Two ancient clay tablets found in Iraq have allowed scientists to learn the details of the Canaanite language, which was considered lost. According to Live Science, it is remarkably similar to Hebrew..

Scientists estimate the age of the tablets at four thousand years. They contain phrases in an almost unknown language of the Amorites, originally from Canaan - a country whose territory now roughly coincides with Syria, Israel and Jordan - but who later established a kingdom in Mesopotamia. The phrases were placed next to the translation into the Akkadian language, better known to scholars..

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“Our knowledge of the Amorite language was so limited that some scholars doubted whether it existed at all.. But judging by the tablets, the language is coherently, predictably articulated, and completely different from Akkadian,” said researchers Manfred Krebernik and Andrew R.. George.

The tablets were discovered in Iraq about 30 years ago, but how they got to the US is unknown.. Kroebernick and George began studying them in 2016 after other researchers refused..

By analyzing the grammar and vocabulary of the mysterious language, they determined that it belongs to the West Semitic family of languages, which also includes Hebrew and Aramaic, which was once widely spoken in the region but is now spoken only by a few scattered communities..

Seeing similarities between the cryptic language and what little is known about the Amorites, scholars have determined that the tablets describe Amorite phrases in Old Baylon Akkadian..

Yoram Cohen, who was not involved in the study but followed it, said the tablets were a "

One notable passage is a list of the Amorite gods comparing them to the corresponding Mesopotamian gods, while another passage details the salutatory phrases.

Previously, scientists from the United States and Israel examined an ancient palace that was destroyed approximately 3,700 years ago and were able to figure out why this happened.. According to them, the Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri was destroyed by an earthquake..