The Ancient Hydraulis      To view a video, click on your connection speed (56k or 300k)
Location: Greece   Length: 9.5 min.        56k      300k      56k      300k
In 1992 Greek archaeologists recovered a fragmentary hydraulis from the 1st Century B.C. at the Greek city of Dion. Based on this example and documentary evidence, the European Cultural Centre of Delphi finished reconstructing the instrument in 1999. The first keyboard musical instrument and the ancestor of the modern church organ, the hydraulis was invented by Ctesibius of Alexandria in the 3rd Century B.C. This video tells the story of the ancient hydraulis and its modern reconstruction and includes a performance of this remarkable instrument.