- An East Semitic
language sometimes referred to by its two main dialects, Assyrian
or Babylonian, used in the Ancient Near East from 2600-1 B.C.E. Inscribed
in cuneiform characters on durable clay tablets, Akkadian texts
have survived well to the present day and render this the most
extensively attested Semitic language from antiquity.
Some of the most important texts inscribed in this language come
from the dynasties of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2350-2150 B.C.E.),
Hammurabi of Babylon (c. 1530 B.C.E.), and
Assurbanipal in Nineveh (c. 625 B.C.E.),
as well as from Mari, Elam, el-Amarna, Ugarit, and Boghazköy. Many genres of texts are represented as well, including epics and literary material, hymns and other religious texts, legal documents, dedicatory inscriptions, economic and administrative records, royal inscriptions, and letters. It
remained the lingua franca of the Chaldean, Persian, and
Seleucid-Arsacid periods, though it was increasingly influenced
by the West Semitic Aramaic language and gradually superseded
by Greek.
-
- Dictionary
- Black,
Jeremy, Andrew George, Nicholas Postgate, eds. A
Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, corrected ed. Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz, 2000.
- Gelb,
Ignace J. Glossary of Old Akkadian, Materials
for the Assyrian Dictionary 3. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1957.
- Gelb,
Ignace J. et al. The Assyrian Dictionary of
the Oriental Institute of Chicago, multiple volumes. Chicago:
The Oriental Institute, 1956-.
-
- Grammar
- Gleb,
Ignace J. Old Akkadian Writing and Grammar,
Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary 2. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1961.
- Rosenthal,
Franz. A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, 6th
ed. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1995.
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| © 2017 |
Catherine
Murphy, Associate Professor cmurphy@scu.edu |
| |
Dept of Religious Studies, Santa Clara University,
Santa Clara, CA 95053 |
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