Two ancient clay tablets from Iraq contain details of a "lost" Canaanite language.
© Courtesy David I. OwenThe tablets were found in Iraq about 30 years ago. Scholars started studying them in 2016 and discovered they contain details in Akkadian of the "lost" Amorite language.
Two ancient clay tablets discovered in Iraq and covered from top to bottom in cuneiform writing contain details of a "lost" Canaanite language that has remarkable similarities with ancient Hebrew.The tablets, thought to be nearly 4,000 years old, record phrases in the almost unknown language of the Amorite people, who were originally from Canaan — the area that's roughly now Syria, Israel and Jordan — but who later founded a kingdom in Mesopotamia. These phrases are placed alongside translations in the Akkadian language, which can be read by modern scholars.
In effect, the tablets are similar to the famous Rosetta Stone, which had an inscription in one known language (ancient Greek) in parallel with two unknown written ancient Egyptian scripts (hieroglyphics and demotic.) In this case, the known Akkadian phrases are helping researchers read written Amorite.
"Our knowledge of Amorite was so pitiful that some experts doubted whether there was such a language at all," researchers
Manfred Krebernik and
Andrew R. George told Live Science in an email. But "the tablets settle that question by showing the language to be coherently and predictably articulated, and fully distinct from Akkadian."
Krebernik, a professor and chair of ancient Near Eastern studies at the University of Jena in Germany, and George, an emeritus professor of Babylonian literature at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, published their research describing the tablets in the latest issue of the French journal
Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale (
Journal of Assyriology and Oriental Archaeology).
Lost languageThe two Amorite-Akkadian tablets were discovered in Iraq about 30 years ago, possibly during the Iran-Iraq War, from 1980 to 1988; eventually they were included in a collection in the United States. But nothing else is known about them, and it's not known if they were taken legally from Iraq.
Krebernik and George started studying the tablets in 2016 after other scholars pointed them out.
By analyzing the grammar and vocabulary of the mystery language, they determined that it belonged to the West Semitic family of languages, which also includes Hebrew (now spoken in Israel) and Aramaic, which was once widespread throughout the region but is now spoken only in a few scattered communities in the Middle East.
After seeing the similarities between the mystery language and what little is known of Amorite, Krebernik and George determined that they were the same, and that the tablets were describing Amorite phrases in the Old Baylonian dialect of Akkadian.
The account of the Amorite language given in the tablets is surprisingly comprehensive. "The two tablets increase our knowledge of Amorite substantially, since they contain not only new words but also complete sentences, and so exhibit much new vocabulary and grammar," the researchers said. The writing on the tablets may have been done by an Akkadian-speaking
Babylonian scribe or scribal apprentice, as an "impromptu exercise born of intellectual curiosity," the authors added.
Yoram Cohen, an associate professor of Assyriology at Tel Aviv University in Israel who wasn't involved in the research, told Live Science that the tablets seem to be a sort of "tourist guidebook" for ancient Akkadian speakers who needed to learn Amorite.
One notable passage is a list of Amorite gods that compares them with corresponding
Mesopotamian gods, and another passage details welcoming phrases.
"There are phrases about setting up a common meal, about doing a sacrifice, about blessing a king," Cohen said. "There is even what may be a love song. ... It really encompasses the entire sphere of life."
© Left: Rudolph Mayr/Courtesy Rosen Collection. Right: Courtesy David I. OwenThe 4,000-year-old tablets reveal translations for 'lost' language, including a love song.
Strong similaritiesMany of the Amorite phrases given in the tablets are similar to phrases in Hebrew, such as "pour us wine" —
"ia -a -a -nam si -qí-ni -a -ti" in Amorite and
"yeinam shiqiniti" in Hebrew — although the earliest-known Hebrew writing is from about 1,000 years later, Cohen said.
"It stretches the time when these [West Semitic] languages are documented. ... Linguists can now examine what changes these languages have undergone through the centuries," he said.
Akkadian was originally the language of the early Mesopotamian city of Akkad (also known as Agade) from the third millennium B.C., but it became widespread throughout the region in later centuries and
cultures, including the Babylonian civilization from about the 19th to the sixth centuries B.C.
Many of the clay tablets covered in the ancient cuneiform script — one of the earliest forms of writing, in which wedge-shaped impressions were made in wet clay with a stylus — were written in Akkadian, and a thorough understanding of the language was a key part of education in Mesopotamia for more than a thousand years.
Reader Comments
The Sumerians were not invented until the 19th century.This civilization has always been called the Chaldean.
Proof?
The word SUMER, spelled backwards, gives REMUS!
And Remus was said to be the founder of Rome, one of two brothers.
Do you believe in such coincidences? ;-)))
Chaldeans were most likely Indo-Aryans (Persian) nomadic aliens who migrated there as the Silk Road route was where it was all happening. Been researching deeper into Chaldean twistory & appears that they were Zoroastrian Avesta linguistics according to multiple sources. The Rig Vedas are also thought to be Persian Zoroastrianism b/c of the undeniable similarities to the Bundahishn Avesta languages. Notice the Persian word Bundahishn is extraordinarily close to Buddhism ?
