homo sapiens dressed in mesopotamian garb over cheap greenscreen talks about sounds.png This video will be a very general, introductory look at the basic of what we do know of Mesopotamian music from around the 1st millennia B.C and perhaps older. Background artwork by Endegor: www.deviantart.com/endegor/art/Babylon-Processional-Way-741022134 Plausible reconstructions of what Mesopotamian music may have sounded like (keep in mind that even these are still conjectural to many degrees, there's simply no way as of now to know what their music sounded like beyond the generalities I talk about in this video): ruclips.net/video/2H8_13x3JaI/видео.html Sources: Music in the Texts from Ugarit, Matahisa Koitabasi: www.academia.edu/38789419/Music_in_the_Texts_from_Ugarit A Musical and Mathematical Context for CBS 1766, Leon Crickmore: www.academia.edu/1618638/A_Musical_and_Mathematical_Context_for_CBS_1766 Musical Ensembles, Krispjin: www.academia.edu/37109059/Krispijn_iconea2008_Musical_Ensembles_pdf The Babylonian Musical Notation and the Hurrian Melodic Texts, M. L. West: musicircle.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Babylonian-Notatin-and-the-Hurrian-Melodic-Texts_Music-and-Letters-1994-WEST-161-79.pdf Is Nid Qabli Dorian ? Tuning and modality in Greek and Hurrian music, Stefan Hagel: www.academia.edu/47502712/Is_nid_qabli_dorian_Tuning_and_modality_in_greek_and_hurrian_music The Musical Instruments from Ur and Ancient Mesopotamian Music: Anne Draffkorn Kilmer: www.penn.museum/people/person/999 New Light on the Babylonian Tonal System, Leon Crickmore: www.academia.edu/278555/NEW_LIGHT_ON_THE_BABYLONIAN_TONAL_SYSTEM_ICONEA_2008_11_22 Was Mesopotamian Tuning Diatonic? A Parsimonious Answer, Jay Rahn: www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.22.28.1/mto.22.28.1.rahn.php Mesopotamian Music Theory Since 1977, Anne Draffkorn Kilmer: www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110340297.92/html Mesopotamian Music (pre-Islamic), Bo Lawergren: www.academia.edu/11728399/Mesopotamian_Music_Pre_Islamic_in_English A Hurrian Musical Score from Ugarit, The Discovery of Mesopotamian Music, Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin: urkesh.org/attach/duchesne-guillermin%201984%20the%20discovery%20of%20mesopotamian%20music.pdf Interview with Anne Kilmer: archive.ph/ewHL7 The Archaeomusicology of the Ancient Near East, Richard Dumbrill The earliest evidence of heptatonism in a late Old Babylonian text: CBS 1766 www.academia.edu/243915/Earliest_Evidence_of_Heptatonism 00:00 Intro 00:54 Some historical music can’t be heard, only talked about 3:13 What Mesopotamian music was *not* 6:23 The instruments 11:11 The sound of melodies 20:52 The “orientality” of Mesopotamian music 31:04 The legacy of Mesopotamian music 33:46 A plausible demonstration
Thank you Farya I can always count on you destroying my preconceived views on ancient music and sucking all the joy out of it! They do say "ignorance is a bliss" and I fully believe this! But seriously I love your content and I love watching your videos about the FACTUAl History of music and History in general. PS: Can you sing Macedonian music/songs I would really want to see your rendition of them!
Opening is pure gold. Probably gonna loop it later while I paint some late Roman infantry so my brain absorbs more information, because I'm... well, weird.
@@iberius9937 You honestly could make so much entertainment based on the Mesopotamian culture, TV shows etc. Its a shame that Ancient Mesopotamia is so under-rated.
Very nice to meet Bilbamesh and witness the return of our favourite olive adict, Aristoxenos, in an eBic collaboration to explain mesopotamian music, from the land of top tier beards and big lyres.
In a very very simplified sense, yes. This is mostly true for the modes: modes that sound Western are usually of Mesopotamian origin, and modes that sound Eastern based on our cultural associations tend to be of Greek origin
Aristoxenos snorting pimento-stuffed olives is such an anachronism. Ancient Greeks only snorted olives without peppers because they wouldn't have had access to peppers until the late 15th century.
Aristoxenus sounds exactly how my Greek co-workers sound like in English... you are extremely talented Greek impersonator in addition to your field of expertise.
Dude, if I wasn't already subscribed, snorting the olive and "Completely fucking unscientific" would have done it 😀 Re the Greeks vs (apparently) everyone else: people don't realise what a melting pot the ancient Mediterranean was. Yes kingdoms went to war all of the time, but peoples till moved about pretty freely, resulting in the cross-pollination of knowledge. It wasn't "the Greeks" or "the Persians", it was a constant back and forth of ideas.
Re the Greeks: that's literally white supremacy propaganda. Ancient Greeks themselves knew they were in constant contact with everywhere else, it's recent western Europeans who needed a "white" European ancestry to the entirety of human culture and civilisation, so here we are now. Meanwhile, they had (have) no problem treating modern Greece like a colony.
Khosrow I cosplaying a Mesopotamian man from days of yore and talking about Mesopotamian music is just the video I absolutely would watch for Easter Sunday
The brightness setting joke killed me. Epic video as always, it's good to see coverage for even more obscure music like this. PS: Where is music, I need to hear music, less talking, MORE MUSIC!
