Roman Egypt

Egypt in the Roman period was a combination of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman traditions: Indigenous Egyptian culture and language existed alongside the Hellenistic traditions and Greek language of the Ptolemies (323-30 BCE) and the customs and language of subsequent Roman rule, along with influences from else­where in the Mediterranean world. With all of the multicultural interaction in Roman Egypt, it is not surprising that the music of the period reflected a diverse set of influences. Egyptian traditions of ritual and festival music with typically Egyptian musical instruments combined with Hellenistic and Roman traditions of theatrical performance of music, Greek systems of musical notation, and new varieties of musical instruments. The music of Egypt in the Roman period seems to have been a lively amalgam of these diverse cultural influences.