prayers.

Specific personalities
Shulgi of Ur, who ruled c. 2094 – c. 2046 BCE during the Third Dynasty of Ur, was a generous patron of the arts, especially music. In self-laudatory texts, he professed to be an expert musician, claiming that the zeal with which he studied it prevented it from being too difficult. He listed numerous instruments he claimed to have mastered: the algar, the sabîtum, the mirîtum, the urzababîtum, the harhar, the “Great Lion,” the dìm, and the magur; he also claimed to have mastered the art of composition of genres such as the tigi and the adab. Shulgi seemed to enjoy playing all instruments except the reed pipe, which he believed brought sadness to the spirit, whereas music should bring joy and cheer. Shulgi generously funded Sumer's two major edubbas, those of Ur and Nippur; in return, Sumerian poets composed hymns of glorification in his honor.

The best-known musician of the Third Dynasty of Ur period, Dada, was a wealthy individual who held the title of gala. His career began during the reign of Shulgi, and it seems that he was a special kind of gala who acted as the gala of the royal court or even of the state, and was in charge of other galas. Dada organized musical events, looking after both the instruments and related entertainment, including handling a bear cub. He and his family owned residences in both Girsu and Ur, and two of Dada's children, Hedut-Amar-Sin and Šu-Sin-migir-Eštar, entertained the king with their own music. Dada's main assistant, or perhaps star performer, was a nar musician named Ur-Ningublaga. While Dada's story offers a glimpse into the life of a Mesopotamian musician, it is likely that he was an exceptional example, and that most gala musicians would have held more mundane roles.

Among the earliest known composers in the history of music was an Akkadian priestess, Enheduanna, active around 2300 BCE. The daughter of Sargon of Akkad, founder of the Akkadian Empire, Enheduanna was simultaneously a princess, priestess, and poetess who wrote a cycle of hymns to the temples of Sumer and Akkad, including devotional hymns for the gods Sin and Inanna, the texts for which survive. Her work was prolific and also well documented; as many as fifty copies of some of her hymnal works have survived, but none of her music. She authored nin-me-sar-ra, a short (153 line) poem in which she may allude to her own songwriting at a critical moment in the work. She is the likely author of a hymn entitled the ‘Myth of Inanna and Ebih’ (in-nin me-huš-a). Some of her works had themes related to her father's accomplishments, while others are autobiographical—she speaks in the first person at least once. Her poems were quite popular in Babylon and her hymnal organization likely influenced many generations of composers. She is referred to by name in a hymn to Dumuzi, attesting to her popularity in the region.

Instruments

Instruments of ancient Mesopotamia include harps, lyres, lutes, reed pipes, and drums. While much is known about Mesopotamian instruments, musicologist Carl Engel points out that because the main depictions of musical instruments come from reliefs celebrating royal and religious events, it is likely that there are many instruments, perhaps popular ones, that scholars are unaware of.

Divinity of instruments
Musical instruments were intimately associated with Mesopotamian religion, and some were regarded as minor gods: intermediaries that could help the priest communicate with a major god. Clear evidence for the divinity of musical instruments comes from the Sumerian language. Determinatives, or unvocalized logograms that show the category of a noun, inform the reader whether the object in question is, for example, made of wood (, giš), is a person (, lú), or is a building (, é). The proper names of certain Mesopotamian musical instruments are always accompanied by the divine determinative (, dingir) used for gods. Furthermore, these instruments’ names appear in written lists of gods. Franklin writes, "These were not symbols of the gods, but instantiations of some sort […] divinized cult-objects were gods." The Mesopotamians made various offerings to these instruments, such as animal sacrifices, spices, and jewelry.

This was especially true of an instrument known as a balag, whose identity is disputed but which may have been a string instrument or a drum. During his reign in Lagash (c. 2100 BCE), Gudea commissioned balags such as 'Great Dragon of the Land' (Ušumgal-kalama) and 'Lady as Exalted as Heaven', and some calendar years were named for the balag that was deified and dedicated. Several balags are known to have been minor gods related to the sun-god Utu, associated with law and justice, including ‘Let me live by His Word’, ‘Just Judge’, and ‘Decision of Sky and Earth’. Other named instrument-gods include Nin-an-da-gal-ki and the ‘Red-Eyed Lord’ (Lugal-igi-ḫuš). Furthermore, some kings inserted their names into the proper name of the instrument; Ishbi-Erra, during the Isin dynasty, dedicated a deified balag named 'Ishbi-Erra trusts in Enlil', suggesting that this instrument was “an intermediary between the earthly king and his divine counterpart.” During the rituals associated with these balags, the lines between priest, musician, instrument, god, and king were blurred, and within this context, the Mesopotamians believed the balag played itself. Franklin writes:

Voice
Contracts for the employment of musicians in temples survive and reveal that a large number of singers were used in the ritual performances. While the exact nature of these performances may never be known, musicologist Peter van der Merwe speculates that the vocal tone or timbre was probably similar to the "pungently nasal sound" of the narrow-bore reed pipes. He suggests that ancient Mesopotamian singing included trills, mordents, glides and microtonal inflections associated with a nasal timbre; Mesopotamian singers also made use of the drone. Reliefs carved in stone show that singers would sometimes squeeze their larynx with their fingers in order to achieve high notes. Researchers also know that choral singing was sometimes done in unison and at other times in parts; Geshtinanna was the goddess of singing in unison.

Percussion
Percussive instruments in ancient Mesopotamia included clappers, scrapers, rattles, sistra, cymbals, bells, and drums. A scraper consisted of a stick and an object with notches cut in it, while rattles were made of gourds or other materials and contained pebbles or clay objects that produced the rattling sound when shaken. A Mesopotamian sistrum consisted of a handle, a frame, and cross bars that jingled. Cymbals were small but heavy, with some shaped like plates and others like cups, and some were made of bronze.

Mesopotamian art depicts at least four types of drums: a shallow drum, which a Sumerian relief dating to 2100 BCE depicts as an estimated 1.7 m across, and which required two men to play; a small cylindrical drum held horizontally; a large footed drum; and a small drum with one head, carried vertically. Sumerian drums were made of metal rather than wood and were played with the hands rather than with sticks. The skin of the Babylonian drum was made from bull hide, and the placement of the skin over the sacred instrument was itself the subject of a ritual at the Temple of Ea.

Wind
Almost no wind instruments survive, but there is ample evidence of their use in artistic depictions and literature. Wind instruments included flutes, oboes, horns, and pan-pipes, made of wood, animal horn, bone, metal, and reed. A short horn instrument used by the Hittites was a precursor to the Jewish shofar. The reed pipe was played on sad occasions, such as funerals.

Two silver pipes dating to 2800 BCE were discovered in Ur. Both pipes are 24 cm in length. One has four finger holes and the other has three; when placed next to each other, three of the finger holes from each pipe are aligned. While scholars agree this was a reeded instrument, it's unclear whether it was a single or double reed, and some scholars claim that ancient Mesopotamians did not have a single-reeded instrument such as a clarinet. These silver pipes are the oldest known wind instrument, predating a set of Egyptian reed pipes by five hundred years. Similar pipes made of gold, silver, and bronze are described in texts from the same city.

The word “flute” (Akkadian: embūbu) appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the earliest surviving literary work from Mesopotamia. The text describes “A flute of carnelian”. There are numerous depictions of flutes in visual art throughout Mesopotamian history, including a woman playing a flute on a Sumerian shell ornament from Nippur dating to 2600–2500 BCE, a flautist on an Akkadian cylinder seal dating to 2400–2200 BCE, an ivory box from Nimrud dating to 900–700 BCE, and in a bas relief from Nineveh dating to 645 BCE.

String
String instruments included harps, lyres, lutes, and psalteries. The Mesopotamian harp originated from the warrior's bow, perhaps by the addition of a gourd as a resonator, and became the ancestor to the lyre and other stringed instruments. Strings may have been made with catgut, as was done by the Egyptians, or with silk. Plucked instruments came in many varieties, differing in the manner in which they were intended to be held. The psaltery, whose strings are parallel to the soundbox and stretched across its full length, first appears in the 8th century BCE on a Phoenecian ivory piece (British Museum). This instrument is sometimes called the ‘dulcimer’ when struck or the ‘psaltery’ when plucked. When used by royalty or as part of a religious ceremony, string instruments were adorned with precious metals and stones, such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and mother of pearl.

The body of the lyre (Sumerian: zami, Babylonian: sammu, Hittite: zinar) was a representation of an animal's body, such as a cow, bull, calf, donkey, or stag. Archaeologist Leonard Woolley suggested that the animal head depicted on the front of the lyre indicated the instrument's register. For example, a bull-headed lyre would be in the bass register, a cow-headed lyre would be a tenor, and a calf-headed lyre would be an alto. The legs of the instrument were meant to represent animal legs, with the rear post as the tail. The instrument was played either in place with its legs on the ground, or as part of a procession, carried over the shoulder with a strap.

