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"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.

"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.

"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."

The Barhadad Mosaic depicts five people alongside early Syriac inscriptions. Within these inscriptions, a man named "Barhadad, the son of 'Abdnu" is identified. He is shown as a bearded figure wearing a blue, long-sleeved tunic and blue trousers, standing behind the left arm of a senior bearded figure. While certain visual cues, such as the senior figure's forward arm placement and a specific commemorative blessing, suggest that another individual might visually dominate the scene, academic documentation traditionally styles the piece as the Barhadad Mosaic. His name, Barhadad, certainly derives from the memory of the ancient Aramean king Barhadad, king of Aram. Arman Akopian suggests that despite the pagan origins of such names, Syriac Christians preserved the names of ancient Aramean kings, specifically Barhadad, well after they adopted Christianity. This depiction of Barhadad of Urhoy/Edessa suggests an awareness of Aramean origins among the Syriac Christians of Urhoy/Edessa. What is striking in this inscription is that Barhadad is spelled as a single word, ܒܪܗܕܕ, instead of two separate words. This formatting indicates that his actual given name is Barhadad, rather than "Bar" serving as a patronymic prefix meaning "son of Hadad." This distinction is further supported by the inscription itself, which explicitly names his father as 'Abdnu. Consequently, the use of Barhadad as a single, unified name reflects a direct linguistic and cultural connection to the ancient Aramean king Barhadad. The Syriac inscription reads: ܡܣܐ ܒܪܗܕܕ ܒܪ ܥܒܕܢܘ ܘܐܠ ܪܘܡܐ ܒܪ ܒܪܫܡܐ ܕܟܝܪ ܚܬܐ ܒܪܬ ܪܘܡܐ This translates to: "Masa. Barhadad, son of 'Abdnu. Wa'el. Ruma, son of Barsama, may he be remembered. Hata, daughter of Ruma." It's preserved in the Şanlıurfa Museum, dates to the early 3rd century AD and measures 245 cm by 235 cm. It was discovered in 1991 in a former cave-tomb in Yakup Mahallesi in Urfa.

"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.

"Arameans are Syriacs, and because they dwelt in Syria, that is, in the land of the inhabitants of Hama and Antiochenes, they were called Syriacs."

"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’.

"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.

"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."

"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."

"Etymologically, "Syria" is merely an abbreviation of "Assyria," a name which covered the subject lands of the Assyrian empire, the subject-peoples being also called "Syriacs." Afterwards, in the Greco-Roman period, the shorter word came to be restricted to the territory west of the Euphrates, the designation "Syriacs," how ever, being given to the great mass of the Semitic populations dwelling between the Tigris and the Mediterranean, who are more accurately called Arameans." The original name “Syria” was derived from the name “Assyria” and was originally the name of the subjects of the Assyrian Empire. Later, in the Greco-Roman period, the definition of the name became more specific, referring to the area west of the Euphrates River. Although the people of the larger area were known as “Syriacs,” they were actually known as Arameans.

"The word Syria is really an abbreviation of Assyria; but after the fall of the Assyrian empire the term became limited to the country west of the Euphrates, although the people west of the Tigris Early continued to be called Syrians. The modern Semitic people Syrians, occupying Syria are most accurately termed Aramaeans. When we first hear of the inhabitants of Syria they were divided into small tribes around towns or cities. But there is much doubt as to the origin, character, and achievements of the people known from Egyptian records as "Cheta," who had a powerful kingdom or confederation extending far beyond Syria, with a capital called Carchemish — and who have been identified in modern times with the Hittites."

"The Greeks called the Aramaeans Syriacs, which is an abbreviation of Assyrians. Those Greeks who were settled along the southern coast of the Black Sea first applied the name to their Cappadocian neighbors who were Assyrian subjects. Thence it was extended to the whole bulk of the population of the Assyrian Empire, and thus it became synonymous with Aramaean. Afterwards the Christian Aramaeans adopted the name Syriac, because among the Jews Aramaean meant heathen." The Greeks initially referred to all the subjects of the Assyrian Empire as "Syriacs" without considering their ethnicity. Over time, this name became associated specifically with the northwestern Semitic regions, equating ‘Syriacs’ with ‘Arameans’.

"In the secular history of the world we are informed that Assyrians and Arameans lived there; in the times of Christ and his apostles, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were called Armeans and the learned men of Syria call themselves Arameans."

"The language of the people of Mosul is a dialect of Arabic, partly influenced by Kurdish and Syriac. The Moslems call themselves either Arabs or Kurds, but the prevalent type, very different from the true Arabian of Bagdad, proves the Aramaean origin of many of their number. Of the Christians the community of the Chaldaeans, i.e. those who have gone over from Nestorianism to Catholicism, seems to be the most important; there are also Syrian Catholics and Jacobites. Mosul has for several centuries been a centre of Catholic missionary activity, the Dominicans especially, by the foundation of schools and printing-offices, having made a marked impression upon an intelligent and teachable population. ‘There are very few Protestants. The town is the seat of British, French and Russian consulates."

