Akkadian language
Also called: Akkadian · Topic: Bronze Age Civilisations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 1 "Writing and City Life"
Meaning
Akkadian was a Semitic language. Semitic is the language family that also includes Hebrew and Aramaic. From c. 2400 BCE, after Akkadian speakers arrived, it slowly replaced Sumerian as the main language of Mesopotamia. It was written in the same cuneiform script (wedge-shaped signs pressed into clay). Akkadian flourished until the time of Alexander (336–323 BCE). Cuneiform writing in Akkadian stayed in use until the first century CE, which is more than 2,000 years.
Example
The Akkadian empire, founded at Akkad in central Mesopotamia in 2334 BCE, used this language. The tablets of its ruler Sargon record trade with Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha.
Don't confuse with
- Sumerian language: the older, first known language of Mesopotamia. It is not Semitic. It stopped being spoken c. 1800 BCE but was still taught in schools.
- Akkadian empire: the political state founded in 2334 BCE. The language was spoken for many centuries after that empire ended.
Related concepts
- Mesopotamian civilisation
- Fertile Crescent
- Sumerian civilisation
- Babylonia
- Sumerian language
- Aramaic