In the Beginning Was Music! Computational Analysis of the Hymn to Nikkal and the Rig Veda Reveals Musical Connection Between Distant Bronze Age Societies

The Hymn to Nikkal is the oldest surviving musical text with well-preserved musical notation, although the language in which it is written has remained almost entirely unintelligible. By comparison, the Rig Veda is the oldest complete collection of verses, written in one of the best-understood ancient languages. However, these approximately 20,000 verses have been passed down to us without musical notation. Coincidentally, the Hymn to Nikkal and the Vedas stem from the same Bronze Age period—or was the connection between them deeper than mere contemporaneity? The present article performs a systematic analysis of the rhythm and cadences present in the hymn and the Vedas and demonstrates that they are closely related. The Hymn to Nikkal can therefore be interpreted as an echo of the tradition of the Rig Veda, from which it receives and on which it helps shed new light for modern-day audiences. Furthermore, the musical connection between hymn and Vedas also provides evidence for the existence of a significant cultural connection between distant Bronze Age societies. A cultural connection between these societies has long been expected and is now finally documented through the most volatile of sources possible: music. Music has wings; it disappears quickly, yet it also easily spreads across the globe.