Aram (biblical region)

Aramaeans
Aramaic language
Aramaic alphabet
Aramaean kingdoms
• Aram Damascus  • Paddan Aram  • Aram-Naharaim  • Aram (biblical region)  • Aram Rehob  • Aram Soba
Aramaean kings
• Reson  • Hezjon  • Tabrimmon  • Ben-Hadad  • Ben-Hadad II  • Ben-Hadad III  • Hazael  • Hadadezer  • Rezin

Aram is the name of a region mentioned in the Bible located in central Syria, including where the city of Aleppo (aka Halab) now stands. Aram stretched from the Lebanon mountains eastward across the Euphrates, including the Khabur River valley in northwestern Mesopotamia on the border of Assyria.

Etymology

The etymology is uncertain. One standard explanation is an original meaning of "highlands". This has been interpreted to be in contrast with Canaan, or "lowlands".

Early references

Judeo-Christian tradition claims the name is derived from the biblical Aram, son of Shem, a grandson of Noah in the Bible. No ancient records of the time have been found mentioning such a person, however there are records of various Semitic peoples to the west of Mesopotamia such as Ahlamu and Amurru.

The toponym A-ra-mu appears in an inscription at Ebla listing geographical names, and the term Armi, which is the Eblaite term for nearby Aleppo, occurs frequently in the Ebla tablets (ca. 2300 BC). One of the annals of Naram-Sin of Akkad (c. 2250 BC) mentions that he captured "Dubul, the ensi of A-ra-me" (Arame is seemingly a genitive form), in the course of a campaign against Simurrum in the northern mountains. Other early references to a place or people of "Aram" have appeared at the archives of Mari (c. 1900 BC) and at Ugarit (c. 1300 BC). There is little agreement concerning what, if any, relationship there was between these places, or if the Aramu were actually Aramaeans; the earliest undisputed mention of Aramaeans as a people is in the inscriptions of the Assyrian king, Tiglath Pileser I (1114–1076 BC).

History

The Arameans appear to have displaced the earlier Semitic Amorite populations of ancient Syria during the period from 1200 BC to 900 BC, which was a dark age for the entire Near East, North Africa, Caucasus, Mediterranean and Balkan regions, with great upheavals and mass movements of people. The Arameans were attacked and conquered by Tiglath-Pileser I (1115- 1077 BC) of Assyria, and were incorporated into the Middle Assyrian Empire which encompassed much of the Near East. Two medium-sized Aramaean kingdoms, Aram-Damascus and Hamath, along with several smaller kingdoms and independent city-states, developed in the region during the early first millennium BCE. There was some synthesis with neo Hittite populations in northern Syria and south central Anatolia, and a number of small Syro-Hittite states arose in the region, such as Tabal. Arameans (along with Chaldeans and Suteans) spread from Syria into Babylonia during the ancient dark age, setting up small kingdoms in the area, they briefly controlled Babylon itself with Dynasty VI (1003 BC-984 BC), before being displaced by Elamites.

During the period 1200 - 900 BC Arameans became a powerful force, they came to dominate most of what is now Syria, and as well as setting up tribal fiefdoms in Babylonia, they also spread into south central Asia Minor and the area that is now modern Jordan. They were prevented from moving into northern Mesopotamia by the powerful Assyrians, and similarly prevented from pushing further into Asia Minor by the Phrygians, Lydians and neo Hittites. They failed to reach the Meditteranean coast also, which was occupied by well defended Phoenician (Canaanite) city states.

With the advent of the Neo Assyrian Empire (911 - 605 BC), Aramea fell fully under the control of Assyria. Large numbers of Arameans were deported into Assyria and Babylonia, where they interbred with the indigenous Akkadians of Mesopotamia and became Akkadianized, adopting Assyrio-Babylonian culture, religion and identity. However, the Aramaic language, which had by this time spread through much of the Near East in various forms, became the official "lingua franca" of the Assyrian Empire, and a distinctly Akkadian influenced Mesopotamian dialect gradually replaced Akkadian amongst the Assyrians and Babylonians themselves. Aramaic thus became the language of empire, commerce and politics from the Caucasus Mountains in the north, to Egypt and Nubia in the south, and from Cyprus in the west, to Persia (Iran) in the east.

