Eblaite language

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Eblaite
Spoken in: Ebla
Language extinction: before the 2nd millennium BC
Language family: Afro-Asiatic
 Semitic
  East Semitic
   Eblaite
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: sem
ISO 639-3: xeb

 

Eblaite is an extinct, perhaps East Semitic language, which was spoken in the 3rd millennium BC in the ancient city Ebla, in modern Syria. It is considered to be the oldest written Semitic language.

The language, closely related to Akkadian, is known from about 17,000 tablets written with cuneiform script which were found between 1974–1976 in the ruins of the Ebla city. The tablets were first interpreted by Giovanni Pettinato.