# Descending scale (Vitale, West)

> Still possible: The tuning series runs downward: string 1 is the highest, and the scale of h.6 descends.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/answers/ANS0DEDXGE725WJ/descending-scale-vitale-west  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Hurrian songs of Ugarit](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs)[Does the Babylonian tuning series, and so the h.6 scale, run upward or downward?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/questions/QST0DEDVBJK95SB/does-the-babylonian-tuning-series-and-so-the-h-6-scale-run)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.

**Still possible** Answers **1** question0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** One 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 tuning text does not state whether the altered string is tightened or loosened, so the original ascending reading…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/evidence/EVD0DEDZ669WSCE/the-tuning-text-does-not-state-whether-the-altered-string-is)

Supported

FOR

## The questions it answers

[Does the Babylonian tuning series, and so the h.6 scale, run upward or downward?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/questions/QST0DEDVBJK95SB/does-the-babylonian-tuning-series-and-so-the-h-6-scale-run)

Open3 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Descending scale (Vitale, West) [Answer ANS0DEDXGE725WJ]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXGE725WJ
```

Key

**ANS** 0DEDXGE725WJ

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Proposed

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/sessions/SES0DEEADDRHVSZ/session-1-the-hurrian-songs-of-ugarit-seeded-corpus-readings) · 31 Oct 2026

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/ANS0DEDXGE725WJ)