(Chaldean) Oracles of Zoroaster - an IntroductionThe (Chaldean) Oracles of Zoroaster had a profound impact on Classical Greek philosophy and religion - especially on the Pythagorean and Neoplatonic movements/religions which used the Oracles as their scripture. In this article and the next [(Chaldean) Oracles of Zoroaster - Beliefs Summary by Psellus and this Author] we seek to understand the Oracles, discuss its possible authorship, and note any convergence or divergence with mainstream Zoroastrian philosophy and theology.
[Post-Alexandrian Persian accounts are replete with assertions that Alexander destroyed Persian (Zoroastrian) texts and that those he did not destroy, he had sent to Egypt and Greece. While these Persian-Zoroastrian texts would have been transformed & Hellenized during their sojourn in the Hellenic heartland, they may yet contain vestiges of their original source and it is in this quest that we scour Classical Greek texts that profess a Persian-Zoroastrian connection.]
Chaldea
Chaldea appears to be a English (from Greek-Latin) version of the Assyrian/Aramaic name Kaldu - an area south-east of Babylonia and between Babylon and the Persian Gulf. Its neighbour to the east would have been Elam and Persia. In English language translations and interpretations of Classical Greek accounts of the reason, we find the name Chaldea used where we might otherwise find Sumer, Babylonia or even Mesopotamia. During the time when the classical Greek histories and accounts were written, Chaldea or Babylonia were part of the Persian Empire and Babylon was a centre of learning visited by several Greek travellers.
Democritus is reported to have also visited Babylon to study the science of the Chaldeans. He summed up the results of his investigations in a Chaldean Treatise. Another treatise by Democritus was titled On the Sacred Writings of Those in Babylon.
The Hellenic travellers to Chaldea-Babylon including Pythagoras who it is claimed was taught Zoroastrian teachings by Zoroaster himself* - learning the principles of religion and practical maxims for the conduct of life (also see the Golden Verses of Pythagoras which have several points of congruence with the Zoroastrian andarz). Pythagorean "scriptures" are said to have included the (Chaldean) Oracles of Zoroaster. (* An improbable claim perhaps implying instead that Pythagoras was taught by a Zoroastrian or a senior Zoroastrian priest.)
The (Chaldean) Oracles of Zoroaster
The Oracles of Zoroaster (also called the Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster) are a collection of fragments of what is thought to be a single mystery-poem. We presume that the word 'Oracle' in the title signifies it being a source of wisdom - even a divine message or a divinely inspired message - rather than it being a source of prophecy.
Points of Departure from Zoroastrianism
While from the theology of the Oracles we can see that there are several points of congruence between the Oracles and Zoroastrianism - especially the metaphorical references to fires and wisdom (intellect), there are significant points of departure, a most fundamental being the Gnostic beliefs espoused in the Oracles. If we understand Gnosticism to propound that the material world is essentially evil or in any event one of suffering from which the soul must free itself in order to achieve salvation (cf. Buddhism), then Zoroastrianism espouses this creation to be divine and one where humans should work diligently to create the best existence - a paradise for all. This Zoroastrian perspective on doing God's work - theurgy - is a diametrically opposite concept to the Gnostic beliefs we read in the Oracles.
Congruence of the Oracles with Zoroastrian Teachings
When we compare the quotes in the Oracles (as they have survived and been translated into English today) with the hymns of Zarathushtra and with the rest of the Zoroastrian scriptures, the Avesta, we find that some of the oracles are remarkably congruent or consistent with ideas and themes expressed in the Zoroastrian scriptures and religious texts. Others have a distinct Babylonian-Egyptian-Greek bias to them. It is the quotes consistent with Zoroastrianism and even Mithraism and the Zoroastrian sect of Zurvanism that are of interest to us. When we further compare Pythagorean and neo-Platonic concepts inspired by the oracles (or by Zoroastrianism directly), we are provided with some fascinating insights and interesting connections that span Greek, Iranian/Persian and Chinese (Daoist/Taoist) philosophies.
The Oracles and Neo-Platonism give the Supreme Divine a gender and the title "father" which is an anthropomorphizing of the deity and an ascribing of a gender (male) both of which are contrary to Zoroastrian concepts of a non-anthropomorphic, incomprehensible deity.
‘’source: [Link]
i don’t beLIEve in extraordinary concatenated coincidences.
Vatican archives weren’t available for the truth or comment.
It gets more interesting when you start reading their clay tablets, of which there are thousands left.There are some very interesting stories there.
According to these legends, the Chaldeans come from "Bird BU"
Most likely it was a spacecraft, so named because it made a lot of noise... BOOOOM.
They came here, but the bird died, it began to bleed for a long time (damage, leakage?).
After this event, the BU Bird was hidden deep underground, while the Chaldeans themselves began to assimilate with the indigenous community.
There are also very interesting motifs regarding the fact that some of them lived underground and some on the surface.
But it's a long and very interesting story, not enough space to describe everything.
I will only add, on the subject of Pythagoras, that he knew little. Pythagoras was a simple soldier fascinated by Chaldean knowledge.
