Lorna Govier

Mesopotamian music refers to the ritual, court, and popular musical practices of Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria in ancient Mesopotamia. Known through archaeological finds (such as the Royal Tombs of Ur), iconography, literary texts, and cuneiform music-theory tablets, it features lyres and harps as core instruments, supported by drums, clappers, and later lutes. Surviving theory describes named heptatonic tunings and intervallic frameworks, suggesting a diatonic pitch system and formulaic melodic practice. Performance contexts ranged from temple hymns and laments to royal celebrations and processions, often delivered by trained priest-musicians and court ensembles.