Music in the West probably came out of Egypt. The art of Ancient Egypt depicts a number of instruments that were clearly antecedents of later European instruments such as the harp and flute. The sistrum—metal discs strung on wires within a framework and handle that could be held in one hand and shook—was the forerunner of the tambourine. Egyptian music appeared to be largely sacerdotal as opposed to secular or profane. We cannot be certain. The art depicts priests and priestesses rather than peasants making music on instruments. This would make sense as the average farmer or laborer would have neither the time nor money to afford an instrument as well receiving instruction to play it.
An Egyptian sistrum. The handle is fashioned into an image of the cat goddess Bastet.
Harp.
Lyre.
Guitar or lute.
Flute or pipes.
An Egyptian musical ensemble or orchestra. Judging from the available art from the classical period, female musicians seemed to significantly outnumber their male counterparts.
Exactly what Egyptian music of that period sounded like we can only guess. This composition by Brian Eno and David Byrne that utilized a sample of Egyptian singing might give us a clue:
Byrne & Eno | A Secret Life - YouTube
Exactly how the music of Egypt propagated is anyone’s guess. We can assume it made inroads into Ancient Greece and into Palestine.
Ancient Hebrew coins from about 125 BCE depicting lyres reminiscent of those made by the Egyptians.
But we would be in error, I think, if we assumed this was a one-way street. Musical expression of forms arose in different regions and locales and spread out and overlapped resulting in a lot of hybridization. One example would be the bowed instruments which likely originated in Central Asia and into the Middle and Far East which made inroads in Europe in medieval times when Arabic and Turkish music and instruments became the rage.
Another source of music that was likely greatly influenced by Egypt was Greece. The groundwork of music theory in Ancient Greece was laid by the Pythagoreans so it likely sounded quite different. The following clip is an example of what Ancient Greek lyre music sounded like:
Ancient Greek Music - The Lyre of Classical Antiquity... - YouTube
The double-pipes of Egypt found a home in Greece.
