Ancient music

Ancient music refers to the musical cultures and practices from before 500 AD that developed in the literate civilizations of the ancient world, succeeding the music of prehistoric societies and lasting until the era of medieval music (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]

Clockwise, from top left:

• Marble mosaic of a Sasanian harpist playing angular harp, c. 260 CE, from the palace of Shapur I in Bishapur
• The monumental Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng, c. 5th century BCE, from Hubei
• Musicians from a wall in Bonampak, an Ancient Mayan site

Overview

Written musical notation was the first advent of a literate society. In Prehistoric times, people had a tendency to primarily express their music and ideas through oral means. However, with the rise of social classes, many European and Asian societies regarded literacy as superior to illiteracy, which caused people to begin writing down their musical notations. The earliest known example of notated music is the Hurrian Hymn No. 6, which dates back to around the 14th century B.C.^[2] This made music evolve from simply hearing music and transmitting it orally, to keeping records and personal interpretations of musical themes.^[3][4][5]

Regions

Egypt

Further information: Music of Egypt

Egyptian lute players. Fresco from the tomb of Nebamun, a nobleman in the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (c. 1350 BCE).

Music has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since antiquity. The ancient Egyptians credited the goddess Bat with the invention of music, although she was later syncretized with another goddess, Hathor.^{[citation needed]} Osiris used Hathor's music to civilize the world. The earliest material and representational evidence of Egyptian musical instruments dates to the Predynastic period, but the evidence is more reliably attested in tomb paintings from the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–2134 BCE) when harps, end-blown flutes (held diagonally), and single and double pipes of the clarinet type (with single reeds) were played.^[6][7][8][9] Percussion instruments, and lutes were added to orchestras by the Middle Kingdom. Bronze cymbals dating from the Roman period (30 BCE–641 CE) have been found in a tomb on a site near Naucratis.^[10][11] Although experiments have been carried out with surviving Egyptian instruments (on the spacing of holes in flutes and reed pipes, and attempts to reconstruct the stringing of lyres, harps, and lutes), only the Tutankhamun trumpets and some percussion instruments yield an idea of how ancient Egyptian instruments actually sounded.^[12] None of the existing theories have any adequate foundation.^[6][13] The sistrum, a highly important rattle used in religious worship, was among the percussion instruments utilized in ancient Egypt.^[14]

Mesopotamia

Main article: Music of Mesopotamia

In 1986, Anne Draffkorn Kilmer,^[15] professor of ancient history and Mediterranean archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, published her decipherment of a cuneiform tablet, dating back to 2000 BCE from Nippur, one of the oldest Sumerian cities. She claimed that the tablet contained fragmentary instructions for performing and composing music in harmonies of thirds, and was written using a diatonic scale.^[16] The notation in the first tablet was not as developed as the notation in the later cuneiform Hurrian tablets from Ugarit, dated by Kilmer to about 1250 BCE.^[17] The interpretation of the notation system is still controversial (at least five rival interpretations have been published), but it is clear that the notation indicates the names of strings on a lyre, and its tuning is described in other tablets. These tablets represent the earliest recorded melodies, though fragmentary, from anywhere in the world.^[18]

Harps of Ur

Main article: Lyres of Ur

In 1929, Leonard Woolley discovered pieces of four different harps while excavating the ruins of the ancient city Ur, located in what was Ancient Mesopotamia and what is now contemporary Iraq. The fragments have been dated to 2750 BCE and some are now located at the University of Pennsylvania, the British Museum in London, and in Baghdad. Various reconstructions and restorations of the instruments have been attempted, but many concluded that none have been completely satisfactory. Depending on various definitions, they could be classified as lyres rather than harps,^[19] the most famous being the bull-headed harp, held in Baghdad. However, the Iraq War in 2003 led to the destruction of the bull-head harp by looters.^[20]

Hurrian music

Main article: Hurrian songs

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.^[21]

India

Main article: Music in ancient India

See also: Origins and history of Carnatic music

The Samaveda consists of a collection (samhita) of hymns, portions of hymns, and detached verses, all but 75 taken from the Rigveda, to be sung, using specifically indicated melodies called Samagana. In ancient India, memorization of the sacred Vedas included up to eleven forms of recitation of the same text.^[22]

The Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written at an uncertain date in classical India (200 BCE–200 CE). The Natya Shastra is based upon the much older Natya Veda which contained 36,000 slokas (proverb/saying).^[23][24]However, there are no surviving copies of the Natya Veda. There are scholars who believe that it may have been written by various authors at different times. The most authoritative commentary on the Natya Shastra is Abhinavabharati by Abhinava Gupta.^[25]

While much of the discussion of music in the Natya Shastra focuses on musical instruments, it also emphasizes several theoretical aspects that remained fundamental to Indian music:

1. Establishment of Shadja as the first, defining note of the scale or grama.^{[26][page needed]}
2. Two principles of consonance: The first principle states that there exists a fundamental note in the musical scale which is Avinashi (अविनाशी) and Avilopi (अविलोपी) that is, the note is ever-present and unchanging. The second principle, often treated as law, states that there exists a natural consonance between notes; the best between Shadja and Tar Shadja, the next best between Shadja and Pancham.
3. The Natya Shastra also suggests the notion of musical modes or jatis which are the origin of the notion of the modern melodic structures known as ragas. Their role in invoking emotions are emphasized; thus compositions emphasizing the notes gandhara or rishabha are said to be related to tragedy (karuna rasa) whereas rishabha is to be emphasized for evoking heroism (vIra rasa).^{[27][page needed]}

Jatis are elaborated in greater detail in the text Dattilam, composed around the same time as the Natya Shastra.^{[26][page needed][27][page needed]}

China

Further information: Guqin history

Most guqin books and tablature written before the twentieth century confirm that this is the origin of the guqin, although now it is viewed as mythology. In Chinese literature, the guqin dates back almost 3,000 years, while examples of the instrument have been found in tombs that date back to about 2,000 years ago. Although the ancient literature states its beginnings, the origin of the guqin has still been a subject of debate over the past few decades.^{[citation needed]}

Greece

Main article: Music of ancient Greece

Rome

Main article: Music of ancient Rome

The music of ancient Rome borrowed heavily from the music of the cultures that were conquered by the empire, including music of Greece, Egypt, and Persia. Music pervaded many areas of Roman life. including the military, entertainment in the Roman theater, religious ceremonies and practices, and almost all public/civic occasions.^[28][29]

The philosopher-theorist Boethius translated into Latin and anthologized a number of Greek treatises, including some on music. His work The Principles of Music (better-known under the title De institutione musica) divided music into three types: Musica mundana (music of the universe), musica humana (music of human beings), and musica instrumentalis (instrumental music).^[30]

Music was central to religion, society, and entertainment in ancient cultures, each developing unique styles and instruments.

Mesopotamia (3000 BCE): Used lyres, harps, and drums; early musical notation found in cuneiform. Egypt (2600 BCE): Sistrums, harps, and flutes played in temples and festivals, honoring gods like Hathor. Greece & Rome (800 BCE): Greeks used lyres and auloi in philosophy and theater; Romans favored military brass. India (1500 BCE): Vedic chants led to Carnatic and Hindustani music, with instruments like veena and mridangam. China (3000 BCE): Music followed Yin-Yang balance; guqin and flutes were key instruments. Mesoamerica: Drums, rattles, and conch shells used in rituals and festivals. Each civilization shaped music through spirituality, technology, and tradition, influencing modern sounds.