Akkadian language

Akkadian (llišānum akkadītum) or Assyro-Babylonian was a Semitic language (part of the Afro-Asiatic language family) that was spoken in ancient Iraq. The first-known Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system from ancient Sumer.

Akkadian
𒀝𒅗𒁺𒌑 akkadû
Native to	Assur and Babylon
Region	Mesopotamia
Era	mid-3rd millennium BC–8th centuries BC; academic or liturgical use until 100 AD
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic East Semitic Akkadian
Writing system	Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform
Official status
Official language in	initially Akkad (central Mesopotamia); lingua franca of the Middle East and Egypt in the late Bronze and early Iron Ages.
Language codes
ISO 639-2	akk
ISO 639-3	akk

Akkadian is divided into several varieties based on geography and historical period:

• Old Akkadian, 2500–1950 BC
• Old Babylonian/Old Assyrian, 1950–1530 BC
• Middle Babylonian/Middle Assyrian, 1530–1000 BC
• Neo-Babylonian/Neo-Assyrian, 1000–600 BC
• Late Babylonian, 600 BC–100 AD

The earliest known Akkadian inscription was found on a bowl at Ur. It was addressed to a very early pre-Sargonic king of Ur by his queen Gan-saman, who is thought to have been from Akkad.

The Akkadian Empire, established by Sargon of Akkad, introduced the Akkadian language (the "language of Akkad") as a written language. It used Sumerian cuneiform orthography (writing method) for the purpose. During the middle Bronze Age (Old Assyrian and Old Babylonian period), the language displaced Sumerian. Sumerian probably became extinct as a living language by the 18th century BC.

Akkadian Language Media

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  Cuneiform writing (Neo-Assyrian script)*(1 = Logogram (LG) "mix"/syllabogram (SG) ḫi,*2 = LG "moat",*3 = SG aʾ,*4 = SG aḫ, eḫ, iḫ, uḫ,*5 = SG kam,*6 = SG im,*7 = SG bir)

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  A Neo-Babylonian inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II

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  Georg Friedrich Grotefend

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  The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian.

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  The first known Sumerian-Akkadian bilingual tablet dates from the reign of Rimush. Louvre Museum AO 5477. The top column is in Sumerian, the bottom column is its translation in Akkadian.

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  Inscription in Babylonian, in the Xerxes I inscription at Van, 5th century BCE

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  Neo-Babylonian inscription of king Nebuchadnezzar II, 7th century BCE