An ancient Christian Hymn with Musical Notation (P.Oxy.1786)
An ancient Christian hymn with Musical Notation (P.Oxy.1786)
P.Oxy.1786, as it is known to scholars, is the only example of pre-Gregorian Christian music whose notation has survived (see Cosgrove, 2011). The original Christian hymn, unearthed from a rubbish dump in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt and published in 1922, originates in the late third century. The remains of the hymn score were found on the back of an account of grain deliveries. It is likely the musician who composed (or at least owned) the score came from professional musical circles of Oxyrhynchus and earned a living teaching songs to the lyre or cithara.
ὁμοῦ πᾶσαι τε θεοῦ λογιμοι
σιγάτω, μηδ᾿ ἄστρα φαεσφόρα
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