"With the help of our Lord I have arrived at the end. And as a miracle provides the sweetness of the essence of the Aramaeandom, I have arranged (only) the beginnings for you (and) I ask you to be very careful with it."
"Aramean teachers give advice about this and say: do not talk too much, neither words of wisdom"
"For the fear of God and the love of mankind by the Arameans."
"And as a careful examination by scholars (shows), the art of writing was a discovery of the Arameans; and among those who received it were the Greeks and the Romans, and the Saracens (i.e. Arabs), and the Persians, and the Armenians. Therefore, for the Arameans it is a blessing without equal among all mankind."
"My dear and beloved Aramean, in many ways I am indebted to you on account of the racial love of Adam and the Semitic one of Aram (that burns in my heart)."
"I think, my dear one, . . . that you long for the Aramaic tongue, the tongue which my ancestors spoke – the lordly and ancient language. That (language) in which our Lord spoke when he was dwelling on the earth."
"The children of Aram planted the fertile country north of Babylonia, called Aram Naharaim, or ‘Aram between the two rivers,’ the Euphrates and Tigris, thence called by the Greeks, Mesopotamia, Gen. xxiv. 10: and Padan Aram, the level country of Aram, Gen. xxv. 20. This country of Aram is frequently rendered Syria in Scripture; Judges x. 6; Hosea xii. 12, &c.; which is not to be confounded with Palestine Syria; into which they afterwards spread themselves, still retaining their original name, of Ἀράμοι, or Arameans, noticed by Homer, Il. ii. 783."
Here it is written that the Arameans were from Mesopotamia, that is Aram Naharaim. It also states that Aram is synonymous with Syria in Scripture. Furthermore, it mentions that when the Arameans spread to Palestine Syria, they retained their original name.
"Syriac, i. e. the language of the Christian Arameans, who had their headquarters in Edessa in a northern Mesopotamia, is, in the first place, historically important, since it was through the medium of Syriac literature that Christian and philosophic learning passed to the Arabs and Persians, and even to India and China"
Syriac is said to be the language of the Aramean Christians, i.e., Syriacs.
"We have already expressed the assumption that originally, northern Mesopotamia in the narrower sense, as the relatively original land of the Arameans, was called 'Aram' and that this name was only later transferred to some other parts of Mesopotamia and Syria. Here, the Arameans are connected as a native people of northern Mesopotamia, and the name of their land, Aram, was also used to refer to Syria and parts of Mesopotamia, such as Aram-Naharaim."
Aram is stated to be synonymous with Syria.
Eliya of Nisibis is referenced with the statement that ܐܳܪܳܡܳܐ (translated as Aram) is the name of a place, while ܐܳܪܳܡܳܝܳܐ (translated as Aramean) is a Syriac. Here, Aramean is synonymous with and equated to 'a Syriac.'
The author, referencing Isho Bar Ali and Bar Bahlul, makes the statement that Armojó and Armoït mean pagan and heathen. He further notes that this distinction already appears in the Syriac translation of the New Testament, where Ἕλληνες (Hellenes, i.e., Greeks) is translated as Armojó, ἐθνικῶς (ethnikos, i.e., gentile/pagan) as Armoït, and ὁ Σύρος (ho Syros, i.e., the Syrian) as Oromojó.
Thus, it is said that Aramean and pagan/heathen are differentiated.
"In the name of God, I undertake to write a book of Christian teaching for the progress of Aramean learners in Syriac confession, which was established in Arabic by Mor Ignatius Aphrem the First, Patriarch of the Apostolic See and of all the East."
"Because of their hatred, they (the Greeks) call us Jacobites instead of Syriacs. In response, we say that the name Syriac, which you have taken from us, is superior, for it comes from Syrus, who ruled over Antioch, and the land was named Syria after him—just as your name, Greek, comes from Javan the pagan. However, we are the descendants of Aram, and in ancient times, we were called Arameans after his name."
"Again, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, we write a codex showing all the feasts of our Lord and the commemorations of the saints throughout the entire annual cycle. The first of October, the first month and the beginning of the Syriac year."
"Again, by the power of our Lord, we write a codex showing all the feasts of the year. First, the first of Octobter, the beginning of the Syriac year."
