The musical leadership of Dada during the Third Dynasty of Ur: a reassessment

Abstract

Dada was a gala-priest who worked for the royal court of the Third Dynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia as a music administrator. However, few texts inform us about the total number of artists that could be under his responsibility. By commenting on the text NATN 855, a list of animal horns received by Dada, this paper argues that he could have managed up to 149 nar-musicians, in addition to other gala-priests and performers.