{"id":29291,"date":"2017-08-31T05:45:21","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T09:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=29291"},"modified":"2017-08-31T04:06:17","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T08:06:17","slug":"the-oldest-known-melody-from-1400-b-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/08\/the-oldest-known-melody-from-1400-b-c\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oldest Known Melody–from Assyria, 1400 B.C."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Hurritische_hymne<\/a><\/p>\n

Scholars translating clay cuneiform tablets from ancient Assyria have discovered musical notations. \u00a0Musician Michael Levy has performed the melody on a lyre. \u00a0So we can hear a piece of music\u00a0from over 3400 years ago, the oldest that has been recreated today. \u00a0I\u2019ve embedded the YouTube performance. \u00a0But go to the link<\/a> to read about the background in which Levy explains the discovery, gives its historical and archaeological context, and gives further links to more scholarship.<\/p>\n

The melody is known as \u201cHurrian Hymn No. 6.\u201d \u00a0The Hurrians were not Assyrians, as such. \u00a0Just as the Israelites were not Assyrians in their time of captivity there<\/a>. \u00a0That was around 740 B.C., so this music predates the siege of Jerusalem and the obliteration of the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 17-18) by some 700 years. \u00a0For more information, go here<\/a>. \u00a0The song is identified on the tablet as a hymn to the Moon Goddess, Nikkal, wife of Yrikh.<\/p>\n

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Because this was a hymn in a religious culture that changed very slowly, there is the possibility that this music is far older than when it was written down on these particular tablets, which have been dated to 1400 B.C. \u00a0The musical transcription is a form of tablature<\/a>, showing the intervals on each string of the lyre.<\/p>\n

Yes, I know that there is some speculation about how the music would have sounded and various interpretations<\/a>. \u00a0And, yes, I know this isn\u2019t exactly new information, the YouTube performance dating from 2009, but it\u2019s new to me, so maybe it\u2019s new to you as well. \u00a0(HT to \u00a0Mary Moerbe for showing this to me.)<\/p>\n

One wonders if the style and the sound might be similar to the music the ancient Hebrews played. \u00a0As in this lament on the occasion of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews:<\/p>\n

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By the waters of Babylon,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>there we sat down and wept,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>when we remembered Zion.<\/span><\/span>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>On the willows[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0there<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>we hung up our lyres.<\/span><\/span>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>For there our captors<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>required of us songs,<\/span><\/span>
\nand our tormentors, mirth, saying,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSing us one of the songs of Zion!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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4\u00a0<\/sup>How shall we sing the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u2018s song<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>in a foreign land? (Psalm 137)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That last poignant question is one that Christians may well ask again if we find ourselves in another cultural exile. \u00a0But, in the meantime, enjoy the haunting beauty of this ancient music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n