DAP

Dap or DAP may refer to:

Science

Computers

Early education

Groups

Giving dap

Dap is a friendly gesture of greeting, agreement, or solidarity between two people that has become popular in western cultures, particularly since the 1970s, originating from African American communities. Giving dap typically involves handshaking (often, by hooking thumbs), pound hugging, fist pounding, or chest- or fist bumping. The practice and term originated among black soldiers during the Vietnam War, as part of the Black Power movement, and the term is attested since 1971.

Giving dap can refer to presenting many kinds of positive nonverbal communication between two people, ranging from a brief moment of simple bodily contact to a complicated routine of hand slaps, shakes, snaps, etc. known only by the two participants. Elaborate examples of dap are observed as a pregame ritual performed by many teams in the National Basketball Association. These choreographed actions are rarely televised and serve as a superstitious means of psychological preparation and team solidarity.

Daf

The daf (Persian: دف, from Middle Persian: dap) is a large Persian frame drum used in popular and classical music. The frame is usually made of hardwood with many metal ringlets attached, and the membrane is usually goatskin. Daf is mostly used in the Middle East, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Armenia, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, and usually accompanies singers and players of the tanbur, violin, oud, saz and other Middle Eastern instruments. Some dafs are equipped with small cymbals, making them analogous to a large tambourine.

History

The earliest evidence of the Dap (Daf) dates back to Sassanid Iran. The Pahlavi (an ancient Iranian language) name of the daf is dap. The word daf is therefore the Arabicized form of the word dap. Some pictures of dap have been found in paintings that date before the Common Era. The presence of Iranian dap in the reliefs of Behistun suggests the daf existed before the rise of Islam. Dafs were part of religious music in Iran much before Sufism. Iranian music has always been a spiritual tool. It shows that dafs played an important role in Mazdean Iran emerging as an important element during the Sassanian times during the Kâvusakân dynasty. Also there is a kind of square frame drum in the stonecutting of Taq-e Bostan (another famous monument located 5 km (3 mi) northeast of Kermanshah city). These frame drums were played in the ancient Middle East (chiefly by women in Kurdish societies), Greece, and Rome and reached medieval Europe through Islamic culture.