Babylonian lullaby: Little baby in the dark house

The BBC has been looking at the different lullabies sung to children around the world.

Here, archaeomusicologist Richard Dumbrill reads his translation of an ancient Babylonian cuneiform text which is considered to be one of the earliest lullabies ever documented.

Audio from The Language of Lullabies, BBC World Service.

Image of the Old Babylonian cuneiform text from the collections of the British Museum, BM 122691. Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum. Photograph by Richard Dumbrill.