by Eckart Frahm
Zadok, R. 2013. “The Onomastics of the Chaldean, Aramean, and Arabian Tribes in Babylonia during the First Millennium,” in: A. Berlejung and M. Streck (eds.), Arameans, Chaldeans, and Arabs in Babylonia and Palestine in the First Millennium B.C., Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 261–336.
Further Reading
Eph‘al 1984: 20–169 provides a comprehensive account of the relations between Assyria and the Arabs from the ninth to the seventh century BCE (see also Retsö 2003: 119–70 and Anthonioz 2015). On Arabs in Assyrian royal inscriptions, see Lanfranchi 2004. For linguistic aspects of the Assyrian sources regarding the early Arabs, see Krebernik 2008. Assurbanipal’s campaigns against the Arabs are analyzed by Weippert 1973/74 and Gerardi 1992. On Arabic names in Late Assyrian (and other cuneiform) sources, see Zadok 1981. The role of Arab tribes in Babylonia in Neo‐Assyrian times is discussed by Frame 2013: 116–17. North Arabian trade routes and goods in the first millennium BCE are the topic of MacDonald 1997. Elat 1998 discusses economic aspects of the relations between Assyria and Arabia. For the early history of Sumu’il/Ishmael, see Knauf 1989, and for that of southern Arabia, Robin 1991–93. The relations between Sheba and the Assyrians are analyzed by Galter 1993, Nebes 2007, and Arbach 2014. On the interaction between Sheba, Dūmat al‐Gˇandal, and Assyria in the early seventh century, see Frahm 1999. Possible Assyrian influences on the art of Tema and Sheba are discussed by Gerlach 2000. General accounts of the archaeology and history of the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf in antiquity are Magee 2014 and Potts 1990.
PART III
Elements of Assyrian Civilization
CHAPTER 17
Languages and Writing Systems in Assyria
Mikko Luukko and Greta Van Buylaere
The Assyrians spoke and wrote Assyrian, a dialect of Akkadian (an East Semitic language, written in cuneiform script), but their land, Assyria, was also home to other ethnic groups that had their own cultures and languages. From the time of our first written sources onwards, at the end of the third millennium BCE (all following dates are BCE), Assyria’s ethno‐linguistic landscape was characterized by a considerable degree of diversity, which was nourished by trade, military expansion, and migration. Aramaic, a West Semitic language written in alphabetic script, gained particular prominence in the multifaceted linguistic environment of the Assyrian Empire and its periphery. By the end of the Neo‐Assyrian Period, Aramaic was widely used in the Near East as the lingua franca. This chapter is intended to present the reader with an overview of the history of the languages and writing systems used in Assyria and its periphery, with particular emphasis upon the history, development, and grammatical nuances of Akkadian, particularly the Assyrian dialect.*
Languages
Assyrian
The Assyrian language and the eponymous language of Babylonia, Assyria’s southern neighbor, are the two main dialects of Akkadian. Although most modern scholars view the two dialects as separate forms of the same language, ancient scribes considered Babylonian and Assyrian distinct languages, not subsumed under the overarching identifier “Akkadian” as used by modern Assyriologists:
The ancients thought in terms of two separate languages. The term akkadûm “Akkadian” was used to refer to … Babylonian, often in specific contrast to Sumerian, Assyrian or Aramaic. The ancient Assyrians called their tongue aššurû or aššurāyu “Assyrian,” often in opposition to armāyu “Aramaic”. Though Babylonian and Assyrian are today treated as variant forms of Akkadian, they are sufficiently distinct in grammar and vocabulary that one could make a good case for speaking of them as separate languages, as the ancients did. On the other hand, they exhibit a parallel history in several aspects of their grammatical development. […] Synchronic evolution of this kind speaks for a close historical relationship.
