Ancient Music: From Egyptian Instruments to Greek Musical Theory

The earliest evidence of Egyptian musical instruments dates to the Predynastic period. By the Old Kingdom, musicians played harps, flutes and double clarinets. Percussion instruments, lyres and lutes later became part of ensembles during the Middle Kingdom. Cymbals often accompanied music and dance in ancient Egypt, as they still do today. Traditional Egyptian folk music, including Sufi dhikr rituals, retains some rhythms and instruments linked to this older musical heritage. The Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal, discovered on clay tablets in ancient Ugarit in present-day Syria, is the oldest surviving notated music, dating to about 1400 BCE. In ancient Greece, music was central to education, theatre and religious ceremonies. Greek musical theory, instruments such as the aulos and kithara, and works including the Seikilos epitaph helped shape later Western religious and classical music.

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