Akkadian is an extinct East Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia from the third millennium BC until its gradual replacement in common use by Old Aramaic among Assyrians and Babylonians from the 8th century BC.
Akkadian language inscription on the obelisk of Manishtushu
A Neo-Babylonian inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II
Georg Friedrich Grotefend
Edward Hincks
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and north-eastern Syria. In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Iran, Turkey, and Kuwait.
A modern satellite view of Mesopotamia, October 2020.
The Tigris river flowing through the region of modern Mosul in Upper Mesopotamia.
Mesopotamian Marshes at night, southern Iraq. A reed house (Mudhif) and a narrow canoe (Mashoof) are in the water. Mudhif structures have been one of the traditional types of structures, built by the Marsh people of southern Mesopotamia for at least 5,000 years. A carved elevation of a typical mudhif, dating to around 3,300 BCE was discovered at Uruk.
One of 18 Statues of Gudea, a ruler around 2090 BC