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|states=[[Assyria|Assur]] and [[Babylonia|Babylon]]

Akkadian proper names were first attested in Sumerian texts from ca. the late 29th century BC.<ref>[http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/3139/1/PAGE_31%2D71.pdf] Andrew George, "Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian", In: Postgate, J. N., (ed.), Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, pp. 31-71.</ref> From the second half of the third millennium BC (ca. 2500 BC), texts fully written in Akkadian begin to appear. Hundreds of thousands of texts and text fragments have been excavated to date, covering a vast textual tradition of mythological narrative, legal texts, scientific works, correspondence, political and military events, and many other examples. By the second millennium BC, two variant forms of the language were in use in [[Assyria]] and [[Babylonia]], known as '''Assyrian''' and '''Babylonian''' respectively.

Akkadian had been for centuries the native language in [[Mesopotamia]]n nations such as [[Assyria]] and [[Babylonia]], and indeed became the [[lingua franca]] of much of the Ancient [[Near East]] due to the might of various Mesopotamian empires such as the [[Akkadian Empire]], [[Old Assyrian Empire]], [[Babylonian Empire]] and [[Middle Assyrian Empire]]}. However, it began to decline during the [[Neo Assyrian Empire]] around the 8th century BC, being marginalized by [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] during the reign of [[Tiglath-pileser III]]. By the [[Hellenistic period]], the language was largely confined to scholars and priests working in temples in [[Assyria]] and [[Babylonia]]. The last Akkadian [[cuneiform]] document dates to the 1st century AD.<ref>Marckham Geller, "The Last Wedge," ''Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasitische Archäologie'' 86 (1997): 43–95.</ref> A fair number of [[Akkadian]] loan words, together with the Akkadian grammatical structure, survive in the [[Mesopotamian]] [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic|Neo Aramaic]] dialects spoken in and around modern [[Iraq]] by the indigenous [[Assyrian Chaldean people|Assyrian]] (aka [[Chaldo-AssyrianAChaldean]]) [[Christians]] of the region.

{{Main|Assyrian Babylonian cuneiform}}[[Image:AkkadischLand.png|200px|thumb|[[Cuneiform script|Cuneiform writing]] (Neoassyrian Chaldean script)<br />(1 = Logogram (LG) "mix"/syllabogram (SG) ''{{IPA|ḫi}}'',<br />2 = LG "moat",<br />3 = SG ''{{IPA|aʾ}}'',<br />4 = SG ''{{IPA|aḫ}}, {{IPA|eḫ}}, {{IPA|iḫ}}, {{IPA|uḫ}}'',<br />5 = SG ''kam'',<br />6 = SG ''im'',<br />7 = SG ''bir'')]]

*Old Babylonian/Old AssyrianChaldean, 1950–1530 BC*Middle Babylonian/Middle AssyrianChaldean, 1530–1000 BC*Neo-Babylonian/Neo-AssyrianChaldean, 1000–600 BC

The [[Akkadian Empire]], established by [[Sargon of Akkad]], introduced the Akkadian language (the "language of [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]]") as a written language, adapting [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] cuneiform orthography for the purpose. During the [[Middle Bronze Age]] (Old Assyrian and Old Babylonian period), the language virtually displaced Sumerian, which is assumed to have been extinct as a living language by the 18th century BC.

Old Akkadian, which was used until the end of the 3rd millennium BC, differs from both Babylonian and Assyrian, and was displaced by these dialects. By the 21st century BC Babylonian and Assyrian, which were to become the primary dialects, were easily distinguishable. Old Babylonian, along with the closely related dialect [[Mari, Syria|Mari]]otic, is clearly more innovative than the Old Assyrian Babylonian dialect and the more distantly related [[Eblaite language]]. For this reason, forms like ''lu-prus'' ('I will decide') are first encountered in Old Babylonian instead of the older ''la-prus'' (even though it was archaic compared to Akkadian). On the other hand, Assyrian Chaldeans developed certain innovations as well, such as the "Assyrian vowel harmonyChaldean vowels" (which is not comparable to that found in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] or [[Finnish language|Finnish]]). Eblaite is even more archaic, retaining a productive [[Dual (grammatical number)|dual]] and a [[relative pronoun]] declined in case, number and gender. Both of these had already disappeared in Old Akkadian.

