The Oxus Auloi

Research background, organological introduction and catalogue

Abstract

Although the aulos was one of the most important musical instruments of the ancient Graeco-Roman world and has a rich history of research, certain significant archaeological finds have only recently become the subject of extensive music-archaeological study. This article, together with Gunvor Lindström’s and Stefan Hagel’s contributions to this volume, present the results of the latest research carried out on an exceptional set of Hellenistic wind instrument fragments from the Oxus temple in Takht-i Sangin, Tajikistan. This contribution gives a summary of the previous and current research on the Oxus find, as well as an introduction to constructional aspects, including a classification of the preserved instrumental sections. It also provides a complete catalogue of all individual Oxus fragments with photographic documentation, detailed measurements, and a brief description.