The Sumerian language remained in official and literary use in the Akkadian and Babylonian empires, even after the spoken language disappeared from the population; literacy was widespread, and the Sumerian texts that students copied heavily influenced later Babylonian literature.
A lingua sumeria mantívose en uso oficial e literario nos Imperios Acadio e Babilonio, ata despois de que a lingua falada desaparecese da poboación; a alfabetización estaba estendida, e os textos sumerios que copiaban os estudantes exerceu posteriormente unha influencia na literatura babilónica.