The oldest pictorial record of lute playing is on an Uruk-period cylinder seal (British Museum) dating to 3100 BCE that depicts a female figure with a long-necked instrument sitting at the back of a boat in a musician's posture. Two seals in the British Museum from the Agade period (c. 2340 BCE – c. 2198 BCE) depict lutenists playing their instruments in the presence of Ea. Later representations appear after the Third Dynasty of Ur, including a relief from Larsa (Louvre) showing a sexual scene involving two participants, a lute, and a small drum; a relief from Mari (Iraq Museum) depicting bow-legged figures playing three-stringed lutes while apes watch; a relief from Nippur (Philadelphia Museum) showing a shepherd playing a lute; a relief from Nippur (Iraq Museum) showing a figure holding a lute in the right hand and a plectrum in the left; a relief from Uruk (Vorderasiatisches Museum) showing a lute being played alongside a lyre; and a Kassite seal (Louvre) showing the same. A comparison of these depictions reveals that lutes were held in different postures during different time periods, possibly affecting the range of the instrument.

Surviving instruments
Although musicians and musical instruments were depicted in Mesopotamian art in various forms over a 3,000 year period, very few of the instruments themselves have survived. Only eleven stringed instruments have been recovered, nine lyres and two harps, all from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. These Lyres of Ur include the "Gold Lyre" (Iraq Museum) and the "Bull Headed Lyre" (Penn Museum).

The Gold Lyre of Ur now held in the Iraq Museum is a partial reconstruction; the original was destroyed in the looting that followed the US invasion of Baghdad during the second Iraq War. Musicologist Samuel Dorf details the event:

The destruction of these antiquities during the war sparked widespread international condemnation. In a 2016 event held in London's Trafalgar Square meant to condemn ISIS and the looting, singer/composer Stef Conner and harpist Mark Hamer performed with a replica of the lyre, recreated by harpist Andy Lowings. The lyre was built of authentic wood, and adorned with lapis lazuli, other precious stones, and $13,000 worth of 24k gold. They played a musical interpretation of The Epic of Gilgamesh from their 2014 album The Flood.

At Ur, an especially ornate harp was found in the grave of Queen Puabi. Whereas the largest of the lyres had a register similar to a modern bass viol, and the smaller silver lyre had a register like a cello, Puabi's harp fell in the register of a small guitar. UC Berkeley professor Robert R. Brown made three playable replicas of Puabi's harp, one of which is held in the British Museum. Musicologist Claire Polin describes the richly adorned instrument:

Other instruments discovered at the cemetery include a pair of silver pipes, as well as drums, sistra, and cymbals. In earlier findings dating to the 5th millennium BCE, two bone wind instruments have been recovered, one complete and the other in fragments. Also recovered is a fragment of a clay whistle from Uruk dating to c. 3200 BCE. Two pairs of copper clappers from Kish are in the Oriental Institute, and there are two scraper instruments dating to 1500 BCE in the Teheran Archaeological Museum. There is a large, elaborately decorated Assyrian bell in the Berlin Museum. At one time there was a bone whistle recovered from Nimrud, which produced three distinct pitches, but it was subsequently lost.

Works of music

The most famous surviving works of music are the Hurrian Hymns, a collection of music inscribed in cuneiform on clay tablets excavated from the ancient city of Ugarit, modern-day Syria, dating to approximately 1400 BCE. Hurrian Hymn No. 6, the "Hymn to Nikkal", is considered to be the oldest surviving substantially complete written music in the world. At least five interpretations of this tablet have been made in an attempt to reconstruct the music, notably by Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin, Raoul Vitale, and others. Experts agree on some points, for example, the name of each string of the instrument, its intervals, and its tuning. Nevertheless, each interpretation yields different music. In 2009 Syrian composer Malek Jandali released an album, Echoes from Ugarit, which contains an interpretation of Hurrian Hymn No. 6 on piano accompanied by a full orchestra.

The Hurrian hymns were authored by four composers from Ugarit: Tapšihuni, Puhiya(na), Urhiya, and Ammiya, and were recorded by two scribes, Ammurabi and Ipšali. To notate the music, the scribes used cuneiform, including both words and numerals from the script. The tablets were divided by a double horizontal line; the song’s words were written above the lines and the musical notation was written below. The music notation consists of a musical term followed by a numeral. While the musical terms are better understood, including the Hurrian words sa ('string'), ašhu ('upper'), and turi ('lower'), the numerals are more mysterious. It is unclear whether the numeral is meant to represent a tone in the scale, the number of times to repeat a note, or something else.

Although the music for most hymns is lost, their surviving texts provide insight as to how the compositions were organized. These compositions, according to Assyriologist Samuel Noah Kramer, show "a rich variety in both content and structure", and fall into two groups, hymns for the king, and hymns for gods. Kramer details some elements of hymnal organization:

Furthermore, an Akkadian language tablet from Assur contains a catalog of song titles organized by genre, including workmen's songs, shepherds’ songs, love songs, and songs of youth, although the melodies are lost. Nevertheless, Mesopotamian views of love, sex, and marriage can be inferred from some love songs. In two surviving examples, love songs related to a wedding between a priestess and a king “ring out with passionate love and sexual ecstacy”. Kramer infers from the surviving words that some marriages were motivated by sex and love, rather than practical considerations, and relates this fact to a Sumerian proverb: “Marry a wife according to your choice!”

Music theory
A corpus of thousands of surviving clay tablets provides details about ancient Mesopotamian music theory. While some relate to tuning, others relate to musical scales. Mesopotamian art also provides information; the musicologist Curt Sachs describes a relief that depicts the Elamite court orchestra as it welcomes the Assyrian conqueror in 650 BCE: "Its seven harpists are identically depicted, except that they are plucking different strings. As the style is realistic, indeed almost photographic, this cannot be accidental; that variety in that one point cannot be explained by any consideration for design. Each harpist plucks two strings, but the only strings plucked are the fifth, eighth, tenth, fifteenth, and eighteenth of the set. If the instruments, as it is likely to suppose, were tuned to a pentatonic scale – say on C, without half-tones – the plucked notes were A, e, a, e', a', e', that is, a fifth chord orchestrated in the modern way, the two notes being distributed among the seven players in different combinations, as double octave, octave, unison, and fifth."

From this relief, Sachs draws three conclusions: (1) that musicians used the pentatonic scale, (2) that different orchestra members played different parts, and (3) that musicians knew how to use chords. Researchers also know that the Mesopotamians used a heptatonic, diatonic scale. They had the concept of musical intervals, including the octave, and understood the circle of fifths.

Tablets reveal words in the Mesopotamian musical vocabulary. For example, on a nine-stringed harp, the strings were numbered from one to five, then back down to one: '1st', '2nd', '3rd-thin', 'God-Ea-made-it', '5th', '4th-behind', '3rd-behind', '2nd-behind', and '1st-behind'. In addition, a text composed by Shulgi around 2070 BCE articulates Sumerian technical terms such as ‘tuning up’ (ZI.ZI), ‘tuning down’ (ŠÚ.ŠÚ), ‘tightening’ (GÍD.I), ‘loosening’ (TU.LU), and the term ‘adjust the frets’ (SI.AK).

Two surviving tablets give instructions for tuning string instruments. According to O.R. Gurney these tablets are better thought of in terms of re-tuning rather than tuning:

David Wulstan offers an excerpt from a small fragment of such a text: "If the harp is in išartum tuning, You have played the qablitum interval

You adjust strings II and IX And the harp is now in kitmum tuning."

By piecing together such fragments, researchers have been able to come up with what Leon Crickmore called "credible reconstructions" of the Mesopotamian tuning systems for string instruments. Tablets reveal that string instruments were tuned by alternating descending fourths and ascending fifths; this procedure was known to the Greeks as Pythagorean tuning. The seven heptatonic scales (and their Greek equivalents) were: išartu (Dorian), kitmu (Hypodorian), embūbu (Phrygian), pūtu (Hypophrygian), nīd qabli ( Lydian), nīš gabarî (Hypolydian), qablītu (Mixolydian). The Babylonians regarded the tritone as dissonant and called it ‘impure’. Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin lists the four rules that governed the tuning of these instruments:

Music theory in Mesopotamia was also connected to mathematics and astronomy. For example, an Akkadian language mathematical text contains references to musical strings. Musicologist Egon Wellesz suggested that in Mesopotamian thought, numbers represented a sacred force and that the seven notes of their heptatonic scales were symbolically linked to the seven heavenly bodies, including the Sun, Moon, and the five visible planets: Šiḫṭu (Mercury), Dilbat (Venus), Ṣalbatānu (Mars), White Star (Jupiter), and Kayyāmānu (Saturn), known from the second millennium BCE. A Babylonian tablet reveals that the Mesopotamians also used another visualization of their heptatonic tuning system: a seven-pointed star. However, knowledge about these Mesopotamian ideas is sparse.

