Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

Dear Yigal,
There are Neo-Babylonian pictures, but I can't
recall where, which show two scribes, one writing
on clay and one on papyrus, the one with a stylus,
the other a pen.
There is also a separate Akkadian word for the
paper-writing scribe, which I also once knew, but
can't remember now. Sorry. It has been assumed
that the scribe writing in paper and ink was
writing Aramaic, but I don't recall any texts
which explicitly say this. Further, it has also
been assumed (based on no data that I know of)
that the reason that the great archives at Uruk
and Sippar ended abruptly was because of the
switch to paper and Aramaic. The assumption behind
this theory is that paper decays or is destroyed
by fire, neither of which is true of the clay
tablets.
This probably isn't very helpful, but is what I
know at the moment. 
Best,
See ya in a few weeks.
Liz

Lisbeth S. Fried, Ph.D. 
The Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
and the Department of Near Eastern Studies
University of Michigan 
2068 Frieze Bldg 
105 S. State St. 
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-
> hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
Yigal
> Levin
> Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 4:32 PM
> To: b-hebrew
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aramaic in Babylonia
> 
> Hi Karl,
> 
> That Aramaic was the lingua franca in the west
during
> the Persian Period is
> well documented. Do you know of official
documents
> in Aramaic from Egypt
> during the Saite period, before the Persian
conquest?
> 
> Yigal
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
> To: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>;
> <biblical-studies AT yahoogroups.com>;
> <archaeology2 AT yahoogroups.com>;
> <neareasternarchaeology AT yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 8:23 PM
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aramaic in Babylonia
> 
> 
> Yigal:
> 
> Was there any _spoken_ difference between
> Akkadian and Aramaic during the
> Neo-Babylonian period? That what appear to be
> differences may actually be
> related to our faulty understanding of
pronunciation?
> 
> All I can say definitely is that all the history
sources I
> have read
> indicate that Aramaic was the lingua Franca from
the
> Neo-Babylonian period
> through the end of the Persian empire. Further,
official
> documents were
> found in Egypt written in Aramaic from that
period.
> 
> Karl W. Randolph.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
> 
> >
> > Hi y'all, and with apologies for
cross-posting?
> >
> > Does anyone have any information on the status
of
> Aramaic IN
> > BABYLON during the Neo-Babylonian period? How
> widely was it used,
> > by whom, did it have any official status (like
it would
> during the
> > Persian period)? Was the exiled Jewish
community
> more likely to
> > speak Aramaic or Babylonian/Akkadian? Are
there
> any official
> > documents in Aramaic?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Yigal Levi
> 
> --
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