Introduction
The flute (aulos, in the ancient Greek language) constitutes the oldest wind musical instrument in the world. According to Haris Patsis’ epitome dictionary of ancient Greek language, the first definition of the word ‘aulos’ is generally that of any wind musical instrument (Patsis Reference Patsis1969, 228). So, taking into consideration Patsis’ wide definition of the flute, we can say that the examination of the ancient roots of the art of flute in any certain region (in ancient Libya, in this case) should concern those who are preoccupied not only with wooden wind musical instruments, such as the fife, the modern flute, the clarinet and other instruments of that family, but also with any wind musical instrument – even with brass musical instruments such as the trumpet and the horn. Since the flute constitutes the first human experience of playing a wind instrument, therefore, the art of flute marks the beginning of the human engagement with all the wind musical instruments, both wooden and brass.
Consequently, this article not only describes the roots of the flute in ancient Libya and of the art of playing it, but goes beyond this narrow definition to examine the roots of the art of playing wind musical instruments in general in ancient Libya. Furthermore, we can say that the art of flute – and, by extension, all wind instruments – also constitutes the foundation of the melodic section of music in ancient Libya, as it is widely known that the wind instruments are those which form the melodic section of music, while the percussion instruments are responsible for the formation of the rhythmic section.
So, we must note that all musicians, without exception, ought to show respect for the flute, as this instrument constituted the beginning of the human preoccupation with playing wind musical instruments.
The ancient Greeks’ propaganda in ancient Libya for the Greek origin of the art of flute
The geographical origin of the flute and of the art of playing it has posed a challenging question since ancient times.
Ancient Greek mythology attempted to provide an answer to that question. More specifically, according to an ancient Greek myth, the flute was an invention of the goddess Athena, who, when she observed that her face was being deformed while playing it, threw the instrument far away. It fell into Phrygia, where Marsyas found it and eventually began to play it. According to another ancient Greek myth, the flute was simply invented by Marsyas (Papaoikonomou-Kipourgou Reference Papaoikonomou-Kipourgou and Aggelopoulos2003, 123).
Such myths about the contribution of Marsyas to the invention of the flute inspired the ancient Greek artists to create several sculptures, including the statue discovered in the region of ancient Cyrene in Libya, which is now exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Cyrene under the description Inv. No. C14255, Archive No. 30. This represents Marsyas tied to a tree and being tortured, according to the ancient Greek myth which said that Marsyas was tied to a pine tree and excoriated alive after having lost with his flute in a musical contest against the lyre of the ancient Greek god Apollo (Wanis Reference Wanis2008, 19).
Furthermore, another statue of the ancient Greek mythological figure of Marsyas is exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum of the Libyan capital Tripoli. This statue, in comparison to the others exhibited in this museum, had won the preference of the unforgettable Greek historian and author Sarantos I. Kargakos, despite his comment that the face of this statue does not fit absolutely with its body (Kargakos Reference Kargakos2009, 225).
Such artistic creations concerning the origin of the flute and of the art of playing it were aiming to render the myths of the Greek colonists and rulers of ancient Cyrene as undoubtedly valid and true.
So, at this point, we can plausibly claim that such artistic works in ancient Cyrene, which were inspired by several subjects of ancient Greek mythology, were aiming to show off, in a suitably imposing way, the cultural superiority of the Greek rulers against the native Libyans. This resulted in the phenomenon which the noted Greek historian and author Sarantos I. Kargakos identified, whereby mythology was undergoing an ideological turn, becoming a very useful means of propaganda and promotion (Kargakos Reference Kargakos2009, 60). Furthermore, we should mention that even the ancient Greek craftsmen of household utensils in ancient Cyrene had been mobilized, in order to propagandize the Greek origin of the art of flute. For example, the archaeological hoe has uncovered, in the region of ancient Cyrene, a pelike and a stamnos, dated between 480 and 460 BC, both of which feature the representation of a woman playing the flute (although the flute, in both cases, is not so clearly distinct in its whole form) (McPhee Reference McPhee and White1997, 80, 83).
The ancient Libyans and the flute: a very special relationship
The first intellectual who seems to have systematically claimed the Libyan origin of the flute was the Greek rhetorician Athenaeus of Naukratis (late second/early third century AD), who wrote in his work Deipnosophistae that poets were describing the flute as ‘Libyan’, because the first human who invented the flute and the art of playing it was Seirites, who belonged to a nomadic Libyan people [‘Λίβυν δɛ τον αυλόν προσαγορɛύουσιν οι ποιηταί (φησί Δούρις ɛν δɛυτέρω των πɛρί Αγαθοκλέα), ɛπɛιδή Σɛιρίτης, ός δοκɛί πρώτον ɛυρɛίν την αυλητικήν [τέχνην], Λίβυς ήν των Νομάδων, ός και κατηύλησɛ τα μητρώα πρώτος’] (Athenaeus, 1834 (ed.), 12).
