Words by Peter Pringle:
"This song to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal, is the oldest piece of music for which we have both the words and the accompanying musical notes. The work was written on clay tablets around 3500 years ago, and was discovered by archaeologists in the 1950’s in the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit.
The tablets, which are written in the Hurrian language using Sumerian cuneiform script, have been studied for years by a number of eminent scholars, and several theories have been advanced as to how the music should be interpreted. In my opinion, the most thorough and convincing interpretation (and by far the most musical), is that offered by archaeomusicologist, Dr. Richard J. Dumbrill, and that is the one which you hear in this video.
The text of the song is not well understood because the Hurrian language has not been thoroughly studied and the original tablet has bits missing. The goddess Nikkal, like most lunar deities, was associated with fertility and childbirth. Here is a very rough idea of what experts believe is being sung by the singer. I have tried to make this poetic rather than literal.
I have made offerings to the goddess
That she will open her heart in love,
And that my sins will be forgiven.
May my jars of sweet sesame oil please her,
That she may look kindly upon us,
And make us fruitful.
Like the sprouting fields of grain,
May women bring forth with their husbands
And may those who are yet virgins
One day be blessed with children."
In the shadow of the destruction and heartbreak unfolding across Southwest Asia, I find myself returning to Syria while beginning work on a new project—spinning light poi in the places I once wandered with my family, along paths that still echo with the memory of photography trips I shared with my father.
Music: Hurrian Hymn No.6 (Hymn to Nikkal - Goddess of the Moon) 1400 B.C.E. Interpretation based on the work of Dr. Richard Dumbrill, accompanied on lute and double aulos by Peter Pringle.
My first official film Homage To Sergei Parajanov has received the audience choice award at Lift-Off Global Network Sessions.
Thank you to everyone who has watched and supported so far. Looking forward for what comes next!
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