Northwest Semitic is a division of the Semitic languages comprising the indigenous languages of the Levant . It emerged from Proto-Semitic in the Early Bronze Age . It is first attested in proper names identified as Amorite in the Middle Bronze Age . The oldest coherent texts are in Ugaritic , dating to the Late Bronze Age , which by the time of the Bronze Age collapse are joined by Old Aramaic , and by the Iron Age by Sutean and the Canaanite languages ( Hebrew , Phoenician / Punic , Edomite and Moabite ).
45-833: Baalah , properly Baʿalah ("Mistress" or "Lady" in the Northwest Semitic languages , sometimes Baʿalat ) is the feminine form of Baʿal ("Lord") and was applied to various Levantine goddesses. It was also the name of several places in ancient Palestine: Northwest Semitic languages The term was coined by Carl Brockelmann in 1908, who separated Fritz Hommel 's 1883 classification of Semitic languages into Northwest ( Canaanite and Aramaic ), East Semitic ( Akkadian , its Assyrian and Babylonian dialects, Eblaite ) and Southwest ( Arabic , Old South Arabian languages and Abyssinian ). Brockelmann's Canaanite sub-group includes Ugaritic , Phoenician and Hebrew . Some scholars now regard Ugaritic either as belonging to
90-472: A tetrarchy and divided among three of his sons, two of whom ( Philip and Herod Antipas ) became rulers of a quarter, and the third son, Archelaus , became an ethnarch and ruled over the remaining half of his father's kingdom. Major regions of the Herodian Kingdom were Judea , Samaria , Galilee , and Perea . Archelaus rule of Judea was gravely atrocious that he was dismissed in 6 CE by
135-529: A "South-Central" group which together with Aramaic forms Central Semitic. The Deir Alla Inscription and Samalian have been identified as language varieties falling outside Aramaic proper but with some similarities to it, possibly in an "Aramoid" or "Syrian" subgroup. It is clear that the Taymanitic script expressed a distinct linguistic variety that is not Arabic and not closely related to Hismaic or Safaitic, while it can tentatively be suggested that it
180-545: A different status as such, rather being a normal sequence of a short vowel and a glide. Suchard proposes that: "*s, both from original *s and original *ṯ, then shifted further back to a postalveolar *š, while deaffrication of *ts and *dz to *s and *z gave these phonemes their Hebrew values, as well as merging original *dz with original *ḏ. In fact, original *s may have been realized as anything between [s] and [ʃ] ; both values are attested in foreign transcriptions of early Northwest Semitic languages". In Proto-Northwest Semitic
225-437: A famine did oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was necessary to procure food withal, queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus, to bring a cargo of dried figs. And as soon as they were come back, and had brought those provisions, which was done very quickly, she distributed food to those that were in want of it, and left
270-746: A form of the Aramaic language , spread throughout the Northwest Semitic region of the Levant, northern regions of the Arabian peninsula and southern regions of Anatolia, and gradually drove most of the other Northwest Semitic languages to extinction. The ancient Judaeans adopted Aramaic for daily use, and parts of the Tanakh are written in it. Hebrew was preserved, however, as a Jewish liturgical language and language of scholarship, and resurrected in
315-538: A most excellent memorial behind her of this benefaction, which she bestowed on our whole nation. And when her son Izates was informed of this famine, he sent great sums of money to the principal men in Jerusalem. In 66-70 the First Jewish–Roman War erupted. From 70 until 132 Judea's rebelliousness required a governing Roman legate capable of commanding legions. Because Agrippa II maintained loyalty to
360-529: A row of procurators. Nevertheless, Agrippa's son, Agrippa II was designated King of the Jews in 48. He was the seventh and last of the Herodians . Jerusalem was plagued by famine between 44 and 48 According to Josephus , Helena of Adiabene "...went down to the city Jerusalem, her son conducting her on her journey a great way. Now her coming was of very great advantage to the people of Jerusalem; for whereas
