Music
Antiquity

The earliest material and representational evidence of Egyptian musical instruments dates to the Predynastic period, but the evidence is more securely attested in the Old Kingdom when harps, flutes and double clarinets were played. Percussion instruments, lyres, and lutes were added to orchestras by the Middle Kingdom. Cymbals frequently accompanied music and dance, much as they still do in Egypt today. Egyptian folk music, including the traditional Sufi dhikr rituals, are the closest contemporary music genre to ancient Egyptian music, having preserved many of its features, rhythms and instruments.

The " Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal ", found on clay tablets in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit, is the oldest surviving notated work of music, dating back to approximately 1400 BCE.

Music was an important part of social and cultural life in ancient Greece, in fact it was one of the main subjects taught to children. Musical education was considered important for the development of an individual's soul. Musicians and singers played a prominent role in Greek theater, and those who received a musical education were seen as nobles and in perfect harmony (as can be read in the Republic, Plato). Mixed gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration, and spiritual ceremonies. Instruments included the double-reed aulos and a plucked string instrument, the lyre, principally a special kind called a kithara. Music was an important part of education, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical literacy created significant musical development. Greek music theory included the Greek musical modes, that eventually became the basis for Western religious and classical music. Later, influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe, and the Byzantine Empire changed Greek music. The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving example of a complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world. The oldest surviving work written about music theory is Harmonika Stoicheia by Aristoxenus.
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