17/06/2025
The world’s oldest song is Kurdish!
Discovered among the ruins of Ugarit, the ‘Hurrian Hymn No. 6’ holds the title of the world’s oldest known complete song—a bridge between ancient and modern music. 🎶
Also known as the “Hymn to Nikkal,” this extraordinary piece dates back to around 1400 BC. It was unearthed in the 1950s, hidden among a trove of clay tablets.
What makes this hymn truly remarkable is that it’s inscribed in the Hurrian language and dedicated to Nikkal, the goddess of orchards and fertility. The tablet contains not only lyrics but also musical notation, making it the oldest substantially complete work of notated music ever found. 📜
The cuneiform script even includes instructions for tuning a nine-stringed lyre, offering us an incredible glimpse into the instruments and musical scales of a world long vanished. While there are older fragments of music, like a Sumerian tablet from around 2000 BC, the Hurrian Hymn No. 6 is the most complete ancient composition we possess.
Modern scholars still debate exactly how this ancient melody would have sounded, but its discovery opens a rare window into the past—showing just how deeply music, ritual, and daily life were woven together for the Hurrian people.
~ The Two Pennie