Influence

Mesopotamian music had a lasting and widespread influence on the history of music. Trade routes allowed for the free flow of musical instruments, while classical education spread Mesopotamian musical theory and insights. From 1300 BCE onwards, musician-priests formed guilds and were housed in a temple college, attracting intellectual attention from across the region. Bahrain, home to an independent culture of its own, had connections with both the Indus Valley Civilization to the southeast, and also with Mesopotamia to the north. For much of ancient history, Egypt, Israel, Phoenicia, Syria, Babylonia, Asia Minor, Italy, and Greece together formed what musicologist Claire Polin called a "musical province in which free intercourse created understanding in musical exchange". Musicologist Peter van der Merwe writes: "The harps, lyres, lutes, and pipes of Mesopotamia spread into Egypt, and later into Greece, and, mainly through the Greek influence, to Rome. Via the Roman empire they then made their way into Northern Europe. From Egypt the same instruments spread south and westward into black Africa, where some of them survive to this day." The lute, or sinnitu, may have originated in Mesopotamia, or it may have been introduced from surrounding regions, such as by the Hittites, Hurrians or Kassites, or from the west by nomadic people of the semidesert plains of Syria. It appeared in Mesopotamia about the same time as a similar instrument in Egypt, the nefer. This instrument became well known throughout the Near East as the tambour, and is comparable to the Sumerian pan-tur, the Greek pandoura, the Russian balalaika, the Georgian tar, and the Arabian oud. The Hebrew flute (halil) is derived from the Akkadian hal-hallatu. Contemporary East African lyres and West African lutes preserve many features of Mesopotamian instruments. Mesopotamian harps diffused as far west as the Mediterranean and as far east as Asia. Ancient Mesopotamian influence in Syriac culture can be seen in the abbūḇā, ṭaḇlā , p(ə)laggā , qarnā , and zemmōrā instruments.

The dulcimer spread throughout the world, its variants and derivatives known in Persia as the santur; in places of Islamic influence (e.g., Egypt, Georgia, Greece, India, and Slovenia) as the senterija; in China and India as yang-ch’in; in Mongolia as youchin; in Korea as yanggûm; in Thailand as kim; in eastern Europe as kim balon; in western Europe as tympanon; in Britain, North America, and New Zealand as the ‘dulcimer’ (when struck) or the ‘psaltery’ (when plucked). While an instrument in the dulcimer family usually consists of a box body with sound holes, derivatives include variations in body size, string length, and string tension, among other characteristics. Variants of the dulcimer are prominent in Persian classical music.

Classical education also helped disseminate musical ideas. The Mesopotamian musical system made up part of the classical education curriculum that scribes, priests and other educated professionals went through, and there were major Mesopotamian music centers at the temples of Babylon, Sippar, Nippur, and Erech. These musical centers became famous in the western world and attracted the attention of the Greeks, including the Pythagoreans, for their musical achievements in addition to those in mathematics and astronomy. This classical education spread abroad during the second millennium BCE, and these musical systems came to represent a common language from which cities abroad could adapt to their local circumstances in syncretism.

For example, pottery in the Mediterranean and Near East showed a common, stereotyped motif — a typical musical ensemble that could be found throughout the region, consisting of lyres, double pipes, and percussion. Variations in this motif show local adaption, for example in ancient Greece the asymmetrical West Semitic lyres are replaced with Hellenistic instruments. Musical terms also appear in connection with religious practices. The Sumerian logogram for ‘gala’ (kalû in Akkadian) appeared in Hatti, where the word also designated a musician-priest—a type of drummer—and was pronounced as in Hittite as šahtarili. While the gala and šahtarili were both musicians and priests, they were not identical. The Sumerian gala priests were often associated with a third gender category, whereas the šahtarili were typically men; furthermore, there was no Hatti counterpart to Ištar — the two types of priests were involved in the worship of two distinct pantheons.

Egypt
By the third millennium BCE, music and musicians were depicted in a large number of Egyptian texts. Starting in the New Kingdom, evidence suggests Egypt was influenced by the Babylonians and Hittites, and from the fifteenth century BCE onwards, Egypt adopted the Babylonian vertical angular harp. The Sumerian lyre was introduced to Egypt by nomadic Syrian people, and the Egyptians elaborated upon the design. A seal from Ur dated to 2,800 BCE depicts a small animal playing a pair of clappers; similar clappers appear in ancient Egypt centuries later. Because the lute, harp, and lyre appear significantly earlier in the Near East than in Egypt, it is often assumed that the former introduced them to the latter, but direct evidence is lacking. On the other hand, the sistrum appears in Egypt either before or at the same time as Mesopotamia. The Babylonian lute was introduced to Egypt by way of Asia, from whom the Egyptians also likely inherited their heptatonic system. In the first centuries CE, a certain type of clapper was simultaneously depicted not only in Egypt, but on mosaics in Hama and Carthage, on Roman sarcophagi, on Sasanian silverware, and in Byzantine manuscripts.

Persia
Like the Mesopotamians, the Persians connected music to the heavens. Bo Lawergren describes an early Iranian seal that depicts a harp rising above the head of a goddess and concludes, “harp and rite were so strongly linked that it was unnecessary to show the player.” Nevertheless, they're not identical—while harps shown were similar to those of Mesopotamia, they were used in a secular and more complex setting. Bull-headed lyres also show a heritage; they first flourished in Mesopotamia but spread to Susa, where they retained their strong association with animals. The first lutes appeared in Mesopotamia in 2300 BCE; 1,000 years later lutes would become the favored instrument in Persia. Parthian songs continue to be performed in Iran today. Persia, in turn, influenced the Greeks, Arabs, and Indians.

Greece
Mesopotamian music had a strong influence in ancient Greece. The practice of deifying string instruments was sometimes echoed in Classical Greece, but the mythology was modified resulting in the Greek ‘lyre heroes’ such as Orpheus, Amphion, Cadmus and Linus. Like the Mesopotamians, the Greeks connected music to the planets. In the Pythagorean doctrine of the Harmony of the Spheres, the tuning of the lyre was seen as “a microcosm of a universal harmony.” Morever, the Greeks inherited the Mesopotamians’ emphasis on the seven-stringed lyre, a seven-pitched scale, and in compositions that focus on the central string, as the Hurrian hymns. Sumerian adornment of lyres with animals was a practice adopted by Greece, which can be seen in the kithara instrument. Greek music, in turn, had a strong influence on Roman music, especially after the Roman conquest of the Greek mainland in 168 BCE; the musical theory inherited by the Romans led to the eight principal modes of Gregorian chant. The modern Western seven-note scales are nearly identical to those used by the Mesopotamians and the Greeks.

Modern Iraq
Efforts have been made in modern Iraq to preserve the musical culture of Mesopotamia. In the 1970s, during an ideological shift among the Ba'th party toward preservation of pre-Arab cultural heritage, the garment designers and musicians of the Iraqi Fashion House presented "a historical show inspired by the civilizations of Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Samarra and Mosul, dating from past [millennia] to the present day.” Performances of a modern dulcimer are frequently featured on Iraqi television. The oud is also still played today. Bassam Salim, an expert oud player and teacher in Baghdad, notes a new interest in the instrument. He says that the oud "represents every special moment in life, from sorrow, sadness, joy and all combinations of emotions ... It’s a huge national pride when I feel that through this great instrument, I represent Iraq’s cultural history."

title: Music of Mesopotamia


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Saraighat

Saraighat (Pron: ˌʃəraɪˈgɑ:t) is a neighborhood in the Indian city of Guwahati, on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra. Sarai was a small village where the old abandoned N.F. Railway station of Amingaon was located.

History
The Battle of Saraighat between Ahom Kingdom and Mughal Empire was fought near this place on the river in 1671.

Transport
There are two bridge over the river Brahmaputra joining the north and south banks at Saraighat. The Old Saraighat Bridge is the first rail-cum-road bridge constructed over the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Adjacent New Saraighat Bridge is a road only bridge. Lachit Borphukan Park is situated on the south end and Chilarai Park situated on the north end of the bridge.

Old Saraighat Bridge: Initially planned in 1910, and proposal gained momentum during the Second World War though there were doubts over the stability of the railway line between Bongaigaon and Amingaon following devastating floods in 1942-43, the Railway Minister announced the decision to construct thebridge in the Budget session of the Parliament in 1958. Built by Northeast Frontier Railway under the direction of chief engineer Bankim Chandra Ganguli, the Hindustan Construction Company built the foundations and piers for the bridge, and Braithwaite Burn and Jessop company built the double-warren trusses between the piers and the shore. Construction of Saraighat Bridge was started in the dry season of 1958-59. The bridge was completed in September 1962 and the first engine rolled across it on 23 September 1962, followed by Goods Train service from 31 October that year. The roadway opened in March 1963. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru dedicated the bridge and formally named it after the Battle of Saraighat on 7 June 1963. Total cost of construction was around Rs 10.65 crore and the total length of it is 4258 feet. The road is 24 feet wide with six feet wide footpath on both sides. Bridge has 12 spans and 14,000 tonnes of steel, 4.2 cubic feet concrete, and 40,000 tonnes of cement. 100 million cubic feet of earthwork were used to construct the bridge. A 40 feet clearance is kept from the normal high flood level to ensure free navigation under the bridge. In April 2012, the Railways entrusted the IIT Guwahati with the responsibility of studying the effect of age on the bridge. The experts gave the opinion that the structure and all the pillars of the bridge are in sound condition and the bridge would be able to serve the North East region of the country for years to come.

New Saraighat Bridge: A companion three-lane concrete road bridge was inaugurated in 2017.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Saraighat


text:
136 (number)

136 (one hundred [and] thirty-six) is the natural number following 135 and preceding 137.

In mathematics
136 is itself a factor of the Eddington number. With a total of 8 divisors, 8 among them, 136 is a refactorable number. It is a composite number.

136 is a centered triangular number and a centered nonagonal number.

The sum of the ninth row of Lozanić's triangle is 136.