405-467: A separate branch of Northwest Semitic (alongside Canaanite) or a dialect of Amorite. Central Semitic is a proposed intermediate group comprising Northwest Semitic and Arabic . Central Semitic is either a subgroup of West Semitic or a top-level division of Semitic alongside East Semitic and South Semitic . SIL Ethnologue in its system of classification (of living languages only) eliminates Northwest Semitic entirely by joining Canaanite and Arabic in
450-431: Is marked by a prefixed *n(a)-. It is mediopassive which is a grammatical voice that subsumes the meanings of both the middle voice and the passive voice. In other words, it expresses a range of meanings where the subject is the patient of the verb, e.g. passive, medial, and reciprocal. The stem of the suffix conjugation is *naqṭal-, and the stem of the prefix conjugations is *-nqaṭil-; as is the case with stative G-stem verbs,
495-610: Is of fundamental importance in human history as the source and ancestor of the Greek alphabet , the later Latin alphabet , the Aramaic ( Square Hebrew ), Syriac , and Arabic writing systems, Germanic runes , and ultimately Cyrillic . From the 8th century BC, the use of Imperial Aramaic by the Neo-Assyrian Empire (935–608 BC) and the succeeding Neo-Babylonian Empire (612–539 BC) and Achaemenid Empire (539–332 BC),
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#1732772793914540-926: Is spoken in modern dialects with an estimated one million fluent speakers by endangered indigenous populations scattered throughout the Middle East, most commonly by the Assyrians , Gnostic Mandeans , the Arameans (Syriacs) of Maaloula and Jubb'adin , and Mizrahi Jews . There is also an Aramaic substratum in Levantine and Mesopotamian Arabic . Phonologically , Ugaritic lost the sound *ṣ́ , replacing it with /sˁ/ ( ṣ ) (the same shift occurred in Canaanite and Akkadian ). That this same sound became /ʕ/ in Aramaic (although in Ancient Aramaic, it
585-477: Is the basic, most common, unmarked stem. The G-stem expresses events. The vowel of the prefix of the prefix conjugations in Proto-Northwest Semitic was *-a- and the stem was *-qṭul- or *-qṭil-, as in *ya-qṭul-u 'he will kill', while the stem of the suffix conjugation had two *a vowels, as in *qaṭal-a 'he has killed'. The G stative is like the fientive but expressing states instead of events. For
630-614: Is the same as that of the D-stem, and similarly, the participle is to be reconstructed as *musaqṭilum. All of the stems listed here, except the N-stem, could bring forth further derivation. The "internal passive stems" (Gp, Dp, and Cp; Hebrew passive qal , puʕal , and hɔp̄ʕal ) aren't marked by affixes, but express their passivity through a different vowel pattern. The Gp prefix conjugation can be reconstructed as *yu-qṭal-u 'he will be killed'. Reflexive or reciprocal meanings can be expressed by
675-471: The simpulum and lituus on one side, though the reverse maintained Jewish imagery. Attributing these coins to specific governors is a challenge. They lack the governor's name, but display the reigning emperor's regnal year and name in Greek. Scholars rely on cross-referencing this information with historical records, particularly the writings of Josephus, to establish a governor's chronology and assign
720-603: The Decapolis . Its revenue was of little importance to the Roman treasury, but it controlled the land and coastal sea routes to the "bread basket" of Egypt and was a buffer against the Parthian Empire . The capital was moved from Jerusalem to Caesarea Maritima . Augustus appointed Publius Sulpicius Quirinius to the post of Legate of Syria and he conducted a tax census of Syria and Judea in 6 CE, which triggered
765-539: The First Jewish–Roman War in 66–73 CE and ultimately the Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple in 70 CE, bringing an end to the Second Temple period . In 44 CE, Galilee and Perea were added to the province. In 132 CE, resulting from the merging of Galilee and Judea resulted in an enlarged province named Syria Palaestina . The first intervention of Rome in the region dates from 63 BCE, following