(George 2007: 31–3)
The challenges of a diachronic, comparative study of Assyrian and Babylonian aside, scholars focusing on the Assyrian dialect alone are faced with several distinct forms of the language, classified by chronological period. The earliest phases of Assyrian are poorly understood (Parpola 1988). The first written records in Assyrian are attested in the Old Assyrian period (ca. 2000–1700), hence the designation “Old Assyrian” (OA). We can distinguish two other forms of Assyrian: Middle Assyrian (MA, ca. 1400–1050) and Neo‐Assyrian (NA, ca. 930–600). Unfortunately, the extant textual material is not evenly distributed throughout Assyria’s history or geography; in fact, written sources have yet to be uncovered from many places and periods, hindering a truly comprehensive diachronic study of the language. Nevertheless, we can attempt to trace the most significant changes that took place in Assyrian phonology, morphology, and syntax with regards to the text corpus currently available. The Assyrian language was mainly used for writing letters and other archival documents, although some literary compositions in Assyrian survive (see Chapter 19). The vast majority of royal inscriptions, however, and most literary and scholarly texts were written in Standard Babylonian (SB), a non‐vernacular dialect reserved for literary purposes. But the Assyrian scribes who wrote these texts often punctuated them with “Assyrianisms,” such as Assyrian vowel assimilation, grammatical idiosyncrasies, and specific idioms.
Over the course of the Neo‐Assyrian period, the Assyrian dialect became more restricted in use in the face of the growing prominence of Aramaic, which was rapidly developing into the main spoken language of the empire. Yet despite the popularity of Aramaic, the Assyrian language remained in use, even after the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE. It was probably not until around the middle of the first millennium BCE that Assyrian became extinct.
It should be briefly noted here that the language known as “modern Assyrian” should not be confused with ancient Assyrian or considered a direct descendant. “Modern Assyrian” is used to designate the eastern Neo‐Aramaic dialects spoken by the Assyrian community today (see Chapter 32), and is a west Semitic language that bears little resemblance to ancient Assyrian.
Old Assyrian
In the Old Assyrian period, an extensive long‐distance trade network linked the wealthy city‐state of Ashur with eastern Anatolia. Old Assyrian sources from Ashur itself are few, but the commercial activities and personal affairs of the traders are well‐documented by some 25,000 tablets excavated at Ashur’s foremost commercial “colony” at Kaniš (Kültepe). The letters, legal documents, memoranda, notes, and lists vividly depict the socio‐economic situation of the Assyrian family firms. A small number of similar documents were found at Ashur, attuša, and other sites in Anatolia, northern Syria, and Mesopotamia. Non‐commercial documents are scarce, but some historical and diplomatic texts, school texts, and incantations have been recovered. The royal inscriptions of this time were commemorative texts that recorded building projects and dedications to deities. During the reign of Šamši‐Adad I, the dialect, style, and form of the inscriptions came under strong Babylonian influence.
The Old Assyrian scribes used a limited repertoire of mainly syllabic signs, which makes Old Assyrian relatively easy to decipher, although “the limitations of the syllabary and the not always strictly applied orthographic conventions require a well‐considered choice between possible alternative phonetic values and readings, on the basis of grammatical and lexicographical facts, for reconstructing the phonetic and morphological facts” (Veenhof and Eidem 2008: 112). Thanks to this simplified writing system, Assyrian merchants could record their transactions and handle their correspondence without the need of a professional scribe. The literacy rate among the Assyrian merchants in Anatolia, who, despite the long distance, were in regular correspondence with their trading partners and families at Ashur, may have been relatively high. What follows, both in transliteration and translation, is a typical Old Assyrian letter (see Figure 17.1 further below).
Figure 17.1 Three Assyrian letters (obverse). Left: The Old Assyrian letter BM 115199;
photo by G. Van Buylaere, courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum.
&
nbsp; Middle: Cast of the Middle Assyrian letter TCH 92.G.152;
photo by S. Jakob, courtesy of J.‐W. Meyer.
Right: The Neo‐Assyrian letter ND 2703;
photo by G. Van Buylaere, courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum.
Text 1 An Old Assyrian letter (BM 115199 = CCT 4, 6; Larsen 2002: no. 117)
a‐na A‐šur‐na‐da Say to Aššur‐nada: thus says Iddin‐Ištar:
qí‐bi‐ma um‐ma I‐dí‐Ištar‐/ma
5 GÍN KÙ.GI Ikuppia, son of Daya, is bringing to you 5 shekels of pašallu‐gold (under) my seals.
pá‐ša‐la‐am
ku‐nu‐ki‐a I‐ku‐pì‐a
DUMU Da‐a‐a
na‐áš‐a‐kum
a‐bi4 a‐ta You are my father, make a sacrifice before your god and pray for me!
