Gau is nurna gangan yng yng pjarr

Hang hang gang gang

 

Hymir ganda skadla hym hym gan

fold fold  Har har

 

ou mi galdr madr aus aus ætt

Oum oum gal gal

 

fu thork haniast bjamlyr futh fu thork

Futh futh bjam bjam

 

Hyndla horskr moudr mau mau kat

Happ happ tak tak

 

Asja angan Bjarga

aust standa ok faur kverfra 

asja anga næ næ næ

Ok thu e-er truir truir truir

 

Asja angan Bjarga

aust standa ok faur kverfra 

asja angan tjau tjau tjau

Ok thu e-er aur aur aur

 

Asja angan Bjarga

aust standa ok faur kverfra 

kann ek galdr at gala

ønd og heidl shau er kan 

 

Asja angan Bjarga

aust standa ok faur kverfra 

jafnan sædl ourlausn

fridhr madhr opt opt opt

Athilr Rikithir Ai

Eril idi Uha Ijalh

Fahd Tiade

Elifi An It

 

Athilr Rikithir Ai

Landawariar Ano Ana

Fahd Tiade

Elifi An It

 

Aelwao

Ano Ana Tuwa Tuwa

Tau Liiu

Ano Ana Tuwa Tuwa

 

UL FOS LAU

LAL GWUL PeD UL ULD AUL

LEI ELw ATH RET LAE TySS Oth REI GUI

 

AU AUU LA

OA SEJS ZUL AU AL HaR

HaSS Ka TIL AZ Ha IR EL UNOZ LEIT

 

Una DZ GUI

UI THUL UHNG Ur OI WHUG

DIT La La LIH LaL Ur USK GLa Thu

 

LAL La La

La TLG Thu TiL Ur Ur

Ur Ur GeL THuL So Oth LAU IA TyL

 

LI RAI WUI

IL DAI TU Han UTH A

IUr EL AL Dan An ER UI AL EIZ

An RA TIU An KU AK

 

U-THA-I-U-EL-AL-DA-A-ER-UI-AL

 

Athilr Rikithir Ai

Liraiwui ildaithua

Au Auu Elifi An It

 

 

Athilr Rikithir Ai

Landawariar Ano Ana

Fahd Tiade Elifi An It

SATOR

AREPO

TENET

OPERA

ROTAS

 

Jorð biðak varðæ

Ek er austir ok

Ek er sannindi

Ek er friðr ok

Ek er sjaulfraudhr

 

Sun ar tirs or reid

Ar reid ar birk or

Tir ar non ar tir

Or birk ar reid ar

Reid or tir ar sun

 

Stourauddhr

jafnan

Læknæshan

Ok Lif

Tunge kuth

Manna for raudh

Fas Sol

Invictus

amicita

pax

portantibus

delicæ salus

habentibus

et pacem

at stat

fortuna

opus

aglakuth

Urbani, servate uxores, moechum calvum adducimus Aurum

in gallia effutuisti, hic sumpsisti mutuum.

Gallias caesar subegit, nicomedes caesarem, ecce caesar nunc

triumphat qui subegit gallias. Nicomedes non triumphat, qui subegit caesarem.

Gallos caesar in triumphum ducit, idem in curiam, galli bracas deposuerunt, latum clavumsumperunt.

