Arameans - Knowledge

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polity). The brief analysis of the lists of treaty partners as well as the geographical description in the Sefire Treaties, furthermore, appears to suggest that "all Aram" may indicate the highest level of identity among different Aramean polities, above the tribe, the city-state and the individual ruling families, even if not all Aramean speakers, all Aramean tribes or states were included in this "all Aram". 119 The phrase more likely refers to a group of polities that shared common Aramean cultural and social features, perhaps all with Aramean tribal structures internally in addition to the use of varieties of the Aramean language, who chose to pick Aram as a common denominator in this context. 120 How inclusive or exclusive this phrase is in reality cannot be judged. Finally, while the nature of the Aramean identity is largely cultural and perhaps ethnic, the presence of political elements is also likely. Although a united Aramean polity, as the one suggested by B. Mazar (1962), might not be fully tenable, the fact that "all Aram", with Arpad as its representative, can serve as a party in international treaties indicates that the Arameans as an cultural community may have engaged in joint political acts, at least conceptually.

1913: 625: 334: 935: 322: 1405: 2482:, p. 15-16In the 8th century B.C. Aramaic inscriptions of Sefire (KAI 222–224) expressions “All Aram” and “Upper and Lower Aram” were variously interpreted but it can be safely argued that “All Aram” refers to a geographical area that included the territories of the Aramaean and non-Aramaean kingdoms united in the coalition against Matiʾel of Arpad, and that roughly covers the boundaries of modern Syria, while “Upper and Lower Aram” may refer to North and South Syria, respectively. 2960:, p. 290: "The destruction of the Assyrian empire did not wipe out its population. They were predominantly peasant farmers, and since Assyria contains some of the best wheat land in the Near East, descendants of the Assyrian peasants would, as opportunity permitted, build new villages over the old cities and carry on with agricultural life, remembering traditions of the former cities. After seven or eight centuries and various vicissitudes, these people became Christians." 1213:(native) terms that were used in the Hebrew Bible. In Septuagint, the region of Aram was commonly labelled as "Syria", and the Arameans were labelled as "Syrians". When reflecting on traditional influences of Greek terminology on English translations of the Septuagint, American orientalist Robert W. Rogers noted in 1921 that it was unfortunate that the change also affected later English versions. In Greek sources, two writers spoke particularly clearly on the Arameans. 2226:

Within it, both ethnic Greeks and ethnic Syrians, whether speaking Greek or Aramaic, deemed ancient (As)Syrians/Arameans among their ethnos civic founders (if not ethnic ancestors), but their historical narratives were often informed by Greek influences and categories. In this sense, Syrians of the Roman imperial era, and even Assyrians or Arameans beyond the frontier, posited links to various ancient Greek or Syrian "founders," with or without positing ethnic descent.

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Greeks from the West, followed by the Arabs, the Ghasanis, who came from the Hauran in the hinterland. In short, Christian Syrians are not genealogically Arabs, even if there is some Arab blood flowing in their veins. Yet they are considered Arabs because they speak Arabic, they procreate in an Arab land and they live according to Arab morals. Thus, Syria became an Arab country after the Islamic occupation.

1424: 1261:. The Phoenician god Baʿalšamem was even incorporated into the Aramean tradition. Identifying distinct elements of the Aramean heritage in later times is challenging because of the diverse influences on their culture. For example, the earliest Syriac legal documents contain legal formulae that could be considered Aramean, but they could also be interpreted as 1358:(969) and thus liberated local Aramaic-speaking Christian communities from the Muslim rule. Byzantines favoured Eastern Orthodoxy, but the leadership of the Antiochian Oriental Orthodox Patriarchate succeeded in reaching agreement with the Byzantine authorities and thus secured religious tolerance. The Byzantines extended their rule up to 1343:. Those processes affected not only Islamized Aramaic-speakers but also some of those who remained Christians, which created local communities of Arabic-speaking Christians of Syriac Christian origin who spoke Arabic in their public and domestic life but continued to belong to churches that used the liturgical Aramaic/Syriac language. 997:. The Assyrians named their Aramean colonies Eber Nari but still used the term "Aramean" to describe many of its peoples. The Assyrians conducted forced deportations of hundreds of thousands of Arameans to both Assyria and Babylonia, where a migrant population already existed. Conversely, the Aramaic language was adopted as the 2440:

Bit-Gabbari, Bit-Hazaili; the Semitic word "Bit" means "House of," followed by the name of a founding figure). Most scholars who study the Arameans speak of their origins in terms of "tribes" and tribal leaders who took advantage of political instability in the region during certain time periods to expand their territory.

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The Syrians today, Zaydan continued, are divided by their origin into two groups: Muslims and Christians. Most of the Muslims are Arabs. As for the Christians, the majority are descendants of the Arameans, the Arabs and the Greeks. The Arameans were the original inhabitants of the land, then came the

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not only as the dominant language of Islamic prayer and worship but also as a common language of public and domestic life. The acceptance of Arabic language became the main vessel of the gradual Arabization of Aramean communities throughout the Near East and ultimately resulted in their fragmentation

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The spread of the Aramaic language from its Syrian homeland resulted in large part from Aramean migration and expansion, and was abetted by the Neo-Assyrian policy of deportation operative during the gth to the 7th cen turies. These factors led to the so-called Aramaization of Assyria and Babylonia,

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What is known of the religion of the Aramean groups is derived from excavated objects and temples and by Aramaic literary sources, as well as the names they had. Their religion did not feature any particular deity that could be called an Aramean god or goddess. It appears from their inscriptions and

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What is certain is that no united, pan-Aramean national state ever existed, yet clearly "Aram" served as a common identity marker and (self-)designation, although possibly with different meanings (e.g. as a region, as a collective noun for the people; or another appellation of the Damascus-centered

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As Greek politai became a sub-category for a wider group of Syrians, the Greek peer polity network of Syria and, more broadly, the Roman imperial Syrian ethnos maintained cognitive and performative commonality, even if it did not always enjoy political solidarity or engage in unified mass action.

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Assyrian annals from the end of the Middle Assyrian Empire c. 1050 BCE and the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 911 BCE contain numerous descriptions of battles between Arameans and the Assyrian army. The Assyrians launched repeated raids into Aramean lands, Babylonia, Ancient Iran, Elam, Asia

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Each Aramean tribal group was called by the family name, 'Bit' (house), following a coastal Phoenician writing system. The most important Aramaic kingdoms were established at Halaf (Kingdom of Guzana - the Kingdom of Bit-Bahiani), Ahmar (the Kingdom of Bit-Adini), Damascus (the Kingdom of Aram

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and Aramean states in ancient Syria, the existing information on the ethnic composition of the regional states in ancient Syria primarily concerns the rulers and so the ethnolingustic situation of the majority of the population of the states is unclear. Furthermore, they mean that the material

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culture of Syria is a topic of interest among scholars but is never referred to simply as "Aramean". Scholars have difficulty in identifying and isolating characteristic Aramean elements in the culture. Even in North Syria, where more substantial evidence is available, scholars still find it

966:). That indicates that the Arameans had risen to dominance amongst the nomads. Among scholars, the relationship between the Akhlame and the Arameans is a matter of conjecture. By the late 12th century BCE, the Arameans had been firmly established in Syria; however, they were conquered by the 147:. The policy of population displacement and relocation that was applied throughout Assyrian domains also affected Arameans, many of whom were resettled by Assyrian authorities. That caused a wider dispersion of Aramean communities throughout various regions of the Near East, and the range of 2439:

Groups of family members lived near one another, and the social structure was probably focused on the identity of a primarymale figure in the family ("patriarchal") and possibly even traced its roots to some local tribal ancestor, after which the group was named (e.g., Bit Adini, Bit-Agusi,

