Question about music from the age of antiquities

[relm1]

Does anyone here know how much is known about what music from ancient times sounded like?  I read that in Ancient Egypt, they already had orchestras...of course not our modern version of it but large ensembles of mixed instrumentation including harps, lyres, lutes, double and single reed flutes, clappers, drums, etc.



I know some of these ancient instruments still exist (were found in tombs) so the sound reproduction and playing technique is known but I don't think any form of notation existed back then.  Do any of the melodies still exist today or are these lost to time?  Is our understanding of this sound mostly from modern movies set in ancient times rather than based on a historically accurate scholarly analysis?

[Mahlerian]

There are a very few surviving examples of music from antiquity, because a widespread notation system didn't exist until the middle ages.  Interpreting whatever is left is a difficult task.

Apparently, this is the oldest surviving complete composition:
https://www.youtube.com/v/xERitvFYpAk

Note that the composition would consist of a monophonic melody only, and so all details of arrangement here are added by performers or others.

[Turner]

As regards recordings, the most well-known attempts at reconstruction is probably in this one, from Harmonia Mundi

http://ukstore.harmoniamundi.com/ancient-greek-music.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1z0zaGDzlQ

[HIPster]

Here's the amazon link:

[asin]B000A6OC44[/asin]

I enjoy this release quite a lot.