Posted on 07/17/2025 9:28:54 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
According to a statement released by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), LMU researcher Enrique Jiménez was able to decipher a Babylonian hymn that had been lost for 2,000 years. Jiménez, in collaboration with the University of Baghdad, is working on digitizing all cuneiform tablets from the legendary ancient Sippar Library, once located on the banks of the Euphrates River north of Babylon. Using artificial intelligence, the team was able to identify 30 different fragmentary pieces from the same composition, which turned out to be a previously unknown hymn consisting of 250 lines. The piece was written by an ancient Babylonian who wished to shower his city with praise. The author not only describes Babylon's lofty buildings, but hints at what life was like in the city and, perhaps most significantly, provides valuable information about the role of women in Babylonian society, including their duties as priestesses. Because there were so many different fragmentary copies of the text surviving, the experts believe it may have been widely known and even copied by schoolchildren during their lessons. "It's unusual that such a popular text in its day was unknown to us before now," said Jiménez. Read the full hymn and the original scholarly article about this research in Iraq. To read about tablets thought to have come from Sippar that record the earliest known mentions of omens related to lunar eclipses, go to "Bad Moon Rising."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
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Cuneiform tablet inscribed with the text of a hymn, © Anmar A. Fadhil, Department of Archaeology, University of Baghdad, with the permission of the Iraqi Museum and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage© Anmar A. Fadhil
I tried to translate that but I came up with “There’s a bathroom on the right.”
Really stupid comment that is neither funny nor clever.
Ooooh, well played!
Definitely need my reading glasses for that hymnal.
Let's try to lighten things up with Mr. Bean sharing a hymnal in church.
By I. RON BUTTERFLY?
“How dare you!” Greta Thunberg
🎵Born in Babylonia
Raised in Arizona🎶
Good one, but I liked BLACK ADDER more than Mr Bean. Still THIS is a funny post! :-)
Typical male supremacist society, those Babylonians, hymnal, but no hermnal. Probably all the Babylonian men claimed to have the kavorka.
“...perhaps most significantly, provides valuable information about the role of women in Babylonian society, including their duties as priestesses.”
Wonders whether sammiches had been invented yet...
“Read the full hymn and the original scholarly article”
I scrolled through the article and didn’t see the text of the hymn in english.
You'll have to scroll down pretty far, but eventually you will encounter large chunks of individual fragments of the text translated into English.
Regards,
Looks like Bringing in the sheaves
Is there any way to tell how it was sung?
I have learned a lot in my very long life but I still do not understand music or its history. I may do a deep dive later to learn the history of notes etc.
Early in the evenin’, just about supper time
Over by the courthouse, they’re starting to unwind
Four kids on the corner trying to bring you up
Willy picks a tune out and he blows it on the lyre
It’s right in some images lower down, here’s the first one:
The oldest known musical notation isn't all that old. Probably was passed down orally, or if recorded at all, written on non-durable materials.
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