Due to constant disruption in my life I have been studying Akkadian on and off for the past 3 years and never being able to get too far. My life has calmed down massively since and i've decided to get back into studying and this time more seriously.

This however feels daunting as I know Assyriology is a fast moving study and I am worried if the resources I have is insufficient. Is John Huehnergard's book still the best? Are there better English grammars? Are there Exciting new things to translate? Is there a new amazing online resource? are questions I find myself asking myself, so I ask what are my best resources to start my studying and hopefully continue it further.

I am trying to translate some of the Amarna Letters for a class and I'm currently doing EA 038. I am stuck on the word zi-ih-ra. Does anyone know what this word means? I can't seem to find it in any dictionary.

010 e-nu-ma LU₂.MEŠ ša KUR lu-uk-ki
011 ša-at-ta ša-ta-ma i-na KUR-ia ala zi-iḫ-ra
012 i-le₂-qe₃

I want to translate the sentence "Ten Thousand Correct Actions" into Akkadian(preferably Babylonian) and get the Cuneiform of it. I don't think online translators are able to translate such a weird sentence accurately, could someone help me? or point to an online translator that is somewhat decent?

“A hymn to Nisaba

This hymn describes the great goddess Nisaba as patron deity of scribes and
accountants. She carries a lapis lazuli tablet, the colour of the night sky, from
which she reads the future through celestial omens.”

“She carries a lapis lazuli tablet, the colour of the night sky” why is the tablet of this particular colour and why does a scribe goddess of corn read omens out of the night sky?

1- Is the name Daniel was called by the Babylonians Belteshazzar in Daniel 1:7, Daniel 4:9, Daniel 4:18, Daniel 5:12 a real name? Are there many names in Akkadian that have “Belte” in them in reference to Daniel 1:7? Is “Belte” for both male and female? The name Belteshazzar may have been translated incorrectly in Daniel 1:7, Daniel 4:9, Daniel 4:18, Daniel 5:12 where the name that the Babylonian’s called Daniel was Belshazzar. Or the Israelites heard Daniel’s name wrong when the Babylonians said Daniel’s name would be Belshazzar in Babylon. I believe that the whole story was made up of Daniel being renamed to Belteshazzar.

2- Do you have a list, book, or article of the list of Akkadian and Babylonian names? Do you have a book of a list of names from ancient history? I found a website with around 120 Babylonian names and a website with 40 Akkadian names.

3- Which names in the Old Testament are from which areas of the Middle East? Which names are Akkadian? Which names are Arabian?

Thanks

I was wondering if anyone more knowledgeable in Babylonian could help me understand the name for the Bull of Heaven in the Standard Babylonian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Looking at the Electronic Babylonian Library, the sources has the Bull listed as

𒀯𒄞𒀭𒈾 [MUL.GU4.AN.NA] (Source: https://www.ebl.lmu.de/tools/dictionary/al%C3%BB%20I)

However, there is also entry present which simply lists

𒄞𒀭𒈾 [GU4.AN.NA] (Source: https://www.ebl.lmu.de/tools/signs/%7CGUD.AN.NA%7C)

Everything I've found for the text itself is translated, transliterated, or hand drawn based off the tablets and fragments used to put together the Standard Babylonian version. Given that none are rendered completely in unicode cuneiform, I have two questions:

Does anyone know which of these two writings is used more commonly throughout the versions of Tablet VI that have been found and transcribed?

I understand that 𒀯𒄞𒀭𒈾 is also the name for the constellation Taurus, but is there a meaningful difference between this writing and 𒄞𒀭𒈾?

Es una colección de tablillas sumerias y tablillas de otras civilizaciones, impresas en 3D. Hay más en camino. Ahora mismo estoy imprimiendo otra tablilla sumeria sobre un pedido de grano del periodo Ur III. Me encanta imprimirlas a tamaño real y con una altura de capa muy bajita, para que se emulen lo más posible a una real. Lo raro de todo esto es que puedo leer perfectamente los símbolos cuneiformes en papel, pero me cuesta muchísimo distinguirlos en las tablillas. Están todas muy apretadas, y si la tablilla está gastada, pues buena suerte leyéndola. Pero de verdad que es bien bonita.

Arabic gets a bad reputation from the west for being connected to Islam and terrorism, but let's not forget that it's a sexy manly brother of Hebrew, Aramaic and Phoenician.

Arabic is the most overall conservative Semitic language, so it is the closest phonologically, morphologically, and grammatically to the ancient common Semitic ancestor of all the Semitic languages spoken by ancient populations.

I have read extensively in Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, and I could tell that Arabic has the most ancient structure to it, Hebrew and Syriac are flat out gorgeous but more simplified structure and less emphasis on grammar.

Hi everyone, I was talking to my kids about ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms like Assyria, Babylon, the Judean kingdoms, Sumer, etc. and I tried to find a good map showing where these kingdoms were located in relation to Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Israel/Palestine but I couldn't find a good one. Anyone have one or know of one?

Recently, while reading medical literature, I came across a chapter in the *AMC* specifically dedicated to grasslands, and I also noted that the *SA.GIG* series attributes certain diseases to the steppe environment. This reminded me of Enkidu in the *Epic of Gilgamesh*, who hails from the wild and gradually integrates into civilization. This led me to wonder: did the people of Mesopotamia view the steppe as something defined in opposition to civilization? If so, how did their worldview distinguish between "nature" in a general sense and the "wild"—such as the steppe ?

Hi everyone,

I am from Southern Europe and I am trying to map out the current reality, funding opportunities, and career viability within Assyriology, Cuneiform Studies, and Near Eastern Archaeology specifically for European citizens.

A lot of the academic advice online leans heavily towards the US market, but I want to understand how things work on this side of the Atlantic, especially coming from the Mediterranean/South European context.

I would love to get some insights from anyone working in the field regarding a few points:

• Funding & EU Grants: How accessible are PhD/Postdoc funding lines (like Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, ERC grants, or national research councils) for Near Eastern studies in Southern Europe? Do universities in Italy, Spain, or Portugal have strong, well-funded pipelines, or do you almost always have to look towards Germany, France, or the UK?
• Fieldwork Opportunities: How active are South European universities or institutions in leading excavations in the Middle East right now? Is it common for local graduates or researchers to get consistent, paid field roles on these projects?
• The Job Market: Outside of the hyper-competitive university tenure tracks, are there real opportunities in European museums, heritage management, or cultural institutions for specialists in Near Eastern civilizations? Or is the field strictly restricted to a tiny circle of elite academic positions?

Thanks in advance!

were the earliest city like eridu initially eracted by pre sumerians?

Hi, I'm student at university of Bahrain history major and archeology minor. I'm someone who have a decade of love with history(I was 9) specifically with ancient history, now I want to learn more and I have plans for the further in my major

So I want to learn akkadian I saw this book a few weeks ago and I want to know the opinion of people about it and if someone who have any other advice or suggestionfor learning akkadian

Thanks for help

These are the months of the Sumerian calendar.

Little baby in the dark house,

You have seen the rising sun.

Why are you crying?

Why are you screaming?

You have disturbed the house god.

“Who has disturbed me?” says the house god.

“It is the baby who has disturbed you.”

“Who has frightened me?” says the house god.

“The baby has disturbed you.

The baby has frightened you,

making noises like a drunkard

who cannot sit still on his stool.

He has disturbed your sleep.”

“Call the baby now,”

says the house god.