Digital Commons Network^™

The Adaption Of Akkadian Into Cuneiform, Kristin M. Pearce

Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Journal

The written history of the Ancient Near East began when cuneiform was invented, ca 3200 BCE. Cuneiform became a very adaptable writing system that was attested in various forms for nearly three millennia. Cuneiform was created to represent the language isolate of Sumerian and its first adaptation was into the Semitic language of Eblaite. However the most successful adaptation of the cuneiform writing system occurred with Akkadian. Old Akkadian was adapted into cuneiform around 2350 BCE. The adaptation of cuneiform to Akkadian is intricately connected to the respect the Akkadian/Semitic speaking scribes felt cuneiform deserved. Old Akkadian cuneiform takes into …