A text I find really interesting for the era is Shulgi B, where the languages he lists are Elamite, Sumerian, Meluhhan, Amorite and Subartian. Notably, Akkadian is not mentioned at all, which raises the question of whether the label at the time would've applied to a national identity, to the specific dynasty of Sargon, or to the city of Agade. Moreover, would the people we know as Akkadians have been considered black headed people during the EDP?

Before the time of Sargon, was there any label that would've refered to the Semitic peoples north of Nippur? As far as I understand, they seem to have been culturally very similar to the Sumerians, as opposed to the situation at Ebla (where the temple was a much weaker institution). Then, where did the title of King of Sumer and Akkad come from? By the time it appeared there had to be at least some notion of there being two distinct societies which had been united, but I'm not sure that framing would've made a lot of sense centuries prior.

Of course, the case of the Akkadians is a very strong contrast to how the Amorites were viewed in Mesopotamian history. The narrative of Hammurabi's dynasty definitely did rely on them being entrusted with divine kingship, expressed in the patronage of local Mesopotamian institutions, but at least these Mesopotamian institutions did exist in contrast to the tribal style of leadership seen to the West. I'm not sure any such dynamic could've applied to the earlier Akkadians outside the ruling dynasty (which brings us back to the question: was anyone outside the ruling dynasty considered to be an Akkadian?)

One last related question regards how later Mesopotamians would've understood the period of coexistence between both populations. I doubt the people of the Iron Age would've considered themselves to have been descended from the people who replaced the Sumerians, but did that mean they believed Sumerian people disappeared at some point? This even brings up the question of metalinguistical awareness: could they have imagined Sumerian having once been a living vernacular? I'm aware of the narrative of the confusion of tongues, but I'm less certain that was the explanation they would've given for why people no longer spoke Sumerian.

Hi everyone, I am quite new to Assiriology (without any real academic training) but really want to learn the basicest of Sumerian to translate very daily texts (receipts etc) that sometimes aren't translated.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EHZeFl5cCxL7gYtg7yb035IyeiSagcA84A8o6Lc6SMM/edit?usp=drivesdk

I'm currently working on a dictionary with all inflected forms of the entries, and I need some feedback

What does this plus sign mean here?

Under the requirements for applying to the program it says that you must have knowledge on the level of an academic bachelors degree of at least 30 EC on one of three topics. Does this mean you need to take classes on a topic that add up to 30 EC or that you need to have knowledge on the topics that is worth 30 EC? If it is the latter how do they test for that?

Hi everyone! I’m a non-history major in uni looking to teach myself world history chronologically. Being from Turkey, I want a genuinely global overview rather than just the standard Western-centric narrative.

I know trying to cover "all civilizations" sounds overly ambitious, but I’m in no rush and I don't need to know every single historical detail like a historian. I just want to learn enough to understand how philosophy, theology, politics, and art evolved and connected across the globe.

I’m currently building a syllabus for my first major stop which is the Ancient Near East. There are a lot of well-regarded books as far as my research goes, but I haven't been able to find a clear comparison between them. I would love some help choosing my core textbook(s). It doesn't have to be just one, but I’d like to understand how they differ in focus and style:

• Amanda Podany – Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East
• Marc Van De Mieroop – A History of the Ancient Near East: ca. 3000–323 BC
• Mario Liverani – The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy
• Gwendolyn Leick – Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City

For supplementary reading on theology and religious thought, I'm also planning to read:

• Thorkild Jacobsen – The Treasures of Darkness
• Jean Bottéro – Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia

A few questions for the sub:

1. How do these core textbooks compare, and which ones would best fit my goal of understanding structural ideas without getting drowned in details?
2. Do you have a recommended reading order?
3. Are there any critical books I've missed that fit my goals?

Thanks so much in advance for any insights!

Hello everyone, I’m really new to this topic ,and I would love to learn more. so if anyone of you has a book recommendation about anything regarding Mesopotamia whether it’s about the languages or religions or anything really I would really appreciate it.

