QuestionsHurrian songs of UgaritDoes the Babylonian tuning series, and so the h.6 scale, run upward or downward?Answer
Answer · Hurrian songs of Ugarit
Descending scale (Vitale, West)
The tuning series runs downward: string 1 is the highest, and the scale of h.6 descends.
Where it stands
Still possibleOne piece of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
What it predicts
- The Nabnitu string names, read with Akkadian usage for thin and thick or front and back strings, should place string 1 at the high end.
- Melodic realizations on the descending reading should fit cadential conventions attested elsewhere in Near Eastern music better than ascending ones.
What would rule it out
- A tuning or lexical text that explicitly places string 1 at the low end or describes the retuning step as tightening.
Evidence 1 for · none against
The questions it answers
Open3 answers, none ahead
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). Descending scale (Vitale, West) [Answer ANS0DEDXGE725WJ]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXGE725WJ
@misc{mysteriesdept_ans0dedxge725wj,
title = {Descending scale (Vitale, West)},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Answer, catalog key ANS0DEDXGE725WJ},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXGE725WJ}
}