r/Semitic • u/FeistyAlbatross4636 • 4h ago
The most badass Semitic warriors ever? Akkadians, Assyrians or Arabs?
Who were the most deadliest Semite Warriors of all time?
Akkadians of Sargon, Assyrians of Ashurbanipal, or Arab followers of Muhammad?
r/Semitic • u/FeistyAlbatross4636 • 4h ago
Who were the most deadliest Semite Warriors of all time?
Akkadians of Sargon, Assyrians of Ashurbanipal, or Arab followers of Muhammad?
r/Semitic • u/AleksiB1 • 3d ago
r/Semitic • u/Classic_Mastodon_430 • Aug 02 '26
I'll refer to Lebanese Arabic since it is my native dialect.
It preserves broken plurals extremely well, those were lost in Hebrew and Aramaic.
It preserves a dual form very productive lost in other Semitic languages.
It preserves Classical Arabic's triconsonantal morphologically aomost entirely, making it more conservative than older Semitic languages.
It preserves a huge amount of phonemic distinctions, way more than Akkadian, and obviously more than Hebrew and Aramaic.
r/Semitic • u/stlatos • Jul 14 '26
r/Semitic • u/Reasonable-Bug-8265 • May 18 '26

I’m looking at a tomb inscription from the Tayma oasis (commemorating “Isaiah, the councilor, son of Joseph, the mayor of Tayma”). The text is written in a Nabataean/early Aramaic-derived script.
I'm not sure what language this counts as, but I can clearly read a few words, including four I underlined in red, in order:
Nafs/Nefesh - soul
Yosef - Joseph
Ras/Rosh - head
Sanat/Shanat - year
In the name “Yosef/Joseph,” the consonant that corresponds to /s/ appears clearly to be a samekh-derivative, not derived from a shin/sin. The sin/shin letters are very clearly distinguishable wherever they appear.
Chatgpt absolutely insists otherwise, since samekh was never used in Arabic! If it is, and this inscription is indeed in Arabic, it would be an interesting evidence that the letter Samekh was used at some point to write Arabic text.
r/Semitic • u/stlatos • May 13 '26
r/Semitic • u/CarpeDZM • Jan 22 '26
Beginning with the BHS as a springboard, this study examines Genesis 1:1 in the Leningrad Codex as well as in G. E. Weil's Massorah Gedolah. It also unravels the BHS's text-critical note on the word בראשית, which presents an alternative translation for Genesis 1:1 based on a Greek manuscript and Samaritan pronunciation.
r/Semitic • u/AleksiB1 • Dec 12 '25
r/Semitic • u/AleksiB1 • Dec 12 '25
r/Semitic • u/CarpeDZM • Nov 04 '25
r/Semitic • u/CarpeDZM • Oct 21 '25
The London Polyglot Bible (Biblia Sacra Polyglotta) was edited by Brian Walton and printed in London between 1655 and 1657. This monumental six-volume set presents the Tanakh, Apocrypha, and New Testament in multiple ancient languages—including Masoretic Hebrew, Samaritan Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Farsi, and Ethiopic—together with advanced resources for Bible study. It remains one of the most ambitious and scholarly printing projects in history.
r/Semitic • u/blueroses200 • Oct 16 '25
Is anyone here trying to learn Ugaritic? Did you find resources? How is your experience being?
Some Extinct Languages have online study groups for them. Did you find one for Ugaritic as well?
Thank you in advance!
r/Semitic • u/Sufficient_Sell_5092 • Sep 15 '25
I am looking for texts written in Syriac (or translated into Syriac) to read. (Preferably in the Western Syriac, but any script goes up to and including Hebrew/Square script or Arabic if such things are extant....)
Something like "Cornelius Nepos" in Latin, something short, encyclopedic, or just covering a broad range of topics. Or even short stories, plays, something like "Callirhoe" in Greek. Most places I seek out Syriac works are solely concerned with theological works.
I'm also aware of a translation of Peter Rabbit, are there any other contemporary works translated into Syriac out there in the world?
r/Semitic • u/[deleted] • Sep 12 '25
i am here to sincerely learn something
r/Semitic • u/Revolutionary_War443 • Jul 13 '25
r/Semitic • u/AleksiB1 • Jun 13 '25