136 is a self-descriptive number in base 4, and a repdigit in base 16. In base 10, the sum of the cubes of its digits is $$1^3 + 3^3 + 6^3 = 244$$. The sum of the cubes of the digits of 244 is $$2^3 + 4^3 + 4^3 = 136$$.

136 is a triangular number, because it's the sum of the first 16 positive integers.

In the military

 * Force 136 branch of the British organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II
 * USNS Mission Soledad (T-AO-136) was a United States Navy Mission Buenaventura-class fleet oiler during World War II
 * USS Admirable (AM-136) was a United States Navy Admirable class minesweeper
 * USS Ara (AK-136) was a United States Navy Crater-class cargo ship during World War II
 * USS Boggs (DD-136) was a United States Navy Wickes-class destroyer during World War II
 * USS Botetourt (APA-136) was a United States Navy Haskell-class attack transport during World War II and the Korean War
 * USS Carondelet (IX-136) was a United States Navy tanker during World War II
 * USS Carpellotti (APD-136) was a United States Navy Crosley-class high-speed transport during World War II
 * USS Chicago (CA-136) was a United States Navy heavy cruiser during World War II
 * USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) was a United States Navy Edsall-class destroyer escort during World War II
 * USS General H. L. Scott (AP-136) was a United States Navy General G. O. Squier-class transport ship during World War II
 * Electronic Attack Squadron 136 (VAQ-136) also known as "The Gauntlets" is a United States Navy attack squadron at Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan
 * Strike Fighter Squadron 136 (VFA-136) is a United States Navy strike fighter squadron based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia

In transportation

 * London Buses route 136 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London

In TV and radio

 * 136 kHz band is the lowest frequency band amateur radio operators are allowed to transmit

In other fields

 * The year AD 136 or 136 BC
 * 136 AH is a year in the Islamic calendar that corresponds to 753 – 754 CE
 * 136 Austria is a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1874
 * WR 136 is a Wolf–Rayet red supergiant star
 * 136P/Mueller, or Mueller 3, is a periodic comet in our Solar System
 * Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (UK law) details removing a mentally ill person from a public place to a place of safety. It details police powers and the rights of someone in this position.
 * Sonnet 136 by William Shakespeare

title: 136 (number)


text:
Pedro Rodríguez

Pedro Rodriguez may refer to:

Sports

 * Pedro Rodríguez (athlete), Cuban shot putter who won in the Athletics at the 1926 Central American and Caribbean Games
 * Pedro Rodríguez (racing driver) (1940–1971), Mexican racing driver
 * Pedro Rodríguez (cyclist, born 1950), Cuban cyclist
 * Pedro Rodríguez (water polo), Cuban water polo player who played Water polo at the 1980 Summer Olympics
 * Pedro Rodríguez (cyclist, born 1966), Ecuadorian cyclist
 * Pedro Rodríguez (weightlifter), Cuban weightlifter who won in the Weightlifting at the 1991 Pan American Games
 * Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma (born 1987), Spanish footballer, played for Barcelona and Chelsea
 * Pedro Rodríguez (motorcycle racer) (born 1994), Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer
 * Pedro Rodríguez (cyclist, born 1994), Ecuadorian cyclist at the 2013 UCI Road World Championship

Other people

 * Pedro Rodríguez (cardinal) (died 1310), bishop of Burgos
 * Pedro Rodriguez de Miranda (1696–1766), Spanish painter of the late-Baroque period
 * Pedro Rodríguez, Count of Campomanes (1723–1802), Spanish statesman and writer
 * Pedro Rodríguez (politician) (1869–1932), Philippine politician
 * Pedro Jesús Rodríguez (1907–1982), Chilean lawyer, academic and politician
 * Pedro Rodríguez (soldier) (1912–1999), Puerto Rican Korean War hero who won two Silver Star Medals
 * Pedro Rodriguez (scientist) (born 1953), Puerto Rican scientist and inventor in NASA
 * Pedro A. Rodríguez (born 1968), PPD member of the 15th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
 * Pedro Rodriguez (theologian) (fl. 1980s–1990s), Spanish theologian
 * Pedro Rodríguez (Paraguayan politician), president of the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay 2017–2018

Other uses

 * Pedro-Rodríguez, a municipality in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain
 * Pedro Rodrigues Filho, a prolific serial killer

title: Pedro Rodríguez


text:
New York City Police Department Medal of Honor

The New York City Police Department Medal of Honor is the highest law enforcement medal of the New York City Police Department. The Medal of Honor is awarded for individual acts of extraordinary bravery performed in the line of duty at extreme risk and danger to life.

The present NYPD Medal of Honor was created on October 23, 1973, with the medal of honor having existed in some form as far back as 1871, when the Medal of Honor was known by a variety of names such as the "Police Silver Medal" and "Gold Medal of Valor". These medals were either silver or gold medals, and could be awarded at the discretion of the police commissioners, in the shape of the then departmental shield. The "Police Silver Medal" and "Gold Medal of Valor" was first awarded on August 17, 1871 to Patrolman Bernard Tull of the 19th Precinct who arrested a burglar after being shot at. It was last awarded on January 21, 1884. The modern day New York City Police Department Medal of Honor was created in 1912 and was awarded until 1972, when it was redesigned.

On the obverse are the arms of the City of New York, the names of the police commissioners, and the words "Municipal Police". On the reverse is an inscription describing the act for which the medal was awarded. Later that medal was changed to a silver medal in the shape of a police shield. On the obverse is the figure of a draped female placing a wreath upon the head of a police officer. On the reverse is an inscription of the act of bravery and the names of the city's commissioners. The medal hangs from a ring and suspender on which the letters "NY" are interlocked (the current logo of the New York Yankees is based on this element of the Tiffany-designed medal) and attached to a top bar that is inscribed with the word "valor". The stars on the green ribbon suspender commemorate the city's original 12 police constables, who began to patrol in the 1700s.

The New York City Police Department also maintains a wide variety of other police medals, including the NYPD Combat Cross, which is awarded for life-threatening armed engagements with criminals and the  Medal of Valor,  which is presented for acts of bravery above the call of duty.

History
Early versions of the decoration date as far back as 1871, when the Medal of Honor was known by a variety of names such as the "Police Silver Medal" and "Gold Medal of Valor".That medal was a silver or gold medal, either of which could be awarded at the discretion of the police commissioners, in the shape of the then shield of the department. On the obverse were the arms of the City of New York, the names of the police commissioners, and the words "Municipal Police". On the reverse was an inscription describing the act for which the medal was awarded. Later that medal was changed to a silver medal in the shape of a police shield.The "Police Silver Medal" and "Gold Medal of Valor" was first awarded on August 17, 1871 to Patrolman Bernard Tull of the 19th Precinct who arrested a burglar after being shot at. It was last awarded on January 21, 1884.

The New York City Police Department Medal of Honor was created in 1912 and was awarded until 1972, when it was redesigned.

Notable recipients

 * John Cordes, the first detective to be awarded the Medal twice (1923 and 1927)
 * Frank Serpico (awarded in 1972)


text:
Not Brand Echh

Not Brand Echh is a satiric comic book series published by Marvel Comics that parodied its own superhero stories as well as those of other comics publishers. Running for 13 issues (cover-dated Aug. 1967 to May 1969), it included among its contributors such notable writers and artists as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, Bill Everett, John and Marie Severin, and Roy Thomas. With issue #9, it became a 68-page, 25¢ "giant", relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the times. In 2017, a 14th issue was released.

Its mascot, Forbush Man, introduced in the first issue, was a superhero wannabe with no superpowers and a costume of red long johns emblazoned with the letter "F" and a cooking pot, with eye-holes, covering his never-revealed head. His secret identity was eventually revealed in issue #5 (Dec. 1967) as Irving Forbush, Marvel's fictitious office gofer.

Publication history
Marvel Comics' superhero-satire comic book Not Brand Echh ran an initial 13 issues (cover-dated Aug. 1967 - May 1969), with a 14th issue published in 2017. Editors Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich pitched a comics series that would poke fun of other companies' characters, but Stan Lee decided that it should focus its satiric lens on Marvel's own output.

The series title was a play on an advertising convention of the time, in which a competitor's product was not referred to by name, but simply as "Brand X"; DC was sometimes playfully called "Brand Echh" in Marvel "Bullpen Bulletins" and letters pages, hence this comic was "Not Brand Echh". The title of the comic in its postal indicia was Brand Echh for its first four issues, and afterward Not Brand Echh, the trademarked cover title from the start.

Typical stories and name transpositions included Ironed Man (Iron Man) vs. Magnut, Robot Biter (Gold Key Comics' Magnus, Robot Fighter); "Best Side Story", with Dr. Deranged (Dr. Strange) in a West Side Story pastiche; "The Origin of...Stuporman", a Superman takeoff recalling Wally Wood's influential "Superduperman" in Mad #4 (May 1952); the Ecchs-Men in "If Magneat-O Should Clobber Us", parodying not only the X-Men and Magneto, but also the high melodrama of 1960s Marvel titles; and Marvel characters visually standing-in for the baseball-player protagonists of the otherwise faithfully rendered famous poem "Casey at the Bat". Events took place in the "Marble Universe", a play on the Marvel Universe.

