Introduction to Akkadian (a Review)

Richard Caplice’s “Introduction to Akkadian” is a concise introductory Akkadian grammar. It is designed to provide a one semester survey of the main points of Akkadian.

The book is easily carried about for reading. It does cover the essentials of Akkadian grammar but provides only a few reading exercises. Answers to the exercises are not provided, which makes this book difficult to use for a self-learner. A student could use this book to review the language; as a “brush up” course if you will.

As I mentioned in a different review, any student who wants to really learn Akkadian should be reading John Huehnergard’s “Grammar of Akkadian” and should also buy the separate answer key to that grammar. Dr. Caplice’s book is solid and well written, but has been superseded by Dr. Huehnergard’s book.