(ܬܘܒ ܒܝܕ ܚܝܠܗ ܕܡܪܢ ܟܬܒܝܢܢ ܩܘܕܝܟܘܣܟ ܡܚܘܝܢܐ ܕܟܠܗܘܢ ܥܐܕܐ ܕܫܢܬܐ ܩܕܡܝܬ ܬܫܪܝܢ ܩܕܡܝܐ ܪܝܫ ܫܢܬܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܝܐ)
"Calendar of the Lord's Feasts and Commemorations of Saints of the Annual Cycle according to the Order of Mor Jacob of Edessa before the First of October, the beginning of the Suryoyo/Syriac year"
(ܡܚܘܝܢܐ ܕܥܐܪܐ ܡܪܐܢܝܐ ܘܕܘܟܪܢܐ ܕܩܕܝܫܐ ܕܟܪܘܟܝܐ ܫܢܬܢܝܐ ܛܘܟܣܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܝܥܩܘܒ ܐܘܪܗܝ ܩܕܡ ܬܫܪܝܢ ܩܕܝܡ ܪܝܫ ܫܢܬܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܝܐ)
"The Syriacs are the grandchildren of the Aramaeans that trace their roots to Aram, the Son of Sam, the Son of Noah. Their civilization flourished in the land of Syria and the Levant since the 15th century B.C.³ After the Arameans converted to Christianity, and as they were very faithful and proud of their new religion, they denounced their old name (i.e. Aramaeans) and adopted the name Syriacs which gave them their religious identity instead of the name Aramaeans that denoted paganism, thus differentiating themselves from the Aramaeans that remained pagans.⁴"
"The Syriac language is the Aramaic language itself, and the Arameans are the Syrians themselves. Whoever has made a distinction between them has erred."
"In fact, no Church can claim to have studied the Scriptures more, carefully, and to have applied all the scientific resources of the early ages of Christianity to biblical criticism more steadily than the Syriac community. From the second century till the first quarter of the seventh, eight different versions of the New Testament were produced by genuine researches of the Aramaean population, spreading from the Mediterranean shores to the East of Persia, and from the massif of the Taurus to the Arabian peninsula. [...] On the other hand, the writers of the Gospels, being from an Aramaic-speaking population, while writing in Greek were generally thinking in Syriac, and the Aramaic stamp of their phrases is sometimes so strong that without a knowledge of this language and the reading of the versions which are written in it, the real thought of the sacred author will perhaps be misunderstood."
"After his death, Heggag, Emir of Beth Aramaye gave order that there should not established any Catholic. The patriarchal throne of Seleucia remained without a chief for 20 years till Heggag died."
"The Patriarch Joshua bin Nun said in the eighth century of Christ that the land was called Syria by king Suros who after killing his brother became king over Mesopotamia and all the countries subject to his rule were called Syria. The Syriacs were called Arameans in ancient times, but when the Arameans embraced Christianity they abandoned their ancient name and were called Syriacs. We know that the Aramean language in which Abraham spoke was the Syriac."
"Nahor begat Aram, from this name (of Aram), those settled in Harran in Mesopotamia and its neighbouring areas up to Mosul were called "Arameans". The books tell us about another Aram descending from Shem, whose land was situated in the East side of the sun [...] The borders of Aram son of Shem son of Noah are to the country of Misan; therefore the population of that city and its areas is called after Aram."
"The Arameans were in Aram which was from Persia to the Mediterranean, and they all were called Arameans, but when the Greeks seized the area they called it Syria."
"The Arameans are the sons of Aram, son of Shem. They settled since old times in the large Aramean countries which were stretched from Persia in the East, and from the Mediterranean in the West and Armenia and Asia Minor in the North and Arabian Peninsula in the South. Their lands were Bayblon, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine."
"The conversion of Kashkar preceded the conversion of Seleucia and Beth-Aramaye, because tradition holds that the bish- opric see of this place was older than all the other sees."
"The blessed Mar Mari previously went to Kashkar, when he first arrived in Beth-Aramaye and realized that Seleucia would not open its door so that he could teach its inhabitants a lesson in the fear of God."
"Now the cities and territories of Babylonia and Persia were full of small kings, but the Parthians were ruling the territory of Babylonia. At that time, the Parthian Aphrahat son of Aphrahat was reigning in Babylonia - in Seleucia and Ctesiphon in Beth- Aramaye."
"It is not sufficiently realized by modern scholars that the immense majority of the members of the Nestorian Church living east of the Tigris were of Persian, and not Semitic or Aramean birth and extraction".
"the dependence of these vowels on those of Arameans obliges us to find a centre where the culture of the Aramaic language was flourishing, and this centre is the school of Baghdâd, which was, as we have already stated, under the direction of Nestorian scholars, and where a treatise on Syriac grammar was written by the celebrated Hunain."
"What induced us to dedicate to the mentioned topic a special chapter is to end the controversy between many Chaldeans and Syriacs. Everyone of them claims the origin for himself and to be the older one, without having a reliable evidence or a funded scientific proof. In order to clarify the actualness of this problem and avoid the controversy, we say: All tribes, which lived in ancient times in the expanded countries, which were limited in the east by Persia, in the west by the Mediterranean, in the north by Asia Minor, by the countries of the Armenians and Greeks and in the south by the Arab peninsula, were known as children of Arams or as Arameans.
The countries of Babylon and Assur were at all times, even after the Arab conquest, called Beth Aramaye, that is countries of the Arameans. It is not necessary to demonstrate the innumerable testimonies in order to prove this fact; it is a truth, which is known for everybody, who has the slightest idea of the informations about the Church of the East, because the books of our ancestors are full of them. Likewise the countries of Mesopotamia were well-known as the countries of Arams.
You will realize from the mentioned testimonies here and also from others, that the inhabitants of Edessa and Jazira all of them were Arameans by nation and language. Regarding the dwellers of Syria, it is even more evident.
