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2000 BCE
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1400 BCE
1300 BCE
1200 BCE
1100 BCE
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100 BCE
2000 BCE: The first examples of the lyre in the Bronze Age Aegean occur in the Cyclades and on Minoan Crete.
1420 BCE - 1300 BCE: Clay dancing figures including a rare female lyre player are made in Minoan Palaikastro.
1400 BCE: Lyres across the Aegean assume S-shaped arms and become more decoratively carved, most often with sculpted birds.
1250 BCE - 1200 BCE: A Linear B tablet from Greek Thebes mentions lyre players as members of the royal palace staff.
600 BCE - 550 BCE: The silver stater coin of Calymna in Caria depicts a tortoise shell lyre on its reverse side.
550 BCE: The silver drachma of Delos depicts a lyre - symbolic of Apollo - on its reverse side.
100 BCE: Coins of Kos and Thespiai depict a lyre on their reverse side.