ni‐iq‐a‐am
IGI i‐li‐kà
i‐qí‐ma ku‐ru‐ba‐am
Middle Assyrian
The Middle Assyrian textual record is rather dispersed and many stages in the history of Middle Assyrian are still poorly documented. The available sources reveal a situation in which two languages were employed for written communications – letters and legal and administrative documents were generally written in Assyrian, whereas literary compositions and royal inscriptions were mostly written in Standard Babylonian. The majority of the Middle Assyrian sources comes from libraries and archives in the capital Ashur, with further records discovered at Kar‐Tukulti‐Ninurta and in several provincial towns, especially in Syria. In addition, two Middle Assyrian letters from king Aššur‐uballiṭ (1353–1318 [1363–1328]) to Pharaoh Amenhotep IV were found at Amarna in Egypt. The Middle Assyrian texts stem mainly from the 13th and 12th centuries; sources from after the reign of Tiglath‐pileser I (1114–1076) are scarce.
Most letters and archival documents in Middle Assyrian concern agricultural production, as in the following letter (see Figure 17.1 further below).
Text 2 A Middle Assyrian letter (TCH 92.G.152; Jakob 2009 no. 6)
a‐na mSu‐ti‐e Say to Suti’u:
qí‐bi‐ma
um‐ma md30‐muSIG5‐ma thus says Sîn‐mudammiq:
2 BÁN še‐am Give two sūtu‐units of barley and one sack of straw to Nabar‐utti.
1 a‐za‐i‐la ša IN.NU
a‐na mNa‐bar‐ut‐ti
di‐in
iš‐tu am‐ma‐ka As soon as he returns from there,
i+na tu‐a‐ri
še‐am ù IN.NU give the barley and straw to his horses.
a‐na ANŠE.KUR.RA.MEŠ‐šu
di‐in
UD‐10‐KÁM (On) the 10th day (of the month).
The royal inscriptions, written on stone slabs, clay cones, tablets, and prisms, record building enterprises and military conquests from the Assyrian kings’ point of view. From the reign of Aššur‐uballiṭ I onwards, royal inscriptions become more numerous, especially under Adad‐nirari I (1295–1264 [1305–1274]), Shalmaneser I (1263–1234 [1273–1244]), and Tukulti‐Ninurta I (1233–1197 [1243–1207]).
Most of the literary compositions from the Middle Assyrian library M2 in Ashur date to Tiglath‐pileser I’s time (Pedersén 1985: 31–42). The collection consists mainly of literary tablets in Standard Babylonian language and Middle Assyrian script, including lexical lists, bilingual texts, hymns, myths, incantations, omens, horse‐training instructions, and perfume texts; however, a few tablets in Middle Babylonian script are present as well. The more “official” documents, copies of the so‐called Middle Assyrian Laws and Palace Decrees and the Assyrian coronation ritual, were composed in the Middle Assyrian language.
Neo‐Assyrian
The shift from Middle Assyrian to Neo‐Assyrian appears to have been gradual: the 11th century legal documents from Giricano (Dunnu‐ša‐Uzibi) and the royal inscriptions of Aššur‐ketti‐lešir, a vassal of Tiglath‐pileser I, already show clear Neo‐Assyrian characteristics, both in their grammar and their lexicon (Radner 2004: 53–4). By ca. 930, Middle Assyrian had been entirely replaced by Neo‐Assyrian, which survives in the form of a rich textual corpus preserved on thousands of clay tablets. There is evidence that perishable materials such as papyri, leather, and writing boards were used with some frequency as well, but with the exception of a few examples of the latter, they have left no archaeological traces.
The Assyrian capital cities, Ashur, Kalu, Dur‐Šarrukin, and, especially, Nineveh, have yielded archives and libraries that belonged to palaces, temples, and private families. Archives were also found in other cities in the Assyrian heartland, in Syria, and in Babylonia, and a library was found in uzirina (Sultantepe). The distinction between archives and libraries is not a strict one and archival documents and library tablets were often kept in the same room.
The Neo‐Assyrian libraries contained religious, literary and scholarly texts, including incantations, omens, hymns and prayers, medical texts, lexical lists, epics, and myths. Most of the compositions were first‐millennium copies of Standard Babylonian originals, occasionally interspersed with Assyrianisms, but Sumerian and bilingual texts were copied as well. A small sample of court poetry was created in more or less pure Neo‐Assyrian, “with elements from the colloquial or folk tradition” (Livingstone 1989: xvi; see also Chapter 19).