Few seconds in I was like 'waaaiiit a minute, I know that jazzy little tune'. Never get tired of the flashbacks induced by the Age of Mythology soundtrack popping up in random places. Its notes are seared into my soul from many a childhood hour well spent.
I gotta keep it real with you, homie, you're fucking amazing. The humor, the knowledge, and most importantly, the passion and dedication. You flexed your knowledge and passion for history in the more literal sense, with your clear explanations. But you also flexed such things, and your dedication, with the background, costume, editing, and humor too. Then of course, your genuine humor that betrays a hint of how you feel people should behave (I can't think of a better word) when an important lesson is being taught. You're awesome, man, keep up the great work. Also, God DAMN I'm getting lost in them eyes, for real.
Dear Farya, I love your videos and learn a lot from them, but as an Assyriologist, specialized on the Early Dynastic Period and Sumerian, let me assure you: Balag is the Sumerian term for "lyre". In the lexical lists from Ebla it is paired with the term "ki-nu-ru" the standard Semitic term (e.g. Hebrew "kinor"). And the cuneiform sign looks like a lyre too😂
YES! I was waiting for the day this would eventually come out! Mesopotamia is seriously underrated. I also wonder, what we refer to as Mesopotamia stretches from the Ubaid period, to the end of the Neo-Babylonian empire, 5500 BC to 539 BC. It makes me wonder how much the music changed in those times. What instruments became popular and which faded. I guess that's a question we really cannot fully answer
Peter Pringles voice makes me cry, also thank you for your content, it is so exciting to learn all of this and you transfer this knowledge in such an engaging way
It seems to me that something similar happens with ancient Egyptian music and what it was supposed to sound like. Many of the "reconstructions" simply sound like Perso-Arabic music that emerged in the 9th century, as noted in the video, Hijaz Maqam system is used. Since I was a little boy, I've always found this strange, as a people from 6000 years ago and who had been separated from the Arabs for 800 years (separation between the emergence of the Arabs and when the end of Ancient Egypt is declared), would they have music that would sound the same as Arabic music from Arab Egypt (and which has Ottoman influence)? Isn't it that people simply confuse modern Egyptian with Ancient Egyptian?
@@ManiacMayhem7256 Well, I don't know if genuine and faithful reconstructions of ancient Egyptian music already exist today. But I spoke from a general point of view, most of the songs that claim to be from ancient Egypt, or that say that it is a recovery, all sound like Arabic music. I think it's easier to be direct, they are merely fantasies.
The best part is those songs are not even current Egyptian music, or even real Middle-Eastern music. They’re more of a random mush of unrelated eastern elements, they throw in Hijaz maqam, an Armenian duduk, an Indian tabla and sitar; they’re basically the musical equivalent of someone shaking their hand doing a stereotypical Italian accent lol; you can tell the people who make this music aren’t Middle-Easterners and they have no real grasp of the music of the region. It’s how you end up with the Armenian duduk of the Caucasus somehow having become the go-to musical representation of Pharaonic Egypt
@@ManiacMayhem7256 We pretty much know nothing about pre-Ptolemaic Egyptian music except for its instruments. The only safe conjecture we can make is the neighbour/time period rule, that since Mesopotamians had diatonic heptatonic music, they probably did too. But we know so little that I wouldn’t even have enough material for a one minute video haha
As an Assyrian , I have to say that your video's and Song are absolutely Amazing ! Love to Iranian ❤💙💚❤️ En tant qu'Assyrien , vos vidéos sont absolument incroyable et un véritable délice pour nos oreilles , il m'arrive d'être triste ou nostalgique en pensant à mes ancêtres , mais j'essaie de me rassurer le plus possible notamment avec des Musiques, je pense savoir quelle musique seront les suivantes 💙❤️
@@AhmedAlkaisi I Never said that the country is Iran or Iraq , what you want ? Start a Debate ? Farya Is Iranian not Iraqi and we don't Care about Iraq
Then go back and claim your land from Iranian influence(i would call Persianization). as a mesopotamian Arab (from Arabaya as your ancestors defined mine when mine ruled in Hatra) I totally agree upon your ruling rather than Iranian racism and attempt to attribute everything to Persians while they had two empires only and they were very much dependent on your ancestors. Note// Parathians are not Persians.
Hey Farya, very engaging presentation style and nice props. I especially liked your video about why traditional Greek music doesn't sound "Western"! I was wondering if you ever considered the musical tradition of the Syriac Churches, which historically spanned the area of the Fertile Crescent before their missionaries spread Christianity to India, China, etc. They are today represented in the Middle East largely by ethnic Assyrians who belong to the Assyrian Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, Ancient Church of the East, Syriac Catholic Church and, to some extent, the Maronite Catholic Church. Culturally, they represent a continuation of the ancient peoples of the area, since they continue to speak in Aramaic, and their literature is in a dialect of the same language called Syriac. Aramaic had been introduced as an official language by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, and this was continued under subsequent Persian rulers. So, for the most part, they retained their identity and large parts of their culture, resisting assimilation, and especially continuing to speak their 3,000 year-old language! The bulk of the Syriac musical repetoire belonging to these Churches developed prior to the arrival of Islam, and especially in the fourth and fifth centuries AD, in schools at Antioch, Edessa, Nisibis, Nineveh, Arbela and Seleucia-Ctesiphon. No doubt, they would have had some Hellenistic influence due to Alexander and later the Seleucid Empire, as well as some Persian influence - since the ancestors of those who adhered to these Churches had been ruled by the Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanians. They would also have been in contact with pre-Islamic Arabs and other neighbouring groups. Particularly, their location at the convergence of the Sassanian and Byzantine empires in northern Mesopotamia would have some singificance. You mentioned that we don't really know what ancient Mesopotamian music sounded like, and that the notion of genetical musical memory is preposterous, and I agree with you to a large extent. However, I would tend to believe that some elements of Syriac liturgical music could well go back to ancient secular, folk and temple music from ancient Mesopotamia and the Levant. Don't you think? Unfortunately, there has been no overarching and comprehensive study of the entire musical tradition, but enough has been done to give an idea of what is out there. Looking forward to reading your opinion on this...
