Music of the Ancient World

Have you ever wondered what type of instruments our ancient ancestors played? Or perhaps wondered how their music sounded? Thanks to archeological findings we can piece together a somewhat blurry picture of ancient music. Here are a few ancient cultures and their musical instruments!

Ancient Egypt: This is one of the oldest civilizations from which we can positively trace the use of musical instruments in a developed culture. We can tell that the ancient Egyptians used flutes, clarinet-like reed instruments that had both single and double pipes, lutes, and harps all by examining tomb paintings. These instruments date back to around 2575 B.C. to 2134 B.C. (otherwise known as ancient Egypt's "Old Kingdom"). Two trumpets and various percussion instruments taken from King Tutankhamun's tomb are the only instruments to be examined and played, leaving us with a very vague idea (at best) of how ancient Egyptian music sounded.

Mesopotamia: From archeological excavations in the 1920s, we have discovered four ancient harps dating back to around 2750 B.C. A study done by Anne Draffkorn Kilmer from the University of California on cuneiform (Mesopotamian language notation) tablets revealed that music was created with diatonic scales and that harmonies of a third existed. The tablets are dated to about 2000 B.C. It should be acknowledged that this perhaps was not the only form of composition the Mesopotamians used, but simply one that we have fortuitously discovered.

Ancient India: As with other cultures, there have been discoveries of instruments that are prehistoric. (In other words, they were created before recorded history!) In the Samaveda, an ancient Hindu scripture, there are 75 hymns with instructions on the musical structure. The Natya Shastra is a treatise written about the performing arts, created around 200 B.C. and 200 A.D.

Ancient Greece: From pictures on vases, walls and other artwork, we can tell that the ancient Greeks used flutes, a lyre/harp-like instrument known as the kithara, pan pipes, and double pipes/flutes. We have copies of their recorded system of notation, but only educated guesses exist as to how it may have been executed. The Greeks also developed Pythagorean harmonies (thanks to mathematician Pythagoras), and developed modes, or different scales. All these factors contributed to later cultures such as Ancient Rome, which in turn would contribute to the music of the Medieval Era (which by comparison, we have a plethora of music.)