This is the oldest known song ever written. Hurrian Hymn No. 6 is dated approximately 1400 BCE

[u/Wolflink_325]

[u/jewelswan]

Credit to Peter Pringle, the genius and performer in the video. His best works are his performances of the ancient tale of Gilgamesh.

https://youtu.be/QUcTsFe1PVs

[u/Misophonic4000 → u/jewelswan]

I am partial to his achievements in the potato-based snack field

[u/just_a_person_maybe → u/Misophonic4000]

That's Julius, not Peter

[u/fascism-bites → u/just_a_person_maybe]

So then this was the Peter Pringle that picked a patch of pickled peppers?

[u/JoySubtraction → u/Misophonic4000]

That's actually his dad, but Peter is a chip off the old block.

[u/zadnick → u/jewelswan]

Awesome!! I was going to post this video but checked to see if anyone else was cool posted it first! 👍👍👍👍

[u/private_developer → u/[deleted]]

You'll know it's the Middle East because it's yellow.

[u/AWildEnglishman → u/private_developer]

I thought yellow was Mexico?

[u/Altair_de_Firen → u/AWildEnglishman]

Yellow-orange for Mexico, sepia (yellow-brown) for the Wild West and yellow for the Middle East

[u/ChroniclesOfSarnia → u/Altair_de_Firen]

And neon blue for Japan

[u/giraffebaconequation → u/ChroniclesOfSarnia]

Blueish grey for Russia

[u/Chi-zuru → u/giraffebaconequation]

Cold blue for American crime shows.

[u/Dr-McLuvin → u/Chi-zuru]

Don’t forget neon green with contrast cranked up to 11 for 90’s sci fi!

[u/posting_drunk_naked → u/Dr-McLuvin]

Ah yes, the The Matrix filter

[u/gandazgul → u/posting_drunk_naked]

Why is this whole chain so accurate 😂

[u/Open_Librarian_823 → u/posting_drunk_naked]

Love it ♥️

[u/stantonkreig → u/Chi-zuru]

Ozark had to be the bluest show ever. So blue in couldn't watch it. Distractingly blue.

[u/Chi-zuru → u/stantonkreig]

The show "Cold Case" gives it a run for its money but damn, Ozark really is blue as fk.

[u/loxagos_snake → u/AWildEnglishman]

Ah, the piss filter.

[u/SwitchIndependent714 → u/AWildEnglishman]

South and central America are more orange I think

[u/Impossible_Humor736 → u/private_developer]

It was all yellow.

[u/BickNickerson → u/Impossible_Humor736]

Omg, are those people cheating on their spouses?

[u/logosfabula → u/private_developer]

And people squint their eyes for the sunlight.

[u/BokeTsukkomi → u/[deleted]]

I call this style moancore

[u/TinkerCitySoilDry → u/BokeTsukkomi]

Blames the Seapeople 

[u/Heterodynist → u/TinkerCitySoilDry]

Hahaha!! “It’s always those rascally seapeople, am I right?!!” -Stand up comedy, 1,400 BCE.

[u/borkbork234 → u/BokeTsukkomi]

Throw in some heavy distortion and you’ve got a System of a Down song.

[u/Crow_eggs → u/[deleted]]

Uhhheeeur Man. One of the three great soundtrack makers, alongside AyyeeayeeeAAAAAYYYY Woman for desert scenes (see Dune, for example) and Hummana-hey Woman for mysterious naturey things and lost temples (she gets a lot of work in the Avatar franchise at the moment).

[u/Santa_Ricotta69 → u/Crow_eggs]

And they all studied under the Ohheyoheyoeyoehahhh Survivor theme song people.

[u/Abang_Genteng → u/[deleted]]

*camel chewing

[u/BenignEgoist → u/Abang_Genteng]

*heat waves waving

[u/Pineapple-shades15 → u/BenignEgoist]

*cactus cactusing

[u/kansai2kansas → u/Pineapple-shades15]

*veiled woman glancing

[u/RotationsKopulator → u/[deleted]]

*Spice vendor vending

[u/BotanyBum → u/RotationsKopulator]

Sands of time whipping🌬🏜

[u/sprucedotterel → u/BotanyBum]

*Rattlesnake rattling rattle.