I'm now curious about the history of the music of East Asia, it's facinating hearing about the history of music in Europe and the Middle East but now im curious about how the music traditions developed far from Western Eurasia.
Several ethnomusicologists specialise in ancient Chinese music from the Tang dynasty, which used microtones, dbadagna (RUclips channel) is one of the few prominent English speaking ethnomusicologists on RUclips specializing in that area (that channel is the entrance to that deep rabbit hole, and you will find musicologists from Japan, China, Taiwan and other places that comment and link their own videos to his). You can also look at the ancient gong ensemble music of Southeast Asia that exists to the modern day in tribal and court traditions (classical Gamelan of Indonesia- both the Javanese and Balinese traditions, Kulintang and Gangsa gong ensemble musics of the Philippines, Borneo and Eastern Indonesia, and Pinpeat and Mohori ensemble music of Cambodia among others, again very deep wells and rabbit holes of information). I played gamelan and kulintang music, but I don't list any videos (since I haven't been able to play them in about 10 years lol). I have a small playlist ok my channel with a few of them. Enjoy the journey, and greetings from Asia.
In China, musicians have long played 1! instrumental piece that is attributed to composition allegedly by « Confucius « (Kong Fuzi …= Kong Qiu) There are probably other more « recent » music scores that still exist & and e still perfprmed &’recorder). Most are prôbably classical/ chamber,not ancient folk styles.
Really well done video. Very informative. Also i believe you nailed the babylonian look. Atleast thats what i would imagine a rich mesopotamian to look like
I've only had Bilbamesh for 35:29 minutes but if anything were to happen to him I will kill everyone in the tigris and euphrates river valleys and then myself
Another awesome video my guy! Bilbamesh joins Aristoxenos in the Farya Faraji cinematic universe. All that’s missing is Ibn Fadlan lol. On another note, I wonder what could be said about ancient Egyptian music? They seemed to have lyres or harps according to mural evidence. Though to my knowledge, and I’d love to be proven wrong, but there have been no equivalent of Hurrian hymns in Egypt and no surviving written texts regarding ancient Egyptian music. So, I imagine that it’s a much harder job to determine what ancient Egyptian music actually sounded in terms of music theory. I hope you could make a video on this topic.
Farya, I just love your videos and the information that you present on them. I've owned for several years a cd of Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians & Greeks(new expanded edition) by the Esemble De Organographia. Having viewed your video here, I'll have to listen in a different way than I have previously....especially to the Hurrian Hymns. Thank you for your knowledge, humility and humor. Best wishes always.
I love it when you talk man I love to hear what you say when you teach me your wisdom and knowledge I feel educated in the history of Medieval music in ancient music
I have foiled your scheme! I am listening to the Sumerian Music playlist WHILE listening to your non-music talking video. You thought we couldn't do both, but I can do both!
That was by turns fascinating, enlightening and absolutely hysterical. I think the eeeeeeh? + shrug needs to become standard performance protocol in any serious minded historical music setting. Amazing work and thanks for such a great & engaging video!
The part with Aristoxenos got me😂😂😂, it would honestly make a great roast out of context. I love listening to your talks. Long ago I noticed the large amount of versions of the Hurrian hymn and wondered why that is the case. Now I know why
at first, i tought "this is ... not as funny as he tought, but i dont know him so, i give him a chance, may be i like it later" very soon i was like "if you don't want to ask where is de f*****g music don't star to talk bullshit. I'm so, so, so glad that i stay anyway. This material is amazing, i'm going to look your channel more deeply becouse i already know that you have something inteligent and interesting to say. Thank you very much. PS: sorry for my broken english, i'm not english speaker
Thanks for the wonderful information. I love how you are so keen to debunk assumptions. As an Aussie from Celtic ancestry, I have loved Middle Eastern and Balkan music since the early 1980s. I teach English to adult migrants and lead a world music band with students from all over the world so I try to be Authentic when I lead Arabic songs on the oud or Latin American on the congas… I love how you show the evidence and logic for Ancient Mesopotamian music being diatonic. I have also being guilty of overuse of hijab maqam lol. I would love to learn more about the Kurdish and ZaZa music that seems to be in rast maqam but has a tonic note that floats above where it seems it should and feels like it never resolves….
Watching your informative videos, it's really interesting to learn that just because something is deeply associated with a certain area today, doesn't mean it originated there. Crazy how it is the modern consensus not only for the Middle Eastern "sound" but also for Western diatonicism.
Will you do any Mesopotamian music on the channel? Also, it's good to see someone having their sources in their video description for anyone to go look up
Hi Farya! I really appreciate you trying to give a more holistic, grounded interpretation to this ancient music tradition. It was only ever glossed over (using many of the sound clips you used) in my university studies with a kind of thought-terminating "this is how it was done" attitude, not really exploring how they arrived at those interpretations. Also I appreciate you struggling through with the Bilbamesh costume! Would you be able to do a similar video about ancient Egyptian music at all? It's my area of study and there are quite a lot of groups doing reconstructions, but I'd be really interested in hearing your perspectives!