We can say that this claim of Athenaeus of Naukratis illustrates the existence of a very special relationship between the ancient Libyans and the art of flute. We can plausibly argue that the art of flute has very deep roots in the region of Libya, further justified by the discovery, during the excavations to the caves of the Haua Fteah in north-eastern Libya in 1955, of a fragment of a bone flute, dated 100,000 years ago (Calderbank, 23 November Reference Calderbank2016). In terms of the archaeological stratigraphic methods of dating, this fragment has been discovered on the Upper Paleolithic layer of this Libyan site.
More accurately, this fragment of bone flute, which proves the continuous existence of a musical (and especially of a flute-playing) tradition in the Libyan region, has the following measurable features: ‘length of the surviving portion 8.9 mm, external diameter 3.5–4 mm, internal diameter 3.5 mm, diameter of right-hand perforation 3.4 mm, estimated diameter of left-hand perforation 3 mm, distance from supposed mouthpiece to first perforation 8 mm, and distance from supposed mouthpiece to second perforation 17.5 mm’ (McBurney Reference McBurney1967, 90).
In dating the Haua Fteah fragment to 100,000 years ago, we can firmly reject the estimations of others, such as Lekkas, who had previously dated the oldest flutes to 60,000 BC (Lekkas Reference Lekkas and Aggelopoulos2003, 27). Consequently, at the present time, the oldest sample of flute in the world has been discovered in north-eastern Libya.
The type of flute that dominated throughout the prehistoric and ancient era (and of course in Libya) was the open, end-blown flute – also known as the single flute (Lekkas Reference Lekkas and Aggelopoulos2003, 26). The domination of this type is also noted by Oric Bates, who wrote that one of the most popular musical instruments which could produce notes (that is, one of the most popular wind musical instruments) in prehistoric and ancient Libya, and especially in the eastern part of the country, was the single flute, which had an unknown number of perforations and was probably made of either wood or leg bones of some large bird (Bates Reference Bates1914, 155). Of course, according to Douris from Samos, the ancient Libyans were also aware of the double flute (Bates Reference Bates1914, 155). Furthermore, we have to mention Wegner's remark that all the ancient flutes were generally described as ‘Libyan’, because the tubular part of the flutes was made from the hard wood of the North African (Libyan, to be more accurate) lotus tree (Wegner Reference Wegner1997, 357). Several works of ancient Greek dramatic poetry, such as The Trojan Women (‘Λίβυς τɛ λωτός ɛκτύπɛι Φρύγιά τɛ μέλɛα [ … ]’ [= ‘and the Libyan flute was scattering Phrygian melodies’], lines 544–45) (Euripides, Τρωάδɛς [The Trojan Women], Reference Mavropoulos2007 (ed.), 80–81) and the Herakles (‘παρά τɛ χέλυος ɛπτατόνου μολπάν και Λίβυν αυλόν’ [= ‘next to the seven-tone lyre's melody and the Libyan flute’], lines 683–84) (Euripides, Ηρακλής Μαινόμɛνος [Herakles], Reference Mavropoulos2007 (ed.), 86–87) do not miss the opportunity to make a reference to the Libyan flute.
Also, Papaoikonomou-Kipourgou cites the side flute as the most representative example, during ancient times, of flute made from the wood of the Libyan lotus tree. The side flute, or fotinx, was a single flute which was held athwart, similar to the modern flute, while its glottis was placed at almost the same position as the blowing hole on the modern flute (Papaoikonomou-Kipourgou Reference Papaoikonomou-Kipourgou and Aggelopoulos2003, 126). As a result, we can state that the modern flute undoubtedly has its roots in ancient Libyan culture and originates from the ancient Libyan side flute.
Conclusion
Finally, we can say that we cannot be absolutely sure about the real and accurate geographical origin of the flute. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the ancient (and the prehistoric) Libyans had a very special relationship with the art of flute, a relationship which created in Athenaeus of Naukratis’ mind the plausible idea of the Libyan origin of the instrument and of the art of playing it. Taking into consideration all the elements contained in the main body of this article, which indicate the existence of a very long tradition of the art of flute in ancient (and prehistoric) Libya, we conclude that this opinion of Athenaeus about the Libyan origin of the flute cannot be absolutely excluded as a possibility.
For the time being, we can only make suppositions about the accurate geographical origin of the flute. So now we have to patiently and curiously await new archaeological evidence, in order to discover if Athenaeus’ claim of the flute's Libyan origin is true or false.
