Editing Musical notation (section)

===Ancient Near East===
{{further|Music of Mesopotamia|Hurrian songs}}
[[File:Hurritische hymne.gif|thumb|upright=1.5|A tablet with the Hymn to Nikkal inscribed<ref>Giorgio Buccellati, "[http://128.97.6.202/urkeshpublic/music.htm Hurrian Music]", associate editor and webmaster Federico A. Buccellati Urkesh website (n.p.: IIMAS, 2003).</ref>]]
The earliest form of musical notation can be found in a [[cuneiform script|cuneiform]] tablet that was created at [[Nippur]], in [[Babylonia]] (today's [[Iraq]]), in about 1400 BCE. The [[Clay tablet|tablet]] represents fragmentary instructions for performing music, that the music was composed in [[Harmony|harmonies]] of [[Interval (music)|thirds]], and that it was written using a [[diatonic scale]].{{sfnp|Kilmer|Civil|1986|p={{Page needed|date=June 2009}}}}

A tablet from about 1250 BCE shows a more developed form of notation.{{sfnp|Kilmer|1965|p={{Page needed|date=June 2009}}}} Although the interpretation of the notation system is still controversial, it is clear that the notation indicates the names of strings on a [[lyre]], the [[Musical tuning|tuning]] of which is described in other tablets.{{sfnp|West|1994|pp=161–163}} Research indicates these notations had dual purposes for liturgical and secular musical pieces since music was essential in both religious ceremonies and courtly activities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=L |first=West, M |date=1992-10-01 |title=Ancient Greek Music |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/47041 |journal=OUP Academic |language=en |doi=10.1093/o|doi-broken-date=24 February 2025 }}</ref> Although they are fragmentary, these tablets represent the earliest notated [[melody|melodies]] found anywhere in the world.{{sfnp|West|1994|p=161}}

[[File:Delphichymn.jpg|thumb|A photograph of the original stone at Delphi containing the second of the two [[Delphic Hymns]] to [[Apollo]]. The music notation is the line of occasional symbols ''above'' the main, uninterrupted line of Greek lettering.]]