@@faryafaraji I heard that a former chemistry teacher started an olive plantation with one of his former students. A friend of mine tried to give me an olive from the plantation but I declined.
Laughter is a social response, typically only induced when there are other people around. I live alone. I *cackled* at "how to say it politely? The Mesopotamian gods went in to their brains and turned down the Brightness settings"
All that Bilbamesh needs to gain fame and success within the Mesopotamian empire is a epic poem. He should commission someone to write an epic poem about him and set it to music.
Dear Farya...I am amazed for the clarity in your herculean effort to bring sense into the musical world that has lost a bit its origins. Keep up the " inspiration..."
Can we speak about this guy's visual video design is maybe as great or even greater as the content about the music? I know it's not high quality technically, but in terms of colours and design I think it brings the Babylonian asthetics better than anything I have seen recently.
Love this. Great point about the people who are waiting with bated breath for evidence to prove them right. Not only is it stupid, but it can also lead to a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of historical evidence when it is found. Thats how you end up with a sect of nationalistic Hungarians that believe they are a actually Turks. Look up Hungarian Turanism, it's fantastic.
homo sapiens dressed in mesopotamian garb over cheap greenscreen talks about sounds.png
This video will be a very general, introductory look at the basic of what we do know of Mesopotamian music from around the 1st millennia B.C and perhaps older. Background artwork by Endegor: www.deviantart.com/endegor/art/Babylon-Processional-Way-741022134
Plausible reconstructions of what Mesopotamian music may have sounded like (keep in mind that even these are still conjectural to many degrees, there's simply no way as of now to know what their music sounded like beyond the generalities I talk about in this video):
ruclips.net/video/2H8_13x3JaI/видео.html
Sources:
Music in the Texts from Ugarit, Matahisa Koitabasi:
www.academia.edu/38789419/Music_in_the_Texts_from_Ugarit
A Musical and Mathematical Context for CBS 1766, Leon Crickmore:
www.academia.edu/1618638/A_Musical_and_Mathematical_Context_for_CBS_1766
Musical Ensembles, Krispjin:
www.academia.edu/37109059/Krispijn_iconea2008_Musical_Ensembles_pdf
The Babylonian Musical Notation and the Hurrian Melodic Texts, M. L. West:
musicircle.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Babylonian-Notatin-and-the-Hurrian-Melodic-Texts_Music-and-Letters-1994-WEST-161-79.pdf
Is Nid Qabli Dorian ? Tuning and modality in Greek and Hurrian music, Stefan Hagel:
www.academia.edu/47502712/Is_nid_qabli_dorian_Tuning_and_modality_in_greek_and_hurrian_music
The Musical Instruments from Ur and Ancient Mesopotamian Music: Anne Draffkorn Kilmer: www.penn.museum/people/person/999
New Light on the Babylonian Tonal System, Leon Crickmore: www.academia.edu/278555/NEW_LIGHT_ON_THE_BABYLONIAN_TONAL_SYSTEM_ICONEA_2008_11_22
Was Mesopotamian Tuning Diatonic? A Parsimonious Answer, Jay Rahn: www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.22.28.1/mto.22.28.1.rahn.php
Mesopotamian Music Theory Since 1977, Anne Draffkorn Kilmer:
www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110340297.92/html
Mesopotamian Music (pre-Islamic), Bo Lawergren:
www.academia.edu/11728399/Mesopotamian_Music_Pre_Islamic_in_English
A Hurrian Musical Score from Ugarit, The Discovery of Mesopotamian Music, Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin:
urkesh.org/attach/duchesne-guillermin%201984%20the%20discovery%20of%20mesopotamian%20music.pdf
Interview with Anne Kilmer:
archive.ph/ewHL7
The Archaeomusicology of the Ancient Near East, Richard Dumbrill
The earliest evidence of heptatonism in a late Old Babylonian text: CBS 1766
www.academia.edu/243915/Earliest_Evidence_of_Heptatonism
00:00 Intro
00:54 Some historical music can’t be heard, only talked about
3:13 What Mesopotamian music was *not*
6:23 The instruments
11:11 The sound of melodies
20:52 The “orientality” of Mesopotamian music
31:04 The legacy of Mesopotamian music
33:46 A plausible demonstration
Thank you Farya I can always count on you destroying my preconceived views on ancient music and sucking all the joy out of it!
They do say "ignorance is a bliss" and I fully believe this!
But seriously I love your content and I love watching your videos about the FACTUAl History of music and History in general.
PS: Can you sing Macedonian music/songs I would really want to see your rendition of them!
brother, when are we seeing you larp around as Sargon the Great?
Opening is pure gold.
Probably gonna loop it later while I paint some late Roman infantry so my brain absorbs more information, because I'm... well, weird.
I love your contant so much you won't believe
What do you use to tone your video thumbnails?
It actually feels normal to me to have someone dressed in the height of Babylonian fashion addressing me and explaining complex ideas.
Think of it as an ancient Assyrian or Iranian come back to life that speaks English fluently. 😁
@@iberius9937 You honestly could make so much entertainment based on the Mesopotamian culture, TV shows etc.
Its a shame that Ancient Mesopotamia is so under-rated.
