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Street Philosopher

Instrumental In Iraq

Seán Moran blows the whistle on Plato’s flautophobia.

My photograph shows a flute-maker demonstrating his wares on a street in Iraq. Formerly known as Mesopotamia, Iraq has a rich cultural history. In fact, the first written language was most likely a Mesopotamian tongue, Sumerian. And it is in a Sumerian text that we encounter the earliest written mention of a flute. But the instrument was not invented by this ancient Middle Eastern civilisation.

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