Hurrian songs of UgaritEvidence
Evidence · Hurrian songs of Ugarit
The numerals 2 and 4 occur more often than 3 and 5 in the notation, as duple rhythmic values would.
The numerals 2 and 4 occur more often than 3 and 5 in the notation, as duple rhythmic values would.
What it means
Key questionWhat do the interval names and numerals in the notation of h.6 instruct a performer to play?
5 answers, none ahead yet
Openunchanged
Still possibleunchanged
Next steps 3
1
Key the notation lines of all ~35 fragments from Laroche, Ugaritica V pp. 462-496 (with Dietrich and Loretz 1975 corrections for h.6), into one CSV of fragment, line, position, Hurrian term, Akkadian equivalent, string pair and numeral, using the string-pair table DAT0DEDTRRNXZCV as the key; reproduce Rahn's 2011 counts as a check.
~12 h
—not judged
2
Test the numeral readings against a null model: compare the observed distribution of numerals 1 to 10 across all fragments with the distributions expected under repetition counts (geometric-like, no parity preference) and under duple durations (excess of 2 and 4), using a permutation test; report whether Hagel's duration reading beats the repetition reading.
~4 h
—not judged
3
Count the sung syllables of h.6 from Laroche's transliteration under both rules for the repeated line-end syllables, and compare with the note totals implied by Kilmer's, Duchesne-Guillemin's, West's and Hagel's readings; publish which readings can match under which rule.
~6 h
—not judged
Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes
Sources 2
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). The numerals 2 and 4 occur more often than 3 and 5 in the notation, as duple rhythmic values would. [Evidence EVD0DEDYMM9K7RT]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDYMM9K7RT
@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0dedymm9k7rt,
title = {The numerals 2 and 4 occur more often than 3 and 5 in the notation, as duple rhythmic values would.},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DEDYMM9K7RT},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDYMM9K7RT}
}