@@MedjayofFaiyum UUDREEEEIHAA
Very nice to meet Bilbamesh and witness the return of our favourite olive adict, Aristoxenos, in an eBic collaboration to explain mesopotamian music, from the land of top tier beards and big lyres.
@Rick Molin Hahahahahahahahahah. I'm rolling over with that one. Very astute.
@Rick Molin Farya posted a song just for you, I think. Go to today's post. It's perfect. I love this man.
"I didn't cry for my boyfriend Enkidu" under a minute in and I already love this so much
OK, so let me sum up: The middle easterners invented european music, then the Greeks invented middle eastern music, and then they swapped it.
In a very very simplified sense, yes. This is mostly true for the modes: modes that sound Western are usually of Mesopotamian origin, and modes that sound Eastern based on our cultural associations tend to be of Greek origin
Bilbamesh needs to be a regular character on this channel lmao
Bilbamesh was the cousin of Gilgamesh?
@@dand7763 no no , it's the youngest brother
The definitely not jealous younger brother of Gilgamesh 😂
@@sabrina1380m The much, much lesser known younger brother of Gilgamesh, at that
Bilbamesh, not to be confused with Bilbomesh, ancient king of the Shure who was 2/3 Vanir and 1/3 hobbit
But Farya forgot what ancient Mesopotamia was most famous for! The land of the most glorious beards!
Aristoxenos snorting pimento-stuffed olives is such an anachronism. Ancient Greeks only snorted olives without peppers because they wouldn't have had access to peppers until the late 15th century.
Thanks for the mention of Peter Pringles. First time hearing of him but for a while I was looking for something similar
You’re in for a treasure trove, his channel is legendary
I knew about of Peter Pringles years ago :-)
I came across his "Lament for Enkidu" at a particularly rough spot in my life and couldn't help but break into tears. Definitely a gem of a person!
The intro with the Age of Mythology Egyptian theme playing in the background absolutely killed me
Only the real ones know
Mesopotamian Farya added to collection. I can’t sleep let’s learn something new
I’ll trade you a Greek Farya for a Mesopotamian Farya
@@seenbefore2803 What about:
An Indian Farya?
One of your best videos, sir. The bit with Aristoxenus SNIFFING AN OLIVE and giving his opinion was completely f@#*€g hilarious.
Aristoxenus sounds exactly how my Greek co-workers sound like in English... you are extremely talented Greek impersonator in addition to your field of expertise.
Mesopotamia had the first orchestras in known history AND a diatonic system??
I'm too drunk right now to comprehend this
I just discovered that Farya Faraji is the true reincarnation of Cyrus the Great, the ruler of the Medes and Persians and the conqueror of Babylon.
Honestly, he is so exceptional that he might as well be
With those clothes, Farya Faraji could seem an Assyrian or Achaemenid relief, i don't know.
Make a collab Sumerian song with Peter Pringle🔥
Y E S Y E S Y E S
Dude, if I wasn't already subscribed, snorting the olive and "Completely fucking unscientific" would have done it 😀
Re the Greeks vs (apparently) everyone else: people don't realise what a melting pot the ancient Mediterranean was. Yes kingdoms went to war all of the time, but peoples till moved about pretty freely, resulting in the cross-pollination of knowledge. It wasn't "the Greeks" or "the Persians", it was a constant back and forth of ideas.
Re the Greeks: that's literally white supremacy propaganda. Ancient Greeks themselves knew they were in constant contact with everywhere else, it's recent western Europeans who needed a "white" European ancestry to the entirety of human culture and civilisation, so here we are now.
Meanwhile, they had (have) no problem treating modern Greece like a colony.
Khosrow I cosplaying a Mesopotamian man from days of yore and talking about Mesopotamian music is just the video I absolutely would watch for Easter Sunday
Wait what? You don't do the orthodox easter sunday?
@@yllejord boy I'm a Latin
@@justinianthegreat1444 Latin, I'm an auntie.
Hahahahaha. I love Farya Faraji for just this reason. Gold!!!!
Above all, Happy Easter for those celebrating it today. Happy Palm Sunday and Kali Anastasi for the rest.
It is a firmly established fact that all ancient people wore bracers.
The brightness setting joke killed me. Epic video as always, it's good to see coverage for even more obscure music like this.
PS: Where is music, I need to hear music, less talking, MORE MUSIC!
Few seconds in I was like 'waaaiiit a minute, I know that jazzy little tune'. Never get tired of the flashbacks induced by the Age of Mythology soundtrack popping up in random places. Its notes are seared into my soul from many a childhood hour well spent.
I gotta keep it real with you, homie, you're fucking amazing. The humor, the knowledge, and most importantly, the passion and dedication. You flexed your knowledge and passion for history in the more literal sense, with your clear explanations. But you also flexed such things, and your dedication, with the background, costume, editing, and humor too. Then of course, your genuine humor that betrays a hint of how you feel people should behave (I can't think of a better word) when an important lesson is being taught. You're awesome, man, keep up the great work.
Also, God DAMN I'm getting lost in them eyes, for real.
I have listed to 5 minutes of you speaking, and I already love your channel. Instant sub, you deserve a million.
