Ancient music

Clockwise, from top left:

• Marble mosaic of a Sasanian harpist playing angular harp, c. 260 CE, from the palace of Shapur I in Bishapur
• The monumental Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng, c. 5th century BCE, from Hubei
• Musicians from a wall in Bonampak, an Ancient Mayan site

Ancient music refers to the musical cultures and practices that developed in the literate civilizations of the ancient world, succeeding the music of prehistoric societies and lasting until the Post-classical era. Major centers of ancient music developed in China (the Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties), Egypt (the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms), Greece (the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods), India (the Maurya, Shunga, Kanva, Kushan, Satavahana and Gupta dynasties), Iran/Persia (the Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Empires), the Maya civilization, Mesopotamia, and Rome (the Roman Republic and Empire). Though extremely diverse, the music of ancient civilizations is frequently characterized by monophony, improvisation, and the dominance of text in musical settings.^[1]