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Amorite language

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

A West Semitic language studied especially through personal names, much of whose evidence comes from the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000–1600 BCE).

Photograph of the ruins of Mari, the setting of documents preserving Amorite names. The place explains the context of preservation; the photograph itself is not a text in the Amorite language
Photograph of the ruins of Mari, the setting of documents preserving Amorite names. The place explains the context of preservation; the photograph itself is not a text in the Amorite languageMarina Milella / DecArch · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SALicense · Image source · Related reference

Text

Amorite is a West Semitic languageSemitic languagesA language family including Akkadian, Ugaritic, Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic.Glossary · Click to read the explanation studied especially through personal names preserved in cuneiformCuneiformWriting with wedge-shaped signs, developed from Mesopotamian recording traditions and used for several languages from the third millennium BCE.Glossary · Click to read the explanation documents. Much of the name material collected by Ignace GelbIgnace J. GelbUniversity of Chicago Assyriologist (1907–1985), studying ancient languages, writing and personal names, including Amorite names.Glossary · Click to read the explanation comes from the Old Babylonian period, approximately 2000–1600 BCE. His material also includes names from earlier sources. This range dates the evidence under study, rather than the entire life of the language. [1][2]

Many documents containing Amorite names were written in AkkadianAkkadianAn ancient East Semitic language written in cuneiform in Mesopotamia.Glossary · Click to read the explanation, another language of MesopotamiaMesopotamiaA historical region associated with the Tigris and Euphrates, home to many societies and civilisations.Glossary · Click to read the explanation. Scholars therefore distinguish the document's language from that of the name it records. Studying a name's structure, sounds and any divine element it contains helps explain that relationship. [1]

References and notes

  1. Ignace J. Gelb, Computer-Aided Analysis of Amorite, Assyriological Studies 21 (1980) Collection description: names preserved in Sumerian and Akkadian texts; Ebla is excluded. Individual entries were not all analysed. Return to the text ↑
  2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, chariot model 48.131: Old Babylonian period, ca. 2000–1600 BCE. Period and date metadata; a general period range, not the date of an Atra-hasis tablet or the whole Amorite language. Return to the text ↑

Research history

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  1. Edition 5 · 13 October 2026 · editor

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

  2. Edition 4 · 13 October 2026 · aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

  3. Edition 3 · 13 October 2026 · editor

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

  4. Edition 2 · 10 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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IL Archive, «Amorite language», Edition 5, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/amorite-language