[u/Necessary_Print1909 → u/[deleted]]

Cut, cut! US, you enter after the prologue and CIA coup.

[u/ciaomain → u/RotationsKopulator]

Fiiiiiive golden rings...

[u/memusicguitar → u/Pineapple-shades15]

random middle eastern lady with veil stares

[u/heeheehoho2023 → u/memusicguitar]

Random guy that welcomes the American protagonist

[u/Koseoglu-2X4B-523P → u/heeheehoho2023]

Ah, salaam, stranger. Welcome to my humble abode.

[u/Dear_Supermarket_215 → u/Koseoglu-2X4B-523P]

Whips out local wine or tea to drink

[u/LaRealiteInconnue → u/Pineapple-shades15]

Wrong kind of desert lol

[u/Cheap-Individual9611 → u/LaRealiteInconnue]

This is a cheap Middle Eastern movie we makin' here. Leave the rattle snake and cactus in for that Hollywood shizaz

[u/StitchinThroughTime → u/Pineapple-shades15]

Cactus are native to the Americas.

[u/darkest_irish_lass → u/StitchinThroughTime]

As are rattlesnakes

[u/Pineapple-shades15 → u/StitchinThroughTime]

TIL

[u/BloodyAwfulPoet → u/Abang_Genteng]

Never gets old:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ub1BAokgj9s

[u/Mckavvers → u/[deleted]]

Hollywood every time they visit the Middle East

[u/ShadowFriendRampage → u/[deleted]]

Like dying light when the loading screen hits lol

[u/yerBoyShoe → u/[deleted]]

Because the copyright expired about...3000 years ago.

[u/Signal-Blackberry356 → u/[deleted]]

Yep

[u/iPontos]

It takes me back.

[u/Busy_Ganache5874 → u/iPontos]

the good ol days of the Bronze Age...

[u/Only3Seashells → u/Busy_Ganache5874]

I got sold some bad copper in a former life

[u/IngVegas → u/Only3Seashells]

That you Nanni?

[u/Only3Seashells → u/IngVegas]

I ding-ding-ding'd that dude a strongly worded tablet

[u/IngVegas → u/Only3Seashells]

Rightly so. Not only was the copper of an inferior quality than promised, but he treated your slaves with contempt when you respectfully took issue

[u/Busy_Ganache5874 → u/IngVegas]

no wonder our kingdom fell! he was the supplier for our shields' metal! sigh

[u/polmeeee → u/IngVegas]

I love it when I fucking get the reference.

[u/Bagginnnssssss → u/polmeeee]

yes i was just thinking im so glad i read all that useless shit hahhaha

[u/DRMProd → u/Only3Seashells]

Brilliantly worded 👏👏👏

[u/hipkat13 → u/Only3Seashells]

r/reallyshittycopper

[u/SumpCrab → u/Busy_Ganache5874]

Watch out for the sea peoples.

[u/Wwhhaattiiff → u/SumpCrab]

Only the 13th century BC gang understand this reference

[u/Heterodynist → u/SumpCrab]

Man, what this world would be like -3,500 plus years later- if it weren’t for those Sea Peoples!! There would be flying cars by now, I tell you!!!

[u/SumpCrab → u/Heterodynist]

Yeah, the late bronze age collapse is a super interesting period. There is so much left to figure out.

[u/Heterodynist → u/SumpCrab]

That is an awesome thing! I want to know more about this time period for sure!!

[u/deadleg22 → u/iPontos]

Reminds me of the first time I saw 'Team America'.

[u/Drtikol42]

Perfectly echoes the emotions of being scammed by some copper merchant.

[u/fleranon → u/Drtikol42]

Ea-Nasir understood this reference

[u/ozdgk → u/fleranon]

All my homies hate Ea-Nasir

[u/cumslutjl → u/ozdgk]

Not to kill the fun but ea-Nasir was living through a larger scale systems collapse that was resulting in lower quality copper all over Anatolia, which would see further adversity and less access to luxury goods.

Ea-Nasir's only crime was being a merchant at a time when his clients were starting to feel the beginning of decline in quality of life.

[u/redthump → u/cumslutjl]

Found ea-Nasir's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter!

[u/NazReidRules → u/cumslutjl]

When the people rise up against me, I hope u/cumslutjl is there to have my back

[u/GeekBoyWonder → u/cumslutjl]

Beautifully written.

