Ancient Languages of the Middle East

CORRECTION: They were called "Israelites," not "Israelis." Israeli refers to the modern country, while Israelite refers to the ancient ethnic group.
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[@Xidnaf]

CORRECTION: They were called "Israelites," not "Israelis." Israeli refers to the modern country, while Israelite refers to the ancient ethnic group.

[@JeffNeelzebub]

Reviewing your years old videos? Interestingly enough, this video popped up into my recommended ones. I wonder if you commenting on your own video, years later, prompted that.

[@soulreaper1945]

Xidnaf yeah and they are different people and that is palestain not israeli

[@Nnn-mb3um]

did you forget about Arabic in the second part? WTF

You mean today in English they are called Israelites. Back then of course there was no English and in Hebrew they were called... well, depends who we're talking about since it's probably not like the Bible says it was. But for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Israel, the Hebrew word was probably the same as the word for Israeli citizens today, Yiśraˀelim.

[@emadel-kanaani9967]

the Israelites were a tribe of the Canaanites, they were north-western Arabs of the Arabic Peninsula. The Israelites got their name in the Bible by Israel how is actually Jacob and his 12 sons. But that is fairy tale of course. The fact is, that there is no Hebrew or Jewish People, but there was the city-state of Hebron in the land of Canaan and some Canaanites have had the Judaism as their faith and some were polytheists.

[@fayrooztinksabout1708]

I am an Assyrian.. I speak Neo-Aramaic fluently!

[@Confucius_76]

It's awesome that your ethnic group has survived since the ancient times

[@Adir-Yosef]

prays for you

[@Ali24219]

Does that mean that me being “Arab” I’m probably not “Arab” but one or probably more than one of those ethnic groups

[@tommysmyth1210]

Nash NN Referring to Israel as “a stupid piece of land” shows that you are completely uneducated in the most fundamental basics of the matter of the conflict

[@jcxkzhgco3050]

Nash NN so you believe that Hitler was a hardcore Christian? Oh and also Jews were involved in killing Jesus as well

[@mlks4265]

Proud to be Aramean and speak Aramaic ❤️ ܐܠܗܐ ܢܢܛܪܟܘܢ

[@gracesengul8152]

shlomo ahuno!

[@anotheraccount2576]

Assyrian* Did you not just hear what he said in 3:50? Arameans are long gone just like everyother group EXCEPT Assyrians.

[@ash-se4gx]

BINA, LAND W SUROYO FOREVER

[@basheruo4415]

@@anotheraccount2576 that not what genatic said tho Gentaic search about middle east found that most of syrian related to the Aramens and most of iraqis related to assyrian And there are a difference between the DNA for both of syrian and Iraqi even tho they look similer to each other. The weird thing that assyrian them self speak eastern syriac (Aramaic root) even tho the Aramens should've speak assyrian or akkidan. They litterey been counqerdd And there counqer spokr there tong instead of the opsite due to the fact that Aramaic had very storng, easy alphabet wich make it the most spoken language in entire assyria. Its the same thing about romance language. Just because Franceh and Spain and purtgal speak language that rooted in Latin dosnt make them Latin, they are mostly celtic pepole or at least what some genatic search found.

[@saulgoodmanKAZAKH]

Beautiful language

[@neemapaxima6116]

Amazingly Assyrian is still spoken... My friend speaks it as his first language...

[@neemapaxima6116]

ippos_khloros​ Actually, it'called Assyrian Neo-Aramaic.... but in Iran it's called "Ashuri"

[@neemapaxima6116]

ippos_khloros of course it's different from original Assyrian language, as is my current language from original Persian ! Original Persian language went extinct by the Arab invasion... but we still call our language Persian even if it has been heavily modified ! Iranian Ashuris still consider their homeland northern Iraq, especially the city of Nineveh.

[@arameansyriac3535]

I speak Aramaic too, i'm an Aramean-Syriac

[@osamahmousa]

Neema Paxima I can speak it as well 😊

[@ShnoogleMan]

Yeah, most native semitic languages and are now dying out because of the Arab invasions. The only reason Hebrew is going strong now is because the Israelis reasserted their independence

[@AngrocSound]

I wish you had touched more on the subject of how the Akkadian and Sumerian langauges afflicted eachother. Such as: the reason we even know Sumerian is because Akkadians took a liking to Cuneiform, and made their equivalent to the rosettastone, the Behistun inscriptions. How early in sumeriology, people assumed Sumerian was just a dialect of Akkadian, and that cuneiform was an Akkadian invention. It took a while for people to realize they where looking at a completely new language isolate. But great video! I am loving this channel. Great for us "people who are interested in linguistics but aren't linguists".

[@Joy-wd9ez]

There's a video about the history of the sumerians by Paul Cooper. It incorporates some linguistic information about them.

[@hannibalbarca1147]

The people who wrote the Behistun inscriptions weren't the Akkadians, but the Persians. Pretty sure it was Darius I who wrote it (or commissioned it).

[@Crick1952]

6:00 -_- Some people just want to watch the world burn...

[@Xidnaf]

+Crick1952 I'm a guy of simple taste. I enjoy stick figures, talk bubbles, over-simplified maps. And you know the thing they have in common? They're cheap.

[@zaidnava3728]

+Crick1952 I don't.

[@yriafehtivan]

+Xidnaf So when are you going to have another video with information to shove into my brain via my earholes? Really enjoy your work.

[@leedaniel2002]

Yup

[@tombolinygalaxy7161]

True

[@2321channel]

Isn't the two most spoken semitic languages Arabic and Amharic?

[@jacobbarker544]

23:21 Yeah, but this is supposed to be about the Middle East. Maybe he made a mistake, but that's why I thought he said that.

[@hiddenhist]

That doesn't mean that he hasn't given false information. Xidnaf himself stated that the two biggest semetic languages were Arabic and Hebrew. He didn't specify that the two biggest middle eastern ones were Hebrew and Arabic. Therefore, he is still guilty of miseducation.

