The oldest substantially complete piece of written music is about 3,400 years old: a hymn to the goddess Nikkal, notated in cuneiform on a clay tablet from Ugarit in Syria around 1400 BC.

1400 BC

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• The Hurrian hymn, oldest written musicc. 1400 BC · Ugarit, Syria. The royal palace of Ugarit held about 36 hymns written in cuneiform around 1400 BC, complete with musical instructions. The hymn to the goddess Nikkal survives nearly whole, making it the oldest substantially complete work of notated music known.

14th century BC

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