Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking Semitic nation state and cultural region based in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). It emerged as an independent state c. 1894 BC, with the city of Babylon as its capital. It was often involved in rivalry with its fellow Akkadian state of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia. Babylonia became the major power in the region after Hammurabi (fl. c. 1792 - 1752 BC middle chronology, or c. 1696 – 1654 BC, short chronology) created an empire out of many of the territories of the former Akkadian Empire. The Babylonian state retained the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use (the language of its native populace), despite its Amorite founders and Kassite successors not being native Akkadians. The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad (2334- 2279 BC), dating back to the 23rd century BC. Periods[edit] Old Pre-Babylonian period[edit] The Empire of Hammurabi Babylonian Decline
Akkadian language
The mutual influence between Sumerian and Akkadian had led scholars to describe the languages as a sprachbund.[3] Akkadian proper names were first attested in Sumerian texts from ca. the late 29th century BC.[4] From the second half of the third millennium BC (ca. 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. Akkadian had been for centuries the lingua franca in Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. Classification[edit] Within the Near Eastern Semitic languages, Akkadian forms an East Semitic subgroup (with Eblaite). History and writing[edit] Writing[edit] Development[edit] Decipherment[edit]
16th century BC
The 16th century BC is a century which lasted from 1600 BC to 1501 BC. Events[edit] Significant persons[edit] King Cheng Tang of Shang of China, first ruler of Shang Dynasty, ruled China for 29 years since 1600 BC according to the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project.1597 BC—Aaron born to Amram and his wife Jochebed (traditional date).Kamose, last Pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt (1575 BC or 1573 BC–1550 BC).Ahmose I, Pharaoh and founder of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550 BC–1525 BC).Hatshepsut, first female Pharaoh of Egypt c.1473 BC References[edit] Decades and years[edit]
Assyriology
Assyriology (from Greek Ἀσσυρίᾱ, Assyriā; and -λογία, -logia) is the archaeological, historical, and linguistic study of ancient Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) and of related cultures that used cuneiform writing. The field covers the Akkadian sister-cultures of Assyria and Babylonia, together with their cultural predecessor; Sumer. The large number of cuneiform clay tablets preserved by these cultures provide an extremely large resource for the study of the period. The region's (and the world's) first cities such as Ur are archaeologically invaluable for studying the growth of urbanization. Scholars need a good knowledge of several languages: Akkadian and its major dialects and Sumerian, aided by such languages as Biblical Hebrew, Hittite, Elamite and Aramaic for comparative purposes, and the knowledge of writing systems that use several hundred core signs. History[edit] From classical antiquity to modern excavation[edit] 18th Century and birth[edit] Decipherment of cuneiform[edit]
History of the Hittites
The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who established an empire at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia around 1600 BC. This empire reached its height during the mid-14th century BC under Suppiluliuma I, when it encompassed an area that included most of Asia Minor as well as parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia. After c. 1180 BC, the empire came to an end during the Bronze Age collapse, splintering into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived until the 8th century BC. The Hittite language was a member of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. Despite the use of Hatti for their core territory, the Hittites should be distinguished from the Hattians, an earlier people who inhabited the same region (until the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC) and spoke a language possibly in the Northwest Caucasian languages group known as Hattic. Archaeological discovery[edit] The Hittites used Mesopotamian cuneiform letters.
Aramaic language
This article is about the Semitic language now spoken by smaller numbers of people in scattered locations. For the Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia, see Amharic. Aramaic (Arāmāyā, Classical Syriac: ܐܪܡܝܐ) is a family of languages or dialects belonging to the Semitic family. During its approximately 3000 years of written history,[2] Aramaic has served variously as a language of administration of empires and as a language of divine worship. Aramaic's long history and diverse and widespread use has led to the development of many divergent varieties, which are sometimes considered dialects, though they are distinct enough that they are sometimes considered languages. Etymology[edit] The term "Aramaic", meaning the language of Arameans settling in the region of ancient Aram, ארם or ܐܪܡ (ʾArām), derives from the Hebrew/Aramaic root verb רום (rum) meaning to rise, be high, piled up, or tall.[10] Geographic distribution[edit] Aramaic languages and dialects[edit] Writing system[edit] History[edit]
Aramaeans
The Arameans never had a unified nation; they were divided into small independent kingdoms across parts of the Near East, particularly in what is now modern Syria. After the Bronze Age collapse, their political influence was confined to a number of Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the Neo-Assyrian Empire by the 8th century BC. By contrast, the Aramaic language came to be the lingua franca of the entire Fertile Crescent and Bahrain, by Late Antiquity developing into the literary languages such as Syriac and Mandaic. Scholars have used the term "Aramaization" for the process by which the Assyro-Babylonian Akkadian-speaking peoples became Aramaic-speaking during the later Iron Age.[1] History[edit] Origins[edit] Basalt funeral stele bearing an Aramaic inscription, ca. 7th century BC. Bronze Age collapse[edit] Funeral stele of Si` Gabbor, priest of the Moon God. The Arameans were, in the 11th century BC, established in Syria. Neo-Assyrian Empire[edit] Language[edit]
