ABSTRACT
Originally limited to the area east of the Mediterranean Sea, the Semitic languages and civilisations spread into North Africa, southern Europe and the Horn of Africa. In antiquity, the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires were major centres of civilisation. Phoenician traders were roaming and establishing colonies all over the Mediterranean basin. Hebrew culture, through its monotheistic religion, Judaism, has exerted an exceptional influence, directly or indirectly (through the two great religions inspired by it: Christianity and Islam), on all of mankind. Arabic, in addition to being the carrier of an important medieval civilisation, has become one of the major languages of the world today.
