Akkadian Empire
Historical state in Mesopotamia Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.100°N 44.100°E / 33.100; 44.100 During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.[5] Akkadian, an East Semitic language,[6] gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).[7] The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad.[8] Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the people of Mesopotamia eventually coalesced into two major Akkadian-speaking nations: Assyria in the north, and, a few centuries later, Babylonia in the south. History of research[edit] Dating and periodization[edit] Sargon of Akkad[edit]
Mesopotamia
Map showing the extent of Mesopotamia Mesopotamia (from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία: "[land] between rivers"; Arabic: بلاد الرافدين (bilād al-rāfidayn); Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ (Beth Nahrain): "land of rivers") is a name for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, the northeastern section of Syria and to a much lesser extent southeastern Turkey and smaller parts of southwestern Iran. Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization in the West, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. Etymology Geography History Periodization Literature
Assyrian people
Assyrian people (Syriac: ܐܫܘܪܝܐ), or Syriacs[37] (see terms for Syriac Christians), are an ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East.[38][39] Some of them self-identify as Arameans,[40] or as Chaldeans.[41] They speak East Aramaic languages as well as the primary languages in their countries of residence.[42] The Assyrians are typically Syriac Christians who claim descent from Assyria, one of the oldest civilizations in the world, dating back to 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.[43] Assyrians are predominantly Christian, mostly adhering to the East and West Syrian liturgical rites of Christianity.[48] The churches that constitute the East Syrian rite include the Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, and Chaldean Catholic Church, whereas the churches of the West Syrian rite are the Syriac Orthodox Church and Syriac Catholic Church. Both rites use Classical Syriac as their liturgical language. History Pre-Christian history Language Early Christian period Arab conquest Culture
East Semitic languages
Approximate historical distribution of Semitic languages. East Semitic in green. The East Semitic languages are one of six divisions of the Semitic languages. The East Semitic group is attested by two distinct languages, Akkadian and Eblaite, both of which have been long extinct. They stand apart from other Semitic languages, traditionally called West Semitic, in a number of respects. Historically, it is believed that this linguistic situation came about as speakers of East Semitic languages wandered further east, settling in Mesopotamia during the third millennium BCE, as attested by Akkadian texts from this period. The word order in East Semitic may also have been influenced by Sumerian, being subject–object–verb rather than the West Semitic verb–subject–object order. Jump up ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). Huehnergard, J. 1995.
30th century BC
The 30th century BC was a century which lasted from the year 3000 BC to 2901 BC. Events[edit] Stele bearing the name of Djet Significant people[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions[edit] 3000 BC–2000 BC; Hieroglyphic writing in Egypt, potter's wheel in China, first pottery in the Americas (in Ecuador).c. 3000 BC—Sumerians establish cities.c. 3000 BC—Sumerians start to work in various metals.c. 3000 BC—Knowledge of Ancient Near Eastern grains appears in Ancient China.3000 BC-2000 BC - Settled villages are widespread in Mesoamerica.The shekal was introduced in Mesopotamia as a monetary and weight unit; see ancient weights and measures, Shekel.The Sydney rock engravings date from around 3000 BC (Sydney, Australia).[3] Fiction[edit] References[edit]
Eastern Aramaic languages
Eastern Aramaic languages have developed from the varieties of Aramaic that developed in and around Mesopotamia (Iraq, southeast Turkey, northeast Syria and northwest and southwest Iran), as opposed to western varieties of the Levant (modern Levantine Syria and Lebanon). Most speakers are ethnic Assyrians, although there are a minority of Jews and Mandeans who also speak varieties of Eastern Aramaic. Speakers[edit] Numbers of fluent speakers range from approximately 575,000 to 1,000,000, with the main languages being Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (235,000 speakers), Chaldean Neo-Aramaic (216,000 speakers) and Surayt/Turoyo (250,000 speakers),[2] together with a number of smaller closely related languages with no more than 5,000 to 10,000 speakers between them. In addition, there are approximately 25,000 speakers of Jewish Eastern Aramaic dialects, and some 5,000 fluent speakers of Mandaic language[5] among the some 50,000 Mandeans, an ethno-religious Gnostic minority in Iraq and Iran. History[edit]
Akkadian language
extinct Semitic language The mutual influence between Sumerian and Akkadian had led scholars to describe the languages as a Sprachbund.[5] Akkadian proper names were first attested in Sumerian texts from around the mid 3rd-millennium BC.[6] From the second half of the third millennium BC (c. 2500 BC), texts fully written in Akkadian begin to appear. Hundreds of thousands of texts and text fragments have been excavated to date, covering a vast textual tradition of mythological narrative, legal texts, scientific works, correspondence, political and military events, and many other examples. By the second millennium BC, two variant forms of the language were in use in Assyria and Babylonia, known as Assyrian and Babylonian respectively. For centuries, Akkadian was the native language in Mesopotamian nations such as Assyria and Babylonia. Classification[edit] Within the Near Eastern Semitic languages, Akkadian forms an East Semitic subgroup (with Eblaite). History and writing[edit] Writing[edit]
Sahel
The Sahel region in Africa: a belt up to 1,000 km (620 mi) wide that spans the 5,400 km (3,360 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea The Sahel (/səˈhɛl/)[1] is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. The name is derived from the Arabic word sāḥil (ساحل, Arabic pronunciation: [ˈsaːħil]) meaning "coast" or "shore" in a figurative sense (in reference to the southern edge of the vast Sahara),[2][3] while the name Swahili means "coastal [dweller]" in a literal sense. Geography[edit] Camels trample the soil in the semiarid Sahel as they move to water holes, such as this one in Chad. The lush green of the rainy season Sahelian forest, along the Bamako-Kayes Road in Mali. Sahel people with livestock and azawakh dogs Flora and fauna[edit] Climate[edit] Culture[edit]
