# No Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as…

> No Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as counts have not been shown wrong.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/evidence/EVD0DEDYNAX3GEN/no-mesopotamian-theory-or-instruction-text-records-durations  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Hurrian songs of Ugarit](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs)Evidence

Evidence · Hurrian songs of Ugarit

# No Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as…

No Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as counts have not been shown wrong.

Supported0

## What it means

Key question[What do the interval names and numerals in the notation of h.6 instruct a performer to play?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/questions/QST0DEDVBCYE714/what-do-the-interval-names-and-numerals-in-the-notation-of-h)

5 answers, none ahead yet

**Open** unchanged

Answer this evidence bears on[Numerals as durations (Hagel)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/answers/ANS0DEDX2P86YH9/numerals-as-durations-hagel)

Counts against1 for, 1 against

**Still possible** unchanged

## 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

[On: What do the interval names and numerals in the notation of h.6 instruct a performer to play?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/questions/QST0DEDVBCYE714/what-do-the-interval-names-and-numerals-in-the-notation-of-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

[On: What do the interval names and numerals in the notation of h.6 instruct a performer to play?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/questions/QST0DEDVBCYE714/what-do-the-interval-names-and-numerals-in-the-notation-of-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

[On: What do the interval names and numerals in the notation of h.6 instruct a performer to play?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/questions/QST0DEDVBCYE714/what-do-the-interval-names-and-numerals-in-the-notation-of-h)

**—** not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

## Sources 3

[In the Beginning Was Music! Computational Analysis of the Hymn to Nikkal and the Rig Veda Reveals Musical Connection Between Distant Bronze Age Societies](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDKKKS70KM/in-the-beginning-was-music-computational-analysis-of-the)

Baciu 2025

SRC

[Old Babylonian Musical Instructions Relating to Hymnody](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDKZG8CJW7/old-babylonian-musical-instructions-relating-to-hymnody)

Kilmer 1986

SRC

[Rethinking ancient music interpretation through Hurrian Hymn H6: a tablaturization](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDK87X6NKG/rethinking-ancient-music-interpretation-through-hurrian-hymn)

Gibson 2025

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). No Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as… [Evidence EVD0DEDYNAX3GEN]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDYNAX3GEN
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEDYNAX3GEN

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Supported

Found in

[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

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