Walid Lemagni Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 February 13th 201!

Interesting comparisons of developmental trends between Art and Music

"onestly I can#t remember paying much attention to music until I $as in %th grade& 'ne o( the (irst thoughts I had about it $as $ho $as the guy $ho decided to start ma)ing noises in rhythm* While I don#t thin) the limited accuracy o( our historical records combined $ith the +ery li)ely possibility o( music predating our history I intend to ans$er a di((erent ,uestion instead& -he history o( things has al$ays been (ascinating to me& I intend to e.plore the history o( music and I $ill see) to understand ho$ to de+eloped and $hat the possible causes (or that path o( de+elopment may ha+e been& In order to do so I $ill also consider the de+elopment o( a similar (ield& In choosing a similar (ield I had to consider $hat possible en+ironmental re,uirements there may be to ma)e practice o( the (ield +iable& -hat said I decided that art $ould be the closest (ield since both music and art re,uire creati+ity and inspiration& In this paper I $ill e.plore the possible (actors in the e+olution o( both art and music and I hope to come a$ay (rom this endea+or $ith a deeper understanding o( the nuances and archetypes o( the de+elopmental re,uirements o( these (ields& I( $e#re going to start $e might as $ell start $ith the beginning& -his is by (ar the most tric)y part o( the process& -he issue is that both (ields don#t ha+e the e.act same ease o( documentation& It is by (ar tric)ier to document musical history since that $ould re,uire $ritten music to ha+e been created& -his then implies that in order (or $ritten music to be created $e must (irst create $riting& It is $ell )no$n that the earliest documented (orm o( $ritten language is cunei(orm& -his is supported by the boo) Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon $ritten by leslie ad)ins& /e(ore cunei(orm $e only ha+e rudimentary $riting systems that are entirely de+oted to counting and )eeping trac) o( numbers $hich also occured in mesopotamia& 0ccording to an article )no$n as The Babylonian musical notation and the Hurrian texts $ritten by Martin Litch(ield West the earliest trace o( musical notation $as (ound on cunei(orm tablets that $ere created around 2000 b&c& in 1ippur 2umer& 2umer $as among the earliest )no$n ci+ili3ations researchers ha+e (ound traces o( settlement dating bac) to around 2400 b&c& around the time legendary (igures such a gilgamesh or enmer)ar $ould ha+e li+ed& -he $riting that is notated is recorded in (ragments and it appears to be $ritten in a diatonic scale $hich $e still use today in musical notation& -his is +eri(ied by an article in the 5ournal o( Cunei(orm studies $ritten by 0&6& 7ilmer and Miguel Ci+il in 14%8& -he (ascinating part about this (inding is that $ith ci+ili3ation $e begin to see de+elopments in art as $ell& -he sumerian ci+ili3ation#s ne$ needs led to brea)throughs in art as $ell as music& 6ue to 2umer#s irrigation system the population $as allo$ed to rise to le+els

ne+er be(ore seen in early bron3e age settlements allo$ing 2umer to become one o( the earliest ci+ili3ations& -his large increase in population in turn increased the needs o( the ci+ili3ation and in response they re,uired more pottery (or storage and transportation o( items& -his led to the in+ention o( the potter#s $heel $hich allo$ed (or the mass production o( pottery& 0long $ith the potter#s $heel the ancient 2umerians also accomplished the casting and in+ention o( glass& /oth pottery and glass are important mediums through $hich art can be created and increasing thier a+ailability $ould certainly ha+e gi+en artists more liberty $ith thier cra(t it also $ould ha+e gi+en them another tool to create thier art $ith& 0s stated by 9eter :oger 2tuart Moorey#s boo) Ancient esopotamian aterials and !ndustries: the archaeological e"idence there ha+e been (indings o( (ragments $heel thro$n pottery that predates 3100 b&c& in the city o( ;r& 2o (ar $e ha+e seen that $ith the de+elopment o( ci+ili3ation the increase in resources or entertainment needed due to the gathering o( humans and rising o( population ha+e led to inno+ations in order to meet those needs& I $ould li)e to ta)e this opportunity to speculate that the de+elopment o( art and music is due in part to general uses o( inno+ations o( the time& For e.ample the ancient sumerians generally used pottery as bottles <ugs and <ars (or used (or carrying and storing $ater and other li,uids& -hey created the pottery $heel so that more people could transport $ater but artists also decorated pottery or created decorati+e pottery using the pottery $heel& We also see that cunei(orm $riting $as instrumental in creating musical notation& Cunei(orm $riting $as originally used (or counting commodities such as sheep according to en&(inaly&org on a page named Two precursors of writing: plain and complex to#ens it is stated that =-he system o( plain to)ens $hich originated&&&in the ancient Middle East $as supplemented by comple. to)ens at the rise o( the 2umerian temple=&