Where Do Lullabies Come From

Four millennia ago an ancient Babylonian wrote down a lullaby sung by a mother to her child. It may have got the baby to sleep, but its message is far from soothing – and this remains a feature of many lullabies sung around the world today.

What is the oldest lullaby?

One of the oldest known lullabies is a 5,000-year-old Babylonian song. Its lyrics seem to come to us from around the corner.

What lullabies really mean?

A lullaby, or cradle song, is defined by Merriam-Webster as just that: “a song to quiet children or lull them to sleep … a soothing refrain.” Any song can serve as a lullaby, says ethnomusicologist and UCLA lecturer Andrew Pettit, provided it is sufficiently slow and rhythmic.