[@poodle3507]

Well they are the biggest in terms of importance.

[@louspussay]

hussami khaldoun not a "plastic" language, it's a revived language

[@johntafoya4752]

Bible says and it started in the beginning that first Adam and Eve in about six thousand years I go they lived. And there's actually a book read the Bible. Then you won't have to be so confused about what you're doing and what happened. And it says in the beginning God read Genesis bereshit

[@rhayat10]

When you say "the two big Semitic languages today are Hebrew and Arabic", you're forgetting that Amharic is Semitic language #2 by sheer number of speakers. Tigrinya (also spoken in Ethiopia) also has more speakers than Hebrew.

[@TomerCohenillumenati]

Maybe he meant the most known today

[@rhayat10]

The most known by people who don't know very much about Semitic languages maybe :)

[@TomerCohenillumenati]

True, but most of the people don't have any particular knowledge in semetic languages and so, hebrew, being the language of the most sold book in the world is probaly is more known.

[@songjoon4030]

Maybe because Jews and Arabs have successfully preserved their respective cultures, as opposed to Arameans.

[@rhayat10]

Jews really have not done a good job preserving our culture. Also, I think you're confusing Amharics with Arameans. Two totally different peoples and different languages.

[@dysgucymraeg1]

One correction: we do have seals and coins with Hebrew writing that date from the 1st Temple period.

[@thefremddingeguy6058]

You should've mentioned how Syriac and other languages descended from the Aramaic language family are still living today.

[@e11even01]

I am Assyrian and I thoroughly enjoyed this

[@allawy]

IRAQ!

[@BabylonianHebrew]

+Diana Zaya im an iraqi jew

[@memi424]

+Diana Zaya Is It similar to Arabic or Kurdish ? what is Assyrian language today?

[@e11even01]

+Banana MJZ I would say it is more similar to Arabic, and the languages do share a lot of words (:

[@imbana268]

+Banana MJZ There was no Kurds in the entire Middle-East, their DNA tracks to the area ''East Iran, Pakistan, India'' Central Asia in general. They're the newest people that migrated to the Middle-East, so are the Turks. Kurds of Iraq are currently ''Kurdifaction'' which means they're trying to change history, instead of saying Assyrian.. They say Christian Kurd or something in that direction.

[@Quasarbooster]

I am glad that I've found at least one channel that focuses on linguistics!

[@frikativos]

The 2 biggest Semitic languages are Arabic and Amharic (in Ethiopia). Hebrew is the 3rd one. Also, we know that some of the parts of the Bible are really really old, like from around 1000 B.C. or even older. The Hebrew language in those parts is quite different from the Hebrew in the most recent ones. Anyway, nice video,

[@kcalev11]

by number of native speakers Hebrew is probably the 4th after Tigrinya as well , number are close though.

[@gabrielchris5163]

javier arriaga garcia the bible is not that old for the reccord because the survivng so called original manuscripts go to 4th century BC we don't know the real old testament

[@jacobbarker544]

Javier Arriaga García Yeah, but this is supposed to be about the Middle East. Maybe he made a mistake, but that's why I thought he said that.

[@gabiedubin]

yea but hebrew and arabic are the closest languages to the original , amaharic and tigriyan while they are semitic langauges and are big they have diverged from the routes further than hebrew and arabic

[@hiddenhist]

A semetic language is still a semetic language. We wouldn't fail to call to English a Germanic language despite its FIFTY PERCENT latin influence. This comes from an approximate twenty five percent direct latin influence and an approximate twenty five percent french influence due to french invasion.

[@Athos1776]

I'm Aramean/Assyrian and I speak Aramaic

[@nonosh]

I'm Armenian. There was a time when your ancestors were the southern neighbors of my ancestors. Good times.

[@dokholidayy1367]

KURD MEANS STRONG! Persians. If you're Kurdish you should know this.

[@hymnforgod8796]

i am aramean!!!!!!!! Shlomo

[@aramkaizer7903]

Same

[@5BBassist4Christ]

The entire Old Testament in only 40 seconds. Impressive. -I literally watched that one section three times.

[@QuarioQuario54321]

Creation and Noah’s ark weren’t covered

[@michyoung77]

I would also like to say your channel is incredibly interesting and it fuels my linguistic interests highly, as I share them with you. Languages always fascinate me greatly.

[@marksimons8861]

I think you mean the Israelites rather than the Israelis.

[@baconofthedarkside]

+Mark Simons I think you had annotations turned off.

[@ghenulo]

+BaconOfTheDarkSide Yes, those things are freaking annoying!

[@IntroSpectre6x3]

+Senorhysa Why are you so angry? Did your mother never hug you, or did your father hug you a bit too much?

[@IntroSpectre6x3]

Damnit. 4chan is leaking again.

[@baconofthedarkside]

***** i think we have found a troll

[@BBarNavi]

Way to erase the Canaanites from history.

[@Killer97]

+Retro Gamer proto arabs, and he didnt he just didnt mention them by name because they had little effect on these changes considering they have a desert between them

[@compovi8461]

+BARRR He didn't. He mentioned the pheonicians. Which is the greek name of the cana'anites.

[@Killer97]

compovi pheonicians and cana'anites are not the same

[@compovi8461]

+killer97 Yes, they are.

[@Killer97]

compovi pheonicians are only a part of the larger canaanite people

[@BiTurbo228]

Would it be possible to do a video exploring what we know of proto-afro-asiatic culture based on their linguistics, similar to what's been done for PIE? I think it'd be fascinating to have a point of comparison

[@MaSa-bp5qe]

Okay, Cannanites... where are they?

[@sabuomarrr1]

palestinians

[@abdiganisugal825]

Ma Sa The cananites are the -Israelis- Israelites and the Pheonicians.

[@kimjongtrump1934]

Omaragorn Palestinians are arabized Jews that converted to Islam .

