# The Nippur music-instruction fragments show the same terms used in performance instructions for singers, so the terms…

> The Nippur music-instruction fragments show the same terms used in performance instructions for singers, so the terms did carry a conventional…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/evidence/EVD0DEDZ58TPN2J/the-nippur-music-instruction-fragments-show-the-same-terms  
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

# The Nippur music-instruction fragments show the same terms used in performance instructions for singers, so the terms…

The Nippur music-instruction fragments show the same terms used in performance instructions for singers, so the terms did carry a conventional performance meaning that a fuller text could recover.

Suggestive0

## 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[Undetermined beyond a string tablature (Bayer, Rahn, Gibson)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hurrian-songs/answers/ANS0DEDX3FHRSCP/undetermined-beyond-a-string-tablature-bayer-rahn-gibson)

Counts against2 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 2

[A New Interpretation of the Nippur Music-Instruction Fragments](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDKZTWPWNX/a-new-interpretation-of-the-nippur-music-instruction)

Colburn 2009

SRC

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

Kilmer 1986

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The Nippur music-instruction fragments show the same terms used in performance instructions for singers, so the terms… [Evidence EVD0DEDZ58TPN2J]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDZ58TPN2J
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEDZ58TPN2J

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Suggestive

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

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