Editing Jewish languages (section)

==Ancient history==
Early [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]] (ENWS) materials are attested through the end of the [[Bronze Age]]—2350 to 1200&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="enws">{{Harvcoltxt|Waltke|O'Connor|1990|pp=6–7}}</ref> At this early state, [[Biblical Hebrew]] was not highly differentiated from the other Northwest Semitic languages ([[Ugaritic]] and [[Amarna letters|Amarna]] [[Canaano-Akkadian language|Canaanite]]), though noticeable differentiation did occur during the [[Iron Age]] (1200–540&nbsp;BCE).<ref name="wo8-9">{{Harvcoltxt|Waltke|O'Connor|1990|pp=8–9}}</ref> Hebrew as a separate language developed during the latter half of the [[2nd millennium BC|second millennium&nbsp;BCE]] between the [[Jordan River]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]], an area known as [[Canaan]].<ref name="s1">{{Harvcoltxt|Sáenz-Badillos|1993|pp=1–2}}</ref>

The earliest distinctively Hebrew writing yet discovered was found at [[Khirbet Qeiyafa]] and dates to the 10th century&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="eurekalert.org">{{Harvcoltxt|Feldman|2010}}</ref><ref name="bar">{{Harvcoltxt|Shanks|2010}}</ref> The Israelite tribes established a kingdom in Canaan at the beginning of the first millennium&nbsp;BCE, which later split into the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] in the north and the [[Kingdom of Judah]] in the south after a dispute of succession.<ref name="sthist">{{Harvcoltxt|Steiner|1997|p=145}}</ref>

The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the [[Assyrians in Israel|Assyrians]] in 722&nbsp;BCE, and the kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586&nbsp;BCE, its higher classes exiled and the [[first Temple]] destroyed.<ref name="sthist" /><ref name="s112" /> Aramaic became the primary language of the Jews deported to [[Babylonian captivity|Babylonia]], with the first attestations of Jewish/Judean Aramaic found in [[Elephantine papyri|scrolls]] from the 5th century BCE on the island of [[Elephantine]].<ref name=Handbook/> Later the Persians made Judah a province and permitted Jewish exiles to return and [[Second Temple|rebuild the Temple]].<ref name="sthist" /> Aramaic became the common language in the north of Israel, in [[Galilee]] and [[Samaria]], though Hebrew remained in use in Judah with Aramaic influence.<ref name="s112">{{Harvcoltxt|Sáenz-Badillos|1993|pp=112–113}}</ref>

[[Alexander the Great]] conquered Judah in 332&nbsp;BCE, beginning the period of [[Hellenistic Judaism|Hellenistic]] domination.<ref name="s112" /> During the [[Hellenistic period]] Judea became independent under the [[Hasmonean]]s, but later the Romans ended their independence, making [[Herod the Great]] their governor.<ref name="sthist" /> One Jewish revolt against the Romans led to the destruction of the [[Second Temple]] in 70&nbsp;CE, and the second [[Bar-Kochba revolt]] in 132–135 CE led to a large departure of the Jewish population of Judea.<ref name="sthist" /> Biblical Hebrew after the Second Temple period evolved into [[Mishnaic Hebrew]], which ceased being spoken and developed into a literary language around 200 CE.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Sáenz-Badillos|1993|pp=166, 171}}</ref> Hebrew remained in widespread use among [[Jewish diaspora|diasporic]] communities as the medium of writing and liturgy, forming a vast corpus of literature which includes rabbinic, medieval, and modern literature prior to the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language.<ref name=Handbook/><ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]], 2003. [https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781403917232 ''Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew'']. Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|9781403917232}} / {{ISBN|9781403938695}}.</ref>