[@Miro.s.]

Ma Sa here i am a Canaanite Palestinian , that my ancestors were jews and then became muslims now and yes we are occupied by zionists

[@sabuomarrr1]

lol why would u call urself a caananite palestinian? Ur a palestinian or arab period. Canaanite isnt relevant anymore..

[@michyoung77]

Personally, I think the bible is most definitely an accurate historical book. For one, most archeologists in the early 20th century believed (and had decent proof) that the Hittites never existed and were faked; that is until they found all of their archeological stuff. In doing this, they actually found many documents (as the Hittites also recorded their history) that almost exactly mirrored the bibles account of the event, except just being their point of view. What I'm trying to say is, just because their is insufficient evidence for down thing, it doesn't mean it's wrong or untrue.

[@yaruqadishi8326]

It's very wrong and untrue and you're mistaken on that. Hitties are all different to the čhetim of the Bible or Hebrew fiction. The findings as always disproved the bible. Hittites writtings refute everything in the Bible early on. The Hittites weren't semitic as the bible lies about the Hittites are Indo European. And they warred with Egypt in the ancient Israel and Palestine lands. The existence of the philistines refutes the bible as do the canaanites in truth and does the True Babylonians and true Babylon and true Jerusalem and it's real canaanite and hebrew kings

[@PoisonPlayzSouls]

we need more voices like you, Mr. Young

[@zfloyd1627]

​@@yaruqadishi8326I don't think the bible says Hittites are semitic. Technically, it says that they are descendants of Ham, but how does that exclude them from being considered to be Indo-European?

[@yaruqadishi8326]

@@zfloyd1627 in the Middle East of the Levant in an area where they don't belong and it post antiquity world where they don't belong. The Bible or Hebrew bibles are understanding about history about the world around it is just phenomenally false and wrong

[@yaruqadishi8326]

@@zfloyd1627 what did apparently does and it is clear on its subject that Hittites or whatever it's view is not hit tights but are Semitic people that were from some kind of weird lineage or from the Middle East when they are in fact from Anatolia contradictory to their fiction fantasy in Bible mythos fairy tales.

[@aquafieldrocks]

Regardless of whether or not the Bible is a reliable source for objective history, it's gives us information on the cultural history.

[@keegster7167]

Plus many other sources were religious. Gilgamesh, Illiad, Odyssey, Aeneid, et al. It happens all throughout history, even in modern times.

[@texannationalist5887]

people mostly just like to dismiss everything in the bible as fairy tales just because they aren't Christians, and assume that everything in it is made up an not credible

[@darkgreninja8349]

Texan Nationalist they do that probably after hearing that the earth is flat... You know, judging a book which literally says that as objective isn't that reliable...

[@yaruqadishi8326]

@@texannationalist5887 a particular god who's a fake. A false story telling. The stories in the torah or tanak have no origij reality no truth not history or facts in the least no truth. The events like flood of Noah and exodus are fiction mythos that reside at earliest ever in the iron age mid to late iron age truly.

[@moodist1er]

*propaganda from a racist magic slumlord who steals land through deceit and genocide.. And is poorly plagiarized from a dozen older religions by Rome.

[@BaryLevi]

As a native Hebrew speaker, I find the Bible very interesting linguistically. I learned a lot about the evolution of Hebrew and its neighboring Semitic languages.

[@Aklama01]

Do about Caucasus, it's very interesting place for language studying.

[@deangoldenstar7997]

... I love these videos. Especially the evolution of language and how they are interconnected. Can you please make a video about the evolution of curse words in english? I think that topic could grab people attention, but also give them a sense of understanding of where their frequently used vocabulary comes from. ^-^

[@EthanParmetItsDaBunny]

welp looks like you got your wish

[@JohnSmithTheExplorer]

A book that claims bread rained from the sky cannot be used as a reliable historical source.

[@kentaakitaco425]

John Smith Bread didn't RAIN from the sky. The ground became wet and somehow turned into manna.

[@samuelpearson6836]

John Smith It also claimed that the Jewish people wandered off in the desert, got fucked by the Babylonians, returned to Israel. It does have some reliability. Though, it can't be used as a primary source

[@Fattimithy]

John Smith Its called the Gospel, so it must be true!

[@randomserb761]

John Smith Previously on "Taken out of Context"

[@JohnSmithTheExplorer]

***** ***** Magic = magic.

[@usedx115x]

Not sure if someone has told you yet, but Sargon didn't forcefully assimilate Sumerians. When the Akkadian Empire fell Sumer rose again as the Ur III Dynasty. It was in this period that Sumerian was phased out from immigration from Akkadian speaking regions. Another fun fact for the language nerds: the Sumerians called their land Ki-en-gi, the word Sumer is based on the Akkadian term Shumeru, which is most likely derived from the Semitic root for the word north. This suggests the Sumerians originally immigrated from a region north of Mesopotamia in pre-history, probably eastern Turkey or northeastern Iran.

[@trashj8778]

*Sauron

[@professeurstraussh1333]

talmud is pedophile

[@Confucius_76]

Gobekli tepe!!! They were the survivors of the great flood!!!!

[@arameansyriac3535]

Aramaic my language ♥

[@nonosh]

My language is Armenian! Isn't it a cool feeling to live in the 21st century as part of an ancient people?

[@arameansyriac3535]

nonosh Ofcourse it is :)

[@emadel-kanaani9967]

I am a Palestinian living in Germany and I want to study the ancient languages of Bilad ash-Sham (&) Canaan كنعان. Tell me, is your language or has it got similarities to the Palestinian today dialect? I could imagine words like zalame زلمه, sho شو, esh ايش, shlon شلون.

[@3ommer]

you are a damn syrian like you and me. or maybe i suffer form ethnic identity crises plz halp!

[@keegster7167]

Not trying to disillusion you, but everyone is a part of an ancient people.

