Chicago Assyrian Dictionary

Last updated

The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (CAD) or The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is a nine-decade project at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute to compile a dictionary of the Akkadian language and its dialects. Modeled on the Oxford English Dictionary , work on the project was initiated in 1921 by James Henry Breasted, the founder of the Oriental Institute, who had previously worked on the Berlin dictionary of Ancient Egyptian.

Contents

From 1973 to 1996, Erica Reiner was editor in charge, followed by Martha T. Roth, dean of humanities. [1] Initially expected to take 10 years to complete, the first volume was not published until 1956, and the 26th and final volume was published in 2011.

At a conference at the Oriental Institute on June 6, 2011, scholars assessed the significance of the dictionary. [2] Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute, said it "is an indispensable research tool for any scholar anywhere who seeks to explore the written record of the Mesopotamian civilization." [2] It is one of several large-scale United States dictionary projects for ancient Middle Eastern languages, including the Chicago Hittite Dictionary , the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary , and the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. [3]

Volumes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Code of Hammurabi</span> Babylonian legal text

The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed c. 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The primary copy of the text is inscribed on a basalt stele 2.25 m tall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akkadian language</span> Extinct Semitic language of Mesopotamia

Akkadian was an East Semitic language, now extinct, that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia from the third millennium BC until its gradual replacement by Akkadian-influenced Old Aramaic among Mesopotamians by the 8th century BC.

Rabshakeh is a title meaning "chief of the princes/cup-bearers" in the Semitic Akkadian and Aramaic languages. The title was given to the chief cup-bearer or the vizier of the Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian royal courts in ancient Mesopotamia, and revived by the Assyrians as a military rank during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nippur</span> Archaeological site in Iraq

Nippur was an ancient Sumerian city. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind", ruler of the cosmos, subject to An alone. Nippur was located in modern Nuffar in Afak, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Occupation at the site extended back to the Uruk period, the Ubaid period, and the Jemdet Nasr period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyrian people</span> Ethnic group indigenous to the Near East

Assyrians are an indigenous Middle-Eastern ethnic group native to Mesopotamia in West Asia. Modern Assyrians descend from their ancient counterparts, directly originating from the ancient indigenous Mesopotamians of Akkad and Sumer who first developed the civilisation in northern Mesopotamia that would become Assyria in 2600 BCE. Assyrians have been speaking variations of Suret, a Semitic language of the Neo-Aramaic branch, since approximately the 10th century BCE. Modern Assyrians often culturally self-identify as Syriacs, Chaldeans, or Arameans for religious, geographic and tribal identification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriental Institute (Chicago)</span> Near Eastern studies center and museum

The Oriental Institute (OI), established in 1919, is the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Near Eastern ("Orient") studies and archaeology museum. It was founded for the university by professor James Henry Breasted with funds donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. It conducts research on ancient civilizations throughout the Near East, including at its facility, Chicago House, in Luxor, Egypt. The institute publicly exhibits an extensive collection of artifacts related to ancient civilizations at its on-campus building in Hyde Park, Chicago. According to anthropologist William Parkinson of the Field Museum, the OI's highly focused "near Eastern, or southwest Asian and Egyptian" collection is one of the finest in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syriac Christianity</span> Branch of Eastern Christianity

Syriac Christianity is a distinctive branch of Eastern Christianity, whose formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expressed in the Classical Syriac language, a variation of the Aramaic language. In a wider sense, the term can also refer to Aramaic Christianity in general, thus encompassing all Christian traditions that are based on liturgical uses of Aramaic language and its variations, both historical and modern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mušḫuššu</span> Dragon-like creature from Mesopotamian mythology

The mušḫuššu or mushkhushshu, is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snake-like tongue, and a crest. The mušḫuššu most famously appears on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, dating to the sixth century BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mummu</span> Mesopotamian deity

Mummu is a Mesopotamian deity. His name is an Akkadian loanword from Sumerian "umun", which translates as "main body, bulk, life-giving force" and "knowledge", as the active part, in contrary to the more lethargic primordial forces of Tiamat and Apsû.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samʼal</span> Archaeological site in Turkey