In broader topical references, Gary Friedrich, writer of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, and cartoonist and Marvel production manager John Verpoorten contributed a Marvel-character version of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band record album art. Robert Crumb's album cover art for Big Brother and the Holding Company was parodied by Herb Trimpe. Later issues had parodies of famous films such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Camelot and features about superhero poetry, superhero carnival and "Rent A Super-Hero", in which children employed their favorite heroes to help with mundane tasks like family plumbing problems. Warren Publishing editor Bill DuBay drew and co-wrote one story in his only Marvel appearance. Issue #10 featured solely reprints from earlier issues.

Radio and TV personality Paul Gambaccini said that he coined the term "Brand Echh" in his letter published in The Amazing Spider-Man #7 (Dec. 1963).

Similar Marvel publications
Marvel published a humor comic called Spoof that ran from 1970 to 1973. In 1988, Marvel published What The--?!, a four-issue miniseries (Aug.–Nov. 1988), followed by an additional 22 issues continuing the numbering (July 1989 – Sept. 1993). One story, for instance, featured "Superbman vs. The Fantastical Four" — the same name as in Not Brand Echh for a parodistic Fantastic Four. Not Brand Echh mascot Forbush Man made a cover-featured return appearance in issue #8 (July 1990). Two one-shots, Wha...Huh? in 2005, and Marvel: Now What?! in 2013 revisited the concept.

The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes (2005) designated the Earth of Not Brand Echh and What The--?! as Earth-665.

Characters inspired by those in Not Brand Echh made an appearance in Marvel's Nextwave series.

Reprints
Several stories were reprinted in the three-issue Marvel comic Crazy! (Feb.–June 1973), not to be confused with Marvel's black-and-white magazine Crazy Magazine.

In the UK, the comic was published in a tabloid-like black-and-white format in the early 1980s and renamed Marvel Madhouse.

In 2022, NFT app VeVe reissued 10,000 copies of issue #1 with five variant covers.

title: Not Brand Echh


text:
173 (number)

173 (one hundred [and] seventy-three) is the natural number following 172 and preceding 174.

In mathematics
173 is:
 * an odd number.
 * a deficient number.
 * an odious number.
 * a balanced prime.
 * an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part.
 * a Sophie Germain prime.
 * a Pythagorean prime
 * a Higgs prime
 * an Isolated Prime
 * a Regular Prime
 * a Sexy Prime
 * a Truncatable Prime
 * an inconsummate number.
 * the sum of 2 squares: 22 + 132.
 * the sum of three consecutive prime numbers: 53 + 59 + 61.
 * Palindromic number in bases 3 (201023) and 9 (2129).
 * the 40th prime number following 167 and preceding 179.

In astronomy

 * 173 Ino is a large dark main belt asteroid
 * 173P/Mueller is a periodic comet in the Solar System
 * Arp 173 (VV 296, KPG 439) is a pair of galaxies in the constellation Boötes
 * Kosmos 173 was a soviet union satellite
 * NGC 173 is an unbarred spiral galaxy

In the military

 * 173rd Air Refueling Squadron unit of the Nebraska Air National Guard
 * 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team of the United States Army based in Vicenza
 * 173rd Battalion unit of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the World War I
 * 173rd Special Operations Aviation Squadron of the Australian Army
 * K-173 Chelyabinsk Russian Oscar-class submarine
 * USNS Provo (T-AG-173) was a U.S. Navy Phoenix-class auxiliary ship following World War II
 * USS Codington (AK-173) was a U.S. Navy Alamosa-class cargo ship during World War II
 * USS Eldridge (DE-173) was a U.S. Navy Cannon-class destroyer escort during World War II
 * USS Etamin (IX-173) was a U.S. Navy Crater-class cargo ship during World War II
 * USS Florence (SP-173) was a U.S. Navy yacht during World War I
 * USS Hyde (APA-173) was a U.S. Navy Haskell-class attack transport ship during World War II
 * USS PC-472 was a 173 ft U.S. Navy submarine chaser during World War II
 * USS Pike (SS-173) was a U.S. Navy Porpoise-class submarine during World War II
 * USS Sproston (DD-173) was a U.S. Navy Wickes-class destroyer following World War II
 * Vought V-173 (Flying Pancake) was a U.S. Navy experimental test aircraft during World War II

In transportation

 * The Georgia Railroad, the world longest railroad in 1845, ran for 173 mi from Augusta to Marthasville (Atlanta, Georgia)
 * United Airlines Flight 173 en route from Denver to Portland crashed on December 28, 1978
 * The Velocity 173 was a kit aircraft produced by Velocity Aircraft in the early 1990s.

In popular culture

 * The book 173 Hours in Captivity (2000)
 * SCP-173, a fictional statue

In other fields
173 is also:
 * The year AD 173 or 173 BC
 * 173 AH is a year in the Islamic calendar that corresponds to 789 – 790 CE
 * The atomic number of an element temporarily called unsepttrium
 * Topic of discussion during the podcast "Skeptics with a K" episode 180

title: 173 (number)


text:
Talk:Pyotr Wrangel

Untitled
For those who might be interested, I met a Historian-Writer-Researcher in Moscow a couple of years ago who recently published a biographical book on Pyotr Nicolayevitch, General Wrangel, who became Commander-in-Chief of the White Russian Armies toward the end of the Bolchevic revolution.

His book is titled (in Russian), ''Генерал П. Н. Врангель. Последний рыцарь Российской империи'' it means ''General P.N.Wrangel. Last Knight of Russian Empire'' thats it: http://www.books.ru/shop/books/263350

ISBN 5-9524-0490-1

It is hard to imagine you would find it on Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble. You would have to get in touch with the main bookstores in Moscow. In any case, I have relatives and friends in Moscow who are able to obtain a copy of the book.

 * I would be interested in finding a copy of the book, as I am his great-grandson by his youngest daughter Natalie (my grandmother). Assuming any are interested there is a biography of my great-grandfather that is available in English that was written by my great-uncle Alexis.  It is entitled General Wrangel, Russia's White Crusader and can be found and purchased on Amazon, along with my great-grandfather's memoirs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.210.224.178 (talk • contribs)

This article does not mention him working with Ahmet Zogu and the Triumph of Legality in Albania in 1925. ChilternGiant (talk) 23:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

Needs attention to include additional inline citations
This is listed as a level-5 vital article, & of high-importance to WikiProject Russia. There are three on-line citations in the Sources section that are not used for shortened footnotes & another two that could be used in the Further reading section. For WikiProject Military History, the only thing lacking to make it a B-class article is that the reference & citation criteria needs to be met.

One of my specialities is improving citations & making them ready for shortened footnotes. I have done that. However, the subject matter is "not in my wheelhouse". Perhaps this topic is something that you can take on & improve. Peaceray (talk) 04:52, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Pyotr Wrangel


text:
Robert Levin (musicologist)

Robert David Levin (born October 13, 1947) is an American classical pianist, musicologist, and composer. He was a professor of music at Harvard University from 1994 to 2014 and the artistic director of the Sarasota Music Festival from 2007 to 2017.

Education
Born in Brooklyn, Levin attended the Brooklyn Friends School and Andrew Jackson High School, and spent his junior year studying music with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He attended Harvard, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in 1968 with a thesis entitled The Unfinished Works of W. A. Mozart.

Levin took private lessons at Chatham Square Music School, Conservatoire National de Musique and the Fontainebleau School of Music in:
 * piano, with Jan Gorbaty, Louis Martin, Alice Gaultier-Léon, Jean Casadesus, Clifford Curzon and Robert Casadesus
 * organ, with Nadia Boulanger
 * solfège, with Seymour Bernstein, Louis Martin and Annette Dieudonné
 * counterpoint, with Suzanne Bloch and Nadia Boulanger
 * composition, with Stefan Wolpe
 * conducting, with Eleazar de Carvalho

Academic career
After graduating from Harvard, Levin was named head of the theory department at the Curtis Institute of Music. He was subsequently appointed associate professor of music and coordinator of theory instruction at the SUNY Purchase, and full professor in 1975. From 1986 to 1993, he served as professor of piano at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in Germany. In 1993 he became professor of music at his alma mater, Harvard University, where he remains Professor Emeritus. In 1994 he was made Dwight P. Robinson Jr Professor of the Humanities at Harvard, and was a head tutor from 1998 to 2004. In 2012, as Humanitas Visiting Professor of chamber music at Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), University of Cambridge, he gave two lectures, Improvising Mozart and Composing Mozart and a concert with Academy of Ancient Music.

Levin's academic career has included teaching and tutoring performance practice (especially involving keyboard instruments and conducting, with an emphasis on the Classical period) in addition to music history and theory. He currently holds the position of Hogwood Fellow with the Academy of Ancient Music.

Contributions to composition
Levin has completed or reconstructed a number of eighteenth-century works, especially unfinished compositions by Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach.

His completions of several unfinished Mozart works, including the Requiem in D minor and Great Mass in C minor, are considered his most important achievements. In the Mozart Requiem, he reconstructed an "Amen" fugue from Mozart's own sketches. John Eliot Gardiner commissioned him to write missing orchestral parts to five movements of cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, such as Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe. As a performer, he is best known as soloist in Classical-era piano concertos in general, and those of Mozart and Beethoven in particular, in which he robustly re-creates performance practice of the composers' time such as by improvising cadenzas and shorter embellishments in the composers' style.

