Historical Archive of Kurdish Ancestors' Hori Songs; Oldest Melody of the World
The history of music is as old as humanity itself. Archaeologists have found early flutes made of bone and ivory dating back 43,000 years. Many ancient forms of music are believed to have been preserved in oral traditions, but when it comes to specific songs, the oldest known examples are somewhat more recent.
Most historians refer to Hurrian Hymn No. 6 as the oldest written piece of music in human history, a hymn to the god Nikal composed by the Hurrians around the 14th century BC, about 3,500 years ago It is now installed.
The clay tablets containing the music were found in the ruins of the Syrian city of Ogarit in the 1950s. Also, on the clay tablet, there are specific instructions for how to play the song on a kind of nine-stringed string.
The Hori Nikal hymn, also known as the Hori worship hymn No. 6, is one of 36 religious hymns written for the goddess Nikal and is considered the oldest melody ever discovered in the world.
Nikal was the goddess of gardens and greenery and was worshiped in most parts of Mesopotamia, especially in Upper Mesopotamia in Haran. In addition to the poem, the clay tablet also contains instructions for singers and musicians on how to play the music, which must be played on a caesar-like instrument called the Sammun, although the composer's name is unknown.
Over the years, the song has been rewritten by musicians and researchers and is now sung in various ways by many people and anyone can listen to the song online. The clay tablet is currently in the Damascus National Museum.
The lyrics of the song:
“I have sacrificed to the goddess
So let him open his heart in love
So forgive me my sins
A pot of sesame oil should smell good
That he may look upon us with kindness
May He make us fruitful like fertile fields of grain
So that women may have children with their husbands
So those who are still pure
Have a happy day with children”
According to the great Kurdish historian Mehrdad Yazidi, the Horis spread over a wide arc of the Zagros-Taurus mountain range and covered the entire Kurdish geography.
The Horites also invaded the neighboring plains: Mesopotamia and the Iranian plains. However, they never spread very far from the mountains. The economy and political relations of the Horites were surprisingly geographically concentrated, running largely parallel to the Zagros-Taurus mountain arc. Considering the archaeological remains of their basic goods, economic exchange between the mountains and the plains remained secondary in importance.
Source : Hawlati website