Träge liegen die Hügel

Unter der Morgendämmerung Siegel

Träge zieht durch die Täler der Nebel

Aus dem sich Baumwipfel erheben

Still! Stehen Legionen bereit 

Im rotsilberrömischen Waffenkleid

Dann scheint die Sonne über den Horizont

Und ein langes klagendes Hornsignal ertönt

Es erschallt wieder und wieder 

Erst zaghaft, dann stärker erheben sich Trommellieder

Dann endlich die Carynx erschallt, weit sie klingt

So mancher Legionär die Knie zur Ruhe zwingt

Dann beginnt der Wald sie auszuspeien

Erst in großen Gruppen, dann zu zweien und dreien

Gar prächtig sind sie anzusehen

Wie sie da hochwohlgerüstet stolz im Morgenlichte stehen

Gar manchen Helm, den schmückt der Eber

Ob aus Eisen oder Leder

Auch der Hirsch auf dem Gewande darf nicht fehlen

Wolf und Bär, sie sind verwandte Seelen

Frischpoliert der Schild

Mit langem Schwerte steht der Held

An langen Stangen mutig flatternd Banner schwingen

Wo noch immer schaurig Lurenrufe Klingen

Still! Die Adler auf der anderen Seite

Es wehen nur die Umhänge der Reiter

So sammelt sich das Keltenheer

Rufe schallen hin und her

Dann plötzlich wird es stille

Und ein großer Krieger tritt aus ihrer Mitte

Er legt ab wohl Helm und Brünne

Die Hose und den Schutz auch für die Beine

Bis er nackt im feuchten Grase steht

Nur mit Halsreif, Schild und Schwert

Und als er dann über die Lichtung schreitet

Wird er mit Schildschlag und Gesang begleitet

Entschlossen baut er sich vor der schönsten, goldenen Rüstung auf

Und verkündet dem Feindesfeldherrn rundheraus

Vor dir steht der Fuerst der Hirschenleut´

Und ich sage dir: Lass uns nicht unnütz Blut vergeuden

Schicke deinen stärksten Kämpfer gegen mich

Mann gegen Mann, nur er und ich

Wenn er siegt, so weichen wir

Doch siege ich, so weicht dann ihr!

Schweigend nimmt der Gegener seine Rede auf

Nur sein Pferd tänzelt nervös und schnaubt

Und auf ein Nicken

Fährt der Tod 

Auf pfeilernen Hornissen

Mannigfaltig in des Kelten Brust und färbt sie rot

Und als er dann vornüberfällt

Ein mächtiges Geschrei anhebt

Es sind die Waffenbrüder, die da schreien

Wollen sich von ihrer Wut befreien

Es fliegen Helm und Harnisch, Kettenhemd

Sie hätten uns im Kampf doch nur beengt

Trommel- und Carynxenschall ertönt nun wieder

Laute, rohe, Schild- und Schwerterlieder

Wiehernd fährt im Wagen einer vor

Laut dringt sein Ruf an jedes Ohr

Wie er mit wohlverziertem Arm die Klinge schwenkt

Und mit dem anderen seine Pferde lenkt

„Vorwärts, vorwärts, meine Brüder

Singt der Ahnen Schlachtenlieder

Tränkt das Schwert mit Römerblut

Denn nur so erlischt der Götter Wut!“

Wie ein Schleudergeschoss fliegt er den Reihen entgegen

Und aus dem Geschoss wird ein Regen

Alle rennen und reiten, den Schildwall zu brechen

Den toten Häuptling der Hirsche zu rächen

Jeder wagen reißt eine Wunde, bricht Schilde

Doch sie schließen sich wieder, es sind viel zu viele

Wie sich Wasser glättet, fällt ein Stein hinein

Bleiben standhaft wie unverletzt die rømischen Reihen

Und ist das Keltenfussvolk dann herangeielt

Hat sich die Legion schon längst beeilt

Die Reihen wieder aufzustellen

Und die Kelten um den Sieg zu prellen

Und siehe, es wächst ein gewaltiges Schlachten

Unter den Menschensöhnen

Die einander nicht achten

 

