Lexical lists
As lexical lists refers to a group of cuneiform texts mainly in Sumerian and Akkadian are partially written in various languages. They are commonly included in the scientific literature of the Ancient Near East and are of crucial importance for deciphering cuneiform script and understanding ancient Near Eastern languages.
Lexical lists are among the oldest written records of mankind. Already in the early 3rd millennium BC The Sumerians began compiling smaller lists of cuneiform characters. Since cuneiform writing was still logographic in this early period , these character lists are also word lists. With the advancement of script into syllabography , the number of characters used decreased, while the words written with them became more diverse and abstract. So already in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Extensive lists of objects that were written with word compounds. They contained lists of objects made of different materials (wood, leather, metal, stone, etc.), plants, animals, groups of people, geographical regions, stars and gods. The order of the objects mentioned followed local traditions, whereby in the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The tradition of Nippur prevailed.
Multilingual lists are of particular scientific importance. Today it is assumed that they were primarily used to study foreign languages. Two -column lists are already known from the Ebla archive , with Sumerian terms in one column and Akkadian words or relative clauses in the other column. In this way, the meaning and reading of Sumerian characters can be reconstructed to this day, since the Akkadian language is largely known.
During the 2nd millennium BC Some types of lexical lists were standardized and canonized and grouped into large series of tables. These series are usually referred to by their incipit and consist of up to several dozen tablets. The range of applications of such lists also expanded, and they now also include the variations of radicals or have been expanded to include comments.
literature
- Antoine Cavaigneaux : Lexical lists. In: Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie Vol. 6, 1983, 609–641.
- Benno Landsberger , Wolfram von Soden : The distinctiveness of the Babylonian world . Darmstadt 1956.
- Marc van de Mieroop: Philosophy before the Greeks. The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia. Princeton 2016.