He based his math on what he could decipher, but he generally didn't know what he was doing.
He used decimal mathematics, and the Chaldeans used sexagesimal mathematics!
I found the Bird you mentioned here but understand this is a story of their folklore, legends, myths, ritual traditions etc.
The Chaldean Accounting of Genesis. [Link]
I have studied this subject for years. I know a lot about it.However, this is not a conversation that can be held on the portal as comments to the article.
In that case, you have to say all or nothing.
PS> I warn you, using ready-made translations is dangerous. Lots of mistakes in them.
I recommend translating yourself. The meaning of the characters is available from many university sources. They are usually correct!But translations of specific texts... not anymore.
All the current "conspiracy theories" about these holes are based on these ancient legends, they are not made up.
Now, please, show me a satellite image of the South Pole!
I'll tell you right away that you won't find one!
you answer me.
"Satellites don't fly over the poles because there is magnetic interference!"
don't they fly?
Check!
How it's possible?
This is not possible!
Where is the catch?
Very simple.
Chaldeans measured time in units called SAR. Academics decided that 1 SAR = 1 YEAR.
Hence such unusual lengths of reign.
However, the truth is that 1 SAR = 1 DAY!
Proof?
You're welcome.
Take a list of kings and divide their reigns by 365. You will find that the numbers are quite ordinary.
They lived like us. Approximately 60-80 years old!
Why did the academics release such information as official, they know it is ridiculous?
I used to think they were idiots, but there are so many mistakes that today I consider it a deliberate action!
But does this mean that the list of the kings of the Chaldeans is also a myth or a legend>?
I also agree with you about translations/interpretations. I have busted more fraud in my years than actual truth.
Some say twistory is the agreed upon lies that ruling hierarchy thinks it can get away with.
Cheers
I have never met a man so sure of his opinion.
How did you prove that they are myths?
Assyrian bas-relief depicting a tank.
[Link]
Temple at Baalbek, with a stone weighing 100 tons
[Link]
[Link]
Or the unusual temple of Ta Prohm
[Link]
There are thousands of such evidence for the existence of a technologically advanced civilization in our past:-)))
But I appreciate the pragmatic approach to the subject, a lot of discoveries are still waiting for a friend!!
The oldest trick of infamy is to invent two lies/partial lies & have people arguing over which lie is true. (e.g. pick any religion w/ sectarianism, Russia invaded Ukraine or it didn’t, Stress causes Cancer or it doesn’t, Covid-19 VaXXine works or it doesn’t etc)
Such as it is the press, journalism, academia has become the greatest power in the Western World, more powerful than the legislature, more powerful than the executive, more powerful than the judiciary, A voice of reason would like to ask by whom was it elected ? To whom is it responsible/accountable ?
We hunger to understand, so we invent myths about how we imagine the world is constructed - and they're, of course, based upon what we know, which is ourselves and other animals. So we make up stories about how the world was hatched from a cosmic egg or created after the mating of cosmic deities or by some fiat of a powerful being.
I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.
Myth is the common means by which mankind provides the meaning & narrative to life.
Myth continues to function as the single most powerful galvanizing force in life. [Link] (he’s telling the truth)
Namaste’
So you have no evidence, it's just your choice.
"I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers."
Me too, I believe it. And so little is enough.Show pictures of the poles from the satellite. Construct a building made of 100 tons of elements today. or explain why there is a tank on an Assyrian bas-relief from 2000 years ago?. :-)
"Twistorical lies get found out when the facts catch up to the myth."
I believe what you wrote, I think so too.
SORRY, EVERYTHING YOU WROTE DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE REMAINS OF THESE CIVILIZATIONS WE CAN OBSERVE TODAY !!:-)
So in the end, all you do is try to rationalize reality by Narrowing your field of view. .. so that you don't see these things.
That's why I wrote to you earlier that you still have a lot to discover!!
As an inspiration, I'll give you one more tidbit. All the myths in the world TELL THE SAME STORY !!!
Only names and minor details change.
Ass-edemia throws as much shit to the wall & sees what sticks by tracking metadata, impressions, click baited for effect etc. Been known for over 20+ years. Ancient Aliens is a giant hoax of anomalies & mysteries. Most were already known to the Vatican’s archives which has suppressed/ oppressed our knowledge & created the amnesia.
If you are saying it’s older than the sacred Axis Mundi & refuting what I wrote then respectfully present your evidence ? I’ll actually really read & research it if you post your source.
Axis Mundi ~ Understanding the Connection Between Heaven & Hell [Link]
Axis Mundi in Hinduism - Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas speak of Axis Mundi in many chapters and customs. The Katha Upanishad describes it as “eternal asvattha (in spiritual literature, this tree is represented as the Upside-down tree with roots exposed above. It is called the Tree of Samsara. Asvattha is the Sanskrit name for the Peepal or fig tree) whose roots rise on high and whose branches grow low. It is pure, the brahman, what is called non-death. All the world rests in it.”
And of course never ever had any country tried to fake artifacts, to create a more glorious picture of their own history ...