Czech website: Syria’s Ugarit granted the world the oldest known melody
A Czech website has recently posted a report on the civilization of the Syrian Kingdom of Ugarit and on the musical hymns this Kingdom presented to the world through clay tablets.
The report said that Ugarit granted the world the oldest known melody, the Sumerian hymn No.6, pointing out that this melody was found written on clay tablets that date back to the 14th century BC and that was discovered in mid 20th century.
The website went on to day that Ugarit clay tablets have refuted the theory which said that the oldest survived musical records were descended from ancient India, China and Greece.
It clarified that music archeologist Anne Draffkorn Kilmer is the one who discovered that the oldest musical record was the musical notation discovered in Ugarit, which attracted attention of other archeologists who, until that time, believed that the ancient Greeks were the first to invent such music.
The website explained that Kilmer managed to produce the interpretation of this musical notation, which turned out to be the oldest known piece of music ever discovered.
It is to be noted that 29 melodies were found written on Ugarit clay tablets, but only one, which is the Sumerian Hymn 6, met the required academic conditions.
Hamda Mustafa