Music in Ancient Mesopotamia

Excavated in 1950, the Hurrian Hymns are the oldest known example of musical notation. They consist of a clay tablets with cuneiform writing dating to about 1400 BC. The text is a hymn to the orchard-goddess Nikkal in the ancient Hurrian language, along with musical notation and instructions written in Akkadian. One of the clay tablets has tuning instructions for a lyre (on a diatonic scale), and other symbols with the text include interval names and numbers. Exactly how to transcribe the musical notation is a matter of controversy and there are several different interpretations out there.

The oldest work of Mesopotamian literature, and possibly the oldest extant work of literature full stop, is a Sumerian poem called the Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells of the exploits of an ancient king of Uruk. The recording here is an interpretation of the opening stanzas, sung in Sumerian accompanied by a gishgudi, an ancient string instrument.