Dear Farya, I love your videos and learn a lot from them, but as an Assyriologist, specialized on the Early Dynastic Period and Sumerian, let me assure you: Balag is the Sumerian term for "lyre". In the lexical lists from Ebla it is paired with the term "ki-nu-ru" the standard Semitic term (e.g. Hebrew "kinor"). And the cuneiform sign looks like a lyre too😂
YES! I was waiting for the day this would eventually come out! Mesopotamia is seriously underrated. I also wonder, what we refer to as Mesopotamia stretches from the Ubaid period, to the end of the Neo-Babylonian empire, 5500 BC to 539 BC. It makes me wonder how much the music changed in those times. What instruments became popular and which faded. I guess that's a question we really cannot fully answer
This kinda videos about "how ancient music works" are great. Keep going
Peter Pringles voice makes me cry, also thank you for your content, it is so exciting to learn all of this and you transfer this knowledge in such an engaging way
I'm happy to finally find a legit talk on historical music rather than a 2 hour mix of something claiming to be historical, but based more on fantasy.
It seems to me that something similar happens with ancient Egyptian music and what it was supposed to sound like.
Many of the "reconstructions" simply sound like Perso-Arabic music that emerged in the 9th century, as noted in the video, Hijaz Maqam system is used.
Since I was a little boy, I've always found this strange, as a people from 6000 years ago and who had been separated from the Arabs for 800 years (separation between the emergence of the Arabs and when the end of Ancient Egypt is declared), would they have music that would sound the same as Arabic music from Arab Egypt (and which has Ottoman influence)? Isn't it that people simply confuse modern Egyptian with Ancient Egyptian?
Do we have faithful recreations of ancient Egypt? I agree with you. I wanna hear
@@ManiacMayhem7256 Well, I don't know if genuine and faithful reconstructions of ancient Egyptian music already exist today.
But I spoke from a general point of view, most of the songs that claim to be from ancient Egypt, or that say that it is a recovery, all sound like Arabic music.
I think it's easier to be direct, they are merely fantasies.
The best part is those songs are not even current Egyptian music, or even real Middle-Eastern music. They’re more of a random mush of unrelated eastern elements, they throw in Hijaz maqam, an Armenian duduk, an Indian tabla and sitar; they’re basically the musical equivalent of someone shaking their hand doing a stereotypical Italian accent lol; you can tell the people who make this music aren’t Middle-Easterners and they have no real grasp of the music of the region. It’s how you end up with the Armenian duduk of the Caucasus somehow having become the go-to musical representation of Pharaonic Egypt
@@ManiacMayhem7256 We pretty much know nothing about pre-Ptolemaic Egyptian music except for its instruments. The only safe conjecture we can make is the neighbour/time period rule, that since Mesopotamians had diatonic heptatonic music, they probably did too. But we know so little that I wouldn’t even have enough material for a one minute video haha
I was in a very beautiful Babylonian outfit. All love to you and our brothers in Iran ❤🇮🇶🇮🇷❤
I for one appreciate these longer deep dive videos
As an Assyrian , I have to say that your video's and Song are absolutely Amazing ! Love to Iranian ❤💙💚❤️
En tant qu'Assyrien , vos vidéos sont absolument incroyable et un véritable délice pour nos oreilles , il m'arrive d'être triste ou nostalgique en pensant à mes ancêtres , mais j'essaie de me rassurer le plus possible notamment avec des Musiques, je pense savoir quelle musique seront les suivantes 💙❤️
The country tody is iraq not iran
@@AhmedAlkaisi I Never said that the country is Iran or Iraq , what you want ? Start a Debate ? Farya Is Iranian not Iraqi and we don't Care about Iraq
Tu vis en France mon frère ? Aussi ne t'inquiètes pas pour tes ancêtres ils vivront toujours tant que toi tu vis et les tiens vivent ❤
Then go back and claim your land from Iranian influence(i would call Persianization). as a mesopotamian Arab (from Arabaya as your ancestors defined mine when mine ruled in Hatra) I totally agree upon your ruling rather than Iranian racism and attempt to attribute everything to Persians while they had two empires only and they were very much dependent on your ancestors.
Note// Parathians are not Persians.
@@ardugaleen2231 Absolument mon ami Puisse nos nations vivent jusqu'à la fin du Monde !
I'm convinced you're 3000 years old and were born in ancient Mesopotamia sometimes before the bronze age collapse.
It was insane to find out that in time of Gilgamesh people were able to use digital camera !
I’m still waiting for that song about Julius Caesar with Mongol throat singing 😂 I sure hope it come’s would be absolute gold
Your sense of humor with a heavy dose of intellectual information always cheers me up. Greetings from Serbia, man, love your work.
I wasn't aware that you not only produced but talked about sounds as well. 10/10 channel. Hajduks of Moesia was absolutely fantastic btw.
Yeah, it's the talks that got me into this channel.
Hey Farya, very engaging presentation style and nice props. I especially liked your video about why traditional Greek music doesn't sound "Western"!
I was wondering if you ever considered the musical tradition of the Syriac Churches, which historically spanned the area of the Fertile Crescent before their missionaries spread Christianity to India, China, etc. They are today represented in the Middle East largely by ethnic Assyrians who belong to the Assyrian Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox Church, Chaldean Catholic Church, Ancient Church of the East, Syriac Catholic Church and, to some extent, the Maronite Catholic Church.
Culturally, they represent a continuation of the ancient peoples of the area, since they continue to speak in Aramaic, and their literature is in a dialect of the same language called Syriac. Aramaic had been introduced as an official language by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, and this was continued under subsequent Persian rulers. So, for the most part, they retained their identity and large parts of their culture, resisting assimilation, and especially continuing to speak their 3,000 year-old language!