810-540: The Herodian Tetrarchy , jointly ruled by Herod's sons and sister: Herod Archelaus (who ruled Judea , Samaria and Idumea ), Herod Philip (who ruled Batanea , Trachonitis as well as Auranitis ), Herod Antipas (who ruled Galilee and Perea ) and Salome I (who briefly ruled Jamnia ). A messianic revolt erupted in Judea in 4 BCE because of Archelaus's incompetence; the revolt was brutally crushed by
855-577: The Legate of Syria , Publius Quinctilius Varus , who occupied Jerusalem and crucified 2,000 Jewish rebels. Because of his failure to properly rule Judea, Archelaus was removed from his post by Emperor Augustus in 6 CE, while Judea, Samaria, and Idumea came under direct Roman administration. This event had significant and ever-lasting effects on Jewish history , and the development of Christianity . The Judean province did not initially include Galilee , Gaulanitis (today's Golan) , nor Peraea or
900-550: The New Testament . Writings from the late first and early second centuries indicate that Jewish farmers introduced rice to Judea during the early Roman period. The local crop was fine, large-kernel rice. During the Roman administration of Judaea, some governors commissioned the minting of coins for local use. Only six governors are known to have issued such coins, all minted in Jerusalem. All issues minted were prutot , small bronze coins averaging 2-2.5 grams, similar to
945-477: The Roman Republic 's conquest of Judea in 63 BCE , the latter had maintained a system of semi-autonomous vassalage . The incorporation of the Roman province was enacted by the first Roman emperor , Augustus , after an appeal by the populace against the ill rule of Herod Archelaus (4 BCE – 6 CE). With the onset of direct rule, the official census instituted by Publius Sulpicius Quirinius ,
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#1732772793914990-709: The 19th century, with modern adaptations, to become the Modern Hebrew language of the State of Israel . After the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, Arabic began to gradually replace Aramaic throughout the region. Classical Syriac-Aramaic survives today as the liturgical language of the Assyrian Church of the East , Syriac Orthodox Church , Chaldean Catholic Church , and other churches of Syriac Christians . It
1035-522: The Canaanite group, the series of Semitic interdental fricatives become sibilants : *ð ( ḏ ), *θ ( ṯ ) and *θ̣ ( ṱ ) became /z/ , /ʃ/ ( š ) and /sˤ/ ( ṣ ) respectively. The effect of this sound shift can be seen by comparing the following words: Proto-Northwest Semitic had three contrastive vowel qualities and a length distinction, resulting in six vocalic phonemes: *a, *ā, *i, *ī, *u, and *ū. While *aw, *ay, *iw, *iy, *uw, and *uy are often referred to as diphthongs, they do not seem to have had
1080-556: The Emperor and often as provincial tax and finance ministers, to be elevated to governing magistrates with full state authority to keep the peace. He may have elevated Judea's procurator to imperial governing status because the imperial legate of Syria was not sympathetic to the Judeans. Following Agrippa's death in 44, the province returned to direct Roman control, incorporating Agrippa's personal territories of Galilee and Peraea, under
1125-640: The Empire, the Kingdom was retained until he died, either in 93/94 or 100, when the area returned to complete, undivided Roman control. Judaea was the stage of two, possibly three, major Jewish–Roman wars : Agriculture played a significant role in economic life in Judaea. Wheat, barley, olives and grapes were the main crops grown in Judaea's fields. Evidence for the cultivation of herbs, vegetables, and legumes comes from Rabbinic literature , Josephus ' works, and
1170-635: The Idumaean , also known as Antipas , as the first Roman Procurator . Antipater's son Herod was designated as the King of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE but he did not gain military control until 37 BCE. During his reign, the last representatives of the Hasmoneans were eliminated, and the huge port of Caesarea Maritima was built. Herod died in 4 BCE, and his kingdom was partitioned into