"Syriacs, the descendants of Aramean peoples, divided into a multitude of communities of different language and religion: Chaldeans, in Bagdad, Mossoul, Aleppo, Beirût, or Nestorians, speaking partly Syriac and partly Arabic. The Melchites speak Arabic, but belong to the Greek Church. The Jacobites, or Monophysites, speak Arabic and Syriac. The Maronites of the Lebanon and of Beirût speak Arabic and are Catholics."

"At Edessa, in the west of Mesopotamia, the native " dialect had already been used for some time as a literary language, and had been reduced to rule through the influence of the schools (as is proved by the fixity of the grammar and orthography) even before Christianity acquired power in the country in the 2d century. At an early period the Old and New Testaments were here translated, with the help of Jewish tradition. This version (the so-called Peshitta or Peshito) became the Bible of Aramaean Christendom, and Edessa became its capital. Thus the Aramaean Christians of the neighbouring countries, even those who were subjects of the Persian empire, adopted the Edessan dialect as the language of the church, of literature, and of cultivated intercourse. Since the ancient name of the inhabitants, "Aramaeans," just like that of Ἕλληνες, had acquired in the minds of Jews and Christians the unpleasant signification of " heathens," it was generally avoided, and in its place the Greek terms " Syrians " and "Syriac" were used. But "Syriac "was also the name given by the Jews and Christians of Palestine to their own language, and both Greeks and Persians designated the Aramaeans of Babylonia as "Syrians." It is therefore, properly speaking, incorrect to employ the word "Syriac" as meaning the language of Edessa alone; but, since it was the most important of these dialects, it has the best claim to this generally received appellation"

"The chief port is Beyrout, and to it must be added Acre, Caiffa (Haifa), Tyre, and Tripoli. Railways, to connect Damascus with Acre and with Beyrout, and Tripoli with the interior, are projected. The population is estimated at 2,677,000 and at 1.450,000, and again at about 2,000,000. The bulk of the inhabitants are Mohammedans, but do not all profess the orthodox Sunnite creed: for instance, there are the Druses (q.v.), certain sects of Shiites, and others. The Christians make up about one-fifth of the total (see below). The principal ethnic elements in the population are descendants of the ancient Syriacs (Aramaeans) and Arabs, these last both settled and nomad; besides there are Jews, Turks, and Europeans."

"The Kurdish element only appears sporadically in the true Mesopotamian plain; but the Yezidis, who form the population of the Sinjar range, may be referred to this stock. He who encounters the uncanny figure of one of these people will hardly be able to restrain a slight shudder, esjjecially if he remembers the graphic descriptions of the Yezidi robbers in Morieris Ayetlia. Of the old Aramaean peasantry there are no longer any important remains in the plain the Aramaeans having withdrawn farther into the Kurdish highlands, where, in spite of their wild Kurdish neighbours, they are more secure from exactions of every kind. The plain of the northern country of the two rivers was at one time richly cultivated, and owed its prosperity to this industrious people, who formerly played so distinguished a part as a connecting link between the Persians and the Eoman empire and afterwards between the Western and the Arabian world, and whose highest culture was developed in this very region. Quite otherwise is it now. In the plain there are almost no remains of the common Aramaean tongue. Apart from the scattered areas in which Kurdish prevails, the ordinary language is a vulgar Arabic dialect ; but both Kurdish and Aramaean (Syriac) have exercised an influence on the speech of the Arab peasant. Finally it must be mentioned that certain Turcoman hordes roam about the Mesopotamian territory."

"These statements of Xenophon already indicate a demarcation of the territory afterwards called Mesopotamia, as well as its division into two sections. The fertile portion, inhabited by agricultural Aramaeans, stretched from the Euphrates to the Chaboras; the desert portion, the home of wandering tribes, extended to the Tigris."

"In Persia the Gospel came into collision with an official religion which was strongly organized, Iranian Mazdaeism. The priests of this cult, who were attached in each village to the local Pyraeum, were governed by a kind of provincial bishop, the Mobed. The Mobeds (Magi) had a head, the Mobedan-mobed or Archimagus, one of the most important personages of the Persian State. In the western provinces, which were Aramaean in race and language, this hierarchy represented little more than a facade."

"The same process recurs in so-called Parthian Mesopotamia after the defeat of Antiochus VII Sidetes in 129 B.C. In the last century B.c. the Seleucid kingdom has come to an end and Rome herself has to undertake the task of saving Syrian Hellenism from the Iranians who threaten it from the East and the Aramaeans who rise up against it from the depths of Syria itself."

"The name of Maronite they inherited from the Syriac monk named Maro, who lived on the bank of the Orontes about A.D. 400, but other historians say that this nomenclature was given to them from the name of one of their patriarchs called Marun or Maro, who was ruling over the see of Antioch in A.D. 700. They are no doubt descended from the ancient Arameans commonly called Syrians..."

"After the Greek penetration of the ancient-oriental lands the Semitic cultural tradition was carried almost exclusively by Aramaic-speaking peoples; this was true of the Hebrew rendering, and the natives of Mesopotamia called themselves Arameans."