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Tiglath-pileser III stated: 13 those means whom I deported, ed (and) settled the turtanu, 10,000 (to) the province of the palace herald, thousand (to) the province of the chief cupbearer, ...thousand (to) the province of the land] Barha(l)zi, (and) 5,000 (to) the province of the land

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The origin of the Aramean tribal groups in this area still remains unclear, in spite of the several hypotheses proposed.? Aramean tribal groups are attested at least from the eleventh century as new occupants of strategic areas in the Jezirah, northern Mesopotamia, and the Syrian

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as a broader multidisciplinary field, encompassing the study of the cultural and historical heritage of Aramaic. The linguistic and historical aspects of Aramaic studies have been further expanded since the 19th century through archaeological excavations of ancient sites in the

2305:, p. 51:However, we must be clear at the outset: the Arameans were never, in fact, a single nation or group; rather, Aram was a region with local centers of power spread throughout contemporary Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, at major cities such as Damascus and Hamath. 4388: 1166:(305–30 BCE). Since earlier times, ancient Greeks commonly used "Syrian" labels as designations for Arameans and heir lands, but it was during the Hellenistic (Seleucid-Ptolemaic) period that the term "Syria" was finally defined to designate the regions west of the 499:

diminished in size until fully-nomadic pastoralist lifestyles came to dominate much of the region. The highly mobile competitive tribesmen, with their sudden raids, continually threatened long-distance trade and interfered with the collection of taxes and tribute.

2317:, p. 23:It is nonetheless difficult if not impossible to establish a coherent ethnic category "Aramean" on the basis of extra-linguistic identity markers such as material culture, lifestyle (including cuisine), or religion and other cultural core traditions. 2372:

The cultural identity of Syria varied historically; but from at least the beginning of the Iron Age (ca. 1200 B.C.), the Arameans increasingly dominated the region. Aramean kingdoms like Aram-Damascus, Aram-zobah, and Hamath appear repeatedly in the biblical

1912: 1113:. The Egyptians, having entered the region in a belated attempt to aid their former Assyrian masters, fought the Babylonians, initially with the help of remnants of the Assyrian army, in the region for decades before they were finally vanquished. 1157:

marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the entire Near East, including the regions inhabited by Arameans. By the late 4th century BCE, two newly created Hellenistic states emerged as main pretenders for regional supremacy: the

2387:, p. 15"It is interesting to note in this context that later Aramaean dynasts never refer to themselves as Aramaeans or to their country as Aram, with the exception of the king of Aram-Damascus since his kingdom was also called Aram." 459:

were actually referring to the Arameans; thus, it is believed to originally be a toponym without any ethnic connotations. The earliest undisputed historical attestation of Arameans as a people appears much later, in the inscriptions of

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The qualifier "all" in "all Aram" is clearly of some sociological significance; it implies a certain kind of collective unity. One is immediately re-minded of the Deuteronomistic use of "all" in "all Israel (kol yisra'el) from Dan to

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and Aramaeans, interacted in the region, one material culture with "mixed" elements resulted. The material culture appears to be so homogeneous that it "shows no clear distinctions between states dominated by Luwians or Aramaeans".

4416: 2414:, p. 16"So Aram is a geographical term that refers at times to part and at others to all of the Syrian territory in the Iron Age, hence the appellation "Aramaeans" given to the 1st - millennium B.C. inhabitants of Syria" 234:. That makes it almost impossible to establish a coherent ethnic category of "Aramean" based on extra-linguistic identity markers such as material culture, lifestyle or religion. The people of Aram were called “Arameans” in 3558: 1507:". The early writings exhibit variation and anticipate the enormous linguistic diversity within the Aramaic language group. Despite the variation, they are connected by common literary forms and formulaic expressions. 182:. Thus, their integration into the Greek-speaking world had begun a long time before Christianity became established. Some scholars suggest that Arameans who accepted Christianity were referred to as Syrians by the 2543:

By mid-century, the Syrian chiefdoms, through a system of alliances, affirmed their Aramean identity as "All Aram", consisting of the states in "Upper and Lower Aram", and together defied the Assyrian Empire.70

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of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the 8th century BCE, and the native Assyrians and Babylonians began to make a gradual language shift towards Aramaic as the most common language of public life and administration.