Samʼal, also Yaʼdiya or Zincirli Höyük, is an archaeological site located in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of modern Turkey's Gaziantep Province. It was founded at least as far back as the Early Bronze Age and thrived between 3000 and 2000 BC, and on the highest part of the upper mound was found a walled citadel of the Middle Bronze Age. New excavations revealed a monumental complex in the Middle Bronze Age II, and another complex that was destroyed in the mid to late 17th century BC, maybe by Hititte king Hattusili I. It was largely abandoned during the Hittite and Mitanni periods but flourished again in the Iron Age, initially under Luwian-speaking Neo-Hittites, and by 920 B.C. had become a kingdom. In the 9th and 8th century BC it came under control of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and by the 7th century BC had become a directly ruled Assyrian province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argishti I of Urartu</span>

Argishti I, was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan. Alternate transliterations of the name include Argishtis, Argisti, Argišti, and Argishtish. Although the name is usually rendered as Argišti, some scholars argue that Argisti is the most likely pronunciation. This is due to the belief that the Urartians used the cuneiform symbol š to voice an s-sound, as opposed to representing the digraph sh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simo Parpola</span>

Simo Kaarlo Antero Parpola is a Finnish Assyriologist specializing in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Professor emeritus of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell Fekheriye</span>

Tell Fekheriye is an ancient site in the Khabur River basin in the Al Hasakah Governorate of northern Syria. It is securely identified as the site of Sikkan, attested since c. 2000 BC. While under an Assyrian governor c. 1000 BC it was called Sikani. Sikkan was part of the Aramaean kingdom of Bit Bahiani in the early 1st millennium BC. In the area, several mounds, called tells, can be found in close proximity: Tell Fekheriye, Ra's al-'Ayn, and Tell Halaf, site of the Aramean and Neo-Assyrian city of Guzana. During the excavation, the Tell Fekheriye bilingual inscription was discovered at the site, which provides the source of information about Hadad-yith'i.

Adolf Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of his generation was editor-in-charge of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute from 1955 to 1974 and John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago.

Erica Reiner was an American Assyriologist and author. From 1974, she was editor of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, which was published in 21 volumes over 55 years, being completed in 2011 after her death. Reiner was associated with the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Her work concentrated on developing the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, the basic reference work for understanding the Akkadian language, the predominant language of Mesopotamia from 2400 BC to 100 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfred G. Lambert</span> British assyriologist (1926–2011)

Wilfred George Lambert FBA was a historian and archaeologist, a specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology.

Harry Angier Hoffner, Jr. was an American professor of Hittitology.

The Chicago Hittite Dictionary (CHD) is a project at the University of Chicago Oriental Institute to create a comprehensive dictionary of the Hittite language. The project was founded by Hans Gustav Güterbock and Harry Hoffner in 1975 and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is currently co-edited by Theo van den Hout and Petra Goedegebuure. Hoffner originally hoped that the project could be completed by 2000, though as of 2005 it was expected to last until 2045. It is one of several dictionary projects at the Institute, including the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary and the Chicago Demotic Dictionary.

The Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period or HUT is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. It lies chronologically between the Halaf period and the Ubaid period. It is still a complex and rather poorly understood period. At the same time, recent efforts were made to study the gradual change from Halaf style pottery to Ubaid style pottery in various parts of North Mesopotamia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serua-eterat</span> Assyrian princess of the Sargonid dynasty

Serua-eterat or Serua-etirat, called Saritrah in later Aramaic texts, was an ancient Assyrian princess of the Sargonid dynasty, the eldest daughter of Esarhaddon and the older sister of his son and successor Ashurbanipal. She is the only one of Esarhaddon's daughters to be known by name and inscriptions listing the royal children suggest that she outranked several of her brothers, such as her younger brother Ashur-mukin-paleya, but ranked below the crown princes Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin. Her importance could be explained by her possibly being the oldest of all Esarhaddon's children.

References

  1. Saxon, Wolfgang (2006-01-22). "Erica Reiner Is Dead at 81; Renowned Assyrian Scholar". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  2. 1 2 Wilford, John Noble (2011-06-07). "After 90 Years, a Dictionary of an Ancient World". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. Browne, Malcolm W. (1989-07-04). "Scholars Scaling an Unclimbed Peak: Aramaic". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-20.

Further reading