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Amorite is an early Northwest Semitic language
Northwest Semitic languages

The Northwest Semitic languages form a medium-level division of the Semitic languages. The languages of this group are spoken by approximately eight million people today....
, spoken by the Amorite
Amorite

Amorite refers to a Semitic language people who occupied the country west of the Euphrates from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. The term Amurru refers to them, as well as to their principal deity....
 tribes prominent in early Near East
Near East

Near East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other....
ern history. It is known exclusively from non-Akkad
Akkad

The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad Sumerian language: Agade KUR A.GA.D?KI "land of Akkad". ; Biblical Accad) and its surrounding region Akkadian URU Akkad KI in central Mesopotamia....
ian proper names recorded by Akkadian
Akkadian language

Akkadian or Assyrian-Babylonian is a Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
 scribe
Scribe

A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing....
s during periods of Amorite rule in Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
ia (end of the 3rd and beginning of the 1st millennium), notably from Mari
Mari, Syria

Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria....
, and to a lesser extent Alalakh
Alalakh

Alalakh , is the name of an ancient Amorite city and its associated city-state of the Amuq River, located in the Hatay Province region of southern Turkey, now represented by an extensive city-mound....
, Tell Harmal, and Khafajah
Khafajah

Khafajah or Khafaje was the ancient town of Tutub in the city-state of Eshnunna. The site lies sevenmiles east of Baghdad and 12 miles southwest of Eshnunna....
. Occasionally such names are also found in early Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
 texts; and one place-name — "Snir" (???????) for Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon is a mountain in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its highest point is 2,814 m above sea level. This summit is on the border between Syria and Lebanon, and is under Syrian control....
 — is known from the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 (Deut.
Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. In form it is a set of three sermons delivered by Moses reviewing the previous forty years of wandering in the wilderness; its central element is a detailed law-code by which the Children of Israel are to live in the Promised Land....
 3:9).






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Amorite is an early Northwest Semitic language
Northwest Semitic languages

The Northwest Semitic languages form a medium-level division of the Semitic languages. The languages of this group are spoken by approximately eight million people today....
, spoken by the Amorite
Amorite

Amorite refers to a Semitic language people who occupied the country west of the Euphrates from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. The term Amurru refers to them, as well as to their principal deity....
 tribes prominent in early Near East
Near East

Near East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other....
ern history. It is known exclusively from non-Akkad
Akkad

The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad Sumerian language: Agade KUR A.GA.D?KI "land of Akkad". ; Biblical Accad) and its surrounding region Akkadian URU Akkad KI in central Mesopotamia....
ian proper names recorded by Akkadian
Akkadian language

Akkadian or Assyrian-Babylonian is a Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
 scribe
Scribe

A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing....
s during periods of Amorite rule in Babylon
Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
ia (end of the 3rd and beginning of the 1st millennium), notably from Mari
Mari, Syria

Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria....
, and to a lesser extent Alalakh
Alalakh

Alalakh , is the name of an ancient Amorite city and its associated city-state of the Amuq River, located in the Hatay Province region of southern Turkey, now represented by an extensive city-mound....
, Tell Harmal, and Khafajah
Khafajah

Khafajah or Khafaje was the ancient town of Tutub in the city-state of Eshnunna. The site lies sevenmiles east of Baghdad and 12 miles southwest of Eshnunna....
. Occasionally such names are also found in early Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
 texts; and one place-name — "Snir" (???????) for Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon is a mountain in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its highest point is 2,814 m above sea level. This summit is on the border between Syria and Lebanon, and is under Syrian control....
 — is known from the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 (Deut.
Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. In form it is a set of three sermons delivered by Moses reviewing the previous forty years of wandering in the wilderness; its central element is a detailed law-code by which the Children of Israel are to live in the Promised Land....
 3:9). Notable characteristics include:

  • The usual Semitic imperfect-perfect distinction is found — e.g. Yantin-Dagan, 'Dagon
    Dagon

    Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain and agriculture. He was worshipped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of the cities of Ebla and Ugarit ....
     gives' (ntn); Ra?a-Dagan, 'Dagon
    Dagon

    Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain and agriculture. He was worshipped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of the cities of Ebla and Ugarit ....
     was pleased' (r?y). It included a 3rd-person suffix -a (unlike Akkadian
    Akkadian language

    Akkadian or Assyrian-Babylonian is a Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
     or Hebrew
    Hebrew language

    Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
    ), and an imperfect vowel -a-, as in Arabic
    Arabic language

    Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
     rather than the Hebrew
    Hebrew language

    Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
     and Aramaic
    Aramaic language

    Aramaic is a Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship....
     -i-.
  • There was a verb form with a geminate second consonant — e.g. Yabanni-Il, 'God creates' (root bny).
  • In several cases where Akkadian has š, Amorite, like Hebrew
    Hebrew language

    Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
     and Arabic
    Arabic language

    Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
    , has h, thus hu 'his', -haa 'her', causative h- or ?- (I. Gelb 1958).
  • The 1st-person perfect is in -ti (singular), -nu (plural), as in the Canaanite languages
    Canaanite languages

    The Canaanite languages or Hebraic languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians, and Philistines....
    .


Sources


  • D. Cohen, Les langues chamito-semitiques, CNRS: Paris 1985.
  • I. Gelb, "La lingua degli amoriti", Academia Nazionale dei Lincei. Rendiconti 1958, no. 8, 13, pp. 143-163.
  • H. B. Huffmon. Amorite Personal Names in the Mari Texts. A Structural and Lexical Study, Baltimore 1965.
  • Remo Mugnaioni. "Notes pour servir d’approche à l’amorrite" Travaux 16 – La sémitologie aujourd’hui, Cercle de Linguistique d’Aix-en-Provence, Centre des sciences du langage, Aix-en-Provence 2000, p. 57-65.
  • M. P. Streck, Das amurritische Onomastikon der altbabylonischen Zeit. Band 1: Die Amurriter, Die onomastische Forschung, Orthographie und Phonologie, Nominalmorphologie. Alter Orient und Altes Testament Band 271/1, Münster 2000.