Ancient Near Eastern Place Names

These names were used in the ancient Near East. That is, by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Phoenicians and others. Listed separately are Ancient Egyptian names and Ancient Persian names.

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Ashur 𒀸𒋩 (Settlement & Region) English, Arabic, Persian, Akkadian
From Akkadian 𒀸𒋩 (Assur), meaning unknown. This was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, supposedly named for the god Ashur, though the god was in fact probably named for the city. The empire, Assyria, was also named for it. The city was destroyed in the 14th century by the forces of Tamerlane.... [more]

Ashurayu (Region) Akkadian
Akkadian form of Assyria.

Babili 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Settlement) Akkadian
Akkadian form of Babylon.

Dammeseq דַּמֶּשֶׂק (Settlement) Ancient Aramaic, Biblical Hebrew
Aramaic and Hebrew form of Damascus.

Esharra 𒂍𒊹𒊏 (Other) Ancient Assyrian
From Sumerian 𒂍 (e) meaning "temple, house" and 𒊹 (shar) meaning "totality, world". This was the name of the main temple dedicated to the god Ashur in the city of Ashur.

Galil גָּלִיל (Region) Hebrew, Ancient Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew form of Galilee.

Isin 𒉌𒋛𒅔𒆠 (Settlement) Sumerian
Meaning unknown. This was the name of a city-state in Mesopotamia, originally Sumerian.

Misri 𒈪𒄑𒊑𒄿 (Country) Akkadian
Akkadian cognate of Misr, referring to ancient Egypt.

Natzrat נָצְרַת (Settlement) Ancient Hebrew, Hebrew
Hebrew form of Nazareth.

Ninua 𒌷𒉌𒉡𒀀 (Settlement) Akkadian
Akkadian form of Nineveh.

Purattu 𒀀𒇉𒌓𒄒𒉣 (River) Akkadian
Akkadian form of Euphrates.

Urartu 𒆳𒌨𒌒𒂅 (Region) Akkadian, Armenian, English
From Akkadian 𒆳𒌨𒌒𒂅 (Urartu), meaning unknown, possibly of Old Armenian origin. This was the name of an ancient kingdom that existed between the 9th and 6th centuries BC in eastern Anatolia (modern Armenia and Turkey).

Uruk 𒌷𒀕 (Settlement) Akkadian, English
From Sumerian 𒌷 (uru) meaning "city". This was the name of a city-state of ancient Sumer (later Akkad and Babylonia). It was inhabited until the time of the Islamic conquest of the area.

Yerushalayim יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Settlement) Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew form of Jerusalem.

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