Levin has composed several works, including the following:
 * Two clarinet sonatas (1961; 1967–68)
 * Two Short Piano Pieces (1966–67)
 * Bassoon Sonata (1965–66)
 * Woodwind Quintet (1965)
 * Piano Quartet (1964–65)
 * Piano Sonata (1962)

Awards

 * Prix Lili Boulanger in 1966 and 1971
 * Bach Medal (2018)
 * Golden Mozart Medal of the Mozarteum Salzburg (2024)

Completions and reconstructions of fragments by Mozart

 * Requiem in D minor K. 626 (also historically completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr)
 * Mass in C minor ("The Great") K. 427 (also historically completed by Alois Schmitt and reconstructed into a performable version by a number of composers, including H. C. Robbins Landon, Franz Beyer and Richard Maunder)
 * Larghetto and Allegro in E-flat major for two pianos K. deest (also historically completed by Maximilian Stadler and Paul Badura-Skoda)
 * Rondo in A major for basset clarinet and string quartet, K. 581a
 * Allegro in B-flat major for basset clarinet and string quartet, K. 516c
 * Allegro in B-flat major for keyboard, K. 400 (also historically completed by Maximilian Stadler)
 * Allegro in G minor for keyboard, K. 312/590d (also historically completed by an unknown composer)
 * Sonata Movement in C major, K. 42 (35a)
 * Suite in C major for keyboard, K. 399: Sarabande
 * Concerto for Violin and Piano K. Anh. 56/315f
 * Horn Concerto in D major, K. 412 (also historically completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr)
 * Rondo for horn and orchestra in E-flat major K. 371
 * Sinfonia Concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon K. 297b (reconstruction of possible original version for flute, oboe, horn, and bassoon)

Recordings

 * Ludwig van Beethoven. Cello Sonatas. Robert Levin with Steven Isserlis. Hyperion Records Limited
 * Ludwig van Beethoven. Piano Concertos. Robert Levin with Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner. Archiv Produktion
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos K271 & K414. Robert Levin with The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. Played on a Walter fortepiano replica by Paul McNulty. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos K453 & K466. Robert Levin with The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos K456 & K459. Robert Levin with The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Piano Sonatas. Robert Levin. Played on Mozart's own piano by Anton Walter. ECM New Series.
 * Franz Joseph Haydn. The Last 4 Piano Trios: H 15 no 27-30. Robert Levin with Vera Beths and Anner Bylsma. SC Vivarte Series 53120
 * Henri Dutilleux. D'ombre et de silence (Piano Sonata, Preludes, etc.). ECM New Series 2105
 * Johann Sebastian Bach. Keyboard Works. Robert Levin, Trevor Pinnock, Robert Hill, Peter Watchorn, Edward Aldwell, Evgeni Koroliov. Played on an antique harpsichord and organ. Label: Hanssler Classic.
 * Franz Schubert. Piano Sonatas. Robert Levin. Played on Johann Fritz 1825 fortepiano. Sony Classical.
 * Franz Schubert. Complete Piano Trios. Noah Bendix-Balgley (violin), Peter Wiley (cello). Le Palais des Dégustateurs
 * J.S. Bach. Six Partitas BWV 825 - 830. Le Palais des Dégustateurs.
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Trio in G major K 496. Three unfinished movements for trio K 442 completed by Robert Levin. Robert Levin (piano) - Hilary Hahn (violin) - Alain Meunier (cello). Le Palais des Dégustateurs

title: Robert Levin (musicologist)


text:
Qianjiang

Qianjiang may refer to:

 * Qianjiang District (黔江区), Chongqing
 * Qianjiang, Hubei (潜江市), sub-prefecture-level city
 * Qianjiang Century City (钱江世纪城), Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
 * Qianjiang, Guangxi (迁江镇), town in and subdivision of Xingbin District, Laibin
 * Qianjiang (錢江, 922–979), a former county in modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang, administered by Hang Prefecture

Rivers

 * Qian River (黔江), a short section of the Xi River system in Guangxi
 * Qiantang River, also called Qianjiang (钱江), in Zhejiang, emptying into Hangzhou Bay

Others

 * Qianjiang Motorcycle, a motorcycle manufacturer based in Taizhou, Zhejiang, China
 * Qianjiang Evening News, a newspaper based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

title: Qianjiang


text:
Ethyl tert-butyl ether

Ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE), also known as ethyl tert-butyl ether, is commonly used as an oxygenate gasoline additive in the production of gasoline from crude oil. ETBE offers equal or greater air quality benefits than ethanol, while being technically and logistically less challenging. Unlike ethanol, ETBE does not induce evaporation of gasoline, which is one of the causes of smog, and does not absorb moisture from the atmosphere.

Production
Ethyl tert-butyl ether is manufactured industrially by the acidic etherification of isobutylene with ethanol at a temperature of 30–110 °C and a pressure of 0,8–1,3 MPa. The reaction is carried out with an acidic ion-exchange resin as a catalyst. Suitable reactors are fixed-bed reactors such as tube bundle or circulation reactors in which the reflux can be cooled optionally.

Ethanol, produced by fermentation and distillation, is more expensive than methanol, which is derived from natural gas. Therefore, MTBE, made from methanol is cheaper than ETBE, made from ethanol.

title: Ethyl tert-butyl ether


text:
Direct-shift gearbox

[[Image:Cambio a doppia frizione.svg|thumb|right|Schematic diagram of a dual-clutch gearbox:M: Motor

A: Primary drive and driving shaft

B: Dual clutch

C: Driven shaft

D: Layshaft, hollow, even gears

E: Layshaft, odd gears

F: Output ]]

A direct-shift gearbox (DSG, Direktschaltgetriebe ) is an electronically controlled, dual-clutch, multiple-shaft, automatic gearbox, in either a transaxle or traditional transmission layout (depending on engine/drive configuration), with automated clutch operation, and with fully-automatic or semi-manual gear selection. The first dual-clutch transmissions were derived from Porsche in-house development for the Porsche 962 in the 1980s.

In simple terms, a DSG automates two separate "manual" gearboxes (and clutches) contained within one housing and working as one unit. It was designed by BorgWarner and is licensed to the Volkswagen Group, with support by IAV GmbH. By using two independent clutches, a DSG can achieve faster shift times  and eliminates the torque converter of a conventional epicyclic automatic transmission.

Transverse DSG
At the time of launch in 2003, it became the world's first automated dual-clutch transmission in a series-production car, in the German-market Volkswagen Golf Mk4 R32,  and shortly afterwards worldwide, in the original Audi TT 3.2. and the 2004+ New Beetle TDI. For the first few years of production, this original DSG transmission was only available in transversely oriented front-engine, front-wheel-drive and Haldex Traction-based four-wheel-drive vehicle layouts.

The first DSG transaxle that went into production for the Volkswagen Group mainstream marques had six forward speeds (and one reverse) and used wet/submerged multi-plate clutch packs (Volkswagen Group internal code: DQ250, parts code prefix: 02E). It has been paired to engines with up to 350 N·m of torque. The two-wheel-drive version weighs 93 kg. It is manufactured at Volkswagen Group's Kassel plant, with a daily production output of 1,500 units.

At the start of 2008, another world-first 70 kg seven-speed DSG transaxle (Volkswagen Group internal code: DQ200, parts code prefix: 0AM) became available. It differs from the six-speed DSG, in that it uses two single-plate dry clutches (of similar diameter). This clutch pack was designed by LuK Clutch Systems, Gmbh. This seven-speed DSG is used in smaller front-wheel-drive cars with smaller-displacement engines with lower torque outputs,  such as the Volkswagen Golf Mk6,  Volkswagen Polo Mk5, and the new SEAT Ibiza. It has been paired to engines with up to 250 N·m. It has considerably less oil capacity than the six-speed DQ250; this new DQ200 uses just 1.7 L of transmission fluid.

In September 2010, VW launched a new seven-speed DSG built to support up to 600 N·m, the DQ500.

Audi longitudinal DSG
In late 2008, an all-new seven-speed longitudinal S tronic version of the DSG transaxle went into series production (Volkswagen Group internal code: DL501, parts code prefix: 0B5). Initially, from early 2009, it is only used in certain Audi cars, and only with longitudinally mounted engines. Like the original six-speed DSG, it features a concentric dual wet multi-plate clutch. However, this particular variant uses notably more plates – the larger outer clutch (for the odd-numbered gears) uses 10 plates, whereas the smaller inner clutch (driving even-numbered gears and reverse) uses 12 plates. Another notable change over the original transverse DSGs is the lubrication system – Audi now utilise two totally separate oil circuits. One oil circuit, consisting of 7.5 L, lubricates the hydraulic clutches and mechatronics with fully synthetic specialist automatic transmission fluid (ATF), whilst the other oil circuit lubricates the gear trains and front and centre differentials with 4.3 L of conventional hypoid gear oil. This dual circuit lubrication is aimed at increasing overall reliability, due to eliminating cross-contamination of debris and wear particles. It has a torque handling limit of up to 600 N·m, and engine power outputs of up to 330 kW. It has a total mass, including all lubricants and the dual-mass flywheel of 141.5 kg.

