🏺 Mesopotamia and Egypt

About 4,500 years ago, in Mesopotamia (in today's Iraq), people built some of the first cities. They loved music, and they made beautiful string instruments.

The Lyres of Ur

In the Royal Cemetery of Ur, archaeologists found several lyres buried with important people. A lyre has strings stretched from a sound box up to a crossbar. The most famous one is the bull-headed lyre. Its front has a bull's head made of gold, with a beard of blue lapis lazuli stone.

Music in ancient Egypt

Egyptians painted musicians on the walls of tombs and temples, so we can see how they played. They had harps shaped like a bow or an angle, lyres, flutes, drums and clappers.

The sistrum

A sistrum is a kind of rattle. It has a handle and a metal frame with little rods or discs that jingle when you shake it. Egyptians shook it in ceremonies, especially for the goddess Hathor.