Hush Little Baby

The earliest lullaby we know of is written in cuneiform and comes from Babylonia. We don't know the tune, but the words are oddly familiar in that they tell a rather dark story. And that is just one of the many characteristics that so many lullabies have in common, no matter when or where they originated. Unfortunately, each of the six click-able lullabies on the page is preceded by a Microsoft ad that's so annoying that I listened to only two, but I can tell you that the Indian one is lovely (story and audio): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21035103