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A History Of Syriac And Aramean

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"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’.

Author

Philip Schaff

Philip Schaff (1819–1893) was a German-American theologian, biblical scholar, and historian of Christianity. Born in Chur, he later moved to the United States, where he became a prominent professor of church history. Schaff is best known for his multi-volume work History of the Christian Church, which traces the development of Christianity from the early church through the Reformation. He also helped edit the influential series Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, which made important writings of early Christian theologians available in English. His scholarship had a lasting impact on Protestant historical theology and encouraged greater understanding among different Christian traditions.

Item details

Date: 1882
Language: English
Publisher: A Religious Encyclopædia: Or, Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology. Based on the Real-encyklopädie of Herzog, Plitt, and Hauck, Volume 4, Herzog, J. J.; Schaff, Philip; Jackson, Samuel Macauley; and Schaff, David S, p. 124.
URL: archive.org