What do ancient names tell us
Ancient Mesopotamia was located in modern Iraq, between the Tigris and the Euphrates. It was the cradle of the first civilizations on Earth, including Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian.
A wide variety of languages were spoken in Mesopotamia. The most common depending on the historical period were Sumerian and Akkadian. Akkadian had two main dialects, Assyrian and Babylonian.
One of the most famous names from this distant time is that of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, known to the general public thanks to the ship from “The Matrix.” Nebuchadnezzar is not just a mysterious sequence of sounds, but a very interesting name, which actually represents the whole sentence. Nabu-kudurri-usur, which is how it sounded in Akkadian, translates as “Nabu, protect my heir!”. Nabu is the Babylonian god of writing, and therefore of wisdom. Nebuchadnezzar was given this name because he was the eldest son, that is, the heir to the throne.
Another popular character from ancient history is the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, or Ashur-bani-apli. His name translates as “Ashur is the one who gave the heir.” The Assyrian dialect of Akkadian used the word aplu for “heir” rather than kudurru, as in Babylonian. This name is an expression of gratitude to the god Ashur for giving the father a son.
Akkadian names are very varied, but most of them contain a mention of some god. In the scientific community, such names are called theophoric. They can contain an appeal to God, gratitude, or praise. Most of the ancient Hebrew names that are very familiar to us also follow this pattern. For example, Daniel (Dani-el) — “(god) El is my judge”, Ismail (Isma-el) — “(god) El has heard”, Mikhail (Mi-ka-el) — “Who is like (god) El?”, Immanuel (Immanu-el )— “(god) El is with us.”
So, how about giving your child some ancient Semitic name? ;)
