ancient music

The tradition & historical record

Ancient music consists of the musical cultures and practices that developed in the literate civilizations of the ancient world prior to the early medieval period (before approximately 500 CE). It follows the music of prehistoric societies and precedes the emergence of medieval music during the post-classical era. Major centers of ancient music developed in China, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran/Persia, the Maya civilization, Mesopotamia, and Rome. Though extremely diverse, the music of ancient civilizations is frequently characterized by monophony, improvisation, and the dominance of text in musical settings. ¹

In prehistoric societies, music was transmitted orally, lacking written record. As writing systems developed and societies became more stratified, particularly in Europe and Asia, phonetic musical notation began to emerge as a way to preserve and standardize musical practices. The more recognizable Western diastematic notation would not develop until during the 9th to 12th centuries CE, with the creation of neumes. The earliest known example of notated music is the Hurrian Hymn No. 6, dating to the 14th century BCE. The development of notation marked a shift from exclusively oral transmission to a system that enabled the preservation and reinterpretation of musical themes. ¹

Music has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since antiquity. The goddess Bat was credited with its invention, although she was later syncretized with the goddess Hathor. According to myth, Osiris used Hathor's music to civilize humanity. Evidence of Egyptian musical instruments dates back to the Predynastic period, Predynastic period, but becomes more substantial in tomb paintings from the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–2134 BCE), in which harps, end-blown flutes (held diagonally), and single and double reed pipes similar to clarinets are depicted. Percussion instruments and lutes had been added to musical ensembles by the Middle Kingdom. Bronze cymbals from the Roman period (30 BCE–641 CE) have been discovered at a tomb site near Naucratis. Scholars have attempted to reconstruct the sound of ancient Egyptian instruments by analyzing the hole placement on flutes and reed pipes, and by reconstructing the stringing of lyres, harps, and lutes. However, only the Tutankhamun trumpets and some percussion instruments provide a partial idea of their actual sound. Most theories about how ancient Egyptian music sounded remain speculative. The sistrum, a ritual rattle used in religious ceremonies, was a prominent percussion instrument in ancient Egypt. ¹

In 1986, Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, professor of ancient history and Mediterranean archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, published her decipherment of a cuneiform tablet from Nippur (c. 2000 BCE), one of the oldest Sumerian cities. She argued that the tablet contained fragmentary instructions for performing and composing music in harmonies of thirds a diatonic scale. The musical notation in this tablet is less developed than that of the later cuneiform Hurrian tablets from Ugarit (c. 1250 BCE), also interpreted by Kilmer. Although interpretations vary (at least five rival theories exist), the notation likely refers to lyre strings and tuning systems described in related texts. These tablets represent the world's earliest known examples of recorded melodies, albeit fragmentary. ¹

In 1929, archaeologist Leonard Woolley discovered fragments of four different stringed instruments while excavating the ancient city-state of Ur in what was Ancient Mesopotamia and what is now Iraq. The remains, dated to around 2750 BCE, are now housed in museums including the University of Pennsylvania, the British Museum, and in Baghdad. Various reconstructions and restorations of the instruments have been attempted, but many concluded that none have been completely satisfactory. Though commonly called "harps," these instruments may be more accurately classified as lyres. The most famous, the bull-headed lyre, was held in Baghdad until it was destroyed during the 2003 Iraq War by looters. ¹

Among the Hurrian texts from Ugarit in Syria are some of the oldest known instances of written music, dating from c. 1400 BCE and including one complete song. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ancient music”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

ancient music is music that developed in literate cultures, replacing prehistoric music, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 10 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²