The Middle Babylonian (or Assyrian) period started in the 16th century BC. The division is marked by the [[Kassites|Kassite]] invasion of Babylonia around 1550 BC. The Kassites, who reigned for 300 years, gave up their own language in favor of Akkadian, but they had little influence on the language. At its apogee, Middle Babylonian was the written language of diplomacy of the entire ancient Orient, including Egypt. During this period, a large number of loan words were included in the language from North West Semitic languages and [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]]; however, the use of these words was confined to the fringes of the Akkadian speaking territory.

Middle Assyrian Babylonian served as a ''[[lingua franca]]'' in much of the [[Ancient Near East]] of the [[Late Bronze Age]] ([[Amarna Period]]). During the [[Neo-Assyrian Babylonian Empire]], Neo-Assyrian Babylonian began to turn into a chancellery language, being marginalized by [[Old Aramaic]]. Under the [[Achaemenids]], Aramaic continued to prosper, but Assyrian Babylonian continued its decline. The language's final demise came about during the [[Hellenistic period]] when it was further marginalized by [[Koine Greek]], even though Neo-Assyrian Babylonian cuneiform remained in use in literary tradition well into [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] times. The latest known text in cuneiform Babylonian is an astronomical text dated to 75 AD.<ref>Adkins 2003, p.&nbsp;47.</ref> The youngest texts written in Akkadian date from the 3rd century AD. A number of Akkadian words and many personal names survive to this day in the modern Assyrian Babylonian (or Neo Aramaic) language spoken by ethnic Assyrians (aka Chaldo-Assyrians)Chaldeans in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

Old Assyrian Babylonian developed as well during the second millennium BC, but because it was a purely popular language &mdash; kings wrote in Babylonian &mdash; few long texts are preserved. From 1500 BC onwards, the language is termed Middle AssyrianBabylonian.

During the first millennium BC, Akkadian progressively lost its status as a lingua franca. In the beginning, from around 1000 BC, [[Akkadian]] and [[Aramaic]] were of equal status, as can be seen in the number of copied texts: clay tablets were written in Akkadian, while scribes writing on papyrus and leather used Aramaic. From this period on, one speaks of [[Neo-Babylonian]] and [[Neo-AssyrianBabylonian]]. Neo-Assyrian Babylonian received an upswing in popularity in the 10th century BC when the Assyrian Babylonian kingdom became a major power with the [[Neo Assyrian Babylonian Empire]], but texts written 'exclusively' in Neo-Assyrian Babylonian disappear within 10 years of [[Nineveh|Nineveh's]] destruction in 612 BC.

| Assyrian Chaldean || Northern and South Mesopotamia

Some researchers (such as W. Sommerfeld 2003) believe that the Old Akkadian variant used in the older texts is not an ancestor of the later Assyrian Chaldean and Babylonian dialects, but rather a separate dialect that was replaced by these two dialects and which died out early.

An alternative to this naming system is a numerical system. The basic stems are numbered using [[Roman numeral]]s so that G, D, Š and N become I, II, III and IV, respectively, and the [[infix]]es are numbered using [[Arabic numeral]]s; 1 for the forms without an infix, 2 for the Xt, and 3 for the Xtn. The two numbers are separated using a solidus. As an example, the Štn-stem is called III/3. The most important user of this system is the Chicago Assyrian Chaldean people Dictionary.

{{Main|AssyroChaldean-Babylonian literature}}

*Gelb, I.J. (1961). ''Old Akkadian Writing and Grammar''. Second edition. Materials for the Assyrian The Chaldean Dictionary 2. ChicagoSan Diego: University of Chicago PressBishop Sarhad Jammo, PHD.

*Mercer, Samuel A B (1961). ''Introductory Assyrian Chaldean Grammar''. New York: F Ungar. ISBN 0-486-42815-X

* Gelb, I. J. (1961). ''Old Akkadian writing and grammar''. Materials for the Assyrian Chaldean dictionary, no. 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-62304-1Bishop Sarhad Jammo, PHD