Ancient Babylonian Brought to Life

misspoptart · 12-18-2014, 01:14 AM

Hello world music lovers!

Thought you might enjoy this article and the soundtrack of what a few artists' have come up with as a pretty accurate rendition of ancient Babylonian music.

I find it absolutely haunting and beautiful. The language itself sounds really familiar somehow. Check it out!

What did ancient Babylonian songs sound like?

Lisnaholic · 12-18-2014, 08:47 PM

It´s intriguing to wonder what the music of the distant past may´ve sounded like, but I for one couldn´t get anything from your link, I´m afraid, misspoptart. Maybe that´s why nobody is following up on this thread yet?

Incidently, some time ago, Stephen also did some digging into "the oldest song in the world":-

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

Not a nomination and not European but I thought you might be interested in this.

Hurrian Songs
The Oldest Song in the World

musical notation on clay tablets from Syria dated to around 1400 BC

and this

based on tablets from Syria (I imagine they are the same tablets but in the notes on YouTube they claim they were dated to 3400 BC. I think they meant to say 3400 years ago.).

misspoptart · 12-19-2014, 05:16 AM

Oh my! I didn't realize the link wasn't working properly. Let me link you directly to the soundcloud page:

Babylonian!

It's really so haunting and beautiful! Can't stop listening

I remembered Stephen's thread! I will definitely check it out again.

Pet_Sounds · 12-19-2014, 11:02 AM

Very cool, Miss P. Thanks for sharing!

Lisnaholic · 01-01-2015, 07:22 AM

^ Yes, misspoptart, thanks for putting up the soundcloud link; of the four songs there, my particular favourite was "Lullaby". It´s a beautiful, soothing piece of music as we might expect from the title. In the end your original RawStory link opened as well and it makes a very interesting read. Stef Connor has obviously done considerable research and has used as a starting point the same tablet H.6 from Ugarit that Stephen came across.

His Wikipedia link ( Hurrian songs ) has a good description of the tablet while his second link ( The Oldest Song In The World ) has a photo of both sides of the tablet and as well as three musical interpretations of the song that is written on it. The generally agreed title for the H.6 song is Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal and I wonder if that song is actually featured on Stef Connor´s album ?

Not so interesting for me is Stephen´s YouTube clip (Echoes from Uragit) which I think is a bit of a cheat as it´s a fabrication for a full Western orchestra. In fact, I found another version of Hymn to Nikkal which sounds more authentic, although without the benefit of Stef´s voice, I would characterize it as worthy but dull:-

12-18-2014, 01:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
misspoptart gimme gimme Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: istanbul Posts: 897	Ancient Babylonian Brought to Life Hello world music lovers! Thought you might enjoy this article and the soundtrack of what a few artists' have come up with as a pretty accurate rendition of ancient Babylonian music. I find it absolutely haunting and beautiful. The language itself sounds really familiar somehow. Check it out! What did ancient Babylonian songs sound like?

12-19-2014, 11:02 AM	#4 (permalink)
Pet_Sounds Remember the underscore Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: The other side Posts: 2,489	Very cool, Miss P. Thanks for sharing! __________________ Everybody's dying just to get the disease

01-01-2015, 07:22 AM	#5 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	^ Yes, misspoptart, thanks for putting up the soundcloud link; of the four songs there, my particular favourite was "Lullaby". It´s a beautiful, soothing piece of music as we might expect from the title. In the end your original RawStory link opened as well and it makes a very interesting read. Stef Connor has obviously done considerable research and has used as a starting point the same tablet H.6 from Ugarit that Stephen came across. His Wikipedia link ( Hurrian songs ) has a good description of the tablet while his second link ( The Oldest Song In The World ) has a photo of both sides of the tablet and as well as three musical interpretations of the song that is written on it. The generally agreed title for the H.6 song is Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal and I wonder if that song is actually featured on Stef Connor´s album ? Not so interesting for me is Stephen´s YouTube clip (Echoes from Uragit) which I think is a bit of a cheat as it´s a fabrication for a full Western orchestra. In fact, I found another version of Hymn to Nikkal which sounds more authentic, although without the benefit of Stef´s voice, I would characterize it as worthy but dull:- __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

12-19-2014, 05:16 AM	#3 (permalink)
misspoptart gimme gimme Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: istanbul Posts: 897	Oh my! I didn't realize the link wasn't working properly. Let me link you directly to the soundcloud page: Babylonian! It's really so haunting and beautiful! Can't stop listening I remembered Stephen's thread! I will definitely check it out again.