288:. As a result of linguistic Aramization, a wider Aramaic-speaking area was created throughout the central regions of the Near East that exceeded the boundaries of Aramean ethnic communities. During the later 1916:

Limestone relief; stele. This unusual stele depicts an unidentified Aramaean king holding a tulip in one hand while grasping a staff or a spear in the other hand. 11th century BCE. From Tell es-Salihiyeh,

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Eber-Nari was then ruled by the succeeding Neo-Babylonian Empire, which was initially headed by a short-lived Chaldean dynasty. The Aramean regions became a battleground between the Babylonians and the

2185:, p. 76:Ever since the time of christianization those Arameans who embraced the new religion have been referred to as the Syrians, a name of Greek origin which they eventually accepted themselves. 1041:

in 612 BCE and finally defeat it between 605 and 599 BCE. During the war against Assyria, hordes of horse-borne Scythian and Cimmerian marauders ravaged through the Levant and all the way into Egypt.

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labels as designations for Aramaic-speakers and their language was very common among ancient Greeks, and under their influence, the practice also became common among the Romans and Byzantines.

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to refer to themselves or their country, with the exception of the king of Aram-Damascus since his kingdom was also called Aram. "Arameans" is merely an appellation of the geographical term

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difficult to identify what is genuinely Aramean from what is borrowed from other cultures. Widespread scholarly opinion still maintains that since several ethnic groups, such as

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and thus share a common origin. The earliest direct witnesses of Aramaic, which were composed between the 10th and 8th centuries BC, are unanimously subsumed under the term "

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The Neo Assyrian Empire descended into a series of brutal internal wars from 626 BCE that weakened it greatly. That allowed a coalition of many its former subject peoples (

1233:, defines the regions of "Aram's sons" as the Tranchonitis, Damascus "midway between Palestine and Coelo-Syria", Armenia, Bactria, and the Mesene around Spasini Charax. 1150:

as the main language of public life and administration. Provincial administrative structures also remained the same, and the name Eber Nari still applied to the region.

265:. Each tribe's name signified the house or ancestral lineage to which it belonged. The term "Aram" sometimes referred only to a part and other times to the whole of the 4536: 1146:(539–332 BCE). However, little changed from the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian times, as the Persians, seeing themselves as successors of previous empires, maintained 807:, was discovered in northern Israel and is famous for being perhaps the earliest non-Israelite extra-biblical historical reference to the Israelite royal dynasty, the 1241:

The ancient Arameans lived in a close relationship with other distinct societies in the region. Throughout much of their history, they were heavily influenced by the

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The Arameans would appear to be one part of the larger generic Ahlamû group rather than synonymous with the Ahlamu. The presence of the Ahlamû is attested during the

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patriarchates were dominated by Greek episcopate and Greek linguistic and cultural traditions. The use of the Aramaic language in liturgical and literary life among

439:(c. 1300 BCE). There is no consensus on the origin and meaning of the word "Aram", one of the most accepted suggestions being that it is derived from a Semitic root 978:

to keep its trade routes open. The Aramean city-states, like much of the Near East and Asia Minor, were subjugated by the Neo Assyrian Empire from the reign of

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In the 3rd century BCE, various narratives related to the history of earlier Aramean states became accessible to wider audiences after the translation of the

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As a result of migratory processes, various Aramean groups were settled throughout the ancient Near East, and their presence is recorded in the regions of

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in 911 BCE, who cleared Arameans and other tribal peoples from the borders of Assyria and began to expand in all directions. The process was continued by

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meaning "white antelopes" or "white bulls". However, there are no historical, archaeological or linguistic evidences that those early uses of the terms