Sie zerfleischen und zerfetzen und zermalmen sich

Blutbesudelt, Todesantlitz, Hassgesicht

Einst trug er am Gürtel stolz die Köpfe seiner Feinde

Jetzt rollt ihm dort der eigene

Jener, der so heldenhaft herangelaufen

Hat nun blutend unter Beinverlust zu schnaufen

Dieser, der den Wurfspieß führte so behände

Ist schreiend nun beraubt der feinen Hände

Und die schöne, stolzgeschwellte Muskelbrust

Leidet unter Herzensstich und Blutverlust

Kalte Provokation und warten der Römer hat sich bewehrt

Ohne Siegesaussicht stürzen die Nackten sich in ihr Schwert

Weichen zurück, geben sich selbst den Tod

Gefangen zu sein wär die größere Not

Schwächer nun Lure und Carnyx erschallen

Und man sieht keltische Standarten in die Blutsuempfe fallen

Nur die römischen Adler recken sich immer noch

Und die Formation hat kein klitzekleines Loch

Stehen glänzend rot und unverrückt

Darüber ist der Feldherr sehr entzückt

Vor ihn hat man den Keltenfuehrer hingeschleift

Es interessiert ihn nicht mal, wie jener heißt

Todeswund der einst so stolze Mann

Der vor dem Römer nur noch kriechen

“Ach, wäre ich doch niemals aufgewachsen,

Niemals doch geboren

Es wäre besser wohl gewesen

Als zu kriechen vor dir auf dem Boden

Vae victis!

Wehe den Besiegten

Die im Staub vor Römern liegen!”

Nun ist keiner da um Frau und Kind und Hof zu schützen

Der Rømeradler Weiß das wohl zu schätzen

Er schwingt sich auf und zieht eine Große Blutspur durch das Land

Das uns als Gallien wohlbekannt.

Gang út, nesso,

mid nigun nessiklínon,

Gang út, nesso,

mid nigun nessiklínon,

 

út fan themo marge an that bên,

fan themo bêne an that flêsg,

út fan themo flêsgke an thia húd,

út fan thera húd an thesa strá-la.

 

Drohtin, uuerthe só

 

Gang út, nesso,

mid nigun nessiklínon,

Gang út, nesso,

mid nigun nessiklínon,

 

út fana themo marge an that bên,

fan themo bêne -an that flêsg,

út fan themo flêsgke -an thia húd,

út fan thera húd an thesa strá-la.

 

Drohtin, uuerthe só

Reðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Oða´s iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Thors iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Kön iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Maðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Ur iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Reðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Oða´s iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Thors iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Kön iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Maðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Tidhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Reðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Oða´s iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Thors iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Kön iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Sol sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Tidhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Reðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Oða´s iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Thors iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Oða´s sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Sol sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Tidhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Reðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Oða´s iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Idhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Oða´s sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Sol sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Tidhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Reðr iðr sol tiðr iðr laghr

Sol sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Idhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Oða´s sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Sol sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Tidhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Oða´s    sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Sol sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Idhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Oða´s sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Sol sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Tidhr sædl ast saela blidhr batnar

Sol Liðønd ø dæmi æri aurvænn
Tiðr Liðønd ø dæmi æri aurvænn
Egr Liðønd ø dæmi æri aurvænn
Fir Liðønd ø dæmi æri aurvænn
Nand Liðønd ø dæmi æri aurvænn
Agr Liðønd ø dæmi æri aurvænn

Ha-anuta niyaša ziúe

Sinute zuturi Ya úpugara

kud˺urni tašal Killa zili Šipri

 

ḫumaruḫat úwari

ḫumaruḫat úwari

 

waandanita úkuri Kurkur taiša-al-la

Úúlali kabgi alligi širiit murnušu

 

wešaal tatiib tišiya

Wešaal tatiib tišiya

 

úú-nuga kapšili únugat akli

Šaamšaamme liil uklaal tununita ka hanuka

 

kalitaniil nikala

Kalitaniil nikala

 

niurašaal ḫana ḫanutethui

Attayaaštaal atarri ḫueti ḫanuka

 

niura-ša-al ḫa-na ḫa-nu-te-tui sati

 

weewe ḫanuku

Weewe ḫanuku

Aasarre

Asaralim

Asaralim nunna

Tutu

Tutu-ziukinna

Tutu-ziku

Tutu-agaku

Tutu-tuku

Sazu

Sazu-zisi

Sazu-suchrim

Sazu-suchgurim

Sazu-zachrim

Sazu-zachgurim

Enbilulu

Enbilulu-epadun

Enbilulu-gugal

Enbilulu-chegal

Sirsir

Sirsir-malach

Gil

Gilima

Agilima

Zulum

Mummu

Gisnumunab

Lugalabdubur

Pagalguenna

Lugaldurmach

Aranunna

Dumuduku

Lugalsuanna

Irugga

Irgingu

Kinma

Dingir-esiskur

Girru

Addu

Asa-ru

Ne-beru

Enlil

Marduk

Marukka

Marutukku

Mersakusu

Lugaldim erankia

Nari,lugal,dimmerankia

Asalluchi

Asaulchi-namtilla

Asalluchi-namru

This is a love song.

