Melodic Reading of the Bible and the Quran

Reading this selection from The Rise and Fall of the Bible was interesting to say the least, though the most eye-catching part was learning that the scriptures were read in a melodic manner rather than just read aloud as it often is today in many services. Though it is not too surprising, this brings in to mind the information I learned about the Muslim culture, specifically the way the Quran is intended to be read and still is read today in mosques. The Quran is read aloud, or rather chanted, and has specific rules of pronunciation, intonation, and cesuras that were originally established by the prophet Muhammad.

According to this chapter, it was made known that the readings during this time period that are now considered canonical, scriptural, or biblical were only presented in song or in some sort of poetry. Furthermore, the parallels of the way the important documents were handled in the three most popular religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, in antiquity really highlight the similarities in religious texts across the country. With that being said, if all religious texts that were instructed to be sung, chanted, or said in a poetic manner from antiquity were put together and translated to one language, then compared to each other, what would the differences be? Is there a pattern?