A few steles that name kings of this period have been found, such as the 8th century Zakkur stele. The Chaldeans who settled in southern Babylonia around 1000 BC were founders of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 612 BC are also believed by some to have been an Akkadianized Aramaean tribe. However, the alleged Aramaean ethnicity among the Chaldeans is disputed. The Assyrian king Sennacherib who ruled over both peoples, pointedly distinguished Arameans from Chaldeans.

After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Aramaic remained the official language of the succeeding Neo-Babylonian Empire (605 - 539 BC) and the following Persian Achaemenid Empire (539 - 332 BC), both of which were influenced by and molded on the earlier Assyrian empire. Aramea itself was conquered and ruled by both these empires.

In 332 BC Aramea was conquered by the Greek ruler, Alexander the Great. Upon his death in 323 BC Aramea became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire, at which point Greek replaced Aramaic as the official language of Empire. Aramea and also Assyria to the east were both collectively renamed Syria, a Hurrian, Luwian and Greek corruption of Assyria. It is from this period that the later Syria Vs Assyria naming controversy arises, the Seleucids confusingly applied the name not only to Assyria itself, but also to the lands to the west (Aram modern Syria) which had been part of the Assyrian empire. When they lost control of Assyria itself to the Parthians, the name Syria survived and was applied only to the land of Aramea to the west, that had once been part of the Assyrian empire, Assyria went back to being called Assyria. This was to lead to both the Assyrians from Mesopotamia and Arameans from the Levant being dubbed Syrians in Greco-Roman culture.

Aramea, by now called Syria, was fought over by Seleucids and Parthians during the 2nd century BC, and later still by the Romans and Sassanid Persians. Palmyra, a powerful Aramean kingdom arose during this period, and for a time it dominated the ancient Aramean homeland and successfully resisted Roman and Persian attempts at conquest. The region eventually came under the control of the Byzantine Empire. Christianity began to take hold from the 1st to 3rd Centuries AD, and the Aramaic language gradually supplanted Canaanite in Phonecia and Hebrew in Israel/Palestine.

A synthesis between Aramean and Arab tribes in Jordan created a people called the Nabateans, who dominated that region between 100 BC and 100 AD, its most famous city being Petra. The Nabatean kingdom was eventually conquered by Rome.

In the mid 7th century AD Aramea/Syria fell to the Arab Islamic conquest. The Aramaic language and Christianity survived among a sizeable portion of the population of Syria, who resisted Arabization and Islamification. Today, some 15% of the population remain Christian, although the Western Aramaic of the Arameans is spoken as a working language by only tiny minorities in a few villages. However, among the non Aramean Assyrians of the north east of the country, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, an Akkadian influenced Mesopotamian dialect, remains a spoken tongue.

Modern times

As the indigenous Arameans of Syria began to adopt Christianity, a distinct dialect of Aramaic, Syriac, developed to the east of Syria/Aramea in Upper Mesopotamia (Assyria/Assuristan). Hence Syriac has been associated with all of the various communities of Syriac Christians regardless of ethnic and theological differences.

Today there are several Eastern Catholic Churches that are distinct from the Latin Rite. Two of these are the Maronite Church and the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church, both common to Syria and Lebanon. The Syriac Orthodox Church is also extant; many followers of these churches (particularly those from Syria and south central Turkey) regard themselves as ethnic Arameans, and a small minority still speak Western Aramaic as a native tongue. A tiny number, known as Mhallami, have converted to Islam.

Today many Christians from Syria, particularly those living outside Syria, designate themselves as Syriac in order to distinguish themselves from the Arab identity of modern Syria. Many inside and outside of Syria however are increasingly advocating an Aramean identity because the terms Syrian and Syriac are accepted by most scholars to derive from Assyrian.

A separate Assyrian (aka Chaldo-Assyrian) identity is held by the indigenous Semitic Mesopotamian Aramaic-speaking Christians of Iraq, Iran, south east Turkey, north east Syria, and also in Armenia, Georgia and southern Russia. This group tend to be followers of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Ancient Church of the East and some followers of the Syriac Orthodox tradition. Most members of this ethnic group still speak, read and write various related dialects of Mesopotamian Aramaic, and are indigenous to Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq), as opposed to Aramea. The Mandean ethno-religious group of Iraq and Iran also speak a distinct dialect of Aramaic, known as Mandaic; it is likely the followers of this Gnostic religion are of Mesopotamian rather than Aramean heritage.

See also

• Aram-Naharaim
• Aram Rehob