Editing Music (section)

=== Antiquity ===
{{Main|Ancient music}}
The earliest material and representational evidence of Egyptian musical instruments dates to the [[Predynastic Egypt|Predynastic period]], but the evidence is more securely attested in the [[Old Kingdom]] when [[harp]]s, [[flute]]s and [[double clarinet]]s were played.<ref>[http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/MIRE/Introduction/AncientEgypt/AncientEgypt.html Music of Ancient Egypt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013114158/http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/MIRE/Introduction/AncientEgypt/AncientEgypt.html |date=13 October 2015 }}. [[Kelsey Museum of Archaeology]], University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.</ref> Percussion instruments, [[lyre]]s, and [[lute]]s were added to orchestras by the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]]. [[Cymbal]]s<ref name="ucl">{{Cite web |title=UC 33268 |url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/metal/uc33268.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727171041/http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/metal/uc33268.html |archive-date=27 July 2013 |access-date=27 October 2015 |publisher=digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> frequently accompanied music and dance, much as they still do in [[Egypt]] today. Egyptian [[folk music]], including the traditional [[dhikr|Sufi {{transliteration|ar|dhikr}}]] rituals, are the closest contemporary [[music genre]] to [[ancient Egypt]]ian music, having preserved many of its features, rhythms and instruments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hickmann |first=Hans |year=1957 |title=Un Zikr Dans le Mastaba de Debhen, Guîzah (IVème Dynastie) |journal=Journal of the International Folk Music Council |volume=9 |pages=59–62 |doi=10.2307/834982 |jstor=834982|issn=0950-7922}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hickmann |first=Hans |date=January–March 1960 |title=Rythme, mètre et mesure de la musique instrumentale et vocale des anciens Egyptiens |journal=[[Acta Musicologica]] |volume=32 |pages=11–22 |doi=10.2307/931818 |jstor=931818 |number=1}}</ref>

The "[[Hurrian songs|Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal]]", found on [[clay tablet]]s in the ancient [[Syria]]n city of [[Ugarit]], is the oldest surviving notated work of music, dating back to approximately 1400&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stolba |first=K. Marie |title=The Development of Western Music: A History |date=1995 |publisher=Brown & Benchmark Publishers |edition=brief second |location=Madison |page=2}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=West |first=Martin Litchfield |title=Music and Letters |date=May 1994 |volume=75 |pages=161–179 |chapter=The Babylonian Musical Notation and the Hurrian Melodic Texts |issue=2}}</ref>

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 [[Theatre of ancient Greece|Greek theater]],<ref name="grove">{{Cite book |last=Savage |first=Roger |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043289 |title=Incidental music &#124; Oxford Music |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.43289 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425102522/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043289 |archive-date=25 April 2021 }}</ref> and those who received a musical education were seen as nobles and in perfect harmony (as can be read in the [[Republic (Plato)|Republic, Plato]]). Mixed gender [[choir|choruses]] performed for entertainment, celebration, and spiritual ceremonies.<ref name="west">{{Cite book |last=West |first=Martin Litchfield |title=Ancient Greek music |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1994}}</ref> Instruments included the double-reed {{transliteration|grc|[[aulos]]}} and a plucked [[string instrument]], the ''[[lyre]]'', principally a special kind called a {{transliteration|grc|[[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 mode]]s, that eventually became the basis for Western [[religious music|religious]] and [[European classical music|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Winnington-Ingram |first=Reginald P. |date=October 1929 |title=Ancient Greek Music: A Survey |journal=[[Music & Letters]] |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=326–345 |doi=10.1093/ml/X.4.326 |jstor=726126}}</ref> The oldest surviving work written about music theory is ''[[Elementa harmonica|Harmonika Stoicheia]]'' by [[Aristoxenus]].<ref name="Aristoxenus, Henry Stewart Macran">{{Cite book |last=Aristoxenus, Henry Stewart Macran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TseQjV_wogC&pg=PA165 |title=Harmonika Stoicheia (The Harmonics of Aristoxenus) |publisher=Georg Olms Verlag |year=1902 |isbn=978-3-487-40510-0 |oclc=123175755 |access-date=7 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102200636/https://books.google.com/books?id=3TseQjV_wogC&pg=PA165 |archive-date=2 January 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>