Jewish music

A Jewish friend of mine just showed me something really interesting;
it was the text of a scripture reading that a cantor does in a service,
but it is not spoken...there are pitches to go along with certain
syllables, and to make it real tough, it has to be memorized. There are
little marks under the syllables, indicating the pitch to be sung. I
thought it was fascinating; needless to say, the pitches would not be in
12 equal. Does anyone out there know more about this subject, and what
tuning they might be using? Obviously, this concept goes way back in
time, and doubtless has deep spiritual connections...I am curious.
On a slightly different note, I chatted briefly with a virtuoso pipa
player, and she mentioned that Chinese pitches will vary from region to
region...this, of course, doesn't surprise me at all, but again, it's a
subject I'd like to know more about. It reminds me of blues players, who
vary the pitch of a bent note according to the mood they're in at the
time, and I suspect this is common practice among Indian and Arabic
musicians as well. Any folks know about Chinese tunings, and I mean pre
12 equal? Thanks...Hstick