When you think of the ancient world in the middle east, chances are, you cannot escape from the mindblowing gardens of mesopotamia, or the cunning and brave history of ancient Egypt. Surrounded by so many statues and buildings that were stylized and constructed in such an impressive way, no eye can escape it.

But, on the eastern side of the mediterranean ocean, on the shores of Syria, there lies the ruins of an ancient scribe mentioning a story.

A story, much like the epic of Gilgamesh. Only that this one was specifically written, structured, and assembled for it to accompany music, specifically the lyre which was a string instrument very popular in the region at that time. It was a song.

The hurrian Hymn to Nikkal, or also known as h.6, is a song which dates back to 1400 B.C.E. and was written on clay tablets with the ancient script of cuneiform. It is dedicated, as the title suggests, to the  Mesopotamia goddess Nikkal.

It was excavated in the 1950s when a group of archaeologists were examining the ruins of the royal palace of Ugarit in western Syria.