The archival materials from the Neo‐Assyrian period comprise mainly letters, legal and administrative documents, queries to the sun‐god, and reports on ominous events. They were written in Neo‐Assyrian or Neo‐Babylonian, and sometimes quoted Standard Babylonian reference works. The royal correspondence that is preserved sheds light on the political interaction between the king and his governors and political agents, particularly during the reigns of Tiglath‐pileser III (744–727) and Sargon II (721–705), and on the influence of scholars and priests on the kings Esarhaddon (680–669) and Assurbanipal (668–631). Queries and extispicy reports (SAA 4) concern the enemy’s plans, the loyalty of officials, and illness in the royal family, among other matters. Reports that interpret celestial observations, abnormal births, fortuitous events, and auspicious days are also well attested (SAA 8).
The following Neo‐Assyrian letter sent to Tiglath‐pileser III illustrates how high officials communicated with their royal masters (Figure 17.1).
Text 3 A Neo‐Assyrian letter (ND 2703 = SAA 19 114; cf. Saggs 2001: 232)
a‐na LUGAL EN‐ia To the king, my lord:
ARAD‐ka ma‐ši‐pa‐a your servant Ašipâ.
lu‐u DImu a‐na LUGAL Good health to the king, my lord!
EN‐ia
LÚ*.NINDA ša MUNUS.ša‐kín‐te The baker of the šakintu (a high female official) came and told me:
i‐tal‐ka :. iq‐ṭí‐bi‐a “A scepter, a chest, an iron brazier, and a copper kettle have been stolen from the palace and sold for money.”
ma‐a GIŠ.PA
GIŠ.tup‐ni‐nu
ka‐nu‐nu AN.BAR a‐sa‐lu URUDU
ša É.GAL :. ša‐ar‐qu
ina kás‐pi ta‐da‐nu
a‐sa‐ap‐ra I sent (word) and those who sold the iron brazier for money were arrested.
bé‐et :. ka‐nu‐nu AN.BAR
ina kás‐pi ta‐di‐nu‐nu
i‐a‐ab‐tú
LÚ*.ba‐te‐qu I am herewith sending the informer to the king, my lord.
a‐na UGU LUGAL
EN‐ia a‐sa‐ap‐ra
LUGAL EN liš‐ʾa‐al‐šú Let the king, (my) lord, question him.
The earlier practice of celebrating building projects and military achievements lived on during the Neo‐Assyrian period. The numerous royal inscriptions of this age are mostly written in Neo‐Assyrian script, but in Standard Babylonian language, punctuated by occasional “Assyrianisms.” Treaties concluded between Neo‐Assyrian kings and foreign rulers survive as well (SAA 2). One example is Esarhaddon’s succession treaty (SAA 2 6), which is largely written in the Neo‐Assyrian language, although some Babylonian forms, words, and idioms app
ear, and even a number of hybrid Assyro‐Babylonian forms (Watanabe 1987: 43–4).
The number of Assyrian cuneiform sources diminishes considerably during the late reign of Assurbanipal, probably at least in part due to the increasing use of papyri and leather scrolls written in Aramaic. Tablets from the provincial capital Dur‐Katlimmu, however, prove that Assyrian cuneiform did not fall out of use immediately after the destruction of Nineveh in 612.
Aramaic
The spread of Aramaic in the Assyrian heartland was facilitated by the growing population of Aramaeans within the territory of the state. Aramaean tribes had already played a significant role in the crisis at the end of the Middle Assyrian period. With the mass deportations of mainly Aramaic‐speaking peoples under Assyrian kings from the ninth century BCE onwards, the gradual Aramaization of Mesopotamia gained in speed (Tadmor 1982). Aramaic became the new lingua franca of the empire, while Assyrian remained the language of the political elite. From that point onward, Aramaic and its various dialects remained the vernacular for successive empires, most prominently in the form of the “Imperial Aramaic” dialect used during the Achaemenid Empire.
The relationship between Assyrian and Aramaic in the first millennium is complex. Sargon II’s rejection of Aramaic as an official language fit for royal correspondence may be deduced from his often‐quoted reply to an official in Ur, in southern Babylonia, who wanted to write to the king in Aramaic:
Why would you not write and send me messages in Akkadian? Really, the message which you write must be drawn up in this very manner – this is a fixed regulation!
