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Arameans
Bar Bahlul

Bar Bahlul

Bar Bahlul was a scholar and lexicographer from Awāna, about 60 km north of Baghdad in the Ṭirhan region. He spent most of his life in Baghdad and moved in the Christian intellectual circles that engaged closely with Muslim scholars. Thoroughly bilingual, he wrote in both Syriac and Arabic. He also took part in church affairs, including the election of Catholicos ʿAbdishoʿ I in 963.
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Bar Bahlul’s Definition of Syria

Bar Bahlul’s Definition of Syria

“Syria includes Antioch, Aleppo, Seleucia (the port al-Suwaydiyya near Antioch), Hama, Shaizar, and Qinnasrin.” He further says that “Syria is all the country from Antioch to Edessa, Bilad al-Sham.” In the same lexicon, he says an Aramean is a Syriac from Sham. Sham is Antioch as well as Edessa, so the Syriac Christians of Edessa (Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Saint Jacob of Edessa, etc.) are considered Arameans per Bar Bahlul’s definition.

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Bar Bahlul's Lexicon on Arameans

Bar Bahlul's Lexicon on Arameans

“Aramean (Oromoyo): a Syriac from Sham. Armaya: a pagan." As we can see, there is a difference between Armaya and Aramaya (Aramean and Syriac). Not only does this disprove the claim that "Aramean" means pagan, since there is a vowel distinction between the two, but it also shows that Aramean and Syriac are synonymous.

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Bar Bahlul’s Lexicon on Syriacs

Bar Bahlul’s Lexicon on Syriacs

"Syria was derived from Suros, either during his lifetime or after his death. This Suros had killed his brother and ruled over Mesopotamia. His whole kingdom was called Syria. The Syriacs were formerly called Arameans, but when Suros ruled over them, from then on they were called Syriacs."