1296:, known in Aramaic as Urhay. However, it is not easy in either pre-Christian or Christian periods to trace purely-Aramean elements in Edessan culture. 1311:

labels for Arameans and their language started to gain acceptance among an Aramaic-speaking literary and ecclesiastical elites. The practice of using

6168: 5767:"The Role of Religious Freedom in the Context of the Accession Negotiations between the European Union and Turkey – The Example of the Arameans" 511:-speaking people who had appeared during the 25th century BCE, destroyed the hitherto dominant state of Ebla, founded the powerful state of 712: 4389:"Christianity in Edessa and the Syriac-Speaking World: Mani, Bar Daysan, and Ephraem, the Struggle for Allegiance on the Aramean Frontier" 688:, its last great ruler in 1056 BCE. The Assyrian withdrawal allowed the Arameans and others to gain independence and take firm control of 471:, but their numbers seem to vary according to climatic conditions and the force of neighbouring states inducing permanent settlement. The 1362:(1031) but were forced into a general retreat from Syria during the course of the 11th century and were pushed back by the newly-arrived 873:, also known as Beth Eden. North of Sam'al was the Aramean state of Bit Gabbari, which was sandwiched between the post-Hittite states of 5897:

East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean I: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest until the End of the Crusader Principality

5723:"The Battle of Ramoth-gilead and the Rise of the Aramean Hegemony in the Southern Levant during the Second Half of the 9th Century BCE" 1647:

descent persisted throughout the Middle Ages until the 14th century, as exemplified in the use of a specific regional dialect known as

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was formulated, and several scholarly theses were proposed regarding the development of the language and the history of the Arameans.

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The Arameans who lived outside their homelands apparently followed the traditions of the countries in which they settled. The King of

7156: 1727: 4242:"The Political History and Historical Geography of the Aramean, Chaldean, and Arab Tribes in Babylonia in the Neo-Assyrian Period" 277:

have been variously interpreted but can suggest a degree of political and cultural unity among some of the polities in the area.

5496: 5458: 1783:, the study of the Aramaic language, both ancient and modern, was initiated among Western scholars. This led to the formation of 740: 4680: 3560:

The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c.16,000–300 BC) (Cambridge World Archaeology)

3505: 4656: 4567: 3973: 3865: 3658:"The Arabization Process in Upper Mesopotamia in the Eighth Century A.D.: The Case of the Mosulis in the Chronicle of Zūqnīn" 4815: 230:

The Arameans were not a single nation or group; rather, Aram was a region with local centers of power spread throughout the

5905: 4027: 261:, meaning "house of", such as "Bit Adini". This naming convention was influenced by the writing system used by the coastal 1907: 1253:

are among the earliest examples of Aramaic writing. In the western regions, Aramean states had close contact with Israel,

6828: 116:, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BC. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of 1475:, which was formerly unattested in Syria-Palestine. The language is considered a sister branch of the idiom used in the 771:(late 11th to 10th centuries BC) fought against the small Aramean states ranged across the northern frontier of Israel: 7105: 5688: 5595: 350: 4668:"The Middle Euphrates, Iraq: Assyrian-Babylonian interactions in an Aramaean territory in the early 1st millennium BC" 7151: 6131: 6108: 6072: 6038: 5989: 5966: 5945: 5840: 5817: 5778: 5711: 5665: 5641: 5618: 5572: 5447: 5424: 5364: 5310: 5259: 5236: 5213: 5190: 5167: 5116: 5007: 4940: 4914: 4890: 4854: 4784: 4761: 4735: 4712: 4633: 4612: 4591: 4512: 4491: 4468: 4457:"Christian Lore and the Arabic Qur'an: The Companions of the Cave in Surat al-Kahf and in Syriac Christian Tradition" 4266: 4230: 4148: 4092: 3933: 3803: 3780: 3757: 3734: 3699: 3612: 3589: 3568: 2726: 2563: 2536: 2504: 2460: 2432: 2365: 2336: 2218: 2139: 2115: 2091: 2063: 2039: 4104:"The Assyrian-Aramaean interaction in the upper Khabur: The archaeological evidence from Tell Barri Iron Age layers" 479:

pastoralists to spend longer and longer periods with their flocks. Urban settlements (hitherto largely inhabited by

