In rediscovered reed flute, a soulful link to Jordanian identity

The mournful ballads of lost love, an upbeat tune to welcome the harvest, wandering mystical notes contemplating and celebrating God.

For thousands of years these songs came from the ground in the Levant, given voice by the nay, one of the very first reed flutes.

The nay was made from thick reeds that grew wild in the region stretching from Ancient Egypt to Mesopotamia – at the heart of which lies modern-day Jordan.

Rabee Zureikat, like many Jordanians, had long been enamored of the , whose soulful, ethereal sound is often used as an intro to classical Arabic orchestral