Akkadische

Akkadische is the German adjective referring to Akkadian, the ancient Semitic language of Mesopotamia, and to the culture, literature, and inscriptions of the Akkadian-speaking world. The term is used for both the language itself and the wider historical-cultural sphere associated with the Akkad (Agade) region and its rulers.

Akkadian developed in southern Mesopotamia during the third millennium BCE. It is commonly divided into several stages and dialects, with Old Akkadian (c. 24th–22nd centuries BCE), Early Babylonian and Early Assyrian, Middle Akkadian, and Late Akkadian, which encompasses Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian varieties. The major dialect groups that persisted into later periods are Assyrian and Babylonian. Akkadian served as the prestige and administrative language of several successive empires in Mesopotamia, including the Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian states.

The language was written in a variant of the cuneiform script borrowed and adapted from Sumerian. Akkadian cuneiform tablets record royal inscriptions, administrative and legal documents, literary works, and scholarly texts. Notable Akkadian literature includes the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Enuma Elish (Creation myth), and the Code of Hammurabi, all of which circulated in multiple dialects and across different empires. The script continued to be used for centuries, facilitating administration and cultural transmission across Mesopotamia.

From the 1st millennium BCE, Aramaic gradually supplanted Akkadian as a spoken language in daily life, though Akkadian persisted in scholarly, religious, and literary contexts for some time. Today, Akkadian is studied as a crucial source for Mesopotamian history, law, religion, and daily life, and it remains a central field in Assyriology and Near Eastern studies.