The bulk of the Syriac musical repetoire belonging to these Churches developed prior to the arrival of Islam, and especially in the fourth and fifth centuries AD, in schools at Antioch, Edessa, Nisibis, Nineveh, Arbela and Seleucia-Ctesiphon. No doubt, they would have had some Hellenistic influence due to Alexander and later the Seleucid Empire, as well as some Persian influence - since the ancestors of those who adhered to these Churches had been ruled by the Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanians. They would also have been in contact with pre-Islamic Arabs and other neighbouring groups. Particularly, their location at the convergence of the Sassanian and Byzantine empires in northern Mesopotamia would have some singificance.
You mentioned that we don't really know what ancient Mesopotamian music sounded like, and that the notion of genetical musical memory is preposterous, and I agree with you to a large extent. However, I would tend to believe that some elements of Syriac liturgical music could well go back to ancient secular, folk and temple music from ancient Mesopotamia and the Levant. Don't you think? Unfortunately, there has been no overarching and comprehensive study of the entire musical tradition, but enough has been done to give an idea of what is out there. Looking forward to reading your opinion on this...
Im Assyrian and this video is cool i hope you do more videos about Mesopotamia
Me too. That's the kind or music that soothes the soul
I'm now curious about the history of the music of East Asia, it's facinating hearing about the history of music in Europe and the Middle East but now im curious about how the music traditions developed far from Western Eurasia.
Several ethnomusicologists specialise in ancient Chinese music from the Tang dynasty, which used microtones, dbadagna (RUclips channel) is one of the few prominent English speaking ethnomusicologists on RUclips specializing in that area (that channel is the entrance to that deep rabbit hole, and you will find musicologists from Japan, China, Taiwan and other places that comment and link their own videos to his). You can also look at the ancient gong ensemble music of Southeast Asia that exists to the modern day in tribal and court traditions (classical Gamelan of Indonesia- both the Javanese and Balinese traditions, Kulintang and Gangsa gong ensemble musics of the Philippines, Borneo and Eastern Indonesia, and Pinpeat and Mohori ensemble music of Cambodia among others, again very deep wells and rabbit holes of information). I played gamelan and kulintang music, but I don't list any videos (since I haven't been able to play them in about 10 years lol). I have a small playlist ok my channel with a few of them. Enjoy the journey, and greetings from Asia.
In China, musicians have long played 1! instrumental piece
that is attributed to
composition allegedly by
« Confucius « (Kong Fuzi …=
Kong Qiu)
There are probably other
more « recent » music
scores that still exist
& and e still perfprmed
&’recorder).
Most are prôbably
classical/ chamber,not ancient folk styles.
I've always adored Mesopotamian art, and you look so good in the clothes too!
The AOM Egyptian music at the begining! :D Aom soundtracks are phenomenal. Top quality content!!
Really well done video. Very informative. Also i believe you nailed the babylonian look. Atleast thats what i would imagine a rich mesopotamian to look like
As an Iraqi I love this! 🤍🎶💙
I've only had Bilbamesh for 35:29 minutes but if anything were to happen to him I will kill everyone in the tigris and euphrates river valleys and then myself
This is all very interesting...but why it gives me the vibe I bought bad copper from somebody?
Another awesome video my guy! Bilbamesh joins Aristoxenos in the Farya Faraji cinematic universe. All that’s missing is Ibn Fadlan lol.
On another note, I wonder what could be said about ancient Egyptian music? They seemed to have lyres or harps according to mural evidence. Though to my knowledge, and I’d love to be proven wrong, but there have been no equivalent of Hurrian hymns in Egypt and no surviving written texts regarding ancient Egyptian music. So, I imagine that it’s a much harder job to determine what ancient Egyptian music actually sounded in terms of music theory. I hope you could make a video on this topic.
New farya variant added to the cinematic universe.
Age of Mythology as intro, hello? You dont disapoint my many also need this for DnD setting, love your work!
Age of Mythology music is more historically accurate than reality itself, I refuse all other answers 😊
A very wonderful research on the history of music in ancient civilizations, especially in Iraq. Thank you❤🇮🇶
Given the quality of the fantastic commentary before and around the music, I might be clicking just to hear the talk!
Farya, I just love your videos and the information that you present on them. I've owned for several years a cd of Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians & Greeks(new expanded edition) by the Esemble De Organographia. Having viewed your video here, I'll have to listen in a different way than I have previously....especially to the Hurrian Hymns.
Thank you for your knowledge, humility and humor. Best wishes always.
I love it when you talk man I love to hear what you say when you teach me your wisdom and knowledge I feel educated in the history of Medieval music in ancient music
I have foiled your scheme! I am listening to the Sumerian Music playlist WHILE listening to your non-music talking video. You thought we couldn't do both, but I can do both!
Dude, while you're in that timeline, start a copper selling business.
They say there's good coin to be had. The customer service be really bad tho.
Respects to the camera man for travelling back in time and interviewing Bilbamesh about this interesting topic
I greet you, my much lesser known brother!
Aristoxenos sniffing olives is the most greek thing i saw the past few months..and i am Greek..
Bro looks majestic and spits facts
Seeing this got me so excited. I am fascinated by the Sumerians. Thank you!
Ngl, I'm one of those who see the music videos and comment 'where is the talking? I want the talking!'
That was by turns fascinating, enlightening and absolutely hysterical. I think the eeeeeeh? + shrug needs to become standard performance protocol in any serious minded historical music setting. Amazing work and thanks for such a great & engaging video!
