ABSTRACT
The variety of practices associated with ‘listening’ in a broader sense is illustrated by the numerous accounts recorded in the source texts. It is clear that the more formal and ritual practice of samAW seen in later centuries was still in the process of evolution. The precise history of these practices may be difficult to chronicle, and it was not the task of the present work to attempt this. Nor was it possible to give a detailed account of the ritual ceremonies from these formative years, beyond the bare outlines offered incidentally by the source texts.