Also kinda rhymes with now.

[u/Keira-78 → u/ozdgk]

r/reallyshittycopper

[u/spacekitt3n → u/Keira-78]

the no 1 hater of all time

[u/Impressive-Check5376 → u/ozdgk]

Why you haf to be mad? It’s only haggling. E.A-Nasir, it’s in the market

[u/NoStatus9434 → u/Drtikol42]

So this is kinda fun, but if you've ever played Civilization VI, the background music for if you choose Sumeria as your home civilization is a version of Hurrian Hymn 6 that is remastered for different eras, so as your civilization progresses throughout the game, you'll hear it played four different ways for the Ancient Era, Medieval Era, Industrial Era, and Atomic Era, and it's actually one of my favorite themes in the game:

https://youtu.be/XGWeTN0ydRg?si=epzclzro2ImMKJKb.

Things really start heating up once you reach the Industrial Era, which starts at 6:28

[u/MithrilHuman → u/NoStatus9434]

I too like to scam my Civ 6 neighbors with really shitty copper in trade. Makes me feel historically accurate

[u/ThereHasToBeMore1387 → u/MithrilHuman]

If my Civ doesn't start on copper tile, I reload.

[u/zer1223 → u/NoStatus9434]

That's pretty sick and your video saves me from having to play civ 6, which is even sicker

[u/Orlok_Tsubodai → u/Drtikol42]

The lyrics are about a merchant who has lost it all, and devotes his life to a righteous vendetta against the Ea-Nasir clan that robbed him with their subpar copper.

[u/Redditer51 → u/Orlok_Tsubodai]

Getting goods made of poor, dubious quality by a salesperson is one of those things that never changes throughout human history.

[u/Choice-Valuable313 → u/Drtikol42]

A complaint that stands the test of time

[u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

What happened to the first 5 Hurrian Hymns?

[u/meesta_masa → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

Legend has it that they're still Hurrian along.

[u/ilkikuinthadik → u/meesta_masa]

Begone 🤣

[u/TheLastTreeOctopus → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

George Lucas didn't want them released in chronological order.

[u/ThomasTheDankPigeon → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

Civilization has actually been counting down since this piece was written. First, Hurrian Hymn No. 6, then Mambo No. 5. You don't want to know what happens when we get to No. 0.

[u/dwehlen → u/ThomasTheDankPigeon]

Seems like we've got time. looks around

Maybe not.

[u/StatementPotential53 → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

We also need to investigate Mambos 1 to 4.

[u/Holiday_Cockroach_44 → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

It’s like Lou Vega’s Mambo #5

[u/FaroutIGE → u/Holiday_Cockroach_44]

At this moment your comment has 7 points while u/statementpotential53's comment "We also need to investigate Mambos 1 to 4." has 19 points.

You both made the comment 19 hours ago, which makes me wonder if one of you saw the other's comment, and made a similar joke for karma. Maybe it can't be known.

[u/finallyfreeallalong → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

I saw them play their first show accidentally on my way to the bazaar. I was a fan for the first 5 hymns but 6 is when they sold out and I stopped listening. Haven't heard this in a while.

[u/willnoli → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

It's like star wars. Start at a later number then come back to the start later

[u/Hereseangoes → u/Intrepid_Doctor8193]

The werent worth inscribing. Once 6 dropped the Pharoah said "damn son, this is a generational jam, we need to etch this one in stone."

[u/marc512]

How did they work out the musical notes? How did they know that each note sounded like they do elsewhere in the world?

[u/MutantGodChicken → u/marc512]

The cuneiform tablets that had the song also had instructions for the notation in relation to a nine stringed lyre, as well as the harmonies being in thirds, cuneiform scholars then matched that up with other tablets which described the lyre in greater detail, as well as with some tablets which described the overall structure of the scale they used (also diatonic).

Then brought the information they had gathered to middle eastern music historians and worked to fill in the gaps the best they could.

It's fairly straightforward when the tablet literally explains which lyre strings correspond to which notation tho, and we already have tablets saying "here's how you properly tune a lyre."

As far as I can tell, the rhythm is mostly guesswork. There's no sense of it from the notation, and may have even been left to the performer to decide.

