The oldest known notated music, dating to roughly 1400 BC, the Hurrian Hymns were discovered in Ugarit (modern day Syria) in the 1950s. The clay tablets, written in cuneiform, contain 36 songs, only one of which is complete - the Hymn to Nikkal.
For this challenge, we asked contributing musicians to take inspiration from the Hymns - whether that was directly using a melody or instrumentation from the era, or simply taking inspiration from the story of this ancient artifact. The results are eclectic - from organic improvisation to immersive soundscapes to post-rock and electronic wizardry.
50% of any sales will be donated to Doctors Without Borders (www.msf.org), while the remaining 50% will go toward label expenses.
credits
released September 26, 2025
Find out more about Passed Recordings artists:
David Aimone - davidaimone.bandcamp.com
Asha Patera - linktr.ee/ashapatera
passengers - passengers-mi.bandcamp.com
I felt it in my sleep - cornusaudiovisual.bandcamp.com
Exit Chamber - linktr.ee/exitchamber
G!GA LURGH - bio.music-hub.com/gigalurgh
Cavern Cult - linktr.ee/caverncult
On Idyl - linktr.ee/on_idyl
And a huge thanks to our friends who took part:
Antevie - linktr.ee/antevie1411
Sertulariae - sertulariae.bandcamp.com
Mathew Gracie - linktr.ee/mathewgracie
Legacy Systems - legacysystems.bandcamp.com
imagens - imagens.bandcamp.com
Ghola V - www.youtube.com/@fragmentosdaalma3691
EPIMYTH - epimyth.bandcamp.com
housefire - housefiresuoh.bandcamp.com
Aaron J. Noth - linktr.ee/aaronjnoth
Laura Burton - www.soundcloud.com/lauraburtonmusic
Droids On Acid - DroidsOnAcid.com
Pollyanna - pollyannaintherain.bandcamp.com
Ærebus - www.youtube.com/@Aerebus.project/
Sylvia Virgo - sylvirgo.bandcamp.com
Jollroy - linktr.ee/jollroy
Will Dee - sappressing.bandcamp.com
The Music Liberation Front Sweden - themlfs.bandcamp.com
oeltahn bahn - oeltahnbahn.bandcamp.com
Credits
Cover design by On Idyl. Other art by oeltahn bahn, Ava / Road Archie, Ed Herbers, and Droids On Acid. Ugarit palace entrance photo Disdero, Ugarit ruins photo by Ziegler175; both used used courtesy of Creative Commons license BY-SA 3.0. Gobekli Tepe photo by Sami Aksu, cuneiform photo by Ersan Yilmaz; both used courtesy of Pexels.