Ancient Language Question

[Commilito]

Hi all,

Does anybody know the areas where Akkadian vs Aramaic was commonly used in the 2nd and 1st millenium BC in Holy Land and surrounding areas (specifically Asia Minor and Mesopotamia). Did any areas see significant use of one language over the other in those areas?

Thanks...I could not find this stuff anywhere else...

[Dan Diffendale]

I know that by the 7th c. BC Aramaic had replaced Akkadian as the vernacular of the Assyrian Empire.

Akkadian was spoken throughout Mesopotamia since before the beginning of the 2nd millenium BC, replacing spoken Sumerian in all areas somewhere around 2000. It was also used as the lingua franca for diplomacy and trade; hence, letters between Hittite monarchs and the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II were written in Akkadian. I know less about Aramaic.