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The knowledge and designs of harps and lyres probably arrived in ancient Europe via Grecian regions from the ancient Middle-East. [ a] This may have been happened as early as in the peak times of the Celtic civilization, as suggested by the lyre fragment found at the High Pasture Cave site, dated to approximately 300 BCE.
Cycladic culture harp player, 2800–2700 B.C. Harps probably evolved from the most ancient type of stringed instrument, the musical bow.In its simplest version, the sound body of the bowed harp and its neck, which grows out as an extension, form a continuous bow similar to an up-bowed bow, with the strings connecting the ends of the bow.
Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), Persia (now Iran) and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent.
Carnyx players (bottom right) on a panel from the Gundestrup Cauldron Sculpture depicting a bard with a lyre (Brittany, 2nd century BC). Deductions about the music of the ancient Celts of the La Tène period and their Gallo-Roman and Romano-British descendants of Late Antiquity rely primarily on Greek and Roman sources, as well as on archaeological finds and interpretations including the ...
Ancient Roman music and singing originated from Etruscan music, [5][6][7] and then Ancient Greek music. [8] During its early history, it was mostly used for military purposes. [9] According to Cicero, Roman musical tradition was adapted during the reign of Numa Pompilius. [10][11] Music was initially discovered by Greek philosopher and ...
Ancient music refers to the musical cultures and practices that developed in the literate civilizations of the ancient world, succeeding the music of prehistoric societies and lasting until the post-classical era. Major centers of ancient music developed in China (the Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties), Egypt (the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms ...
Polyphony (/ pəˈlɪfəni / pə-LIF-ə-nee) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice (monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). Within the context of the Western musical tradition, the ...
The Lyres of Ur or Harps of Ur is a group of four string instruments excavated in a fragmentary condition at the Royal Cemetery at Ur in modern Iraq from 1922 onwards. They date back to the Early Dynastic III Period of Mesopotamia , between about 2550 and 2450 BC, making them the world's oldest surviving stringed instruments. [ 1 ]