[@tayebmarfoua9835]

before israelites enter israel there was a people living there who built the earliest cities in the world (Jéricho 8000bc) why always ignore that and focus only on jewish people ??????????

[@ievabrice2587]

+Tayeb Marfoua Many other ancient cities that are much much older than Jericho. Just info.

[@tayebmarfoua9835]

Ieva Brice Like what

[@ievabrice2587]

There are different ages being mentioned for the ones I have in mind and no real proof. Mainstreem science dates them max 1000 BC etc..... so I doubt you would even consider them. But, then again, I may be wrong.

[@MrGuyJacks]

The Exodus is bullshit, the Israelites/Jews arose from the local Canaanites.

[@flamingcoop]

+Born2BWild and what makes you so certain about that?

[@Sorenzo]

I love the video. I do have a question, though - Isn't the correct term for pre-modern Hebrew people in what came to be the Roman province of Palestine "Israelites", not "Israelis"? As far as I've been made to understand, "Israelis" are Hebrew and non-Hebrew citizens of Israel, while Israelites are the ethnic group written about - accurately or not - in the Bible.

[@MohannadAlFarhan]

How amazing you have described this amount of information about this period of history in the very easy, simple and quick way!!! Wow!

[@captainalpha3790]

بغض النظر عن طريقة عرضه لكن معلوماته مضللة وفيها تجاهل وتهميش كبير للغة العربية وأيضاً دعاية موجهة لتدعيم النظرة الصهيونية بالنسبة للتاريخ, وانظر إلى كم التعليقات التي تتسائل عن تجاهله للكنعانيين قبل ان يبدأ سرد روايتهم وأيضاً لأن الفترة هذه المنطقة تمتد لآلاف السنين فلا يمكن اغفالها .

[@lalalapooify]

Interesting that you neglect to mention that amharic is the second largest semitic language not hebrew

[@teddyayalew9999]

Amharic is the 2nd Semitic language and it has more similarity with akedian than Arabic or Hebrew. And you are Jewish lol

[@Cubester64]

I didn't even know linguistics was even a real thing. It actually sounds pretty interesting. EDIT: I just subscribed!

[@dogvom]

In showing where the Hausa live at 1:04, it's fun that you show a map that has the Mountains of Kong in it. Why the Mountains of Kong are interesting, I'll let you look up.

[@kokoshneta]

+Doug Hicton Because they were on QI, obviously.

[@dogvom]

Connor Shea As I said, I'll let you look up the Mountains of Kong. I think you'll find it interesting.

[@sunny-zs8oc]

great video, but i would suggest that a better name be "the ancient semitic languages" rather than middle east, as that encompasses many indo-iranian languages, and some slavic languages if you want to be precise. its narrowing down a term which rightfully encompasses far more than what is covered in the video

[@carthienesdevilsadvocatenr2806]

One thing to note: The oldest written Records we have (that I know of, anyway) are Ancient Egyptian, circa 6,000 BC. It begins with tribute markers in the Royal graveyard of Abydos.

[@Ali_Mener]

No, it was in Mesopotamia

[@whatchachattin]

this is an incredibly interesting channel thank you for existing

[@snakey934Snakeybakey]

according to the Jewishl narrative, Shaoul (Saul) wasn't a bad king, he just got really jelious of David andthey had a fight before they made up. and Shaoul was actually succeded by his son, Ishva'al who was killed in battle before he could be officially corinated

[@IamDeathwatch]

@Yousef Ghaneemah Definitely not. There was no Palestine or Palestinians in those days. He was a Hebrew/Israelite/Jew.

[@IamDeathwatch]

@Yousef Ghaneemah I believe history and archeology. That's not to say Palestinians don't exist today - they do - but not 3000 years ago, when this took place. Jews have been living in the region for a lot longer.

[@IamDeathwatch]

@Yousef Ghaneemah Abimelech was a Phillistine, not a Palestinian. However, Palestinian is derived from the word 'Phillistine'. Phillistine means 'invader' in Hebrew. The Phillistines were foreigners.

[@Adir-Yosef]

@negro bsr agreed

[@Adir-Yosef]

@Yousef Ghaneemah you are anti-Semitic want to know what anti-Semitise do they say people like Jesus and Abraham and Moses and albert einstein were Palestinians/arian why? becuase it's removing Jewish history but I'll like to have your sources for these claims

[@AlmostNoAvailability]

I just happened to come across one of your videos yesterday and I was intrigued by it. I never looked much into linguistics but I enjoyed the video and now you even throw in a clip of Barats and Bereta? Now I'm here to stay.

[@ThatZommy]

*Hears name Sargon of Akkad* Wait, what? Why is Sargon in the middle east? What's going on?

[@SemiDoge]

Carl named himself after the Akkadian King "Sargon". You didn't know that?

[@ThatZommy]

Taelforlife I knew that, I was making a joke. When I heard the name "Sargon of Akkad" I immediately thought of the youtuber, and not the historical figure.

[@leedaniel2002]

+ThatZommy haha I thought this too. I had to do a double take

[@KnzoVortex]

I'm deeply upset he took the name of a super important historical figure and caused many to associate it with all of the far right BS he gets up to.

[@assyriancomedycentral1753]

Assyrians spoke Akkadian, and Aramaic

[@yaruqadishi8326]

First akkadian then aramaic.

[@charliekahn4205]

Aren't those both just names of cities? Akkad and Assur?

[@lvctgz709]

Charlie Kahn they are named after the language and god

[@avim2686]

I'm really glad you made this vid. I can't wait for the Jewish languages one. Will you be covering Ladino and Yiddish in there also? I love the pic for skipping over 1,000 years. :-)

[@Xidnaf]

Yep! Languages like those will be the focus of a lot of the video :)

[@Kaenif]

Awesome as always! You've just made the really messy history easy to understand :) Also, inb4 biblical literalists.

