Iran is the apparent birthplace of the earliest complex instruments, dating to the third millennium BC. The use of angular harps have been documented at Madaktu and Kul-e Farah, with the largest collection of Elamite instruments documented at Kul-e Farah. Xenophon's Cyropaedia mentions singing women at the court of the Achaemenid Empire. Under the Parthian Empire, the gōsān (Parthian for 'minstrel') had a prominent role.
Iran is the apparent birthplace of the earliest complex instruments dating to the third millennium BC The use of angular harps have been documented at Madaktu and Kul-e Farah with the largest collection of Elamite instruments documented at Kul-e Farah Xenophon's Cyropaedia mentions singing women at the court of the Achaemenid Empire Under the Parthian Empire the gōsān (Parthian for 'minstrel') had a prominent role