Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew

It is believed that Tamil's linguistic interaction with Biblical Hebrew, which belongs to the Afroasiatic languages, occurred amidst the wider international exchange of goods and ideas (e.g., the ancient spice trade) between merchants travelling throughout Eurasia via the Silk Road.

The incorporation of Tamil loanwords into the Hebrew language originally came about through the interactions of merchants from the Levant and South India.

The mainstream view is that the beginnings of trade between the Mediterranean Basin and South India can be traced back to 500 BCE, when the word zingiberis (ζιγγίβερις), which was derived from the Proto-South Dravidian *cinki-ver (சிங்கிவேர்) (for "ginger"), first appeared in Ancient Greek.

[7] Most of the borrowed words had to do with items of trade that were unique to South India and thus lacked native names in Hebrew.

[7][18] There is also a class of words that were borrowed ultimately from the Indo-Aryan languages, which are spoken in North India, but transmitted via Tamil.

Land (red) and sea (blue) routes of the ancient spice trade and the Silk Road , which prompted extensive socio-cultural and economic intermingling between the civilizations of China , India , the Near East , and Mediterranean Europe .