We have encountered the Sumerians in our history books, classes, and even on the history channels on television.
Even so, we don’t all have the same background. Just in case you’re one of those people, here’s a quick overview of the Sumerians.
During the ancient times in Southern Mesopotamia, a group of people founded a civilization between the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates.
The settlers of the civilization grew slowly but smoothly until it boomed with a large population after some decades.
Sumer was home to many early innovations and advancements in science and architecture.
They were also known for the ancient language of cuneiform where they used pictographic tablets to store literature. All of this is important because today’s story involves the famous Sumerian 3000-line poem, “The Epic of Gilgamesh.”
This literary masterpiece was written by the Sumerians around 2100 BC. The poem is about the adventures of a king named Gilgamesh who is blessed with god-like strength. In the story, he battles hideous monsters he encounters along the way in his quest to obtain the secret of eternal life.
This poem was considered to be one of the earliest and greatest pieces of literature which survived and were preserved for centuries.
Now, it has thousands of translations of various languages and was even taught in schools. In this video, we get to hear a short excerpt of the poem in the form of music.
Peter Pringle uploaded a video on YouTube five years ago where he sings the poem’s lyrics in the ancient language of Sumer.
Pringle also accompanied the song with the old three-stringed, longneck, Sumerian lute called the gish-gu-di. With the perfect literary techniques present, the poem tells us a vivid picture.
Pringle chose to sing only the first few opening lines of the poem where it talks about the ancient days.
Its tune was mournful, implicitly stating that a great tragedy struck before they even got to where they are then. It tells a melancholic origin story of the earth and what civilization had to go through in the early days.
Pringle fills the masterpiece with emotions using his voice and the lute.
He sang the song so perfectly that you could imagine how the people might have sounded during old times.
Pringle’s vocals and his lute make the piece a hundred times more emotional even if it was told only with a few words.
He set the right mood for the story too, as he stood in front of a green-screened background of Mesopotamia’s ancient buildings— Nebuchadnezzar’s courtyard in Babylon.
Since the video was posted, it has racked up more than three million views and got 100,000 likes on YouTube.
The internet appreciated the fact that Pringle brought this ancient literary masterpiece in today’s world for generations to see.
They also loved that he sang the lyrics in the original language it was written. For sure, no one knew how the words are properly pronounced, though it is certainly admirable to see Pringle study the language!
Almost all the greatest, most meaningful musical compositions in the world have at least three things in common.
A rich history, a clever display of literary techniques, and a perfect rhythm to accompany it. Even though Peter Pringle did not write the song, he was able to interpret it well in his voice!
Check out the unique performance in the link below:
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