Maria sings to the listener of love, recovery and prosperity, chasing away evil and welcoming love. The piece contains a quotation of some lines of “Hávamál”, combined with a selection of blessing words meant to provide help to the listener in a troubled time.

Kai brought his part back to us after a month of isolation, fasting and meditation in nature. Only the spirits know the full meaning, but we do know that the context is love, prosperity and protection.

The sonic composition of this song is made up of very basic elements and consists of body sounds, drums, leaves, straw-brooms, bowed lyre and vocals. Asja is Heilung’s take on a more traditional folk song.

We would expect the pre-Christian people of Northern Europe to have perceived this as a magic song: performed with intent as an entity with its own power and agenda, which, once summoned through sound, follows its design and creates the desired outcome.
This is our voice being sent out there with the intent to heal and bring progress and prosperity.

This is a spell from the beginning of the Dark Ages.

The lyrics for this piece are mainly taken from bracteates: golden, circular coins or amulets found in Northern Europe that date from the 4th to 7th centuries CE. They are often fitted with a decorated rim and loop, which indicates that they were meant to be worn and perhaps provide protection, fulfil wishes or for divination.
The bracteates feature a very significant iconography influenced by Roman coinage. They were predominantly made from Roman gold, which was given to the North Germanic peoples as peace money.
A small number of the bracteates found are inscribed with runes and some of these inscriptions are nearly impossible to interpret. While Maria’s parts of the song are taken mainly from bracteates discovered in Norway, Kai’s part is exclusively taken from Danish finds, all of them with inscriptions that provide no answers, only questions. Runologists do not even attempt a translation.

Even though it might sound like it, no sampled sounds or modern instruments were used to create Anoana. The piece is played 100% acoustically on ancient instruments that have been heavily altered, morphed and filtered in post-production to achieve a larger than life deep dive into the amplification of the recorded sounds.

In Anoana, the listener has the chance to delve into a collection of likely encoded spells from the Migration Period and get a touch of magic from the Dark Ages.
The intention of the piece is to playfully reconnect to an incantational language of a period where the North was richer in gold than any other region. Our forefathers presumably enjoyed a time of great prosperity and it may make us rethink how dark these ages really were.

Tenet is a palindrome in every respect: all individual musical parts, melodies and instruments (and even at times the lyrics) play the same both forward and backwards.

The song is based on the so-called “Sator Square”, the earliest datable two-dimentional palindrome, first found in Herculaneum (Italy), a city buried under the ashes of the erupting Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, at that time part of the flourishing Roman Empire.
What is particularly interesting with this palindrome is that not only does it read forwards and backwards but also diagonally in both directions.

S  A  T  O  R
A  R  E  P  O
T  E  N  E  T
O  P  E  R  A
R  O  T  A  S

Its translation has been the subject of much speculation through time and no clear consensus has been found. A lot of myths have evolved around this little square, and inscriptions of it have been discovered all the way up to 19th century Scandinavia as a protection against theft, illnesses, lightning, fire, madness, general pain and heartache. It can be found carved in churches (Skellerup, Denmark) or in books about black magic. Eight times it was carved in runes, the inscriptions of which have been discovered in Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Some rune sticks from Bergen contain the square alongside Christian evocations: in Tenet, Heilung picks up the odd mix of old Norwegian and late Latin phrases, mixed into benevolent wishes to ensure good luck or health. Syncretism, as we see it today in South America, i.a., where an indigenous healer wholeheartedly chants the name of Christ in the traditional healing songs, was maybe not uncommon in mediaeval Scandinavia.

As the magic square travels through time, culture and countries, most of our European ancestors were probably familiar with it. Heilung has with this piece thus chosen to indulge in many languages from different time periods and regions, starting out with Latin, then onto Proto-Germanic, Old Norse and Gothic.

The unusual melody of the piece is created with a special code system employing numbers, runes and Latin letters taken from the square itself, and deciphered in a complicated system to give birth to Heilung’s first melodic palindrome.