This was initially available in their quattro all-wheel-drive variants, and is very similar to the new ZF Friedrichshafen-supplied Porsche Doppel-Kupplung (PDK).

Operational introduction
The internal combustion engine drives two clutch packs. The outer clutch pack drives gears 1, 3, 5 (and 7 when fitted), and reverse – the outer clutch pack has a larger diameter compared to the inner clutch, and can therefore handle greater torque loadings. The inner clutch pack drives gears 2, 4, and 6. Instead of a standard large dry single-plate clutch, each clutch pack for the six-speed DSG is a collection of four small wet interleaved clutch plates (similar to a motorcycle wet multi-plate clutch). Due to space constraints, the two clutch assemblies are concentric, and the shafts within the gearbox are hollow and also concentric. Because the alternate clutch pack's gear-sets can be pre-selected (predictive shifts enabled via the unloaded section of the gearbox), un-powered time while shifting is avoided  because the transmission of torque is simply switched from one clutch-pack to the other. While the DSG has one of the fastest shift times on the market, the claim that the DSG takes only about 8 milliseconds to upshift is un-proven with 3-party data nor claimed by the manufacturer.

The variant of DSG fitted to plug-in hybrid vehicles (such as the Golf/Passat GTE and the Audi A3 e-tron) also have a third clutch - its function is connect the electric motor to the combustion engine when both power sources are required simultaneously to propel the vehicle (the motor armature permanently turns with the input shaft of the transmission) - it also is engaged to bump start the combustion engine from the electric motor whenever the transmission is in the "N" position - this is due to the engine not having a conventional starter motor.

DSG controls
The direct-shift gearbox uses a floor-mounted transmission shift lever, very similar to that of a conventional automatic transmission. The lever is operated in a straight 'fore and aft' plane (without any 'dog-leg' offset movements), and uses an additional button to help prevent an inadvertent selection of an inappropriate shift lever position.

P
P position of the floor-mounted gear shift lever means that the transmission is set in park. Both clutch packs are fully disengaged, all gear-sets are disengaged, and a solid mechanical transmission lock is applied to the crown wheel of the DSG's internal differential. This position must only be used when the motor vehicle is stationary. Furthermore, this is the position which must be set on the shift lever before the vehicle ignition key can be removed.

N
N position of the floor-mounted shift lever means that the transmission is in neutral. Similar to P above, both clutch packs and all gear-sets are fully disengaged; however, the parking lock is also disengaged.

D mode
Whilst the motor vehicle is stationary and in neutral (N), the driver can select D for drive (after first pressing the foot brake pedal). The transmission's outer clutch K2 engages at the start of the bite point, while on the alternate gear shaft the reverse gear clutch K1 is also selected. The clutch pack for second gear (K2) gets ready to engage. When the driver releases the brake pedal, the K2 clutch clamping force is increased, allowing the transmission to drive the wheels. Depressing the accelerator pedal engages the clutch and causes an increase of forward vehicle speed. Pressing the throttle pedal to the floor (hard acceleration) will cause the gearbox to "kick down" to first gear to provide the acceleration associated with first, although there will be a slight hesitation while the gearbox deselects second gear and selects first gear. As the vehicle accelerates, the transmission's computer determines when the second gear (which is connected to the second clutch) should be fully used. Depending on the vehicle speed and amount of engine power being requested by the driver (determined by the position of the throttle pedal), the DSG then up-shifts. During this sequence, the DSG disengages the first outer clutch whilst simultaneously engaging the second inner clutch (all power from the engine is now going through the second shaft), thus completing the shift sequence. This sequence in a fraction of a second (aided by pre-selection), and can be performed without lifting off the throttle, resulting in minimal power loss.

Once the vehicle has completed the shift to second gear, the first gear is immediately de-selected, and third gear is pre-selected. Once the time comes to shift into 3rd, the second clutch disengages and the first clutch re-engages. This sequence repeats through the gear changes.

Downshifting is similar to up-shifting but in reverse order. At 600 milliseconds downshifting is necessarily slower, due to the engine's Electronic Control Unit (ECU) needing to 'blip' the throttle so that the engine crankshaft speed can match the appropriate gear shaft speed. A downshift occurs when the ECU senses the car slowing down, or when more power is required.

The actual shift points are determined by the DSG's transmission ECU, which controls a hydro-mechanical unit. The transmission ECU, combined with the hydro-mechanical unit, are collectively called a mechatronics unit or module. Because the DSG's ECU uses fuzzy logic, the operation of the DSG is said to be adaptive; that is, the DSG will "learn" how the user drives the car, and will progressively tailor the shift points accordingly to suit the habits of the driver.

In the vehicle instrument display, between the speedometer and tachometer, the available shift-lever positions are shown, the current position of the shift-lever is highlighted (emboldened), and the current gear ratio in use is also displayed as a number.

Under "normal", progressive and linear acceleration and deceleration, the DSG shifts in a sequential manner; i.e., under acceleration: 1st → 2nd → 3rd → 4th → 5th → 6th, and the same sequence reversed for deceleration. However, the DSG can also skip the normal sequential method, by missing gears, and shift two or more gears. This is most apparent if the car is being driven at sedate speeds in one of the higher gears with a light throttle opening, and the accelerator pedal is then pressed down, engaging the kick-down function. During kick-down, the DSG will skip gears, shifting directly to the most appropriate gear depending on speed and throttle opening. This kick-down may be engaged by any increased accelerator pedal opening, and is completely independent of the additional resistance to be found when the pedal is pressed fully to the floor, which will activate a similar kick-down function when in Manual operation mode. The seven-speed unit in the 2007 Audi variants will not automatically shift to 6th gear; rather, it stays at 5th to keep power available at a high RPM while cruising.

When the floor-mounted gear selector lever is in position D, the DSG works in fully automatic mode, with emphasis placed on gear shifts programmed to deliver maximum fuel economy. That means that shifts will change up and down very early in the rev-range. As an example, on the Volkswagen Golf Mk5 GTI, sixth gear will be engaged around 52 km/h, when initially using the DSG transmission with the default ECU adaptation; although with an "aggressive" or "sporty" driving style, the adaptive shift pattern will increase the vehicle speed at which sixth gear engages.

S mode
The floor selector lever also has an S position. When S is selected, sport mode is activated in the DSG. Sport mode still functions as a fully automatic mode, identical in operation to D mode, but upshifts and downshifts are made much higher up the engine rev-range. This aids a more sporty driving manner, by utilising considerably more of the available engine power, and also maximising engine braking. However, this mode does have a detrimental effect on the vehicle fuel consumption, when compared to D mode. This mode may not be ideal to use when wanting to drive in a sedate manner; nor when road conditions are very slippery, due to ice, snow or torrential rain – because loss of tire traction may be experienced (wheel spin during acceleration, and may also result in road wheel locking during downshifts at high engine rpms under closed throttle). On 4motion or quattro-equipped vehicles this may be partially offset by the drivetrain maintaining full-time engagement of the rear differential in S mode, so power distribution under loss of front-wheel traction may be marginally improved.

S is highlighted in the instrument display, and like D mode, the currently used gear ratio is also displayed as a number.

R
R position of the floor-mounted shift lever means that the transmission is in reverse. This functions in a similar way to D, but there is just one reverse gear. When selected, R is highlighted in the instrument display.

Manual mode
Additionally, the floor shift lever also has another plane of operation, for manual mode, with spring-loaded + and − positions. This plane is selected by moving the stick away from the driver (in vehicles with the driver's seat on the right, the lever is pushed to the left, and in left-hand drive cars, the stick is pushed to the right) when in D mode only. When this plane is selected, the DSG can now be controlled like a manual gearbox, albeit only under a sequential shift pattern.

In most (VW) applications, the readout in the instrument display changes to 6 5 4 3 2 1, and just like the automatic modes, the currently used gear ratio is highlighted or emboldened. In other versions (e.g., on the Audi TT) the display shows just M followed by the gear currently selected; e.g., M1, M2, etc.

To change up a gear, the lever is pushed forward (against a spring pressure) towards the +, and to change down, the lever is pulled rearward towards the −. The DSG transmission can now be operated with the gear changes being (primarily) determined by the driver. This method of operation is commonly called tiptronic. In the interests of engine preservation, when accelerating in Manual/tiptronic mode, the DSG will still automatically change up just before the redline, and when decelerating, it will change down automatically at very low revs, just before the engine idle speed (tickover). Furthermore, if the driver calls for a gear when it is not appropriate (e.g., requesting a downshift when engine speed is near the redline) the DSG will not change to the driver's requested gear.

Current variants of the DSG will still downshift to the lowest possible gear ratio when the kick-down button is activated during full throttle whilst in manual mode. In Manual mode this kick-down is only activated by an additional button at the bottom of the accelerator pedal travel; unless this is pressed the DSG will not downshift, and will simply perform a full-throttle acceleration in whatever gear was previously being utilised.

Paddle shifters
Initially available on certain high-powered cars, and those with a "sporty" trim level—such as those using the 2.0 T FSI and 3.2/3.6 VR6 engines —steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters were available. However, these are now being offered (either as a standard inclusive fitment, or as a factory optional extra) on virtually all DSG-equipped cars, throughout all model ranges, including lesser power output applications, such as the 105 PS Volkswagen Golf Plus.

