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In the beginning, from around 1000 BC, Akkadian and Aramaic were of equal status, as can be seen in the number of copied texts: clay tablets were written in Akkadian, while scribes writing on papyrus and leather used Aramaic. From this period on, one speaks of Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian.
When did Akkadian language replaced Sumerian?
2000 BC
Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language in the area around 2000 BC (the exact date is debated), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Akkadian-speaking Mesopotamian states such as Assyria and Babylonia until the 1st century AD.
How did the Akkadian Empire fall?
The empire collapsed after the invasion of the Gutians. Changing climatic conditions also contributed to internal rivalries and fragmentation, and the empire eventually split into the Assyrian Empire in the north and the Babylonian empire in the south.
What was the decline of the Akkadian language?
Its decline began in the Iron Age, during the Neo-Assyrian Empire, by about the 8th century BC ( Tiglath-Pileser III ), in favour of Old Aramaic. By the Hellenistic period, the language was largely confined to scholars and priests working in temples in Assyria and Babylonia. The last known Akkadian cuneiform document dates from the 1st century AD.
How did Aramaic become the official language of the Achaemenid Empire?
Aramaic language. Mediated by scribes that had been trained in the language, highly standardized written Aramaic (in its Achaemenid form called Imperial Aramaic) progressively also become the lingua franca of trade and commerce throughout the Achaemenid territories, which extended as far east as the Indus valley.
How many different types of Akkadian are there?
Akkadian is divided into several varieties based on geography and historical period: Old Akkadian, 2500–1950 BC Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian, 1950–1530 BC Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian, 1530–1000 BC Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian, 1000–600 BC Late Babylonian, 600 BC–100 AD
Is Akkadian the only Semitic language with locative case?
Additionally Akkadian is the only Semitic language to use the prepositions ina and ana ( locative case, English in / on / with, and dative -locative case, for / to, respectively). Other Semitic languages like Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic have the prepositions bi/bə and li/lə (locative and dative, respectively).