The Aulos in Classical and Late Antiquity: Acculturation, Diffusion, and Syncretism in Socio-Musical Processes of the Mediterranean

The aulos, an extinct musical instrument consisting of a cylindrical-bore pipe with finger holes and a double reed for a mouthpiece, was a very popular wind instrument during antiquity (c.1000 BC-AD 600). Through a comprehensive analysis of written, archaeological, and iconographic sources, this book presents a holistic view of this musical instrument, its past, and its consequential history. This study is further substantiated by ethnographic data from Sardinia and Egypt, where the launeddas and the arghul were explored respectively. A new understanding of the history of the aulos is presented through the establishment of parallels between past and contemporary music-related practices. Figures Tables Acknowledgments Abbreviations Chapter I: Introduction 1.1 The Aims of this Research 1.2 Studies in Music Archaeology 1.3 Acculturation, Diffusion, and Syncretism 1.4 Methodology 1.5 Organisation of Book 1.6 The Research Question(s) 1.7 The Recovery of Music in Antiquity and the Auletic Tradition Archaeological Sources Iconographical Sources Written Sources Chapter II: The Precursors of The Aulos: Art And Tradition from Prehistory to the Second Millennium BC 2.1 In the Beginning, There Was Whistling 2.2 Piping and Whistling within the First Farming Communities 2.3 The Eastern Legacy 2.4 Western Pipes in the East 2.5 Bone pipes from Prehistoric Greece 2.6 Anatolia: the Land that Gives and Receives 2.7 What If They Used Metal? 2.8 The Aulos in the Cycladic and Hittite Tradition: the Art of Playing Two Pipes Simultaneously 2.9 Wind Instruments in Ancient Egypt Conclusion Chapter III: The Aulos of Classical Antiquity (c.1000 BC-AD 395) 3.1 Classical Antiquity 3.2 Homer, the Light Bearer in Dark Times 3.3 The Contexts in which the Aulos was Played Festivals Processions Sacrifices The Meal The Contest The Games The Symposion Weddings War 3.4 Coalescing Situations and Processes Conclusion Chapter IV: The Aulos of Late Antiquity (c.AD 395-600) 4.1 Etruscan Double-Pipes 4.2 The Roman Tibia 4.3 The Tibia in the Theatre 4.4 The Tibia in Roman Life 4.5 System of Classification 4.6 Description of Excavated Auloi and Tibiae The Auloi of Pydna The Elgin Aulos The Pompeii Auloi or Tibiae 4.7 Possible Transformation of the Aulos in Late Antiquity Conclusion Chapter V: The Musical Past and Present in Fieldwork 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Methodology 5.3 Understanding the Past through the Present: Exploring Similarities between the Sardinian Launeddas and the Ancient Greek Aulos 5.4 Fieldwork in Egypt: The Arghul as a Case Study for a Better Understanding of the Ancient Aulos Conclusion Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources Appendices Appendix A: Written Consent for the Reproduction of Photos and Media Appendix B: Description of Retrieved Auloi and Aulos Fragments The Brauron Aulos The Elgin Aulos The Auloi of Pydna The Auloi or Tibiae from Meroë The Tibiae from Mook The Pompeii Auloi or Tibiae The Maenad Pipes Tibiae fragments from Damascus The Reading Aulos Fragments of Auloi from the Athenian Agora