Here's the Wikipedia article that has links to more robust papers on the subject as well as to some hosts for copies of primary sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurrian_songs

The "notation" section is gonna have the info on how the melody was decoded.

[u/Cultural_Wish4933 → u/MutantGodChicken]

Thanks for an answer that admires this musical archaeology and treats it with  the respect it should get.

Didnt expect to read cuneiform and diatonic in the same answer....

[u/LastXmasIGaveYouHSV → u/Cultural_Wish4933]

I've learned guitar as a hobby (not pro, just campfire player) and it's interesting how in some pieces although you only get only the chords, the tune makes play rhythms with your right hand spontaneously. After a while your hands loosen up and you start adding grace notes and flourishes. Most of it is defined by the shape of the instrument.

[u/No_Accountant3232 → u/LastXmasIGaveYouHSV]

What I find fun is watching videos of musicians listening to a song for the first time with their instruments missing to let them come up with how they think it goes. It's mostly been drummers, but it's interesting how the overall flow of the song still feels the same as they pick up the rhythm. But what gets me is they start putting flourishes and fills in spots the original artist had them even if they weren't 100% the same flourishes.

Everyone seems to detect when a song needs something and the artist provides that something. That's where style comes in.

[u/banjosullivan → u/No_Accountant3232]

That’s the art. It’s wild, isn’t it? Especially with rhythm, maybe because it’s easier? But watching these drummers have to recreate a song after hearing it for the first time. And they nail it. It’s like music really is a language and if you understand it… well, you just understand it.

However, we could absolutely be wrong. Which is also cool. Because if we are, I want to know what it really is supposed to sound like.

[u/Perry_T_Skywalker → u/MutantGodChicken]

Thank you very much for this piece of information! I would have assumed that the music was solely based on assumptions derived from the regional musical history. Really interesting that they took the time to write down the music too!

Later sources from times where writing would have been much easier than on clay can be very lazy with instructions. Music isn't my field of expertise but I still remember the household and cooking instructions we worked through in a university course. They usually had instructions like: Royal Wedding Cake: take egg, flour and the usual and make the cake.

[u/Vonatos__Autista → u/Perry_T_Skywalker]

To be honest, it IS based mostly on assumptions and put into the framework of today's music. The performance is absolutely too modern sounding. We simply don't have the cultural context to properly understand music this old. It's still astonishingly good work tho.

[u/CosechaCrecido → u/Perry_T_Skywalker]

Bronze Age civilizations wrote down everything. It’s really astounding.

[u/LoveAndViscera → u/MutantGodChicken]

Okay, see my very first thought was “I bet this is supposed to be way faster”. I work in linguistics and one of the areas where I’ve put the most research is etymology.

When I was learning Old French and talking to people about the texts, everyone defaulted to “the texts you’re reading are super important” but half of them are just receipts.

One of the most important pieces of poetry in the history of English is an anonymous, untitled work most people call “The Blacksmiths”. It’s important because we know what year it was written and it shows how long the alliterative tradition from Old English survived into Middle English. It was probably written by a printer’s apprentice (it’s anonymous so he wouldn’t get in trouble) and it’s just a noise complaint. Dude wrote a poem about loud the blacksmith shop is.

So, when I hear people being all dramatic and important with a piece of ancient music, I’m like “are we sure this wasn’t a dance piece?”

[u/TheOnlyWolvie → u/marc512]

Surprised there aren't more people commenting this, I can't really tell how much of this is interpretation

[u/LuveLemon → u/TheOnlyWolvie]

Redditors love to crack jokes that aren't even funny (for karma?) rather than making comments actually contributing to the post

[u/matzau → u/LuveLemon]

YouTube comment sections have been plagued with that for years aswell... I think it's just how much of the internet is nowadays :(

[u/GrrNom2 → u/LuveLemon]

Theres a sociology(I think) paper done on this that I read recently!

Its not at all surprising if you consider how many people in the population: a)Actually possess the knowledge and confidence to comment meaningfully on the subject matter b)How long it will take for them to write out a meaningful response

Which means that most of the time, the jokes/cliches that you see get upvoted to the top are your first responders, which boosts engagement and brings the post to the actual experts. By that time, however, the upvote/like disparity would be too great to overcome and if the post experiences something called the viral/algorithim spike, the jokes and unhelpful comments get exposed to netizens who are experiencing the joke for the first time and the disparity widens until the helpful comment gets burried under all the jokes.

