Seikilos epitaph

The Seikilos epitaph is famed as the oldest surviving example of a complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the western world. An ancient Greek melody was found encoded on a tombstone, near Aidin , Turkey (not far from Ephesus). Also on the tombstone is an indication that it is by one Seikilos, for his wife, who presumably is buried there. Above the lyrics (transcribed here in modern Greek font) is a line with letters and signs for the tune:

Translated into modern musical notation, the tune is something like this:

Seikilos.midi

The following is a translation of the words which are sung to the melody:

While you live, dance and sing, be joyful:
For life is short,
And Time carries away his prize.

The find has been dated variously from around 200 BC to around AD 100. While older western music with notation exists (for example the Delphic Hymns ), all of it is in fragments; the Seikilos epitaph is unique in that it is a complete, though short, composition.