The 'Aramaeans' (also 'Arameans') were a
Semitic, semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated and had lived in upper
Mesopotamia and
Syria. Aramaeans have never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the
Near East. Yet to these Aramaeans befell the privilege of imposing their language and culture upon the entire
Near East and beyond, fostered in part by the mass relocations enacted by successive empires, including the
Assyrians and
Babylonians. Scholars even have used the term 'Aramaization' for the Syro-Mesopotamian peoples, languages and cultures that have been made 'Aramean'.
Language
Aramaeans are mostly defined by their use of the
Aramaic language, first written using the
Phoenician alphabet slightly modified. Their
language, namely
Aramaic, belongs -- like
Hebrew,
Ammonite and others -- to the north-western group of
Semitic dialects. As early as the 8th century BC, Aramaic language and writing competed with the
Akkadian language and script (
cuneiform) in
Assyria, and thereafter it spread throughout the Orient. Around 500 BC, when the
Achaemenid monarchs looked for a tongue that could be understood by all their subjects, they chose
Aramaic, which became the
lingua franca of their vast empire. It was not until
Greek emerged several centuries later that
Aramaic lost its prestige as the most sophisticated language; but it remained unchallenged as the common dialect of all peoples of the
Near East and was to remain so until the
Arab invasion (7th century AD).
The according to the linguist Klaus Beyer, the history of the Aramaic language is broken down into three broad periods:
★ 'Old Aramaic' (1100 BC–AD 200), including:
★
★ The Biblical Aramaic of the Hebrew Bible.
★
★ The Aramaic of Jesus.
★
★ The Aramaic of the Targums.
The turning point of Old Aramaic was about 500 BC when it shifted to Imperial Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian Empires.
★ 'Middle Aramaic' (200–1200), including:
★
★ Literary Syriac.
★
★ The Aramaic of the Talmuds and Midrashim.
In this period the Nabataeans 'l' is often turned into 'n', and there are a few Arabic loan words. Some Nabataean Aramaic inscriptions exist from the early days of the kingdom, but most are from the first four centuries. The language is written in a cursive script that is the precursor to the modern Arabic alphabet. The number of Arabic loan words increases through the centuries, until, in the fourth century, Nabataean merges seamlessly with Arabic.
★ 'Modern Aramaic' (1200 – present), including:
★
★ Various modern vernaculars.
These languages are not all mutually understandable, for instance Eastern Syriac is called Chaldean or Assyrian and is very different from the language of the few Mandaeans living in the province of Khuzestan in Iran who speak Modern Mandaic. Very little remains of Western Aramaic, which today is only now spoken in the Christian village of
Ma'lula in Syria and the Muslim villages of Bakh`a and Jubb`adin in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains.
History
The origin of the Aramaeans is still uncertain, arising from the limited amount of evidence regarding the mention of Aramaeans in
Mesopotamian inscriptions. The appearance of the Aramaeans is retraced to two different dates: the 14th and the 12th centuries depending upon the acceptance of some kind of relationship between the Aramaeans and the Ahlamû. The Arameans are believed to have originated in
Syria and Upper Mesopotamia.
14th century BC
Nomadic
pastoralists have always been a feature of the
Middle East, but their numbers seem to vary according to climatic conditions and the force of neighbouring states inducing permanent settlement. The period of the Late Bronze Age seems to have been one of increasing aridity, weakening neighbouring states, and inducing
transhumance pastoralists to spend longer and longer periods with their flocks. Urban settlements diminished in size, until eventually fully nomadic pastoralist lifestyles came to dominate the region. These highly mobile, competitive tribesmen with their sudden raids were a continued threat to long distance trade and interfered with the collection of taxes and tribute. In the early 14th century BC, much of
Israel was under Aramaean rule for eight years according to the Biblical
Book of Judges until
Othniel defeated the forces led by
Chushan-Rishathaim, the King of
Aram-Naharaim.
The Ahlamû (= wanderers) are first mentioned in the el-
Amarna letters alluding to the king of
Babylon; the presence of the Ahlamû are also attested in
Assyria,
Nippur and even at
Dilmun (
Bahrain);
Shalmaneser I (1274-1245 BC) defeated the
Shattuara, King of
Mitanni and his
Hittite and Ahlamû mercenaries are mentioned in the
Jazirah. The term appears equivalent to the Egyptian term Shasu (Shsw = wanderer), who replaced the outlaw 'Apiru (Akkadian SA.GAZ) as the major source of instability in the Egyptian Levantine empire from the reign of Tutankhamun onwards. In the following century, the Ahlamû cut the road from
Babylon to
Hattusas, and
Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208 BC) claims that he conquered
Mari,
Hana and
Rapiqum on the
Euphrates and "the mountain of the Ahlamû", apparently the region of Jebel Bishri.
