Arameans
Mor Gabriel Monastery Lands in Tur Abdin Face Sale Threat — Aramean Community Urged to Act
The Mor Gabriel Monastery, one of the oldest and most important centers of the Aramean/Syriac Orthodox people, is facing a serious threat after two historic monastery land areas in Tur Abdin were reportedly put up for sale by the Turkish state.
Aramean Elder Gevriye Ego, 92, Shot Dead in Enhil — Midyat Court Acquits Kurdish Accused Despite Strong Evidence
AArameans
Apr 2, 20264 min readAramean Elder Gevriye Ego, 92, Shot Dead in Enhil — Midyat Court Acquits Kurdish Accused Despite Strong Evidence
AArameans
Apr 2, 20264 min read
Ancient Syria & Anatolia: Aramean Mythology, Religion & Traditions
EElija Elias
Mar 26, 202619 min readAncient Syria & Anatolia: Aramean Mythology, Religion & Traditions
EElija Elias
Mar 26, 202619 min read
Ancient DNA from the Halzi Gate (612 BC) Confirms Aramean Continuity in Mesopotamia and What It Means for Modern Arameans
AArameans
Mar 14, 202640 min readAncient DNA from the Halzi Gate (612 BC) Confirms Aramean Continuity in Mesopotamia and What It Means for Modern Arameans
AArameans
Mar 14, 202640 min read
Marcus Junianus Justinus FrontinusWorship of Aramean Queen
"The origin of the Jews was from Damascus, a most famous city of Syria, whence also the Assyrian kings and queen Semiramis sprung. The name of the city was given it from King Damascus, in honour of whom the Syrians consecrated the sepulchre of his wife Arathis as a temple, and regard her as a goddess worthy of the most sacred worship." The Syrians consecrated Arathis' sepulchre as a temple and "regard her as a goddess worthy of the most sacred worship". furthermore, The temple built from his wife's sepulchre was dedicated "in honour of whom" (in his honor), giving King Hazael divine association.
Flavius JosephusKing Hazael Worship
"He was an active man, and had the good-will of the Syrians, and of the people of Damascus, to a great degree; by whom both Benhadad himself and Hazael, who ruled after him, are honoured to this day as gods, by reason of their benefactions, and their building them temples, by which they adorned the city of the Damascens." Josephus tried to euhemerize the genesis of the gods of Damascus and their cults. The god Hadad is easily recognized in the name Adados, while Azaelos is none other than King Hazael. This mention of a common cult of the pantheon's chief deity and a deceased king is reminiscent of the royal funerary cult of Sam'al in the Aramean religion of Syria during the second half of the 8th century B.C. Josephus' source is the historian Nicholas of Damascus. He was born 64 B.C. in Damascus and penned a history of the Ancient Near East and Greece. He was also well-versed in the religious traditions of his hometown. Thus, there is evidence of rituals from the 1st century B.C. This means that in Damascus the cult of the deified King Hazael persisted into the 1st century B.C. and perhaps even up to the Christianization of the city.
Ishoʿbokht of Rev ArdashirChristian Law in the Aramean Land
"In my observation, there are many differences among people with regard to civil law (literally: “in the matter of the dine”), not only among the various religions, languages, and nations, but also within the same religion, nation, and language—for example, within Christianity. While the Jews everywhere have the same law, and likewise the heresy of the Magian religion, and likewise our present rulers (Islam), among Christians the laws that prevail in the Roman lands differ from those in the Persian lands, and the latter again differ from those in the land of the Arameans. The laws are different in Susiana (Ahwāz), different in Mesene (Maisān), and different in other lands. From district to district, and from city to city, many differences in civil law can be demonstrated. And although the religion of Christianity is everywhere the same, civil law is neither one single law nor the same everywhere (see Atim). We shall discuss the cause of this difference later."
