What do the interval names and numerals in the notation of h.6 instruct a performer to play?
Five answers, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.
Where it stands
Five answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Five are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.
Why it matters
The fourteen Akkadian terms in the notation are securely identified as pairs of strings from the Babylonian theory tablets, but no Mesopotamian or Ugaritic text says how a term was performed or what the numeral after it counts[1][2]. Kilmer plays each term as two strings together, Wulstan, Duchesne-Guillemin and West as melodic steps, and Hagel treats the numerals as durations; each reading is internally consistent and none has been eliminated[3][4][5]. Gibson's survey finds that every staff-notation realization adds information the tablet does not give[6].
Answers 5
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
History
- Anne Draffkorn Kilmer: cBS 10996 defines each of the fourteen terms as a pair of string numbers, so the terms in h.6 name two strings.For: Dyads with repetition counts (Kilmer; Dumbrill in a nine-note frame)
- David Wulstan: the melodic readings of Wulstan, Duchesne-Guillemin and West disagree with each other on how a term becomes notes, and…Against: Melody (Wulstan, Duchesne-Guillemin, West)
- Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin: the melodic readings of Wulstan, Duchesne-Guillemin and West disagree with each other on how a term becomes notes, and…Against: Melody (Wulstan, Duchesne-Guillemin, West)
- Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin: no Mesopotamian or Ugaritic source states that the two strings of a named pair were sounded together, and two-part…Against: Dyads with repetition counts (Kilmer; Dumbrill in a nine-note frame)
- Anne Draffkorn Kilmer: cBS 10996 defines each of the fourteen terms as a pair of string numbers, so the terms in h.6 name two strings.For: Dyads with repetition counts (Kilmer; Dumbrill in a nine-note frame)
- Anne Draffkorn Kilmer: no Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as…Against: Numerals as durations (Hagel)
- Dylan Lawrence Gibson: a reading-by-reading comparison of the realizations from 1971 to 2019 finds that each adds tempo, metre, scale…For: Undetermined beyond a string tablature (Bayer, Rahn, Gibson)
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative: cBS 10996 defines each of the fourteen terms as a pair of string numbers, so the terms in h.6 name two strings.For: Dyads with repetition counts (Kilmer; Dumbrill in a nine-note frame)
- Dylan Lawrence Gibson: no Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as…Against: Numerals as durations (Hagel)
- Dan C. Baciu: no Mesopotamian theory or instruction text records durations by numeral, and the earlier readings of the numerals as…Against: Numerals as durations (Hagel)
- Dan C. Baciu: the numerals 2 and 4 occur more often than 3 and 5 in the notation, as duple rhythmic values would.For: Numerals as durations (Hagel)
- Dylan Lawrence Gibson: a reading-by-reading comparison of the realizations from 1971 to 2019 finds that each adds tempo, metre, scale…For: Undetermined beyond a string tablature (Bayer, Rahn, Gibson)
- Session 1: raised the question, proposed five answers, found ten results bearing on its answers and worked on one of its sub-questions