History of the Ney

In various European countries, the ney has been called by similar names—for example, “naiu” in Romania. The term “neyzeden,” derived from the Persian word “zeden,” meaning “one who plays” or “performer,” evolved into “neyzen,” which still means “ney player” today. Likewise, the Arabic-derived term “nâyî” was also used with the same meaning. This instrument, used since approximately 5000–3000 BCE, is believed to have been employed in religious ceremonies even in those ancient times. The sound of the ney, described by Assumption priests like Thibaut as “mysterious, captivating, sweet, and harmonious,” has deeply moved people throughout history and especially evoked spiritual feelings. These unique qualities of its sound made the ney an important instrument in every society it touched. The ney began to be used by Turks after their acceptance of Islam and, from the 13th century onward, became a symbol of Islamic Sufism. A major contributor to this symbolic status was the great Sufi mystic, philosopher, poet, and saint Mevlânâ Celâleddin-i Rûmî, who lived during that century. The word “mizmār,” meaning “windpipe” or “vocal organ,” used in Arabic for nearly all wind instruments, was also applied to the ney. In Turkish, however, it has almost always been called simply “ney.”