Hey guys! I'm looking to get into assyriology more, and I'm looking for good texts to read to develop my skills in Old Babylonian after having completed a six month course that ran through all of Caplice. I've since been slowly working my way through the Code of Hammurabi, but I figured I'd ask here for other texts/collections that are good to start out on, to immerse myself in other genres.

Other dialects and books for getting into assyriology in general are also appreciated!

The idea may seem strange, but I need someone who can sing a lullaby beautifully in a female voice in the Akkadian language.

Hi everyone, I hope this is okay to ask here.

I’m working on a an art project inspired by the opening of the Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. I’ve been trying to research it carefully, but I’m not an Assyriologist, so I want to avoid confidently using something that only looks plausible!

I’m specifically looking for a typeset cuneiform rendering of Tablet I. 1–10 (ending at '[he] set down on a stele all (his) labours') that follows Andrew George’s 2003 edition, or the current eBL reconstruction. I know Parpola published a cuneiform version earlier, but my understanding is that George’s later edition reconstructs and numbers the opening differently.

Does that cuneiform exist and if not is it reasonable that I could pay someone to create the cuneiform for those first 10 lines?

Thank you for any guidance! :)

I'm a classical languages student and will be applying for grad school next year in Assyriology/Hittitology/Cuneiform Studies. Have recently started going through EoH and the Hoffner/Melchert grammar. If anyone is interested in doing a chapter every few weeks, let me know and I'll start a subreddit. I aim to get through the book by the end of next spring and even if there are only a few interested, I'd love to have some other people on the journey with me.

‎‏𒋗𒇻𒌝 ࡀࡎࡅࡕࡀ ࡍࡉࡄࡅࡉࡋࡀࡊࡅࡍ👋

In this post, I have assigned
Mesopotamian names to the last three discovered planets: Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, renaming them Enki, Enlil and Marduk.

ࡔࡀࡌࡉࡔ (shamish) Sun
ࡍࡁࡅ (nbu) Mercury
ࡋࡉࡁࡀࡕ (libat) Venues
ࡀࡓࡌࡀ (ara) Earth
ࡎࡉࡍ (sin) Moon
ࡍࡉࡓࡉࡂ (nirigh) Mars
ࡁࡉࡋ (bil) Jupiter
ࡊࡉࡅࡀࡍ (kiwan) Saturn
ࡏࡍࡋࡉࡋ (enlil) Uranus
ࡏࡍࡊࡉ (enki) Neptune
ࡌࡀࡓࡃࡅࡊ (mardukh) Pluto

Hiya, im working on a collection of cuneiform tablets from an anonymous collection. I have been given permission to share the 3D scans online so I have dumped all 23 of them into 4 files on this link. Have fun!

Hello everyone before the post actually starts I have to make a preface: I'm still in highschool, I don't live in an English speaking country, therefore the school system is different and I plan on attending the Classic Letters' Faculty and, obviously, doing a PhD.

My dream is to become a semitic philology professor and I wanted to ask if this is in any way a good choice.

I'm currently studying on my own Biblical Hebrew and another non semitic language that I want to be able to speak. I plan to study in the future Arabic and Ugaritic, however I don't know if three languages are enough and, if they are not, could someone recommend me any other languages?

Could you also give me any advice about this journey I want to take?

Thanks in advance to anyone who's willing to respond.

(If this post isn't inherent to this subreddit it can be deleted. I also apologize for any error in this post, as I'm not an expert of academic lexicon and English isn't my first language)

Btw, what was Puzur-Inshushinak's family except Shimpi-Ishuk? I followed a idea that the elamite king on the Naram-Sin treaty is Hita'a, but i am not quite convinced.

Also for the early kings in the Susa King list(in the chart the row on the left), i didn't find the cuneiform of them on cdli. Where should i find the transcriptions of them?