Chronicle of ZuqninMemory of Aramean Kings Alive in a Syriac Orthodox Bishop's Name
"They did this for days and only reluctantly desisted from massacring at the order of comes Leontius and the appeal of the blessed Bar-Hadad the bishop. They guarded the city vigilantly day and night, while the holy Bar-Hadad went around, visiting them, praying for them, and blessing them. He praised their diligence, encouraged them, and sprinkled baptismal water on them and on the wall of the city. He also carried the Eucharistic bread while going around, to let them take communion at their posts, lest anyone of them leave his post and come down from the wall for this purpose." Arman Akopian states that Arameans preserved the names of their ancient kings even after adopting Christianity, despite the pagan origins of those names. A prime example of this cultural preservation is Bishop Bar-Hadad of Tella, a prominent Christian leader active during the late fifth and early sixth centuries. He operated within a highly volatile Mesopotamian frontier environment where bishops frequently assumed massive civic, protective, and political roles to shield their communities from destruction. His moral and regional authority is famously captured during the Roman-Persian conflicts around 502 to 503 AD, when the region faced the invading forces of the Persian king Kavad I, who is historically also referred to as Kawad. During these clashes, Bar-Hadad actively defended his people against the Persian king's onslaught, famously sprinkling holy water on the city walls and bringing the Eucharist directly to soldiers at their defense posts. It was during this same turbulent war that local military forces planning a bloody massacre only reluctantly desisted from the slaughter due to a combination of an imperial order and the direct, urgent appeal of the blessed bishop himself.
Donald John WisemanThe Greek Origin Of "Syriac"
"It was, in fact, the Greeks who coined the name ‘Phoenicia’ and gave currency to the concept. Just as they named the Aramaeans ‘Assyrians’ (and then shortened it to Syrians), because they were the subjects of the Assyrian empire nearest and best known to them, so they appear to have translated the name Canaanite by ‘Phoenician’, and then restricted it to those Canaanites most familiar to them." The Greeks initially referred to all the subjects of the Assyrian Empire as "Syrians" without considering their ethnicity. Over time, this name became associated specifically with the northwestern Semitic regions, equating ‘Syrians’ with ‘Arameans’.
Cambridge UniversitySyriac Alphabets
"The terms ‘Aramaeans’ and ‘Syrians’, ‘Aram’ and ‘Syria’, are synonymous. The Hebrew aram is rendered in the Septuagint by ‘Syria’. However, the term ‘Syriac’ denotes the ancient Semitic language and literature of the ‘Syriac’ Christians, but is not synonymous with ‘Christian inhabitants of Syria’; it roughly denotes those Christians who employed the Syrian descendant of Aramaic or were part of the Syriac Church under the influence of Syriac thought and hellenistic culture. Syriac was then the language and script of the extensive Syriac literature, which is a Christian literature in a very special sense, consisting entirely of original documents dealing exclusively with Christian subjects." "The Edessan dialect became the liturgical language of the Syriac Church, the literary language of the Christian Aramaeans of Syria and of the neighbouring countries, even of Persia. Syriac literature flourished mainly in the fourth to seventh centuries." While "Aram" and "Syria" are historically synonymous terms for the region and its people, "Syriac" refers specifically to the Semitic language, script, and Christian literature that originated from the Edessan dialect. Emerging as the literary language of Christian Arameans, this extensive literature flourished between the fourth and seventh centuries across Syria and neighboring regions.
Hans Ferdinand HelmoltSuri To Aram
"As soon as our Assyrian sources are again available, we find Aramean States there and a predominantly Aramaean population. The language of the land of Suri (cf. above, p. 10) then became Aramaic, and the terms “Syriacs” and “ Aramaeans,” originally completely distinct, became gradually synonymous."
Hans Ferdinand HelmoltSyriac And Aramean Synonymity
"The Babylonians from the very first termed the land which runs northward of Mesopotamia to the mountains and westward to Cappadocia, Suri; the name survives even in classical times in that of the Leuco-Syriacs in Cappadocia (ef. above, p. 10). When Assyria and the southern part of Syria became Aramean, the name was then extended to the more southern countries, since Aramean and Syriac became to a certain extent synonymous."
