The Epic Of Gilgamesh In Sumerian
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN recommends it to fans of ancient music as a rare chance to hear an attempt at 4,000-year-old song.
What it is
Peter Pringle sings the opening of the Epic of Gilgamesh in Sumerian, accompanied by a reconstructed ancient instrument. The description gives background on Sumer, cuneiform and how little is known about the language's pronunciation.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2021 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Recommends kibwen · 2022-08 · on “Hear the World’s Oldest Known Song, “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” Written 3400 Years Ago”
In a somewhat similar vein, here's Peter Pringle singing the opening lines of The Epic of Gilgamesh (written 4,000 years ago), using our best guess at Sumerian pronunciation and playing a modern recreation of an instrument that the Sumerians would have had, as an attempt to guess what ancient Sumerian music might have sounded like: [this video]
Recommends danans · 2024-05 · on “How did Ancient Greek music sound?”
If you like this kind of stuff, you should listen to Peter Pringle singing the Epic of Gilgamesh while playing a reconstructed oud. While the melodies/rhythms he uses are his creation, the words are from the epic itself which was itself 2000 years old by the time of Ancient Greece. [this video]
Recommends ZeljkoS · 2024-05 · on “How did Ancient Greek music sound?”
If you like this video, you will probably also like Peter Pringle's The Epic Of Gilgamesh In Sumerian: [this video]
Cites forgotpwd16 · 2021-11 · on “How to Read “Gilgamesh” (2019)”
Here's the first tablet in original language sung by Peter Pringle (with help from prof. A. R. George for pronunciation) accompanied with music instruments available at the time: [LINK] , a continuation to a very popular video made years ago where he sung an excerpt: [this video] .
Cites ZeWaka · 2025-12 · on “Classical statues were not painted horribly”
Hijacking this to point out Peter Pringle, who researches Sumerian music and even makes replica instruments for the songs: [this video]