Ancient Music

Glossary Terms hymns aulos Kithara lyre monophonic Harmonia Ethos

Bone Flute The oldest bone flute on record is the so-caled “Neanderthal flute” found in a Slovenian Cave in This flute is estimated to be about 45,000 years old, and was made from the hollow femur of a juvenile cave bear.

The earliest composer know to us by name is Enheduanna (2300 B.C.E.), an akkadian high priestess at Ur, who composed hymns to the moon god Nana and moon goddess Ianna Hymns -song to a god

Aulos -was a pipe typically played in pairs. The aulos was used in the worship of Dionysus, god of fertility and wine.

Lyre -plucked instrument that usually had seven strings and was strummed with a pick The lyre was associated with Apollo, god of light, prophecy, learning, and the arts, especially music and poetry. Learning to play the lyre was a core element of education in Athens. Both men and women played the lyre,which was used to accompany dancing, singing, or recitation of epic poetry such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

Kithara - Ancient Greek instrument, a large LYRE The kithara was a large lyre used especially for processions and sacred ceremonies and in the theatre.

Monophonic Harmonia -consisting of a single unaccompanied melodic line -unification of parts in an orderly whole. Ethos -one’s ethical character or way of behaving

The Epitaph of Seikilos oldest surviving example of a complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world. The find has been dated variously from around 200 BC to around AD BC The Epitaph of Seikilos Modern Translation (English Translation) While you live, Shine have no grief at all; life exists only for a short while, and time demands its toll.

Mesopotamia The earliest known music was in the form of a cuneiform tablet, created about 2000 B.C.E. The so-called Ur tablet, sometimes referred to as the “oldest known song,” was actually a set of instructions for performing that era’s music.