A while back, Don Tomlinson ran across an internet article about the oldest “song”ever discovered by archaeologists, dating to 1400 BC and found in the early 1960s in what now is Syria. It was written to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal. Some of the lyric was found, as was a bit of the melody, though Don did not hear it. The song is believed to have

A while back, Don Tomlinson ran across an internet article about the oldest “song”ever discovered by archaeologists, dating to 1400 BC and found in the early 1960s in what now is Syria. It was written to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal. Some of the lyric was found, as was a bit of the melody, though Don did not hear it. The song is believed to have been written for the “lyre,” a small harp-like instrument. Don decided to take the lyric remnants and write a song as though he had some sense of what a song would have sounded like in 1400 BC. The result: “Nikkal.” He says it was an interesting project.