Experts say it's the first depiction of a musical performance, possibly belonging to a ritual called the 'sacred marriage' which also included sex

Piece of pottery imprinted with the musical scene was discovered in Israel

An etching of a band on a piece of pottery, made by a 5,000-year-old seal, is thought to be the most ancient musical scene in the world.

The artefact, discovered in Israel, shows three female figures, one of whom is playing an ancient harp-like instrument.

Experts believe the image sheds light on an ancient ritual known as the 'sacred marriage' which included, music, feasting and sex.

Unique: An etching of a band on a piece of pottery (pictured), made by a 5,000-year-old seal is thought to be the most ancient musical scene in the world

The vessel bearing the musical impression was unearthed in the 1970s at the Bet Ha-'Emeq archaeological site and dates from the early Bronze Age.

It was made using a cylinder seal that was rolled along the surface of clay before it was fired, forming a repeating design.

The image comprises two standing women as well as a seated female playing a lyre – an ancient instrument similar to a small harp.

Now Dr Yitzhak Paz, Dr Ianir Milevski and Nimrod Getzov, of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), have claimed the seal is the earliest known representation of a musical performance.

The impression shows three female figures (illustrated), one of whom is seated and playing an ancient harp-like instrument called a lyre. Experts say it is especially important because it sheds light on the symbolic-ritualistic world of the early Bronze Age inhabitants in Israel

THE 'SACRED MARRIAGE RITUAL' The pottery impression is said to show a musical performance that was part of the 'sacred marriage'. This was a complex ritual in which union took place between the king and the goddess, represented by a priestess. It included several rites: music, dancing, a banquet and sex between the king and the goddess. Experts say the find sheds light on the symbolic-ritualistic world of the early Bronze Age inhabitants in Israel. Advertisement

They said: 'It seems that the rare seal impression, which appeared on a fragment of a large storage vessel (pithos), sheds light on the symbolic-ritualistic world of the early Bronze Age inhabitants in Israel.

'The importance of the scene lies in the possible symbolic context, it being part of a complex ritual known in Mesopotamia as the "sacred marriage"

'In this ceremony a symbolic union took place between the king and a goddess (actually represented by a priestess).

'The ceremony included several rites: music and dancing, a banquet, a meeting between the king and the goddess and an act of sexual congress between them.'

Another expert, Professor Pierre de Miroschedji of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris recently suggested that a lot of seal impressions from the early Bronze Age portray the sacred marriage rite.

The seal impression shows the musical part of the ceremony.

The IAA researchers said: 'This is the first time it is definitely possible to identify a figure playing an instrument on a seal impression from the third millennium BC.

'This is when most of the "cultic" impressions from Israel depict dancing figures or the feasting scene in which the female and male figures are shown facing each other, in the rite just before their sexual encounter.'