Turkey has launched initiatives to take back Seikilos Epitaph
Turkey's western Aydin province's Culture & Tourism Director Nuri Aktakka told AA on Wednesday that Seikilos Epitaph, which had been unearthed at Tralleis Ancient City during Aydin-Izmir railway construction between 1881 and 1883, was smuggled to a foreign country.
The epitaph has been exhibited at Copenhagen Museum in Denmark since 1966, added Aktakka. He noted that Tourism Ministry launched initiatives to take back the epitaph from Denmark.
The Seikilos epitaph is the oldest surviving example of a complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world. The finding has been dated variously from around 200 BC to around AD 100 but the first century AD is the most probable guess.
