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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Type

Usage

Initial letter

Meaning

expand search to ancestral names

the meaning is anything from the name's write-up that is surrounded by "double quotes"
separate search terms with spaces
search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes
this field understands simple boolean logic
- force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign
- force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign
expand search to ancestral names: meanings for names further up the family tree will be included in the search

Description

ignore name meanings

the description is the meaning and history write-up for the name
separate search terms with spaces
search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes
- example: "lord of the rings" will match names from the novel 'The Lord of the Rings'
this field understands simple boolean logic
- force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign
- force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign
- example: +greek +(legend myth) -zeus will match Greek names of myths or legends not about Zeus
ignore name meanings: keywords from the name meanings are ignored

Origin

Length

Syllables

syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations
names without pronunciations are excluded from results

Pattern

the pattern will be compared to the name
* is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters
- example: *oo* will match names which contain oo
_ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter
- example: __z will match names which have two letters and then a z

Sound

case sensitive

see the pronunciation key for a guide on how to write the sounds
sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations
names without pronunciations are excluded from results
* is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation
- example: *lee will match names which end with the sound lee
(s) will match exactly one syllable in the pronunciation
- example: (s)(s)ra will match names which have two syllables and then the sound rah
(c) will match a consonant
(k) will match a consonant or consonant cluster
(v) will match a vowel
(p) will match a plosive or stop consonant
(f) will match a fricative consonant
(n) will match a nasal consonant
case sensitive: check this if you wish distinguish between unstressed lowercase sounds and stressed uppercase sounds

Related name

Relationship

expand search to ancestral names

the "relationship" is how the name relates to its parent name
- example: searching for diminutive will return Betsy because it is a diminutive of its parent Elizabeth
selecting (all core forms) will exclude peripheral forms such as diminutives, short forms, and combinations
expand search to ancestral names: relationships between names further up the family tree will be included

Namesake

User list

enter a behindthename.com username to search that user's public personal name lists
to limit your search to a specific list, put the name of the list in brackets after the username

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ARARAT (Mountain) Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Near Eastern
From the name of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. This is the name of a mountain in Turkey (formerly part of Armenia), the place where Noah's Ark came to rest according to the Old Testament.

ASHUR (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 (Settlement) Akkadian
Akkadian form of BABYLON.

DAMMESEQ (Settlement) Ancient Aramaic, Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew
Aramaic and Hebrew form of DAMASCUS.

ESHARRA (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.

MISRI (Country) Akkadian
Akkadian cognate of MISR, referring to ancient Egypt.

NATZRAT (Settlement) Ancient Hebrew, Hebrew
Hebrew form of NAZARETH.

NINUA (Settlement) Akkadian
Akkadian form of NINEVEH.

URUK (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 (Settlement) Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew form of JERUSALEM.

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