This is a song that has been sung in the Roman army.

In his biography of Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman historian Suetonius provides us with a record of this song. It is said that veterans performed the piece with a heavy mocking undertone during Caesar’s march of triumph in 46 BC in Rome. The Emperor is called a squanderer of tax money with a questionable sexuality and his political actions are ridiculed.

Suetonius leaves us no clue of how it was sung, so we had to dive into the meagre records of Roman military music. A late Roman poet, Prudentius, talks about song structures in sets of four beats, counting up to twelve.
The legionnaires’ voices are supported by the banging of their spears (pilum) against the shields and we hear an endless amount of heavy military shoes (caliga) hitting the ground.
The rhythm is in the so-called “forced march speed” still in use in some armies of our time. To recreate the sound for Heilung, we took our field recording equipment and stomped back and forth over a reconstructed Viking Age bridge outside Albertslund Viking Village (Vikingelandsbyen) a few hundred times.

On Trajan’s Column in Rome, horn players are depicted marching with or rather in front of the legion. They play an instrument called Cornu (horn). A beautiful example was unearthed in Pompeii. It was used to manage the movements of the legion on the battlefield. The horn can produce very powerful, thrilling, even frightening sounds.
One of the instruments audible in this piece is a reconstruction of the Cornu.

This is a poem written 20 years ago with the aim of leading the listener into the Iron Age.

The piece describes a clash of cultures: Celtic tribes colliding with Roman attitudes and military machinery. It is a fictional battle, conjuring up/evoking visions of warfare in the first century BC.

In the beginning, we hear the Celtic people’s army in all its martial beauty gathering in front of the Roman troops. Having just marched in, the Romans now stand still and silently waiting in perfect formation.
The chieftain of the Deer People, an impressive man, steps in front of the line, undresses and walks naked towards the Roman army leader while his comrades sing a war chant.
He offers the mounted officer a chance to solve the dispute in a battle of champions. After ancient habit, only the best warriors would meet on the battlefield and so decide the outcome in a court of weapons: a lifesaving tradition of the Iron Age farming cultures where most warriors were also farmers, fishermen, blacksmiths and so on.
The Roman officer, with a purely professional army behind him, does not deign to answer and has the chieftain shot down by his archers. This incurs the wrath of the Celts and an indescribable bloodbath unfolds.

Several historians of the time suggest that women took part in battles alongside the men: not merely to have their back, but also actively engaging in combat.
The Romans, prepared for the imprudent attack, mercilessly slaughter them all and we hear desperate cries of both men and women. Following the Celtic habit of committing suicide to avoid captivity, even the last warrior meets his end.
While the last flags fall, we hear a once-proud warrior lament the downfall of his people, regretting having lived to see the sacred land of his ancestors now unprotected and open to a ravaging foreign army.

The poem itself is in New High German, whereas the chants and shouts are in Gaelic, a fellow Indo-European language, but of the Celtic Branch.

This piece is an ancient healing spell to pull sickness out of the leg of a horse.

In early medieval europe, sickness, disease and pain were often imagined as taking the shape of demonic worms crawling around the body. Songs and spells against worms are thus a big part of ancient European healing magic, not only for humans, but animals as well.

Nesso is rooted in the conceptualisation of a time where people perceived the work of spirits and unseen entities in every event of their life. Every disease, every weather phenomenon had intent, genius and soul. The concept of dead matter and beings without intelligence and cause was not known and likely not graspable for our ancestors.

The church, of course, opposed these habits strongly. Although interestingly enough, the clerics themselves preserved some of the incantations. The one we use in this piece is one such, called “Contra Vermes” (against worms), dated back to the 9th century. In this particular spell, the incantation aims to make the worm move to the outside of the body and get caught in an arrowhead. The arrow was then shot into the forest, as the forest was seen as the home of spirits, demons and sickness.
We do encounter a controversy in translation and interpretation in this piece, as the Old High German word for “arrow” has another possible meaning: “hoof frog” (triangular underside of a horse’s hoof), which is the part that would have to be removed, since this is where the worm is caught.

