From tower tops, cathedrals, domes and palaces, the rich peals of silver bells will ring in a merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all mankind.  Mankind in return is grateful for the ringing of the bells.

One of our oldest and loudest of musical instruments, bells penetrate the soul with their rousing rhapsodies and their piercing resonance.

How they jingle how they jangle, how they tinkle and twinkle, as they sing and they ring, when they toll and they roll as they chime just in time when they strike at midnight — every  Christmas and the New Year.

Bells are at once garish and subdued, solemn and cheerful, sonorous and jubilant, triumphant and blighted, happy and sad.

First appeared in ancient Egypt in the 8th century BC, bells were used in ceremonies while worshipping the gods. If ancient Egyptians discovered the toothbrush and even breath mints,  would they have failed to overlook their bells. The practice spread to China, Japan, India and other areas in Asia.

Apart from the call for prayer, ancient bells warned off their enemies, accompanied funerals of emperors in Rome and even the arrival of fresh fish at the marketplace in ancient Greece.

In early days and in many cultures today, bells have been associated with magic and superstition. Their ringing functioned as a protective means of driving away the evil forces. As far back as 1300 BC, priests would hang tiny bells to their robes, a custom preserved to this day in the Orthodox Eastern Church.  

With the arrival of Christianity, bells have assumed a fundamental symbolic role.  The use in church towers started around the 1200s when regular tolling by priests at appointed hours became of major importance, serving as summons to prayer, extended to announcements of births, deaths, weddings, baptism and curfews. Only a bell could provide a fit substitute for “All the news that’s fit to print”.

One interpretation of naming it the bell is derived from Middle Old English ‘bellen’, (to bellow, roar or grunt).  Another is the Old English root for ‘belle’ from a Proto-Indo-European source ‘bhel’, to sound or roar. We much prefer Middle English ‘bel’, for fine and good, or old French ‘bel’, for beautiful and fair.

Sanctioned by Pope Sabinianus, (530-606 AD), the blessing of the bells was sanctioned in 604 AD. Once baptised, bells could ward off evil spells and were hung on doorways to protect ghosts and visions from evil spirits. That was probably the origin of the doorbell.

Churches were considered heaven on earth. Their sins were forgiven, souls sacrificed and salvation taught. The sound of the bells was a reminder of the teachings of the church, reverberated through every valley, every village.

There are bells, and then there are bells. Among millions, there are the superstar bells and heading the list is the Great Bell of Westminster, better known as Big Ben.  Often mistaken for a clock, the bell hangs in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament since 1859. From then it has become an iconic silhouette, instantly recognisable the world over. The Great Bell was fondly nicknamed Big Ben after the large and jovial Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the project.

Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, the world will closely watch the four lit faces of the clock when it rings in the New Year of 2025.

As famous as it is, Big Ben has its competitors. Liberty Bell in Philadelphia pealed forth the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, while the Tsar Bell still stands proudly in Russia since 1753. Famous for its many bells since 4000 BC, China has the amazing Bell Tower which still stands since 1380, during the early Ming Dynasty.

The Bells of Dolores, Mexico, began the struggle for Mexican independence from Spain in 1810 and most remarkable is the marble Bell Tower of the Cathedral of Pisa, Italy in 1173, more renowned for its spectacular tilt. Its once famous bells now silent, but proudly still remains in place.         

During WWII, 33,000 bells were removed and recast into war weapons. Most of them were replaced after the war, like the famous bells of St Stephen’s Cathedral.

Musicians have used bells in their compositions as far back as 1791 when Nicholas Daylarac introduced in his opera Camille, 1791.  Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss wrote parts for bells in their compositions.

The musical literature even boasts a symphony for The Bells by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1913.

Filmmakers have also recognised the dramatic nature of bells. The powerful impact of bells have been used effectively in such features as the Hunch of Notre Dame, Niagara Falls and the skilful hands of Alfred Hitchcock in Vertigo and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Even the sound of the bells was evoked such titles as the Bells of St. Mary’s, Miracle of the Bells and When Eight Bells Toll.

Poets have thrilled to the sound of bells. If you have never heard of a bell those rhymes are the closest you will ever get:  “Keeping time, time, time/ In a sort of Runic rhyme/ To the tintinnabulations that so mimically wells/ From the bells, bells, bells/ Bells, bells, bells”— written by the mellow lyrics of Edgar Allen Poe.

Only the sweet sounds of jubilant bells will soon ring in our season of joy.

“Ring out the thousand wars of old

Ring in the thousand years of peace”.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, (1809-1892).

* A version of this article appears in print in the 9 January, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly