3rd millennium BC in music

Events

c. 3000 BC - The invention of the castanets in Early Dynastic Egypt.^[1]
c. 2800 BC - The invention of the clapper, a basic form of percussion instrument, in Early Dynastic Egypt.^[2]
c. 2800 BC - The invention of the harp and the lyre in Mesopotamia.^[3]^[4]
c. 2550–2450 BC - The invention of the Bull Headed Lyre of Ur, string instrument used in Mesopotamia.
c. 2550-2450 BC - The invention of the Lyres of Ur, a stringed musical instrument from the Early Dynastic III Period of Mesopotamia.^[5]
c. 2500 BC - Around ninety royal servants—including soldiers, grooms, and female musicians—were buried alive in the tomb of a royal couple in Ur.^[3]^[6]
c. 2500 BC - The invention of thin lyres in northern Syria.^[7]
c. 2500 BC - The invention of thick lyres in Uruk and Susa.^[7]
c. 2686-2181 BC - The invention of the Sistrum, a musical instrument of the percussion family.^[8]
c. 2600 BC - The creation of Standard of Ur which includes soundbox of a musical instrument^[9]^[10]
c. 2300 BC - The earliest known composer is born, Enheduanna, priestess of the moon god Nanna (Sīn).^[10]
c. 2200 BC - A song was composed during the Old Kingdom of Egypt and subsequently buried in a tomb.^[7]

^ "The Music of Antiquity". CNRS News. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
^ Sachs, Curt (2012-09-19). The History of Musical Instruments. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-17151-7.
^ ^a ^b "3100-1000 BCE". Oxford Reference. doi:10.1093/acref/9780191735363.timeline.0001 (inactive 2024-11-03). Retrieved 2024-10-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
^ "lyre", World Encyclopedia, Philip's, 2004, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-954609-1, retrieved 2024-10-07
^ Michael Chanan (1994). Musica Practica: The Social Practice of Western Music from Gregorian Chant to Postmodernism. Verso. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-85984-005-4.
^ Darvill, Timothy (2009-01-01), "Ur, Iraq", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-953404-3, retrieved 2024-10-07
^ ^a ^b ^c "An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Music". Tour Egypt.
^ "Sistrum: The Sacred Shaker in Ancient Egyptian Rituals - Golden Musical Instruments". 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
^ "British Museum - The Standard of Ur". 2015-10-29. Archived from the original on 2015-10-29. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
^ ^a ^b "Music on Earth". Chasing the Chords. 2020-02-02. Retrieved 2024-10-07.