[@Etude2510]

I just love these videos! :) You're very informative, and what you talk about is very interesting. :D

[@roben2791]

hi, nice work! I found that arabic has two origins! the spoken langauge came from the northen arabic spoken in some small kingdoms the writting system came from those great civilisation ( in yeman in sheba for exemple) the northe borrowed this awsome writting system ( wich would be developped even further ) and the southern (like sebeans, learned to speak arabic)

[@CDRNY25]

North as Levant.

[@tzvi7989]

nope the writing system was actually a derivative of the assyrian aramaic script. the south arabian yemeni peoples had their own writing systems and languages prior to the rise of islam which caused their admixture with northern arabian arabs

[@shayne-1880]

You forgot sinaitic and Phoenician. Also, Akkad was originally a Sumerian city-state but it gradually became its own entity.

[@LazieKat]

I dislike those quick "in a nutshell" videos as they tend to miss lots of meaningful details. Still nice video tho

[@yurismir1]

Why do so many people pronounce Semitic like semetic?

[@Kurtlane]

More about Hittite language. It was Indoeuropean, but took many words from the language that preceded it, now called Hattic (or Hattian). That language was either an isolate or related to Northwest Caucasian, or to Kartvelian languages. The name "Hatti" (or "Khatti") itself is form the Hattic.

[@tzvi7989]

im pretty sure that hatti is actually just hittite in hittite...

[@FsimulatorX]

1:21 CORRECTION Amharic is the 2nd largest, Semetic language.

[@MarcTelang]

But the video is about the middle eastern languages and Ethiopia is not in the middle east you are right tho 22,000,000 vs 9,000,000

[@AMR_k400]

@@MarcTelang there are 30million+ native amharic speakers and most Ethiopia(non amhara)speak amharic

[@MarcTelang]

​@@AMR_k400 Amharic is Spoken mostly by the Amharas who live in North West Ethiopia The rest speaks different languages

[@AMR_k400]

@@MarcTelang bruh wtf are u talking about i am a non amhara Ethiopian who can speak amharic fluently ,amharic is spoken literally every were we have different languages but most of us prefer speaking amharic i am better in amharic than my native language

[@k999ford]

The bible should absolutely be considered as a reliable source for history

[@thebuddhistsocialist]

Oh PLEEEEESE lol

[@Xidnaf]

thebuddhistsocialist Roval Chadoms Yes, both of you, let the hate flow through you, it makes me stronger!

[@SchorchioEldar]

+Roval Chadoms Well sir, i fear not everyone may agree with your idea. In my opinion, the bible is, before a history book with real facts, a metaphysical book. Studying about creacionism, i realised that most of the biblical stories simply try to find answers to the reality of the hebrew people, without putting in it any effort to search for the reality of the facts or applying any rational thoughts on it. Obviosly, is what we should expect from ancients civilizations like the hebrews, but in my opinion, under those circumstances, you can't take the biblical stories as facts.

[@StrategicGamesEtc]

Yeah, it doesn't really matter whether or not one accepts it as a religious text, there's no reason not to accept it as a historical text on the same level as other historical texts. There is massive evidence that the Bible has changed very very little since it was written; it more than passes the standard tests for judging whether or not a historical work can be used as evidence. Obviously that doesn't prove whether or not it is 100% accurate any more than the Illiad and the Oddysey or other ancient works are considered 100% accurate. It simply says that it meets the minimum reliability requirements to be able to use it in supporting or arguing against a given thesis.

[@StrategicGamesEtc]

Oh, and we're talking about linguistic changes that we don't have records of. There's going to be some guesswork involved. It's inevitable. There will also be multiple interpretations of the evidence which all seem reasonable. So yeah, one group can say language X descended from Y with influence from Z in time frame A while conquered by B, and another can say that language Y descended from Z having conquered X and in a treaty with a and in a cold war with B while trying to stamp out the culture of C, and both groups may be equally correct; there may very well not be a consensus that can be reached if both conclusions are reasonable.

[@juanm1997]

Very good video as always! Are you planning on doing a video about Lojban someday? It seems it's a language you're quite familiar with and I would love to see how you present it :)

[@Xidnaf]

Juan Manuel Torres Yep, at some point, probably! No promises on when though, I have a lot of different ideas for videos. I'm glad you like my videos! :)

[@EthanParmetItsDaBunny]

At 4:35, you say that there isn't any records of manuscripts written in a Hebrew language before the 4th century, B.C., but this hasn't been true for over a decade. The Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon was discovered in 2010, and contains proto-Canaanite inscriptions dated to the 10th century B.C. There are multiple examples of linguistic similarities to Hebrew in the tablet that are not found in neighboring semetic languages.

[@that_pac123]

No, the Bible cannot be used as a historical reference.

[@shoobadoo6459]

I know, right?!

[@ThisNameIsG]

May I ask why? It is as reliable as any other historical source.

[@shoobadoo6459]

ThisNameIsG Does it have any evidence to support it's claims? I don't think so.

[@vatnidd]

ThisNameIsG So you think Jesus really walked on water?

[@shoobadoo6459]

Samuel Lo **Sarcasm** So much fucking evidence to support it.

[@WatermelonEnthusiast9]

What if Arabic shares features from both, not because of borrowing, but instead is a creole?

[@M.Ghilas]

Modern day standard Arabic was a dialect of the Quraysh tribe that was used as a Lingua franca in Arabian peninsula 1400 years ago . and it spread more because it was the language of the Qur'an making it the language of Islam, and this day the so called Arab speaking population don't speak it materially but by learning it in public schools.

[@arameanj0s3f45]

Aramean here and I speak fluent Aramaic! Shlomo aleychun! We still exist!

[@froggyirq7194]

love aramean bro's from iraqi arab

[@avim2686]

PS...Wow you really sped up at the end there and didn't trip up. Impressive.

[@vatnidd]

The magic of editing!