5889: 1965: 528: 4924: 4900: 4353:"From Aramaic to Arabic: The Languages of the Monasteries of Palestine in the Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods" 431:

in the northern mountains. Other early references to a place or people of "Aram" have appeared at the archives of

1596: 1553: 3506:"Arameans in the Middle East and Israel: Historical Background, Modern National Identity, and Government Policy" 854:, attacked Israel in the early 11th century BCE but were defeated. Meanwhile, Arameans moved to the east of the 4194: 3959: 1878:, an Aramean ruler (9th century BCE) was decorated with orthostates and with statues that display a mixture of 5128:"A Struggle for Genocide Recognition: How the Aramean, Assyrian, and Chaldean Diasporas Link Past and Present" 198:

of Aramaic-speaking communities throughout the Near East. That ultimately resulted in their fragmentation and

6192: 5127: 1648: 1378:, created new challenges for local Aramaic-speaking Christians, both Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox. 1110: 1098: 4429:"St. Ephraem, Bar Daysān and the Clash of Madrāshê in Aram: Readings in St. Ephraem's Hymni contra Haereses" 624: 5700:"The Memory of Sayfo and Its Relation to the Identity of Contemporary Assyrian/Aramean Christians in Syria" 554:(1365–1020 BCE), which already ruled many of the lands in which the Ahlamû arose in the Babylonian city of 6160: 2716: 7049: 6823: 4866:"My Father was a Wandering Aramean: Biblical Views of the Ancestral Relationship between Israel and Aram" 858:

and into Babylonia, where an Aramean usurper was crowned king of Babylon under the name Adad-apal-iddin.

811:. In the early 11th century BCE, much of Israel came under foreign rule for eight years according to the 508: 203: 6097:"Reflections on Hazael's Empire in Light of Recent Study in the Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Texts" 1105:, which had been installed by the Assyrians as vassals after they had defeated and ejected the previous 1072:. Population transfers, conducted during the Neo-Assyrian Empire and followed by the gradual linguistic 523:. However, they seem to have been displaced or wholly absorbed by the appearance of a people called the 6204: 1205:. Influenced by Greek terminology, translators decided to adopt ancient Greek custom of using "Syrian" 274: 6120:"The Onomastics of the Chaldean, Aramean, and Arabian Tribes in Babylonia during the First Millennium" 1124:, the Assyrian-born last king of Babylon, who had himself overthrown the Chaldean dynasty in 556 BCE. 6154: 5792: 5535:"Arabization versus Islamization in the Palestinian Melkite Community during the Early Muslim Period" 4524:"New Light on Linguistic Diversity in Pre-Achaemenid Aramaic: Wandering Arameans or Language Spread?" 1874:, for instance, employed Phoenician sculptors and ivory-carvers. In Tell Halaf-Guzana, the palace of 1761: 1675: 1147: 1085: 914: 78: 5677:"Keeping it in the Family? Jacob and his Aramean Heritage according to Jewish and Christian Sources" 5704:

Sayfo 1915: An Anthology of Essays on the Genocide of Assyrians/Arameans during the First World War

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Sharing the Sacred: Religious Contacts and Conflicts in the Holy Land: First-fifteenth Centuries CE

5320:Öztemiz den Butter, Mutay (2017). "Cultural Boundaries and Homeland among the Arameans (Syriacs)". 2264:

The only people that remain who might be considered lineal descendants of the Aramean race are the

637: 20: 962:). Shortly afterward, the Ahlamû disappear from Assyrian annals and are replaced by the Arameans ( 7146: 6307: 5833:

