What are Amorites today?
Amorites today were a group of Akkadian-speaking people who emerged as the dominant power in Mesopotamia when they overthrew the Third Dynasty of Ur, circa 2000 BC. The Amorites maintained this lead for several centuries, greatly expanding their empire that covered most of what is now known as Syria and Iraq. The Amorite script was written from right to left and used cuneiform writing developed by the Sumerians in approximately 3000 BC.
The Amorites were never totally unified and their empire was divided into an upper and lower region. The upper region formed a buffer zone between the Amorite cities of the central highlands and their nearest neighbors, the Hurrians. The lower region was more directly under control of the Amorites and was larger than the upper but less wealthy. Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC saw a period of huge upheaval, with what are now called “proto-Sumerian” texts being written in cuneiform. This time is known as the Early Dynastic period (also called “Ubaid”.)
The Sumerian domination of Mesopotamia was at an end by approximately 2300 BC and it is during this period that the first real cities began to appear in southern Mesopotamia, along with a collection of increasingly powerful city-states. The most important city states were: (1) Ebla, (2) Mari, (3) Yamhad and (4) Agade.
Although Sumerian was still used during this era as a spoken language, Akkadian became the literary medium for written works. The city states fought each other for resources, especially the upper region which had more agricultural potential.
What are the special characteristics of this language?
It is a Semitic language that belongs to the Canaanite branch of the Northwest Semitic subfamily, itself a branch of the larger Afro-Asiatic family. Biblical Hebrew was influenced by an Aramaic substrate language spoken by the Arameans who had been in Trans-Euphrates since ancient times. The influence of Aramaic can especially be seen in vocabulary, translating most geographical and taxonomic terms from the original languages. The word baal (lord), for example, was used in Canaanite but not Akkadian and appears to stem from a word meaning “owner”. The Amorites introduced a new element into Canaanite, however, by using the plural ending -im for masculine nouns and -tum for feminine nouns. This is a Semitic innovation that is found in Akkadian (e.g., god is “godim”) but not in Canaanite.
Other versions of the language had already been spoken prior to the ascendancy of Akkadian and they would naturally be used as a common foundation upon which to build a written language. It is thus natural that forms of Akkadian would be used both inscriptively and in speech along with two other forms: Aramaic and Sumerian.
What are the advantages?
As a side effect of the lessons you learn while studying this language, you will also be learning. Joseph Eidelberg’s Bible Semitic Languages Analysis Category of Languages, and Joseph Eidelberg’s Bible Semitic Languages Hebrew, Aramaic and Phoenician Distribution by Country.
In addition to the languages themselves, you’ll learn how to measure and compare languages to each other (and why this is important.) You’ll learn about the Bible as a collection of documents written by many different authors over a horizontal period of time–not all at one time in one place. The same holds true for other books considered sacred where multiple authors contributed to the books we have today.
Are there any disadvantages?
No. This is not a disadvantage; this course is “fun”. You can learn the Akkadian language with anyone who has a basic knowledge of English. The only skill you really need to know going in is how to read. Anyone can learn even if they are over 60-years-old and even if they have never before been interested in learning a language. With the exception of some “counting” words, which are few (and therefore easy), most of the words you’ll need to know already exist in our own language, e.g., tree, sun, river, man, etc. In addition, with this course you will be able to write your name using the world’s first alphabet. This is a gift that keeps giving.
What is your guarantee?
It’s my guarantee that if you stick with me, look down, and use the work-sheets I provide in this course, you will learn to read and write Akkadian in four months. You can get a refund if you’re not satisfied. In fact, I see nothing wrong with offering this course free of charge, because even if you don’t learn anything from me it will still be worth your time because you’ll also be learning about The Bible’s Sacred Languages. A hidden benefit is the opportunity to actually see The Bible’s Sacred Languages and gain a better understanding of their history. You can take advantage of what other language courses are not providing, and at the same time you’ll learn a brand new language.
What does this course cost?
This course is free! Many of my students have already taken advantage of this offer, so why not you as well? I only ask that before enrolling that you sign up for FREE VIP membership in my online school. The reason for this is because it allows us to communicate with each other in real time. This allows you to get answers to your questions and gives you the ability to know that I’m going to be able to get back to you within hours. As it turns out, my students are already making good use of this extra benefit.
What if I don’t want a refund?
I can still give you a FREE GUARANTEE by waiting six months and then giving me a chance to show you that not only do we all learn languages the same way, but, more importantly, the way I teach is the best possible way for picking up any language in relatively quick time and without much effort on your part.
