A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages

Covers the major languages, language families, and writing systems attested in the Ancient Near East

Filled with enlightening chapters by noted experts in the field, this book introduces Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) languages and language families used during the time period of roughly 3200 BCE to the second century CE in the areas of Egypt, the Levant, eastern Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran. In addition to providing grammatical sketches of the respective languages, the book focuses on socio-linguistic questions such as language contact, diglossia, the development of literary standard languages, and the development of diplomatic languages or "linguae francae." It also addresses the interaction of Ancient Near Eastern languages with each other and their roles within the political and cultural systems of ANE societies.

Presented in five parts, The Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages provides readers with in-depth chapter coverage of the writing systems of ANE, starting with their decipherment. It looks at the emergence of cuneiform writing; the development of Egyptian writing in the fourth and early third millennium BCI; and the emergence of alphabetic scripts. The book also covers many of the individual languages themselves, including Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Pre- and Post-Exilic Hebrew, Phoenician, Ancient South Arabian, and more.

• Provides an overview of all major language families and writing systems used in the Ancient Near East during the time period from the beginning of writing (approximately 3200 BCE) to the second century CE (end of cuneiform writing)
• Addresses how the individual languages interacted with each other and how they functioned in the societies that used them
• Written by leading experts on the languages and topics
  The Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages is an ideal book for undergraduate students and scholars interested in Ancient Near Eastern cultures and languages or certain aspects of these languages.

Autorentext

Rebecca Hasselbach-Andee, PhD, received her PhD in Semitic Philology from Harvard University in 2004. After working as a preceptor for Semitic languages at Harvard, she was hired as Professor for Comparative Semitics at the University of Chicago. Hasselbach-Andee's research interests lie in the comparative study of Semitic languages. The main methodologies she applies are those of Historical Linguistics, Typology, and Sociolinguistics. Some of her publications include Sargonic Akkadian: A Historical Comparative Study of the Syllabic Texts and Case in Semitic: Roles, Relations, and Reconstruction.

Inhalt

List of Illustrations ix

List of Tables xi

Notes on Contributors xv

Preface xix

Part I Writing Systems 1

1 The Decipherment of Ancient Near Eastern Languages 3
Peter T. Daniels

2 The Emergence of Cuneiform Writing 27
Christopher Woods

3 The Development of Egyptian Writing in the Fourth and Early Third Millennium bce 47
Ludwig Morenz

4 The Emergence of Alphabetic Scripts 65
Christopher Rollston

Part II Ancient Near Eastern Languages 83

5 Sumerian 85
Piotr Michalowski

6 Egyptian 107
Matthias Muller

7 Akkadian 129
Rebecca Hasselbach Andee

8 Eblaite 149
Amalia Catagnoti

9 Elamite 163
Jan Tavernier

10 Amorite 185
Viktor Golinets

11 Hurrian 203
Dennis R.M. Campbell

12 Hittite 221
Ilya Yakubovich

13 Luwian 239
Craig Melchert

14 Ugaritic 257
Robert Hawley

15 Ancient Hebrew 279
Seth Sanders

16 Phoenician and Punic 297
Francoise Briquel Chatonnet and Robert Hawley

17 Old and Imperial Aramaic 319
Christian Stadel

18 Ancient South Arabian 337
Peter Stein

Part III Ancient Near Eastern Languages Used as Administrative Languages or Linguae Francae 355

19 Akkadian as a Lingua Franca 357
Juan Pablo Vita

20 Aramaic as Lingua Franca 373
Margaretha Folmer

Part IV Language Contact in the Ancient Near East 401

21 Sumerian and Akkadian Language Contact 403
C. Jay Crisostomo

22 Language Contact of Ancient Egyptian with Semitic and Other Near Eastern Languages 421
Thomas Schneider

23 Hebrew and Aramaic in Contact 439
Aaron Koller

24 Multilingualism and Diglossia in the Ancient Near East 457
Rebecca Hasselbach Andee

Part V The Development of Literary Languages and Literary Contact 471

25 Standard Babylonian 473
Christian W. Hess

26 Standardization in Egyptian 489
Antonio Loprieno

27 The "Influence" of Sumerian on Hittite Literature 505
Mark Weeden

28 Ancient Near Eastern Literary Influences on Hebrew Literature and the Hebrew Bible 521
Michael Wingert

Index 537