These operate in an identical manner as the floor mounted shift lever when it is placed across the gate in manual mode. The paddle shifters have two distinct advantages: the driver can safely keep both hands on the steering wheel when using the Manual/tiptronic mode; and the driver can temporarily manually override either of the automatic programmes (D or S), and gain instant manual control of the DSG transmission (within the above described constraints).

If the paddle-shift activated manual override of one of the automatic modes (D or S) is used intermittently the DSG transmission will default back to the previously selected automatic mode after a predetermined duration of inactivity of the paddles, or when the vehicle becomes stationary. Alternatively, should the driver wish to immediately revert to fully automatic control, this can be done by activating and holding the + paddle for at least two seconds.

Advantages

 * Better fuel economy (up to 15% improvement) than conventional planetary geared automatic transmission (due to lower parasitic losses from oil churning) and for some models with manual transmissions;
 * No loss of torque through the transmission from the engine to the driving wheels during up-shifts;
 * Short up-shift time when shifting to a gear the alternate gear shaft has preselected;
 * Smooth gear-shift operations;
 * Consistent down-shift time of 600 milliseconds, regardless of throttle or operational mode;

Disadvantages

 * The clutch pack mechanisms have a limited lifespan, due to excessive slippage in low-speed conditions such as stop-and-go traffic;
 * Marginally worse mechanical efficiency compared to a conventional manual transmission, especially on wet-clutch variants due to electronics and hydraulic systems;
 * Expensive specialist transmission fluids/lubricants with dedicated additives are required, which need regular changes;
 * Relatively expensive to manufacture, and therefore increases new vehicle purchase price;
 * Relatively lengthy shift time when shifting to a gear ratio which the transmission control unit did not anticipate (around 1100 ms, depending on the situation);
 * Torque handling capability constraints impose a limit on after-market engine tuning modifications (though many tuners and users may exceed the official torque limits notwithstanding); (Later variants have been fitted to more powerful cars, such as the 300 bhp/350 Nm VW R36 and the 272 bhp/350 Nm Audi TTS.)
 * Heavier than a comparable Getrag conventional manual transmission (75 kg vs. 47.5 kg);

Applications
Volkswagen Group vehicles with the DSG gearbox include:

Audi
After originally using the DSG moniker, Audi subsequently renamed their direct-shift gearbox to S tronic.
 * Audi TT
 * Audi A1
 * Audi A3
 * Audi S3
 * Audi A4 (B8)
 * Audi A4 (B9)
 * Audi S4 (B8)
 * Audi S5 (B8)
 * Audi A5
 * Audi A6
 * Audi S6 (C7)
 * Audi A7
 * Audi A8 (D4)
 * Audi Q2
 * Audi Q3
 * Audi Q5
 * Audi R8 facelift

Bugatti

 * Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 (developed by Ricardo rather than Borg Warner)
 * Bugatti Chiron

Lamborghini

 * Lamborghini Huracan

SEAT

 * SEAT Ibiza
 * SEAT Arona
 * SEAT León
 * SEAT Altea
 * SEAT Toledo
 * SEAT Alhambra
 * SEAT Ateca
 * SEAT Tarraco

Škoda

 * Škoda Fabia
 * Škoda Kodiaq
 * Škoda Karoq (in Australia it replaced with 8-speed sourced from Aisin)
 * Škoda Kamiq (except China market)
 * Škoda Octavia
 * Škoda Rapid (2012)
 * Škoda Roomster
 * Škoda Superb (MK2 & MK3)
 * Škoda Yeti
 * Škoda Scala
 * Škoda Kushaq
 * Škoda Slavia

Volkswagen

 * Volkswagen Vento
 * Volkswagen Santana
 * Volkswagen Bora (China)
 * Volkswagen Polo (paired with 6-speed TC automatic in some markets)
 * Volkswagen Virtus
 * Volkswagen Golf, GTI, GTD, GTE, TDI, R32, R
 * Volkswagen Jetta (TDI and GLI)
 * Volkswagen Eos
 * Volkswagen Touran
 * Volkswagen New Beetle
 * Volkswagen Lamando
 * Volkswagen Passat and Passat (NMS) (China & US first generation)
 * Volkswagen CC
 * Volkswagen Arteon (In the US, MY22+ only)
 * Volkswagen Sharan
 * Volkswagen Viloran
 * Volkswagen Scirocco
 * Volkswagen T-Cross
 * Volkswagen T-Roc
 * Volkswagen Taigun
 * Volkswagen Taos (China FWD & US AWD)
 * Volkswagen Tayron
 * Volkswagen Tiguan (except US market)
 * Volkswagen Teramont (China)

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

 * Volkswagen Caddy car-derived van
 * Volkswagen Transporter (T5 & T6)

Problems and recalls of DSG-equipped vehicles
The 7-speed DQ200 and 6-speed DQ250 gearboxes sometimes suffer from power-loss (gear disengaging) due to short-circuiting of wires caused by a build-up of sulphur in the transmission oil.

United States
In August 2009, Volkswagen of America issued two recalls of DSG-equipped vehicles. The first involved 13,500 vehicles, and was to address unplanned shifts to the neutral gear, while the second involved similar problems (by then attributed to faulty temperature sensors) and applied to 53,300 vehicles. These recalls arose as a result of investigations carried out by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), where owners reported to the NHTSA a loss of power whilst driving. This investigation preliminary found only 2008 and 2009 model year vehicles as being affected.

Australia
In November 2009, Volkswagen recalled certain Golf, Jetta, EOS, Passat & Caddy models equipped with 6-speed DQ250 DSG transmission because the gearbox may read the clutch temperature incorrectly, which leads to clutch protection mode, causing a loss of power.

China
Since 2009 there have been widespread concerns from Chinese consumers particularly among the online community, who expressed that Volkswagen has failed to respond to complaints about defects in its DSG-equipped vehicles. Typical issues associated with 6-speed DSG include abnormal noise and inability to change gear; while issues associated with 7-speed DSG include abnormal noise, excessive shift shock, abnormal increase in engine RPM, flashing gear indicator on the dashboard as well as inability to shift to even-numbered gears. In March 2012 China's quality watchdog the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said that it had been in contact with Volkswagen (China) and urged the carmaker to probe the issues. In a survey held by Gasgoo.com (China) of 2,937 industry experts and insiders, 83% of respondents believed that the carmaker should consider a full vehicle recall. In March 2012 Volkswagen Group China admitted that there could be an issue in its seven-speed DSG gearboxes that may affect approximately 500,000 vehicles from its various subsidiaries in China. A software upgrade has since been offered for the affected vehicles in an attempt to repair the problem.

According to 163.com - one of China's most popular web portals - in March 2012 about a quarter of the complaints about problems found in cars in China's automotive market were made against DSG-equipped vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen. The top five models that dominate those complaints were:
 * Volkswagen Magotan - 6%
 * Volkswagen Bora - 5.3%
 * Volkswagen Sagitar - 5.3%
 * Volkswagen Touareg - 4.7%
 * Volkswagen Golf - 4%

Would be worth noting that Touareg has never been fitted with a DSG transmission.

On 15 March 2013, China Central Television aired a program for the World Consumer Rights Day. The program criticized the issue associated with DSG-equipped vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen. On 17 March 2013 Volkswagen Group China announced on its official Weibo that it will voluntarily recall vehicles equipped with DSG boxes. Some sources have estimated the failure rate of DSG-equipped vehicles sold in China to be greater than 20,000 per million sold.

Sweden
VW Sweden stopped selling the Passat EcoFuel DSG as a taxi after many cars had problems with the 7 speed DSG gearbox. They instead offered the Touran EcoFuel DSG, which uses an updated version of the same DSG gearbox.

Japan
The recall has been extended to Japan with 91,000 (VW and Audi using the same DSG) being recalled.

Malaysia
13 days after the Singapore recall, Volkswagen Malaysia also announced a recall for the 7-speed DSG. No official statement was released by the company, but it was stated that a total of 3,962 were involved in the unit recall exercise - units produced between June 2010 and June 2011, with affected vehicles being Golf, Polo, Scirocco, Cross Touran, Passat and Jetta models equipped with the transmission.

Australian recall
15 October 2019, Australia recall of DSG 7-speed gearboxes. Due to a production fault, over time a crack in the transmissions pressure accumulator can occur. If the pressure accumulator cracks, oil and pressure is lost in the hydraulic system of the gearbox. As a result, the transmission of engine power via the gearbox is interrupted. The experience of this symptom would be comparable to depressing the clutch in a vehicle fitted with a manual transmission. This could increase the likelihood of an accident affecting the occupants of the vehicle and other road users.

Official links

 * Volkswagen AG corporate website

Independent links

 * Pictures and diagrams of DQ250 DSG at WorldCarFans.com.
 * Reviews, videos, and explanation of DSG transmission
 * First Drive: Audi TT 3.2 DSG review at VWvortex.com.
 * European interest in dual clutch technology shifts up a gear, an informative article from Just-Auto.com.
 * Computer-controlled Meccano model of a DSG Transmission by Alan Wenbourne of the South East London Meccano Club (SELMEC).
 * Video of Alan Wenbourne's Meccano DSG in operation at YouTube.com.

title: Direct-shift gearbox