The sonic side:
As in all Heilung’s pieces, all sounds are of natural origin before being moulded between Christopher’s firm hands. In Nesso, we are utilising the most ancient way of recording sound: singing directly into a resonating copper string tuned to the same note, echoing ghosts from the past.
The beastly components consist of animalistic, impersonated footsteps in gravel and hay.
The male underlying vocal imitates the worm being exorcised by Maria singing the spell. No live horse was harmed in the creation of this piece.

The deep singing voices are played at half speed, imitating the slowing of time often experienced in near-death situations.

The bowed lyre (jouhikko) being played in this song has a similar function as bowed instruments used in healing rituals for animals by, e.g., nomadic Mongolians.

Maria was placed in a mind-space where an animal very dear to her was dying. The tears and pain in her voice are therefore very real and recorded in one take.

This is a curse.

Buslas Bann is inspired by the rune spell of Busla from “Bósa saga”: a legendary saga written in Iceland around the 13th century. The Icelandic original contains incredibly coarse language.

We find rune carvings related to the curse in the stave churches of Nore and Lomen (Norway) and many other places of early mediaeval Scandinavia, but inscriptions have also been found on the almost a century older rune stones from Gørlev (Denmark) and Ledberg (Sweden).

The general translation of these inscriptions is difficult, but it is believed that it could be a protection from beings that bring damage, also taking Busla’s curse into consideration, which could be some kind of spell of release at least.
Here Heilung also dives into the field of runic lore.
In the song, you hear some runes taken from Ole Worms “Runir seu Danica Literatura Antiqvissima” published in 1636.

In the saga, the actual rune spell that Busla knows is not mentioned.
We start out singing the devastating words that are supposed to bring downfall and terror.
Line byline we change it into a blessing, like sun follows rain and spring follows winter.
It finishes with six blessing staves that celebrate the all-unity and ensures the aid of the supporting spirits. Only living with the cycles of nature can give us the power to sing the evil powers of winter away come spring. The understanding that the seed has to die in order to spark vitality can bring back our joy of life in the face of death and we can celebrate that short moment of perfect balance,for example at the equinoxes.
Music and dance is the primal language of mankind. In  it, we can experience the divine harmony woven through all of existence.

The echoing yells heard in the background are recorded in a lava desert in Iceland to bring the listener sonically closer to the birthplace of the piece.

This is a song from the Bronze Age.

The song was found carved into clay tablets in the Canaanite city of Ugarit (modern-day Syria) and is dated at 3400 years old. It is currently the oldest surviving complete work of annotated music. The tablets contain not only lyrics and notes, but are also believed to contain instructions on how to tune the harp or lyre-like instrument for the song. The ancient composer’s name is unknown.

The song is written in an Ugarit dialect, which differs significantly from other sources of the period. The translation is not easy, as might be expected, and various researchers have made differing translations and interpretation attempts. However, we do know as much as that the piece is a hymn to the goddess Nikkal, the daughter of the Summer King and the wife of the Moon God. Her name means “Fruitful Great Lady” and she is equal to the later Sumerian Ningal, mother of Inanna (later worshipped as Ishtar, goddess of, i.a., love, war and political power).
The piece contains appeals to her for fertility and cleansing, according to the circulating translations.
In one of the scientific interpretations of this ancient song notation, we find two harmonising melodies for the harp-like instrument accompanied by the lyrics for the song.
Heilung has applied these melodies, probably originally intended for the instrument, to the vocals and lyrics and composed a third melody, most prominent in the lower register, weaving the existing two melodies together.

This is the 50 names of Marduk.

Transported by handmade singing bowls of bronze, we arrive at another poem. From the ruined library of Assurbanipal in Nineveh (modern-day Mosul, Iraq), the lyrics for this piece emerge, quietly whispered.
It is the fifty names of Marduk, the highest god of the Mesopotamians. Although the clay tablets bearing the text date back only to the 7th century BC, according to assyriologists, the origins of the text lie in the first Babylonian dynasty (1894 – 1559 BC).
“Enuma Elish” is the original title of the Babylonian creation myth, which finishes with the list of Marduk’s names and royal titles on the seventh tablet.