العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolARAM-NAHARAIM
'Aram-Naharaim' or "Aram of Two Rivers," is a region that is mentioned five times in the Hebrew Bible. It is commonly identified with ''Nahrima'' mentioned in three tablets of the Amarna correspondence as a geographical description of the kingdom of Mitanni. It was the land in which the city of Haran lay. According to one rabbinical Jewish tradition, Ur Kasdim, said to be the birthplace of Abraham, was also situated in Aram-Naharaim.[1]
The actual rivers referred to are not explicitly named in the Bible, although it is generally agreed that the first was the Upper Euphrates (called ''N-h-r-n'' by the Egyptians). The name ''Nahrima'' in the Amarna letters denoted the region of the Upper Euphrates and its tributaries - the Balikh and Khabur.
Both Josephus and the Septuagint translate the name as ''Mesopotamia''. Ancient writers elsewhere used the name "Mesopotamia" for the land between the Tigris and Euphrates. According to the Book of Jubilees, when the entire Earth was divided among the sixteen grandsons of Noah, Aram, the son of Shem received as an inheritance for his offspring, lands bordered by the Euphrates and the Tigris (Jubilees 9:5); it also associates the city of Ur Kesed not with the descendants of Aram, but rather with those of Arphaxad, his brother, who was Abram's ancestor.
However the usage of the Hebrew name "Aram-Naharaim" does not match the general usage of "Mesopotamia", the former being used exclusively for a northern region. Moreover the translation of the name as "Mesopotamia" was not consistent - the Septuagint also uses a more precise translation "Mesopotamia of Syria" as well as "Rivers of Syria". Josephus refers to the subjects of Chushan, king of Aram Naharaim,[2] as "Assyrians".[3]
Hebrew has a distinct name ''Ashur'' for the region of Assyria containing the Tigris. Aram Naharaim lay west of ''Ashur'' as it contained Haran. Haran itself lies on the west bank of the Balikh, east of the Upper Euphrates. The traditional Jewish location of Ur Kasdim (at Edessa) and the Balikh itself lie west of the Khabur implying that the second river was understood to be the latter by those maintaining this tradition.
★ The Land of Aram (Syria)
1. Ramban on ''Lech Lecha'' [1]
2. Judges 3:8
3. Flavius Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'', Book 5, Chapter 3:2. [2]
| Contents |
| Identification of the two rivers |
| External links |
| References |
Identification of the two rivers
The actual rivers referred to are not explicitly named in the Bible, although it is generally agreed that the first was the Upper Euphrates (called ''N-h-r-n'' by the Egyptians). The name ''Nahrima'' in the Amarna letters denoted the region of the Upper Euphrates and its tributaries - the Balikh and Khabur.
Both Josephus and the Septuagint translate the name as ''Mesopotamia''. Ancient writers elsewhere used the name "Mesopotamia" for the land between the Tigris and Euphrates. According to the Book of Jubilees, when the entire Earth was divided among the sixteen grandsons of Noah, Aram, the son of Shem received as an inheritance for his offspring, lands bordered by the Euphrates and the Tigris (Jubilees 9:5); it also associates the city of Ur Kesed not with the descendants of Aram, but rather with those of Arphaxad, his brother, who was Abram's ancestor.
However the usage of the Hebrew name "Aram-Naharaim" does not match the general usage of "Mesopotamia", the former being used exclusively for a northern region. Moreover the translation of the name as "Mesopotamia" was not consistent - the Septuagint also uses a more precise translation "Mesopotamia of Syria" as well as "Rivers of Syria". Josephus refers to the subjects of Chushan, king of Aram Naharaim,[2] as "Assyrians".[3]
Hebrew has a distinct name ''Ashur'' for the region of Assyria containing the Tigris. Aram Naharaim lay west of ''Ashur'' as it contained Haran. Haran itself lies on the west bank of the Balikh, east of the Upper Euphrates. The traditional Jewish location of Ur Kasdim (at Edessa) and the Balikh itself lie west of the Khabur implying that the second river was understood to be the latter by those maintaining this tradition.
External links
★ The Land of Aram (Syria)
References
1. Ramban on ''Lech Lecha'' [1]
2. Judges 3:8
3. Flavius Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'', Book 5, Chapter 3:2. [2]
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
Featured Companies
| Dancing Moon Travel | |
| Alpine Interface Inc. |
Aram-Naharaim Videos
