Aramaic Alphabet written in Cuneiform Signs

Illustration

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
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published on 14 April 2016
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This is a classroom experiment. As Babylon grew, the language spoken on its streets changed. This remarkable tablet captures interaction between the age-old cuneiform writing for Babylonian Akkadian and the alphabetic Aramaic that ultimately displaced it. Here a teacher imposed a challenging writing exercise on pupils who spoke both languages. They had to use traditional cuneiform syllabic signs to express the sound of the Aramaic alphabet. The letter order is the same as that of the modern Hebrew alphabet. From Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Circa 500 BCE. (The British Museum, Iraq)

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About the Author

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
Associate Professor of Neurology and lover of the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. I'm very interested in Mesopotamian history and always try to take photos of archaeological sites and artifacts in museums, both in Iraq and around the world.

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APA Style

Amin, O. S. M. (2016, April 14). Aramaic Alphabet written in Cuneiform Signs. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/4924/aramaic-alphabet-written-in-cuneiform-signs/

Chicago Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Aramaic Alphabet written in Cuneiform Signs." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified April 14, 2016. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/4924/aramaic-alphabet-written-in-cuneiform-signs/.

MLA Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Aramaic Alphabet written in Cuneiform Signs." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 14 Apr 2016. Web. 21 Feb 2025.

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