[@mlks4265]

Fertile Crescent is the cradle of civilization ❤️❤️ , i still speak ARAMAIC ܐܳܪܳܡܳܝܳܐ 💛 ❤️

[@rizkyramadhany9842]

what

[@QuarioQuario54321]

0:44 Those two both begin in Proto so we can call those the Proto languages, and think those descended from a thing called Proto, as well as other languages that descended from a language that has Proto in its name. We can call those the Proto languages. There I created a new thing in linguistics now let's just wait for somebody to give information about this in books.

[@AndThatIsOwnage]

I really don't understand which part of what you said actually contradicted the Bible. If you're claiming that God's conversation with Abraham, can be found from archaeological evidence then that itself doesn't make sense, how can a conversation be found in this way? If you are talking about the existance of Abraham, one man, then again it seems kind of illogical to expect there to be archeological evidence of one man.

[@Xidnaf]

+AndThatIsOwnage Mostly I was talking about the whole exodus from Egypt part. From what I've read, it seems like if that had happened the ancient Israelis would have left behind evidence of the journey along the way, which we haven't found. Also, there isn't much evidence of the kind of violent invasion by the Israelites described in the book of Joshua. I don't understand this particularly well myself, mostly I'm just repeating what appears to me to be the consensus among archeologists.

[@AndThatIsOwnage]

Xidnaf Yes, and did you know that this apparent consensues also has arguments against it? The Bible says the Isrealites were located in the East Nile Delta. It's not expected to find records of the Israelites there as records in the Delta are lacking in general, because papyrus records often cannot survive the humid climate it has.The East Delta is also lacking in Monuments and other ancient Egyptian remains because they were repeatedly recycled as building material, moved, leveled, and or/built over. In addition, the Egyptians did not usually memorialize humiliating defeats on their temple walls, only victories. Finally, the Egyptians generally referred to Semites as “Asiatics” rather than mentioning specific groups.

[@VittorioLinoLevi]

+AndThatIsOwnage I think the climate would play a role in a lack of archaeological evidence for the Exodus. I would add that in a class I took on the Dead Sea Scrolls, we covered the content of the scrolls themselves, the possible owners/writers of the scrolls at the time they were written, as well as the context in which they were found and collected. That context is just prior to, during and just after the foundation of the modern state of Israel in the 1948 War, including some being confiscated under orders from Gen. Yigael Yadin, who conquered the Old City of Jerusalem and iirc Bethlehem during the 6-Day War. But I digress. TL;DR... the archaeologists were so impressed with the condition of the Dead Sea Scrolls, because many of the first finds were preserved in jars from ~135 BCE-73CE and legible millenia later!

[@Noroh____0]

+Xidnaf I found this in in the Encyclopedia Britannica "The name Hebrew could also be related to the semi nomadic Habiru people, who are recorded in Egyptian inscriptions of the 13th and 12th centuries bce as having settled in Egypt." It seems there is some recent archaeological evidence, my history professor mentioned an inscription reading "the Hebrews have been crushed by Egypt" or something like that dating back to at least 800 B.C.

[@MegaMementoMori]

+Xidnaf Jeriho was discovered, and archaeologists believe that it's walls fell around the time they should have [hard to decide which emoticon to use, part of me would put an " :) " because it's cool that archaeology supports ancient religious texts and part of me would put an " :( " because one of the oldest cities was destroyed there]

[@user-re3zu1yj3z]

בסופו של דבר אני אוהב אותך כבר! תודה רבה עבור הוידאו הזה שלך!

[@MingDynasty700]

I believe most of the bible stories actually did take place, but their scale and timing was hard to be traced by the time they were written down, making their the history incoherent. The might also be elements of stories borrowed from other nations' legends, or myths of gods rationalized as real human histories.

[@StrategicGamesEtc]

Yeah, the Bible is a historical document. People can (and have) argue all day about how much or which parts of the Bible are true, but there just isn't any valid reason to dismiss it as a baseless religious text.

[@israellai]

Wow I've never seen comments on the validity of the Bible that is so objective and logical. People are always either "it's fairy tales" or "it's all true"..

[@xavierwade3548]

Always interesting! Glad to see the Israeli correction at the top because I was thinking that wasn't right, but as always it was very interesting! Keep it up!

[@assyriancomedycentral1753]

Sumerian is actually Semitic and Assyrians Babylonian, Aramaic Syriacs Akkadians. Chaldeans. They are Semitic.

[@seyhuncelik9584]

Nope.

[@yamolise6997]

@Gabro Ego They only had two Semitic neighbors, and Xid just stated that the Akkadians and Sumerians had borrowed words from each other.

[@wtftode]

Awesome! I've been looking forward to more of your videos

[@wildfire3989]

The desert they lost on was Arabia? I thought it was Sinai desert!

[@averagecamelenjoyer6708]

me to

[@jacko293]

Your videos are so cool, Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@Chewy-Pudding]

"To what extent...?" Former IB student, perhaps?

[@matanmam966]

Ok you have some not-so-based information. The most ancient testimony of written Hebrew is from Mivtsar Haela, from the eleventh century BC, and you have the word "Israel" given in ancient Egyptian in a monument from the 13th century BC, contradicting what you said at 4:36 and before. From Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khirbet_Qeiyafa en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merneptah_Stele

[@bassmanjr100]

I just love how people will say there is absolutely no evidence and they ignore the Bible as evidence in and of itself. We have very old manuscripts that match up with the biblical text that we now have. These people lived far closer historically to what is in the Bible than we do. I think it's very possible these unnamed archaeological experts are incorrect.

[@jakenorum3815]

bassmanjr100 true

[@yaruqadishi8326]

No wrong and you play the child game here. You need medicine

[@schiavitu1609]

شكرا علي الفيديو الجميل معلومات مفيدة حقا

[@imagomonkei]

Considering we have outside archaeological evidence for Judaean kings David and Hezekiah, and the Bible has been the _only_ source text for locating other ancient Middle-Eastern peoples such as the Hittites, I think the Old Testament deserves a lot more credit than you give it, or at least than the majority of secular historians give it. I don't doubt that someday archaeology will confirm 99% of the Old Testament, and historians will still claim it is unreliable regarding the unproved 1%.