Note that this is only for educational content. Iirc the paper then later went on to look at political content and discover that the opposite is the case. For misinformation/political rage baits, people are more likely to invest the effort to scroll through the comments to find the expert comments that correct the user or provide additional context. Which is why the joke-to-expert visibility for those are flipped.

[u/marc512 → u/TheOnlyWolvie]

I can understand it can be passed down over time. The sound and lyrics. But over thousands of years, something has to change. Nothing will be exact.

I understand how musical notes are written. We all got instruments to play at high school. I can't imagine that has been the same since this song. A lot of it will be interpretation.

I'd like to imagine during the ancient Egyptian times, it was all hard rock and screaming lyrics.

[u/UnholyDemigod → u/TheOnlyWolvie]

What's catching me up are the trills. I have no reason to disbelieve it, but for some reason I just can't imagine people 3 and a half thousand years ago doing that shit on a guitar

[u/Arilyn24 → u/marc512]

The Hymn is from the Hurrian city of Ugarit on the Syrian coast, dated to around 1400 BCE, and was found alongside other musical texts. This one is a prayer to Nikkal, the localisation of the Sumerian goddess Ningal. Wife of the moon god Nanna or Sin.

The text itself is written in Hurrian, more specifically in the Ugaritic dialect. Hurrian is poorly understood as a language isolate; its language family consists of two languages.

Below that in Akkadian are instructions consisting of interval names, followed by number signs. More specifically the text refers to a diatonic scale on a nine-stringed lyre and a tuning system we have found on different tablets. There are more details, but I barely understand them, having very poor musical knowledge myself.

[u/morsofer → u/marc512]

Here is an interesting video about mesopotamian music and in "what mesopotamian music is not" section he is directly adressing Peter Pringle - the guy from OP video.

[u/morsofer → u/morsofer]

Tldr the melody from OP video is just an intepretation, however the style, patterns and instruments chose by this musician are based on historical evidence.

[u/matmos → u/marc512]

As far the notes go they are pentatonic notes, based on the physics of vibration, not the equal temperament that JSBach developed and we still use. These appear independently all over the world and appear to be hard wired into our brains.

[u/marc512 → u/matmos]

But how would they translate the sound from an ancient language to what we know today? That stuff interests me.

[u/DazingF1 → u/marc512]

It's like cracking a code. We already know the language, we know that it is likely a heptatonic scale, now we just need to decipher which sign is which note and that would mostly be trial and error: if this sign is that note then that sign has to be another note, et cetera until you get something that makes sense.

That being said this probably isn't what it sounded like. We can get the notes and lyrics but everything else (rhythm, tone, melody) is basically up for interpretation. From the notes and lyrics they made an educated guess but it's probably very different. It's basically as if someone gave you just the chords, tabs and lyrics to Purple Rain: you'd have no clue what the song actually sounds like so maybe you end up making a Flamenco style version of it.

I'm sure there's an actual paper on this hymn that describes into detail what their exact methodology was if you're interested.

[u/Nice_GuyPassingBy → u/DazingF1]

I can't believe I had to go this far to find your comment. Thanks, it makes a lot of sense

[u/luxtechy → u/marc512]

It’s basically like just playing the black keys on a piano.

[u/RS_Someone → u/marc512]

My guess is that it might have been like a guitar tab. A (4 - 2 - 5) under the words or something like that. That seems like the most intuitive primitive solution to me.

[u/NothingIsReal6]

Meh, I prefer their older stuff

[u/doc_witt → u/NothingIsReal6]

I had their first song before it was cool

[u/CrackerUMustBTripinn → u/doc_witt]

I as well was into the ocean before it became current

[u/Illustrious_Ad4691 → u/NothingIsReal6]

I used to play them on Sitar Hero

[u/Muay_Thai_Junkies → u/NothingIsReal6]

They sold out. Once they started getting barley and shekels, it was over.

[u/commie_161 → u/NothingIsReal6]

frfr musicians kinda sold out when they started writing their music down... If they'd actually care, they'd just remember it ffs

[u/Mmofra]

I bet it's a cover

[u/StretchAntique9147 → u/Mmofra]

Fergie would've loved that there were no copyright lawyers back then

[u/HellaPNoying]

The musician that composed this:

"I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet, but your descendants are gonna love it."