1215-518: The Roman quadrans . The design of the coins reflects an attempt to accommodate Jewish sensibilities, likely in collaboration with the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem. Unlike typical Roman coinage featuring the emperor's portrait, these coins displayed symbols like palm tree and ears of grain , echoing earlier Hasmonean and Herodian designs. A notable exception is the coinage of Pontius Pilate , (26-36 CE), which included Roman cultic items like
1260-594: The birth of Christianity . In 36 CE another messianic revolt erupted near Mount Gerizim , under the lead of a Samaritan , and was quickly crushed by Pilate; the Samaritans complained against Pilate's brutality to the Legate of Syria Lucius Vitellius the Elder , who removed Pilate from his post and sent him to Rome to account, replacing him with an acting prefect called Marcellus . In 37 CE, Emperor Caligula ordered
1305-485: The coins accordingly. These coins were primarily circulated within Judaea, with the highest concentration found in Jerusalem, where hundreds have been discovered. However, evidence indicates that the coins transcended their intended region, with discoveries in Transjordan and even in distant locations like Dura and Antioch . The minting of provincial coins ceased in 59 CE, and they continued to circulate until
1350-908: The emphatics were articulated with pharyngealization. Its shift to backing (as opposed to Proto-Semitic glottalization of emphatics) has been considered a Central Semitic innovation. According to Faber, the assimilation *-ṣt->-ṣṭ- in the Dt stem in Hebrew (hiṣṭaddēḳ ‘he declared himself righteous’) suggests backing rather than glottalization. The same assimilation is attested in Aramaic (yiṣṭabba ‘he will be moistened’). Three cases can be reconstructed for Proto-Northwest Semitic nouns ( nominative , accusative , genitive ), two genders (masculine, feminine) and three numbers (single, dual, plural). Proto-Northwest Semitic pronouns had 2 genders and 3 grammatical cases . nominative Reconstruction of Proto-Northwest Semitic numbers. The G fientive or G-stem (Hebrew qal )
1395-612: The end of the Third Mithridatic War , in which Pompey defeated Mithridates VI Eupator , sacked Jerusalem , and established the province of Syria . The assertion of Roman hegemony and the rise of Roman political and cultural influence brought an end to Hellenistic Judea . In the aftermath of the Hasmonean civil war , Pompey installed the prince Hyrcanus II as Ethnarch and High Priest of Israel , but not as king. Some years later Julius Caesar appointed Antipater
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1440-525: The erection of a statue of himself in the Temple in Jerusalem , a demand in conflict with Jewish monotheism. The Legate of Syria, Publius Petronius , fearing civil war if the order was carried out, delayed implementing it for nearly a year. King Herod Agrippa I finally convinced Caligula to reverse the order. Caligula later issued a second order to have his statue erected in the Temple of Jerusalem, but he
1485-463: The first Roman emperor , Augustus , after an appeal from his own subjects. Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Perea from 4 BCE, was dismissed by Emperor Caligula in 39 CE. Herod's son Philip ruled the northeastern part of his father's kingdom. Canaan State of Israel (1948–present) Following the death of Herod the Great , the Herodian Kingdom of Judea was divided into
1530-424: The form inherited from Proto-Semitic (i.e. *yuqaṭṭil-u), or as *-a-, which is somewhat supported by evidence from Ugaritic and Hebrew (*yaqaṭṭil-u). The C-stem (Hebrew hip̄ʕil ) more often than not expresses a causative meaning. The most likely reconstructions are *haqṭil- (from older *saqṭil-) for the stem of the suffix conjugation and *-saqṭil- for the stem of the prefix conjugations. The reconstructed prefix vowel
1575-453: The governor of Roman Syria , caused tensions and led to an uprising by Jewish rebel Judas of Galilee (6 CE). Other notable events in the region include the crucifixion of Jesus c. 30–33 CE (which led to the emergence of Christianity ) and in 37 CE, Emperor Caligula ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Second temple . Growing discontent at Roman rule led to
