Archaeologists Decode Ancient Amorite Language

In recent years, it has been possible to discover more details about ancient civilizations through new archaeological discoveries. For example, one of the new achievements is the decoding an ancient language dating back 4000 years.

The discovery of this no longer spoken language dates back to the 1980s, but the translation took 30 years to complete.

The process of decoding an ancient language

The translation of ancient languages ​​is a real challenge, as it is often a language that is no longer used anywhere else in the world. To resolve this question, archaeologists seek to understand the language family to which this language may belong. Then, a careful translation work begins.

In this case, the tablets with this ancient language to which we are referring belonged to the Amorites, a nomadic people who lived in the region of Mesopotamia centuries before Christ. To translate the work, it was necessary to resort to specific strategies, such as the translation into Akkadian, which was a Semitic language of the same family.

Archaeologists began studying the ancient clay tablets in 2016 and found that they contain Akkadian details from the "lost" Amorite language. (Photo courtesy of David I. owen)

From then on, it took a few decades before there was an answer about what the writings actually said. Since 1980 there has been the effort of teams of archaeologists and, recently, the translation was published in the scientific journal Reuve D’asssyriologie et D’archépçpgoe Orientale. But what did these writings say?

What was written on the tablets?

The scientific community greatly celebrated the new discovery, which was the result of the efforts of archaeologists and scientists from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. In this discovery it was possible to find several words and grammars entirely new to our civilization.

As for the content of the message, scholars came to the conclusion that it was a kind of guide on the language itself. The text would be a kind of presentation of the language for all those who wanted to learn it.

In addition, it also brought comparisons between the gods of the time, instructions on religious ceremonies, such as sacrifices to the gods, and even messages of love in verse form.