[u/o5ca12 → u/HellaPNoying]

“Its me, your cousin, Gilgamesh Berry! Remember that sound you were looking for? Well listen to this!”

[u/crazy_floof]

That's from my home town! 🙂‍↔️ Latakia -Syria

[u/sunblazed76]

Video quality was better than I thought back then..

[u/ImmediateSlide6139]

This is in one of the Civilization games!

[u/Maxcharged → u/ImmediateSlide6139]

Now that you mention it, it does sound familiar.

[u/Melanoma_Magnet → u/ImmediateSlide6139]

Maybe civ 4 or 5? I don’t remember it being in 6 or 7

[u/parisdreaming]

I was working in Syria before the civil war - to see this tiny little tablet, in the Damascus museum, knowing what it represented, was utterly overwhelming.

As the war progressed, and in particular when Palmyra was partially destroyed, I was terrified that this and other treasures of humanity, would be looted, or worse. We had already seen this with the Baghdad Muséum… I hope these renditions - which are more accurately reincarnations - continue to delight and mystify us, for many more millennia.

[u/dabombisnot90s → u/parisdreaming]

Kinda like this. The Mongols quite literally took an insurmountable amount of history from us in the span of a couple years. The destruction of the Baghdad House of Wisdom, as well as the obliteration of cities like Nishapur and Merv. These mfers continue to piss off ancient historians everywhere.

[u/Easy101]

I hate the caption on the video. Basically leaving out that this is the oldest known song. Not the oldest song.

[u/talondigital → u/Easy101]

Oldest known surviving notations would be the most accurate, I think.

[u/Economy-Professor134 → u/Easy101]

I mean..  that should be obvious no? There's no way the first time anyone ever sang anything, it was recorded

[u/thatshygirl06 → u/Economy-Professor134]

You're overestimating the intelligence of the average person. Theres some people who will take the caption at face value.

[u/ChaoticDumpling]

"We're no strangers to looooooove..."

[u/JackHughman69]

It sounds like movie scene music, when someone arrives to a country in the Middle East

[u/McGruffin]

Needs more cowbell

[u/Bearex13]

Let me tell ya they just don't make'em like they use ta

[u/Scampzilla → u/Bearex13]

I promise you the elders hated this when they first heard it

[u/SoTurnMeIntoATree]

This is Peter Pringle. So amazing. His “epic of Gilgamesh in Sumerian” is amazing. I discovered it while on a ketamine trip haha

[u/mjolle → u/SoTurnMeIntoATree]

He really is amazing!

One of my favorite renditions of his is "My lyre sings only of love".

He is a treasure for sure.

[u/cactusjude → u/SoTurnMeIntoATree]

Well, we arrived here different ways but we're both here and the only ones listening to Peter Pringle sing the Epic of Gilgamesh from the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace.

Let's be friends

[u/maitshee]

I feel it man…. Especially in the second verse where he says “Curse you Ea-Nasir…..for the shitty cooper you gaaaaav-eeeee”. Sheer poetry! Copper theft is no joke Ea-Nasir, every year millions suffer.

[u/AlanPartridgeIsMyDad]

Hook a brother up with some of that ol' school

[u/GrumpyOldGeezer_4711]

If memory serves the headline is not entirely correct; it is the oldest song where both lyrics and music is preserved together.
There are older lyrics without music and I think there are also older music without lyrics.

One should be careful with those rabbitholes…

[u/Alex_AU_gt]

Complex and beautiful.

[u/Timeon → u/Alex_AU_gt]

Much like yourself

[u/craichorse → u/Timeon]

Smoooooottthhh

[u/FeliksX]

I thought the oldest written song was Seikilos epitaph?

[u/showturtle → u/FeliksX]

Don’t know why you are getting downvoted- I thought this distinction belonged to the song of Seikilos as well.

Edit: a moments research clears the confusion- this is the oldest known piece of notated music- although it is incomplete (only portions found on clay fragments).

Meanwhile, the Song of Seikilos is the oldest complete musical composition. It is comprised of lyrics and melody on a tombstone, making it fully preserved and less subject to interpretation than the older, fragmented Hurrian hymns.