[@ivanantunovic4882]

+Seth Moore you are right, Bible is actually one of the most important historical sources, and also much more reliable than people want it to be, although you are wrong with Hittites, there are many sources about them other than Bible, such as Amarna letters, many of the Egyptian monuments talk about battles against them, we know a lot of Mesopotamian sources, and the frist source of all, the Anitta text.

[@thegreatwalrus6574]

As a Protestant I don't believe in books like Maccabees (Catholics do). But I still can use it for history.

[@beinbrek]

+Ivan Antunović I guess you didn't read Seth's comment very closely. Nowhere does he allege the Bible is the only source for knowledge about the Hittites. Here is exactly what he wrote, "and the Bible has been the only source text for locating other ancient Middle-Eastern peoples such as the Hittites." And it was. For many years the Hittite empire, just like the Assyrian Empire, was unknown outside the biblical record to the West and considered in some circles as just so much Jewish myth. That is until Archealogists using the information found in it found archealogical evidence for them. Now they are well known civilizations of the past. His statement is factual. That record for discovery using it is one of the reasons I do trust it as a record, though I will humbly point out it isn't histoy in the modern sense becauseit doesn't conform to that scholarly discipline's modern requirements for documentation, which mostly doesn't even exist.

[@yvrelna]

JK Rowling's books have been the only source text for the existence of Hogwarts. It mentioned King's Cross Platform 9 3/4, which we now have evidence that it exists in King's Cross. Therefore, some day the existence of magic world would be proven 99% to be true, though I don't doubt people will keep consider it an unreliable book because of the unproven 1%.

[@thegreatwalrus6574]

Parts of Harry Potter happen in London... I'm not saying that very place in the Bible exists, but a lot could. The challenge we face is picking out the good stuff.

[@nhabib114]

Absolutely brilliant commentary.

[@kuchikimakoto]

Is it really necessary to go into Jewish mythology? Imagine talking about Nordic languages and spending some seconds detailing their myths. It makes no sense.

[@M.Ghilas]

the main reason that makes western people interested in middle east is the Jewish history as a majority of them believe in a religion that's originated from Judaism.

[@kuchikimakoto]

@@M.Ghilas it does t matter. This is a channel about linguistics, not religion or mythology.

[@kuchikimakoto]

@@M.Ghilas I don't mind Jewish history, but the exodus is not history.

[@M.Ghilas]

@@kuchikimakoto apparantly he is a jew so....

[@kuchikimakoto]

@@M.Ghilas So? Being a jew doesnt make mythology become history. If he is religious enough to believe Israelites were ever in Egypt then anything else he says is literally useless.

[@sosiesosie9162]

CORRECTION: #Amharic is the second biggest semitic language spoken today

[@ravanaRTT]

Sargon of Akkad has a different meaning now haha

[@howtubeable]

People are so quick to point out the inaccuracies of the Bible. I wish people were as quick to point out the inaccuracies of the evening news.

[@snakey934Snakeybakey]

I recently found your channel, very interesting and informative :)

[@chaldeankurdistani2322]

Holy shit im an Assyrian im raaaare as fuck

[@gaiusbaltar4850]

You sound very young for the quality of your work. I bet you're going to get bored once you start linguistics at whatever university.

[@gaiusbaltar4850]

Oh I was right, you're actually studying linguistics. Proud me!

[@rossdenton5692]

Just found out your channel. Love your stuff - it's great!

[@footsteps2179]

Hello, Xidnaf. Before I state my opinion on the topic which you mentioned in the end, let me say I love your videos. They're informative, and seem very impartial (this is made evident on how you've handle Jewish topics in your videos.) That's a rare quality in KZbinrs. Nobody can claim something is false until they prove it to be so. In regards to the Torah and Bible, there is nothing that can bluntly be proved false (I know Noah's Ark is said to not have been possible due to the Moon's gravitational pull, but I've seen many credible arguments against such claims.) That said, it seems difficult to believe that the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. However, the Egyptians rarely (if ever) recorded anything shameful to the Pharaoh. Also, due to the geography of the Red Sea, it was common for earthquakes to occur, which would allow drastic tidal swings. Therefore, the Israelites could have made it across on notably dry ground. Everything else stated within the Torah and Bible seems very believable up to the time when the Kingdom split into two and each were captured by Assyria/Babylon. Not to mention, a psalm (I want to say Psalm 83) prophesied that other nations would rise against Israel, and later (in Isaiah and Jeremiah) that the Israelites would be taken captive, yet return to the homeland and restore the Temple (historians have accurately recounted many dates for the Scriptural Books.) Jesus also predicted (Matthew/Luke) that the Temple would be destroyed, and one of the minor prophets stated that the Jews would be stricken "among the nations." However, it was predicted that, just like happened regarding the Assyrians and Babylonians, that the Jews would be brought back home to their original land (Micah/Amos). That is exactly what happened after WW2, in 1948. Also, it is mentioned that in the last days, nations from all sides (it says north, south, east and west specifically) would be at war against Israel. All of that seems true regarding what the Torah/Bible state. So because everything seems valid (just because some parts may appear unbelievable, does not mean it is impossible) we can state that, yes, the Torah and Bible are reliable sources. Thank you for allowing freedom of speech in your comments, Xidnaf. Keep up the great work with your videos.

[@brickstrike4926]

I really enjoy your videos! Can't wait to see some new content!

[@Mamaleee123]

You forgot to talk about Iranian languages e.g., Persian. Although the languages are PIE, they are still in middle east.

[@tonton1626]

Duvel , Iran is more asian and culturally closer to India.