1620-702: The late third millennium to the mid-second millennium BC and the language of the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions dated to the first half of the second millennium otherwise constitute the earliest traces of Northwest Semitic, the first Northwest Semitic language attested in full being Ugaritic in the 14th century BC. During the early 1st millennium, the Phoenician language was spread throughout the Mediterranean by Phoenician colonists , most notably to Carthage in today's Tunisia . The Phoenician alphabet
1665-482: The prefix conjugation of stative roots, the vowel of the prefix was *-i- and it contained an *a vowel, e.g. *yi-kbad-u 'he will become heavy', while the second vowel of the suffix conjugation was either *-i-, as in *kabid-a 'he is/was/will be heavy', or *-u-, as in *ʕamuq-a 'it is/was/will be deep'. Whether the G-stem stative suffix conjugation has *i or *u in the stem is lexically determined. The N-stem (Hebrew nip̄ʕal )
1710-507: The prefix vowel is *-i-, resulting in forms like *yi-nqaṭil-u 'he will be killed'. The D-stem (Hebrew piʕel ) is marked by gemination of the second radical in all forms. It has a range of different meanings, mostly transitive. The stem of the suffix conjugation is *qaṭṭil-, and the same stem is used for the prefix conjugations. It is not clear whether the Proto-Northwest-Semitic prefix vowel should be reconstructed as *-u-,
1755-439: The province maintained some form of independence and could judge offenders by their own laws, including capital offenses, until c. 28 CE . Judea in the early Roman period was divided into five administrative districts with centers in Jerusalem, Gadara , Amathus , Jericho , and Sepphoris . In 30–33 CE, Roman prefect Pontius Pilate had Jesus of Nazareth crucified on the charge of sedition , an act that led to
1800-492: The revolt of Judas of Galilee ; the revolt was quickly crushed by Quirinius. Judea was not a senatorial province , nor an imperial province , but instead was a "satellite of Syria" governed by a prefect who was a knight of the Equestrian Order (as was that of Roman Egypt ), not a former consul or praetor of senatorial rank . Quirinius appointed Coponius as first prefect of Judea. Still, Jews living in
1845-582: The t-stems, formed with a *t which was either infixed after the first radical (Gt, Ct) or prefixed before it (tD). The precise reconstruction are uncertain. ʾ b g d h w z ḥ ṭ y k l m n s ʿ p ṣ q r š t Judea (Roman province) Judaea ( Latin : Iudaea [juːˈdae̯.a] ; Ancient Greek : Ἰουδαία , romanized : Ioudaía [i.uˈdɛ.a] )
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1890-599: Was a Roman province from 6 to 132 CE , which at its height incorporated the Levantine regions of Judea , Idumea , Samaria , and Galilee , and parts of the costal plain including Philistia , extending over the territories of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms . The name Judaea (like the similar Judea ) was derived from the Iron Age Kingdom of Judah , that was centered predominantly in Judea . Since
1935-560: Was more closely related to Northwest Semitic. The time period for the split of Northwest Semitic from Proto-Semitic or from other Semitic groups is uncertain. Richard C. Steiner suggested in 2011 that the earliest attestation of Northwest Semitic is to be found in snake spells from the Egyptian Pyramid Texts , dating to the mid-third millennium BC. Amorite personal names and words in Akkadian and Egyptian texts from
1980-508: Was murdered before the statue reached Jerusalem and his successor Claudius rescinded the order. The "Crisis under Caligula" has been proposed as the first open break between Rome and Jews . Between 41 and 44 AD, Judea regained its nominal autonomy , when Herod Agrippa was made King of the Jews by the emperor Claudius , thus in a sense restoring the Herodian dynasty. Claudius had allowed procurators , who served as personal agents to
2025-413: Was written with qoph ), suggests that Ugaritic is not the parent language of the group. An example of this sound shift can be seen in the word for earth : Ugaritic /ʔarsˁ/ ( ’arṣ ), Punic /ʔarsˁ/ ( ’arṣ ), Tiberian Hebrew /ʔɛrɛsˁ/ ( ’ereṣ ), Biblical Hebrew /ʔarsˁ/ ( ’arṣ ) and Aramaic /ʔarʕaː/ ( ’ar‘ā’ ). The vowel shift from *aː to /oː/ distinguishes Canaanite from Ugaritic. Also, in
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