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AKKADIAN

Often a general term for the dialects of the ancient Semitic language spoken in and around Mesopotamia and attested in documents from as early as ca. 2350 b.c.e. to the 1st century c.e. More precisely used, Akkadian designates the earliest historical phase of East Semitic which appears in texts from ca. 2350 until ca. 1950. This phase is referred to as Old Akkadian. The majority of these texts come from the dynasty founded by Sargon of Akkad.

Thereafter varied dialects of Akkadian may be distinguished. A northern dialect within Mesopotamia was at home in the land of Assyria. While language change does not occur in neatly demarcated periods, the development of Assyrian may be broadly traced as follows. Old Assyrian is attested from ca. 1950-1750, primarily in texts from the Assyrian merchant colonies in Anatolia. Middle Assyrian comes from ca. 1530-1000, and Neo-Assyrian from ca. 1000-612. During this latter period Assyrian was increasingly influenced by Aramaic because of the expansion of the Assyrian Empire. It was in this time that Assyria reached the height of its power and in the 8th century conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and led the people of the 10 northern tribes into captivity.

A southern dialect of Akkadian within Mesopotamia appears first as Old Babylonian from ca. 2000-1600, best known from the law collection of Hammurabi. Regional subdialects may be distinguished, and an elevated form of the language known as the hymnic-epic dialect became the medium for literary compositions. Following the Kassite invasion of Babylonia, Middle Babylonian (ca. 1600-1100) emerged and during the second half of the 2nd millennium became the lingua franca of international diplomacy in the ancient Near East. In the same period Standard Babylonian (Ger. Jungbabylonisch), resembling the older hymnic-epic dialect, became the literary language. Neo-Babylonian (ca. 1100-539), like Neo-Assyrian, reflects the growing linguistic influence of Aramaic, which during this period in turn replaced Akkadian in international diplomacy. It was the Neo-Babylonian Empire that conquered Judah in the 6th century while Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. Late Babylonian (ca. 539 b.c.e.–75 c.e.) was increasingly aramaicized and represents the final attempt of the remaining priestly class to preserve their ancient traditions, as Aramaic and then Greek became the dominant means of communication.

Several introductory grammars, a standard descriptive grammar, three syllabaries, and two multi-volume dictionaries are now available, or near completion, putting the study of Akkadian on a sound basis. It is, alongside Eblaite, one of the earliest attested Semitic languages and the most extensively documented of all languages of the ancient Near East.

Walter R. Bodine

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

AKKADIAN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)