The Slow Disappearance of the Syriacs from Turkey and of the Grounds of the Mor Gabriel Monastery

5771:

The Slow Disappearance of the Syriacs from Turkey and of the Grounds of the Mor Gabriel Monastery

4811: 1929:

as a distinctive field, dedicated to the study of the Aramaic language. By the 19th century, the

1371: 990:, who destroyed many of the small Aramean tribes and conquered Aramean lands for the Assyrians. 839: 4219:"Ethnicity in the Assyrian Empire: A View from the Nisbe (III): Arameans and Related Tribalists" 2260:

Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute, Or Philosophical Society of Great Britain

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in the 1st century BCE, Aramean lands became the frontier region between two empires, Roman and

5958:

The Syriac Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Mahrē: A Study in the History of Historiography

4724:"Arameans and Aramaic in Transition – Western Influences and the Roots of Aramean Christianity" 4014: 1355: 1323: 967: 955: 673: 551: 384: 187: 70: 6026: 5805: 5766: 5435: 4700: 4644: 4456: 3947: 3745: 6853: 6801: 6450: 5977: 5828: 5606: 3709: 1996: 1991: 1903: 1816: 1805: 1671: 243: 207: 156: 6416: 4255:"Are Syrians Arameans? Some Preliminary Remarks on Syriac Ethnic Identity in Late Antiquity" 1350:

gradually reconquered much of northern Syria and upper Mesopotamia, including the cities of

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by the 13th century BCE and disappear from history. Ahlamû appears to be a generic term for

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which reached its height in the second half of the 9th century BCE during the reign of King

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The Babylonians remained masters of the Aramean lands only until 539 BCE, when the Persian

934: 95: 46: 5497:"Mallpânâ dilan Suryâyâ Ephrem in the Works of Philoxenus of Mabbog: Respect and Distance" 4028:"Christian Aramaism: The Birth and Growth of Aramaic Scholarship in the Sixteenth Century" 3903: 1326:

in the 7th century. In the religious sphere of life, Aramaic-speaking Christians (such as

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seems to coincide with increasing aridity, which weakened neighbouring states and induced

333: 8: 6988: 6950: 6796: 5108:

Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures: Rewriting the Bible in Sasanian Iran

4320: 3877:"Notes on Arameans and Chaldeans in Southern Babylonia in the Early Seventh Century B.C." 1922: 1780: 1757: 1588: 1584: 1564: 1533: 1492: 1452: 1409: 1359: 1293: 1154: 994: 861:

During the 11th and the 10th centuries BCE, the Arameans conquered Sam'al and renamed it

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since the first half of the 14th century BCE, began to shrink rapidly after the death of

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Nomadic pastoralists have long played a prominent role in the history and economy of the

144: 2928: 1576: 1225:, writes: "Those people whom we Greeks call Syrioi, call themselves Aramaioi". Further, 803:, and Aram-Damascus. An Aramean king's account dating at least two centuries later, the 143:. During the 8th century BC, local Aramaean city-states were gradually conquered by the 7039: 5521: 5483: 5387: 5285: 5093: 5085: 5049: 5041: 4982: 4974: 4745: 4559: 4452: 4424: 4408: 4384: 4372: 4348: 4336: 4308: 4300: 4125: 4069: 4010: 3998: 3969: 3943: 3919: 3899: 3887: 3842: 3834: 1986: 1812: 1801: 1773: 1656: 1623:) was the primary liturgical language of Aramaic Christianity, it also became known as 1541: 1484: 1289: 1053: 756:

culture shows no distinctions between states dominated by the Luwians or the Arameans.

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The people who had long been the prominent population in what is now Syria (called the

408: 6357: 5269: 1544:, Aramaic in its varying dialects remained unchallenged as the common language of all 1499:, on the other hand. All three branches can be subsumed under the more general rubric 321: 7126: 7054: 7029: 6737: 6212: 6127: 6124: