Dion's water organ

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Dion's water organ
Illustration of an ancient water organ. Mosaic in the Roman villa of Nennig .

The water organ of Dion , also called Hydraulis of Dion ( Greek Ύδραυλις του Δίου Ídraulis tou Díou ), is the oldest Hydraulis musical instrument discovered to date and is considered to be the oldest keyboard instrument in the world. The find was dated to the 1st century BC. And is on display in the Archaeological Museum Dion in the Greek region of Central Macedonia .

The instrument

In water organs, the oldest organ-like instruments, a constant pressure is generated by an air container located in a water container. A keyboard are valves open, allowing air into the relevant organ pipe flows and generates a sound. Each pipe has a specific pitch .

The Hydraulis from Dion is 120 cm high and 70 cm wide. 24 pipes with a diameter of 18 mm and 16 narrow pipes with a diameter of about 10 mm are arranged in two rows. They were decorated with silver rings. The body of the organ was decorated with silver stripes and multi-colored, rectangular glass ornaments. In terms of its construction, the instrument can be classified between the water organ described by Heron of Alexandria and the water organ described by Vitruvius .

Excavation history

In the early 1980s, the area east of Ancient Dion's main street was drained. The neighboring river had permanently flooded parts of the archaeological site . In this area, east of the main road, planned excavations were carried out in the summer of 1992 under the direction of Dimitrios Pandermalis . The foundations of a building opposite the villa of Dionysus were exposed. On the morning of August 19, 1992, archaeologists found pieces of small copper tubes. They also found a larger, rectangular copper plate. The individual finds were partially connected to one another by the compacted soil. After the importance of the find was recognized, the earth was cleared over a large area and taken to the workshops for further processing. After cleaning the individual parts, it could be seen that it was a musical instrument, a water organ.

Replica

With the support of the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport and the help of Dimitrios Pandermalis, a reconstruction of the water organ began in the European Cultural Center of Delphi in 1995. Ancient records and the original excavated in Dion were followed. The instrument was completed in 1999.

literature

Web links

Commons : Water Organ by Dion  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Dimitrios Pandermalis: Η Ύδραυλις του Δίου: In: Ministry of Culture, Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (ed.): Το Αρχαιολογικό κργίο στη ΜΘκάδο. [ To Archeologikó Érgo sti Makedonía ke Thráki. ] Volume 6, 1992, Thessaloniki 1995, p. 216 ff. (Greek)
  2. ↑ Dimitrios Pandermalis: Η Ύδραυλις του Δίου: In: Ministry of Culture, Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (ed.): Το Αρχαιολογικό κργίο στη ΜΘκάδο. [ To Archeologikó Érgo sti Makedonía ke Thráki. ] Volume 6, 1992, Thessaloniki 1995, p. 218 ff. (Greek)
  3. ^ Vitruvius , DE L'ARCHITECTURE . LIVRE X, VIII. Des orgues hydrauliques (in Latin and French).
  4. ↑ Dimitrios Pandermalis: Η Ύδραυλις του Δίου: In: Ministry of Culture, Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (ed.): Το Αρχαιολογικό κργίο στη ΜΘκάδο. [ To Archeologikó Érgo sti Makedonía ke Thráki. ] Volume 6, 1992, Thessaloniki 1995, p. 217. (Greek)
  5. ↑ Ancient Hydraulis: The Reconstruction. Retrieved February 7, 2018 .

Coordinates: 40 ° 10 ′ 14 ″  N , 22 ° 29 ′ 13 ″  E