[@OfficialShadowKing]

Z T WHAT? HAHAHA SAYS WHO? I find Indians very weird and different than Iranians. Indians share literally no similarities with Iranians. No? Who said we are close to India? Why do people spread bullshit without supporting their stupid statements? We Iranians are close to caucasians and central Asian, linguistically and culturally. Not south Asians and not arabs

[@OfficialShadowKing]

Duvel Iranians are not middle eastern, we are an extension of caucasians

[@yaruqadishi8326]

@@OfficialShadowKing they both are Aryan and have similar languages. And similar Gods like Zoroastrian and hindism are almost mirror paralells unlike the semitics to the West in the Arabian continent.

[@jaif7327]

Process by that logic arabs are also an extension of the caucasians

[@Languslangus]

your vids are great, would love to see one about the slavan languages

[@historycenter4011]

I think any book is a source for anything.

[@Astronomy487]

Azeri's Guide to Success at Life A Bestselling Book

[@historycenter4011]

Astronomy487 I'm not even Azeri

[@Confucius_76]

Yes, but is every book a reliable source?

[@samykah]

Hi Xidnaf! I love your videos, and appreciate you work so much, but, could you please speak just a little bit more slowly, because sometimes is almost impossible to catch words and sentences? I barely understand some parts. Keep up the good linguistical work! ;)

[@nirualos]

Has anyone ever compared basque and Sumerian?

[@garethjones2596]

Countless times with no reliable results.

[@nashnn7583]

homo-sepeon language: confirmed

[@shayne-1880]

Just because they are both isolates doesn’t mean they’re related

[@masicbemester]

I think Paul from LangFocus made a video on something similar

[@somespeciesofpenguin]

Please no.

[@Emcee_Squared]

Why is it believed that it was spoken before 7000 BC and after 16,000 BC? Why this specific range?

[@stephenblackwell7351]

When did Sargon of Akkad become the best shitlord on KZbin?

[@Gallalad1]

Stephen Blackwell shortly after, but he was banished to hell on earth (England) until the time he would be needed to save the world from itself

[@nezumi6554]

Slight Correction: Sumerian held a prominent place for quite a while after Sargon’s conquests, such as during the Neo-Sumerian period in the Third Dynasty of Ur when it served as an official language. Even when people eventually stopped speaking it in day-to-day life it remained a liturgical language for a very long time.

[@LionKing-ew9rm]

You totally skipped Iranian languages branch (Old/Middle/New Persian, Kurdish.etc)

[@olympiany4552]

Lion King They are not really Semitic

[@alfzepo9976]

The Israelites actually have a lot of pre 400 BC history in their documented history and poetry in the Old Testament of the Bible

[@alfzepo9976]

And the Bible is reliable it’s even used by secular scholars for history

[@BabylonianHebrew]

Please look into the Shasu of Yhw. I believe that Jews/Hebrews are an indigenous Canaanite/Levantine people who simply created a distinct culture, rather than coming in from Egypt.

[@solid7468]

+Babylonian Hebrew lol most modern Israelis are europeans

[@BabylonianHebrew]

Adam Madi blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2009/12/ashkenazi-jews-are-middle-eastern-european-hybrids/

[@amichair]

+Babylonian Hebrew אנחנו עוד לא יודעים מספיק על ה-MtDNA של יהודים אירופאים כדי לקבוע מאיפה המוצא האימהי בא. אבל לגבי ה-Y-DNA שלהם, הרוב הגדול מגיע מהמזרח התיכון. אני לדוגמה J2a Y-DNA.

[@BabylonianHebrew]

+Adam “H” Madi I can disprove all the nonsense on that "website" easily

[@BabylonianHebrew]

+amichair Precisely. I am Mizrahi with J2.

[@cjdvise]

If you're interested in Ancient Language/Hebrew/Theological discussion I highly recommend "The Bible Project" youtube channel and podcast. The podcast coresponds with their KZbin videos. Whether you're a Christian, a Muslin, etc. or even an Atheist I highly recommend giving this project a listen/watch. Plus, I have to give praise to the quality of their videos because their animation is just outstanding.

[@SbTditdatdwt]

Why even mention the Bible thing..

[@WomackNLD]

Why not?

[@SbTditdatdwt]

NF15 Why do?

[@zachary1077]

Why not? Are you offended?

[@SbTditdatdwt]

Because it isn't factual and is unnecessary to cover.Zach Johnson

[@zachary1077]

SbTditdatdwt The Bible isnt factual? Sorry, I just need clarification.

[@pietrovitomoschetti8510]

Your channel is just brilliant.

[@calicoixal]

First: Israelites, not Israelis. Second: I'm dreading the next video because I'm Jewish, and there will probably be a few mistakes :( . Nevertheless, I enjoy your videos! Oh, and nice summary of the complicated early history of our people.

[@Xidnaf]

Huh, sorry, I assumed they were interchangeable. I did some Googling, and it looks like "Israelites" refers to the ancient ethnic group and people descended from them, while "Israelis" refers to citizens of the modern state of Israel. Is that right?

[@calicoixal]

Yes, it is. Another interesting fact: 'Hebrew', when referring to a people, refers to all the people who are descended from Eber. I have no idea who that would refer to by today's standards, but it includes a lot of people. More than the descendants of Abraham. I study this and I'm a nerd about it. Sorry.

[@nromk]

calicoixal according to folklore he and his family refused to build the Tower of Babel so that his family kept the original language of world; thus his descendants are known as Hebrews.

[@calicoixal]

Yes. I know. That's also why the word for Hebrew in Hebrew is עברית. His name עבר literally means "past, be away from". It is very possible that I know a bit more than you do about this particular topic. I didn't need to be told something I already knew. Maybe you were attempting to show who, today, is descended from Eber? Don't try; the genealogy is lost.

[@Xidnaf]

calicoixal Oh come on, I don't think nromk was necessarily assuming that you didn't know that. They shared an interesting fact that, if not your, than at least other people reading the comment thread might want to know. Just because they said something you already knew does not mean they're challenging your expertise.