Akkadian ( liÅ Ä num akkadÄ `` tum ) or Assyro-Babylonian was a Semitic language ( part of the Afro-Asiatic language family ) that was spoken in ancient Iraq . Akkadian ( liÅ Ä num akkadÄ `` tum , ð ' ð ' ð ' ak . kADÃ '' ) ( also Accadian , Assyro-Babylonian ) is an extinct Semitic language ( part of the greater Afroasiatic language family ) that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia .