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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Apollo and the Nine Muses by Simon de Vos (1630) (Public Domain)

Sing O Goddess, Timeless Inspiration Of The Muses

Once upon a time, Zeus spent nine consecutive nights sleeping with Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory. These passionate nights gave birth to the nine Muses. The Muses are Erato, Euterpe,...
The cow’s head on the Silver Lyre. Source: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Bask in the Beauty and Melody of the Ancient Mesopotamian Lyres of Ur

It is unknown which culture was the first to create music, but a set of beautiful Sumerian instruments from the city of Ur provide us with some insight into the world of ancient music. Over 4,000...
Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Source: Sunshower Shots / Adobe Stock.

Did Nero Really Fiddle While Rome Burned?

Nero , the infamous emperor of the Roman Empire, is known for his cruelty and debauchery. However, one of the most enduring tales about him is that he played the fiddle while Rome burned during the...
Left to right; Germanic lyre - the best-preserved lyre from Dzhetyasar  - A replica of the Sutton Hoo lyre. 	Source: Left to right: CC BY-SA 4.0 /  G. Kolltveit / A Praefcke / Antiquities Publications Ltd

Experts Surprised By Similarities Of Sutton Hoo Lyre and Eastern Specimen

A recent re-examination of artifacts from Soviet era digs in the Dzhetyasar territory in southwest Kazakhstan has identified a fourth-century AD lyre that shows remarkable similarity with the one...
Left: Front angle of the reconstructed Bull Headed Lyre found in the Sumerian Royal Tombs of Ur in Mesopotamia, c. 2500 BC. Source: Penn Museum

Satire in Mesopotamia: Unravelling the Bull Headed Lyre of Ur

Many of us tend to think that the people of early cultures were less sophisticated than us. The wealthiest people may have lived lives of luxury with gold and slaves, but admittedly we cannot really...
Trio of musicians playing an aulos, cymbala, and tympanum (mosaic from Pompeii) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Orchestral Offerings on the Winds to the Gods

Ever since humans have been able to pull a blade of grass between their thumbs and blow into it, or tap two sticks on a third, our species has attempted to recreate the sounds of nature and over time...
Hermes, messenger of the gods (Atelier Sommerland / Adobe Stock)

Hermes: Messenger of the Gods and Patron of Traders, Travelers, and Thieves

Hermes was an important god in the Greek pantheon and one of the Twelve Olympians . He is best known for being the herald or messenger of the gods and is portrayed in many myths as such. In addition...
The remains of harp found in the ancient necropolis of the Volna-1 settlement in the Temryuk district of the Krasnodar Territory.

Russian Archaeologists Unearth Oldest Known Fragments of Greek Musical Instruments

According to the News Agency TASS, a team of archaeologists has uncovered fragments of two ancient Greek musical instruments during an excavation in the Taman Peninsula, in southern Russia. The...
The reconstructed Bull’s Lyre.

A Bull-Headed Lyre: Reconstructing the Sound and Style of Ancient Mesopotamia

A musician may have strummed its strings all the way back in the 3rd millennium BC. This means that the Bull’s Lyre, aka the Golden Lyre of Ur, is one of the oldest string instruments in the world...
Ancient greek music - theatre

The Sound of Ancient Greece Reconstructed

A musician and tutor in classics at Oxford University has been bringing back to life the music of ancient Greece , unheard for thousands of years, using a combination of archaeology and historical...