The Red Eyed Lord

September 28, 2015 6:03 PM

lyre-of-ur.com is a somewhat rustic website dedicated to a playable reproduction of the world's oldest string instrument. You can hear it accompanying a set of silver pipes and a short recitation from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Don't miss the fan poetry on the informative history page.

Archaeomusicology previously.

posted by theodolite (6 comments total)

Wurartu-gesundheit! The lyre is breathtaking. The player and reciter are doing a great revival of those lost arts. The piece of the Gilgamesh epic she chose is interesting. What if Gilgamesh is history, not fiction?

I love that they reprised the instrument, and despair for the loss of historical artifacts due to current conflict, in the Middle (Conflict) East. It would all still be there if it weren't the place it is.
posted by Oyéah at 8:54 PM on September 28, 2015

I was hoping for a recitation in... Babylonian? On second thought is that even possible, do we have a good idea of what the Epic sounded like in the original language?
posted by 3urypteris at 10:04 PM on September 28, 2015

There was some interesting, if brief, coverage of the lyre of Ur project on the guardian recently, with more videos.

The singer makes shifting from a classical background to Babylonian music sound quite straightforward.

Owning (though not reading) a copy of [Teaching Yourself Singing in Babylonian], and having skimmed a Wikipedia article on Akkadian Phonology, were my qualifications when I met Andy and producer Mark Harmer for a Mesopotamian jam session.

Simple as!
posted by ocular shenanigans at 1:21 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

If it's too loud, you're too old
posted by thelonius at 8:00 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Dudes! Party at Nebuchadnezzar's!
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:29 PM on September 29, 2015

Huh. The lyre doesn't sound anything at all like I imagined.
posted by tdismukes at 9:09 AM on September 30, 2015