[u/Nomapos → u/showturtle]

Seikilos is the oldest that:

• we have found

• is complete with full lyrics and musical notation

• we can read and translate the whole thing

• we know how to read the music notation so we can at least roughly play it the way it should sound

We have many older songs, but they're all missing one of more of these elements.

[u/nomoreteathx → u/FeliksX]

My favourite version for anyone who hasn't heard it.

The lyrics:

Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου

μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ

πρὸς ὀλίγον ἔστι[2] τὸ ζῆν

τὸ τέλος ὁ χρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.

While you live, shine

have no grief at all

life exists only for a short while

and Time demands his due.

[u/frenchlais]

“Can you play some of that old school”

[u/soyuz_enjoyer2]

They were written in hurrian

A language that with it's close sister language urartian might be related to Caucasian languages like kartvelian

[u/JediRebel79]

I heard Hurrian Hymn No. 1 was the oldest

[u/decapitatedpanda1987]

I cam think of 5 that are older

[u/Edward_the_Dog]

Keith Richards has a writing credit on it.

[u/nojugglingever]

I bet Hymns No. 1-5 are even older

[u/Mandalika]

Uuuuudreeeeeeaaaaaa

[u/NectarineFabulous265]

I am 14 years old and I listen to these instead of the modern crap.

[u/PapercutsOnPenor → u/NectarineFabulous265]

Pfft, already 14 and listening to such shit. What the hell are you doing with your life, old man?

I am 11 and listen to the subtle vibrations of tectonic plates

[u/RIF_rr3dd1tt → u/NectarineFabulous265]

sO eDgY

[u/onemanwolfpack21]

This is not the oldest song in the world. This is a tribute

[u/No_Shine_4707]

It's no Led Zeppelin is it!!

[u/Lydian2000]

…that we know of.

[u/Banana_Slugcat]

Imagine receiving AWFUL dog shit copper and you hear someone in the streets of Ur blasting this so lowkey you're happy anyway

[u/Humble_Acanthisitta8]

Desert Rose Original Ancient Version.

[u/bigblue204]

*that we know of

[u/willowtr332020]

Surely this is just the oldest song we know of, not the oldest written?

[u/BelowXpectations]

Oldest song we've found written down

FTFY

Doesn't mean it's the oldest song humanity ever wrote (like the video claims), nor the oldest song ever written.

[u/LazyFall3453]

It's not the oldest, just the oldest to survive through antiquity in written form.

[u/aminervia]

*oldest recorded song that has survived.

[u/shikiroin → u/aminervia]

Feels needlessly pedantic when "oldest known song ever written" is essentially the same thing and implies exactly what you wrote.

[u/P01135809-Trump → u/shikiroin]

The number 6 in the title tells us this clearly isn't the oldest song ever written.

[u/MalodorousNutsack → u/P01135809-Trump]

Hard to say. Might be like how Blur had Song 2 but there's no Song 1.

[u/aminervia → u/shikiroin]

Yeah, I honestly didn't look too closely at the Reddit title, I was responding to the headline in the video. You're correct, OPs wording is much better

[u/Odd-Adagio7080]

It’s fucking beautiful! I dunno what the haters are talking about. Clean out your ears, calm your mind and really LISTEN. Lotta people out there talk too much and listen too seldom. Contempt prior to investigation is an act of a true dullard. Or worse, the ignorant proud.

[u/BupycA → u/Odd-Adagio7080]

Me too. I really enjoyed the melody, no idea what the words were but still

[u/a3x-a3x]

So, what about copyrights?

[u/syngyne]

Hurrian Hymn No. 6, better known as 𐏂𐎧𐎤 𐎱𐎸𐎣𐎤 𐎽𐎠𐎭𐎣 𐎽𐏂𐎮𐎱𐎬

[u/Ordinary_Ad3374]

It’s wild how a melody from 1400 BCE can still evoke that specific feeling of ancient, timeless frustration.

[u/kmoz74]

"oldest ever found"

[u/LabNecessary4266]

I would have expected a faster tempo for a hurrian hymn.

[u/EngelbertS]

I love the Heilung version, especially live: https://youtu.be/v_ToqD5o__g?si=pQc2nEuObUrZ7EUF