Akkadian: The Rulers of the Land Between Rivers
It was in Mesopotamia that the first form of writing, on non-biodegradable stone tablets, was born. It was also a melting pot for dozens of small civilizations, each with very different languages with their own distinct origin, in states such as Sumer, the Hittites, and Elam. Mesopotamia was the first place for many features of language, as the first place with written records, as well as the first area to emphasize libraries and museums. It was here that languages intermingled constantly for the first time, with each state being in constant trade and contact with its distinct neighbors, leading to a cosmopolitan environment. Akkadian was one such language of this region.
It is believed that Akkadian (along with languages such as Aramaic and Arabic) were brought to Mesopotamia through a prehistoric mass migration out of Africa, as the language has many similarities to those in Ethiopia and almost none to those that were in Mesopotamia before. This is part of the reason that Akkadian is one of the first languages to show what some linguists call the Hunter's Strategy, which is where a language expands through the conquest of their neighbors, be it politically or economically, allowing for the spread of the language through the grabbing of new populations. In terms of writing, Akkadian began to take on Sumerian logograms for their own language, despite the massive grammatical and audible difference.
After its movement into Mesopotamia, there would begin a cycle of migratory tribes in the area, during which an Akkadian dynasty would rise and rule for a few centuries before being overthrown by either internal or external powers. These powers, however, would eventually abandon their language and adopt Akkadian, leading to Akkadian being the language of the area for over 1500 years. The power position of the Akkadian and Sumerian languages were disrupted when several languages of the Indo-European family came down from the north into areas such as Persia and managed to secure themselves stiffly in those areas. Several tribes came down and would conquer Mesopotamia itself, with their success being attributed to their development of iron weaponry. Soon after, a third group, the nomadic Aramaeans, began to conquer and control Mesopotamia, spreading and settling its people across the area, despite the push back from Assyrian monarchs.
For a long time, scholars believed Akkadian to be the first written language, or at least the first one known, until they uncovered Sumerian in a library of Nineveh in 1875. They found it to be older than Akkadian, and discovered that it had pioneered cuneiform first, to be later adopted by Akkadian and adapted to its use. The native lands of Sumer were conquered by the Akkadian speaking Assyrians, resulting in a bilingual stage between the two languages. This is due to the complicated relationship between cuneiform and how the Akkadians attempted to adapt their completely unrelated language to Sumerian writing. Sumerian lost ground to Akkadian, despite its use by scholars, due to the fact that most of the foreigners moving in to Mesopotamia to trade were Semetic tribesmen, whose languages were mutually intelligible with Akkadian. This led even native Sumerians to have to speak Akkadian if they wished to trade, leading to the eventual loss of speaking Sumerian as a vernacular language. Akkadian was seen as a dialect of Sumerian due to its writing being the same, despite their complete lack of relations. Eventually, Sumerian would fall as simply the language of the classroom and mathematics in Akkadian society, and as Akkadian fell to Persians and Greeks, so did Sumerian.
Akkadian spread under the success of Sargon of Akkad, a city now lost to us, who managed to unite much of Mesopotamia and start the cycle of different Akkadian dynasties taking over the entire region for several centuries until being overthrown by another. Akkadian spread under the likes of Babylon and Assyria, and eventually these two cities would develop their own distinct dialects of Akkadian, each of which would be used for several centuries. It eventually died out at the peak of its power under Assyrian rule, due to the Assyrian military policy. It lost out to Aramaic, a language of relatively illiterate tribesmen, not because of its alphabet, but rather due to the fact that Assyrians preferred to take conquered Aramaeans and spread them around the state to encourage a melting pot of cultures. This lead the huge population of moved Aramaeans to continue to speak their language until it replaced Akkadian as the vernacular, despite its lack of support from the ruling caste.
It is believed that Akkadian (along with languages such as Aramaic and Arabic) were brought to Mesopotamia through a prehistoric mass migration out of Africa, as the language has many similarities to those in Ethiopia and almost none to those that were in Mesopotamia before. This is part of the reason that Akkadian is one of the first languages to show what some linguists call the Hunter's Strategy, which is where a language expands through the conquest of their neighbors, be it politically or economically, allowing for the spread of the language through the grabbing of new populations. In terms of writing, Akkadian began to take on Sumerian logograms for their own language, despite the massive grammatical and audible difference.
After its movement into Mesopotamia, there would begin a cycle of migratory tribes in the area, during which an Akkadian dynasty would rise and rule for a few centuries before being overthrown by either internal or external powers. These powers, however, would eventually abandon their language and adopt Akkadian, leading to Akkadian being the language of the area for over 1500 years. The power position of the Akkadian and Sumerian languages were disrupted when several languages of the Indo-European family came down from the north into areas such as Persia and managed to secure themselves stiffly in those areas. Several tribes came down and would conquer Mesopotamia itself, with their success being attributed to their development of iron weaponry. Soon after, a third group, the nomadic Aramaeans, began to conquer and control Mesopotamia, spreading and settling its people across the area, despite the push back from Assyrian monarchs.
For a long time, scholars believed Akkadian to be the first written language, or at least the first one known, until they uncovered Sumerian in a library of Nineveh in 1875. They found it to be older than Akkadian, and discovered that it had pioneered cuneiform first, to be later adopted by Akkadian and adapted to its use. The native lands of Sumer were conquered by the Akkadian speaking Assyrians, resulting in a bilingual stage between the two languages. This is due to the complicated relationship between cuneiform and how the Akkadians attempted to adapt their completely unrelated language to Sumerian writing. Sumerian lost ground to Akkadian, despite its use by scholars, due to the fact that most of the foreigners moving in to Mesopotamia to trade were Semetic tribesmen, whose languages were mutually intelligible with Akkadian. This led even native Sumerians to have to speak Akkadian if they wished to trade, leading to the eventual loss of speaking Sumerian as a vernacular language. Akkadian was seen as a dialect of Sumerian due to its writing being the same, despite their complete lack of relations. Eventually, Sumerian would fall as simply the language of the classroom and mathematics in Akkadian society, and as Akkadian fell to Persians and Greeks, so did Sumerian.
Akkadian spread under the success of Sargon of Akkad, a city now lost to us, who managed to unite much of Mesopotamia and start the cycle of different Akkadian dynasties taking over the entire region for several centuries until being overthrown by another. Akkadian spread under the likes of Babylon and Assyria, and eventually these two cities would develop their own distinct dialects of Akkadian, each of which would be used for several centuries. It eventually died out at the peak of its power under Assyrian rule, due to the Assyrian military policy. It lost out to Aramaic, a language of relatively illiterate tribesmen, not because of its alphabet, but rather due to the fact that Assyrians preferred to take conquered Aramaeans and spread them around the state to encourage a melting pot of cultures. This lead the huge population of moved Aramaeans to continue to speak their language until it replaced Akkadian as the vernacular, despite its lack of support from the ruling caste.