The part with Aristoxenos got me😂😂😂, it would honestly make a great roast out of context. I love listening to your talks. Long ago I noticed the large amount of versions of the Hurrian hymn and wondered why that is the case. Now I know why
at first, i tought "this is ... not as funny as he tought, but i dont know him so, i give him a chance, may be i like it later" very soon i was like "if you don't want to ask where is de f*****g music don't star to talk bullshit.
I'm so, so, so glad that i stay anyway.
This material is amazing, i'm going to look your channel more deeply becouse i already know that you have something inteligent and interesting to say.
Thank you very much.
PS: sorry for my broken english, i'm not english speaker
Discovered the channel yesterday. I am definitely having a great time.
Also the greek accent.. so fcking on point ahahaha
"Yeah we have a word for that in ancient Greek, it's uuuh, uuh, oh yes κομπλῆτλυ φάκινγγ ἀνσαϊεντίφικ"
My guy you cant do this to me! It is 2 am and the damn scene with Aristoxenos snorting an olive made me laugh so loud that I woke up my parents.
Thanks for the wonderful information. I love how you are so keen to debunk assumptions. As an Aussie from Celtic ancestry, I have loved Middle Eastern and Balkan music since the early 1980s. I teach English to adult migrants and lead a world music band with students from all over the world so I try to be Authentic when I lead Arabic songs on the oud or Latin American on the congas… I love how you show the evidence and logic for Ancient Mesopotamian music being diatonic. I have also being guilty of overuse of hijab maqam lol. I would love to learn more about the Kurdish and ZaZa music that seems to be in rast maqam but has a tonic note that floats above where it seems it should and feels like it never resolves….
Listen to the Segah dastgah in persian music its a mode based on the third note of the rast maqam and it sounds very intriguing
On top of that, Peter Pringle is also handsome as hell.
Haha the part when you clash tiktoker is really fun xD (and sad but you really good explain why). Thank you for your awesome work again !!!
Peter Pringle, incredible talent.
Watching your informative videos, it's really interesting to learn that just because something is deeply associated with a certain area today, doesn't mean it originated there. Crazy how it is the modern consensus not only for the Middle Eastern "sound" but also for Western diatonicism.
You're much sassier than I expected, I like it!
Will you do any Mesopotamian music on the channel? Also, it's good to see someone having their sources in their video description for anyone to go look up
Peter Pringle reference - liked.
I have a poster of him in my room.
Hi Farya! I really appreciate you trying to give a more holistic, grounded interpretation to this ancient music tradition. It was only ever glossed over (using many of the sound clips you used) in my university studies with a kind of thought-terminating "this is how it was done" attitude, not really exploring how they arrived at those interpretations. Also I appreciate you struggling through with the Bilbamesh costume!
Would you be able to do a similar video about ancient Egyptian music at all? It's my area of study and there are quite a lot of groups doing reconstructions, but I'd be really interested in hearing your perspectives!
dude I'm so glad I find your channel can't wait to explore this nerdy music videos. Thanks for quality content!
Now I am imagining Gilgamesch wooing Ekidnu with a Schuhplattler and I cannot get this image out of my head XD
First time to this channel, thanks for all the good infos!
And the genetic memory thing...
6:22 bro really said hurrian hymn no.6
Great video! I really appreciate your willingness to not know specifics on some aspects of the music.
Aristofenos has such a cool vibe, I wish I was like him.
Don’t go down his road, olive addiction destroys lives
@@faryafaraji I heard that a former chemistry teacher started an olive plantation with one of his former students. A friend of mine tried to give me an olive from the plantation but I declined.
Laughter is a social response, typically only induced when there are other people around. I live alone. I *cackled* at "how to say it politely? The Mesopotamian gods went in to their brains and turned down the Brightness settings"
third time one of your videos jumped into mu TL. defiantly deserves a sub.
Fucking love your representation of Gilgamesh 😂 love your videos dude, great as always
Man, your channel is great!
All that Bilbamesh needs to gain fame and success within the Mesopotamian empire is a epic poem. He should commission someone to write an epic poem about him and set it to music.
I ask you to do more about the Assyrian and Babylonian civilization
That outfit is causing my brain to read your beard as purple.
Genuinely, if you get tired of the music business, you could run a great sit com with these characters you come up with.
Dear Farya...I am amazed for the clarity in your herculean effort to bring sense into the musical world that has lost a bit its origins. Keep up the " inspiration..."
Love your stuff man! Beautiful!, thank you for this treasure.
Love the skits ❤ you are a treasure Farya
Keep it up man, great work
Greetings Farya! After I listened to this video I wish I would hear the song about EA-NASIR and his low quality copper 😂😂😂
I am here for the talking 😃
I can totally see Hammurabi talkin like this, bro straight up spittin facts
Can we speak about this guy's visual video design is maybe as great or even greater as the content about the music? I know it's not high quality technically, but in terms of colours and design I think it brings the Babylonian asthetics better than anything I have seen recently.
Love this. Great point about the people who are waiting with bated breath for evidence to prove them right. Not only is it stupid, but it can also lead to a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of historical evidence when it is found. Thats how you end up with a sect of nationalistic Hungarians that believe they are a actually Turks. Look up Hungarian Turanism, it's fantastic.
I love how much you talk.
Clarification, this is not sarcasm. I love long form in-depth content and hate shorts.