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Summary          

Just this past Monday at a conference headed by Chicago University, Scholars, Historians, Archaeologists, and specialists in ancient Semitic languages came together to assess an ancient dictionary. The dictionary is a 21 volume collection of the ancient Mesopotamian peoples, including both Babylonian and Assyrian dialects; which have not been uttered aloud in more than 2,000 years. For over 200 years; however, the clay volumes have been laying in wait only to be fully researched and understood. When referring to the 21 volume dictionary, the director of the Chicago University’s Oriental Institute, Gill Stien, was quoted for the article saying this, “an indispensable research tool for any scholar anywhere who seeks to explore the written record of the Mesopotamian civilization.”

Personal Reflection

          Currently, I am an Undergraduate Anthropology student with a concentration in Archaeology with a love for everything Middle Eastern. The Arabic language has been an obsession of mine for several years now and it has been my desire to combine my two passions under one umbrella. Therefore, this article continues to impress me more and more each time I read it. A discovery of this magnitude allows for not only my interests to be heightened but also to be so excited for a field I will someday call my own.  I hope that each one of you finds this article to be as exciting as I did/do. One particular phrase continues to speak to me upon remembering the article; even when I don’t plan on recalling it at all-

          “This was probably the first writing system anywhere, and the city-states that arose in the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys, mainly in what is present-day Iraq and parts of Syria, are considered the earliest urban and literate civilization. The dictionary, with 28,000 words now defined in their various shades of meaning, covers a period from 2500 B.C. to A.D. 100.”

         The statement above not only validates the high praise of the 21 volumes, via the journalist who wrote the article about the dictionary, by illuminating the information surrounding the find to the view of the masses, yet also humbly brings the public to the same conclusion; without these early writers the article in question would not be possible. In conclusion, I hope that all my beautiful followers find this piece to be not only informational, but also illuminating and inspiring. If any of you have questions about the article, the source, or the like, please comment the post.

Thank You; and Good Reading.