The Judge
RAVES!
Date: 17/01/11
Sounding Down The Ages
I've remarked before that music may be the nearest we have to a functioning time machine. Well, here's a practical example.
Back in the 1950s, a clay tablet was found at Ugarit (in what is now Syria), upon which were a number of what were clearly tunes, recorded in Cuneiform text and dating back to about 1400 BCE.
Only one of the uncovered texts was well enough preserved to be able to be reconstructed and interpreted, by such as the musicologist Professor Richard Dumbrill.
What follows below is a performance of his arrangement of Dumbrill's work by the musician Michael Levy:
I don't know about you, but I hear not only what might be called typical Mediterranean music, but aspects of later music for the lute and Celtic harp. Either way, it's fascinating to speculate on what this music may have been created for, and on the nature of its original audience.
(Tip of the wig to PZ Myers for the link)
