The text discussed here is one of only two identified fragments of Mesopotamian instructions for tuning a stringed instrument. Apart from its rarity, this text is important in several other respects. It confirms the reconstruction of the tuning cycle suggested by the other tuning fragment (UET VII 74), it appears to belong to a duplicate manuscript of the tuning cycle, it supports the argument for the presence of the verb nê'um (as opposed to enûm) in Akkadian terminology for tuning, and it offers a revised reading of the music-theoretical term nīš GABA.RI as nīš tuḫri(m).
The tablets BM 113931 and BM 113940, published here, come from Hall's excavations at Ur and were included in Geller's (2005, 98) catalogue of the LB literary tablets of this group. 1 The tablets preserve incipits and extracts of the sequences of sections of the Balag˜du t u-g i n 7 è-t a and the Balag˜ u k k i n-t a e sˇ b a r t i l-l a. Both tablets are written with large script and dividing lines between the various incipits and extracts, and are very likely to have been written by the same scribe. The tablets contain some syllabic writings and glosses (such as ú-m u-u n u m u n in BM 113931, l. e., r. l), as well as peculiar writings, which differ from the version known from other manuscripts of these Balag˜s. These writings may serve as indications for the purpose for which the tablets were copied, namely, for the actual pronunciation during the cultic performances of these Balag˜s. Like other LB tablets containing Balag˜s and Ersˇemas, BM 113931 and BM 113940 contain many indications related to their musical performance (see below).
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