Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why were diplomatic letters in the 2nd millennium BCE often written in Akkadian cuneiform?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Sumerian cuneiform tablet — cuneiform An account of barley distribution, probably from Uruk, Mesopotamia, c. 3100–2900 bce; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

During the 2nd millennium BCE, Akkadian cuneiform served as the lingua franca of international communication throughout the Middle East. Because of its widespread prestige and established use, it became the standard medium for diplomatic correspondence between major powers and vassal states, even when the language of the script was not the native tongue of the participants.12

For example, the Amarna Letters—a collection of clay tablets discovered in Egypt—demonstrate that the Egyptian court used this archaic, provincialized form of Babylonian cuneiform to conduct diplomacy with other nations, such as the Hittites, Babylonia, Assyria, and [Mitanni]. By utilizing this universal writing system, sovereigns could ensure their messages were understood across diverse regions, facilitating the exchange of gifts, marriage negotiations, and political maneuvering.31