12th century BC
For the first time, an inscription of
Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1077 BC) refers to the ‘Ahlamû-Aramaeans’ (''Ahlame Armaia'') and from then on, the Ahlamû rapidly disappear from
Assyrian annals -- to be replaced by the Aramaeans (''Aramu, Arimi''). ‘Ahlamû-Aramaeans’ would consider the Aramaeans as an important and in time dominant faction of the Ahlamû tribes, however it is possible that the two peoples had nothing in common, but operated in the same area. It is conceivable that the name 'Arameans' was a more accurate form of the earlier ethnonym ''Martu'' (
Amorites, westerners) in the Assyrian tablets.
11th century BC
The Aramaeans were, in the 11th century BC, established in
Syria. The
Bible tells us that
Saul,
David and
Solomon (late 11th to 10th centuries) fought against the Aramaeans kingdoms across the northern frontier of
Israel: Aram-Sôvah in the Beq’a, Aram-Bêt-Rehob and Aram-Ma’akah around Mount Hermon, Geshur in the Hauran, and
Damascus. Farther north, the Aramaeans were in possession of
Hamath on the
Orontes and were soon to become strong enough to dissociate with the
Neo-Hittite block.
10th – 9th centuries BC
The Aramaeans conquered, during the 10th and the 9th centuries, Sam’al (Zenjirli), also known as
Yaudi, the region from
Arpad to
Aleppo which they renamed Bît-Agushi, and
Til Barsip, which became the chief town of Bît-Adini, also known as
Beth Eden. At the same time, Aramaeans moved to the east of the
Euphrates, where they settled in such numbers that the whole region became known as Aram-Naharaim or "Aram of the two rivers". One of their earliest kingdoms in
Mesopotamia was Bît-bahiâni (
Tell Halaf). North of Sam'al was the Aramaean state of Bit-Gabari, sandwiched between the
Neo-Hittite states of
Carchemish, Gurgum, Tabal, Khattina and Unqi. Whilst these later states maintained a Neo-Hittite hieroglyphic for official communication, it would seem that the population of these small states was progressively Aramaeanised.
From 8th century BC
Aramaean kingdoms were subjugated by
Adad-nirari II,
Ashurnasirpal II, and his son
Shalmaneser III, who destroyed many of the small tribes, and gave control of Syria and local trade and natural resources to the
Assyrians. Some
Assyrian kings even took Aramaean wives. Though without a state, Arameans continued their presence in the
Near East.
Religion and art
:''See also
Canaanite gods.''
It appears from their inscriptions as well as from their names, that Aramaeans worshipped Sumero-Akkadian and
Canaanite gods, such
Haddad, (Adad), the storm-god,
El, the supreme deity of Canaan,
Sin,
Ishtar (whom they called ‘Attar), the Phoenician goddess
Anat (‘Atta) and others.
The Aramaeans apparently followed the traditions of the country where they settled. The King of
Damascus, for instance, employed
Phoenician sculptors and ivory-carvers. In tell Halaf-Guzana, the palace of
Kapara, an Aramaean ruler (9th century B.C.), was decorated with orthostats and with statues that display a mixture of
Mesopotamian,
Hittite and
Hurrian influences.
Modern
Main articles: Assyrian people,
History of the Assyrian people
Contemporary Aramaic speakers are known as
"Syriacs" or "Assyrians". They are primarily followers of the various churches of
Syriac Christianity.
Since Christianization, ''Oromoyo/Ārāmāyā'' began to bear the connotation "pagan", whereas ''Suryoyo/Suryāyā'' (literally "Syrian") ܣܘܪܝܝܐ was used to refer only to the Christianized Aramaeans.
Today, "Aramaean" is used interchangeably with
Assyrian by some Syriacs, primarily in
Northern Europe (German ''Aramäer'' vs. ''Syrer''; Swedish ''Araméer'' vs. ''Syrianer'').
External references
★
''Jewish Encyclopedia'': Aram-Naharaim
★
''The Arameans''
★
Midyat City website
★
Syriac Universal Alliance
★
''The Indigenous Origins of the Arameans of Upper Mesopotamia''
References
★ S. Moscati, 'The Aramaean Ahlamû', FSS, IV (1959), pp. 303-7;
★ M. Freiherr Von Oppenheim, Der Tell Halaf, Leipzig, 1931 pp. 71-198;
★ M. Freiherr Von Oppenheim, Tell Halaf, III, Die Bauwerke, Berlin, 1950;
★ A. Moortgat, Tell Halaf IV, Die Bildwerke, Berlin, 1955;
★ B. Hrouda, Tell Halaf IV, Die Kleinfunde aus historischer Zeit, Berlin, 1962;
★ G. ROUX, Ancient Iraq, London, 1980.
★ Beyer, Klaus (1986). "The Aramaic language: its distribution and subdivisions". (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht). ISBN 3-525-53573-2.
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