You will receive testimonies of the church authors, who confirm this position. It became clear that all countries, which are known today under the designation syriac is, whether in the east or in the west, were since time immemorial known as Aramean, and this is the correct designation.
The syriac authors whether in the East or in the West, state that the term [Syriac] comes from Suros. Suros was a man of Aramean origin, who founded according to their opinion the city of Antiochia and conquered the countries of Syria and Mesopotamia. Following him these countries were called Syria and their inhabitants Syriacs, as today the inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire are called Ottomans.
The Syriacs generally, whether from the East or from the West were not called Syriacs in former times, but Arameans in dependance on their progenitor Aram, the son of Shem, the son of Noah.
The name 'Syriac' dates from a time about 400 or 500 B.C.
The term Syriac was adopted by the East-Arameans (Chaldeans and Assyrians) after Christ through the apostles, who had proselytized these countries."
"It is well-known by scholars, that the syriac language was at that time the spoken language of the population, which lived in large numbers in the eastern areas, that is Syria, Beth Nahrin, Assyria and the land of Sinear and its environments.
All these territories were called Beth Aram by the Jews, as it is revealed in the Old Testament.
For Aram, the son of Shem, ruled over them and populated them with his offspring. For this reason, the language is not called Syriac in the Old [Testament], but ‘Aramaic’, which is its genuine and original name, as it appears to us.
For the Christian doctrine prospered first in that part of Beth Aram, which was called especially by the Greeks Syria, and primarily prospered first in Antiochia, the mother of all cities, where the disciples were called christians for the first time.
All the people from Beth Aram, who became christians, were called Syriacs.
Everyone of the children of the Aramean race, and especially the clergy, should care for, learn and sponsor the precious Aramaic language."
"Touching the writing which was written in Greek, Hebrew and Latin, and set over Christ's head, there was no Aramean written upon the tablet, for the Arameans or Syriacs had no part in (the shedding of) Christ's blood, but only the Greeks and Hebrews and Romans; Herod the Greek and Caiaphas the Hebrew and Pilate the Roman. Hence when Abgar the Aramean king of Mesopotamia heard (of it), he was wroth against the Hebrews and sought to destroy them."
"In the days of Reu the languages were divided into seventy and two; up to this time there was only one language, which was the parent of them all, namely, Aramean, that is Syriac."
A 10th-century bishop of Urhoy/Edessa discussed ideas similar to Galileo's astronomy and Nietzsche's superman in his book 'The Cause of All Causes', a remarkable and insightful work:
"And the knowledge of the whole star system, discovered by the Babylonian Arameans, that is to say the Chaldeans, those who in the south-east regions are growling because of the sandy soil in all their places and the unknown paths and roads leading from place to place and from city to city."
"Now when the blessed Mar George the Patriarch went up from the countries of Persia and Beth Katraye, because he had been absent there a long time, and because everything concerning him was a joy or a sorrow to this holy congregation, when all the holy Elders heard of his coming to the paternal throne of Beth Aramaye, they decided to send suitable men to meet him and to salute the father of fathers."
"It is understood that Abraham was a Syriac. [...] This is the reason for the corruption of the Syriac language during the centuries. It was spoiled by accepting foreign words. [...] And if you compare the Babylonian language with the real Syriac language, you will see that even one percent of it does not exist in Syriac.”
"Syria was thus called by the name of Suros, who having killed his brother, reigned in Mesopotamia, and hence the whole region during his reign was called Syria. But in ancient times Syriacs were called Arameans. [...] We know that the Aramean language in which Abraham spoke was the Syriac."
It is written by Mor Philoxenos Yuhanon Dolabani in the preface of Mimre d-Bar Maadani:
"For the benefit of those who love the Aramaeandom, we were careful to publish this book of memre and verse homilies of Mor Yuhanon Bar Ma‘dani."
"Wash my tongue with hyssop, so that they speak in the Aramaic language in the measure of Ephraem, because this is the Syriac way of speaking, which foreigners do not use."
"The Syriac tongue is from Aram, the son of Shem, the son of Noah; the name is transmitted in Aramaic."
"Aram is Inner Syria, that is Palestine, while outside of Syria is called Aram-Nahrin."
"The Arameans don't want to mix with the pagans."
"That is, that the Syriac was the first tongue, and not the Hebrew as some think, is known from this, that Abraham was first called Hebrew because of the crossing of the river Euphrates"
"And Saint Basil and Mar Aprim have decided that the first language which existed before the division of tongues was Syriac, even as the word 'Bhulbala' itself testifieth. But the pious Jacob and John of Yathreb think that Hebrew was the first language—the Hebrew which was preserved with Eber, for he was a righteous man and did not agree to the building of the Tower."
"The Border of Shem: From Persia and Bhakurtos to India and Rinokura, the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Lydians, the Syriacs, the Hebrews, and the Persians."
"Because the world is dark and Abgar—the son of the Aramaeans—black,
The world of darkness was illumined through Abgar, by Christ; But the People were darkened by the Son of God, who was the Light."
"They have combined and made from the word 'man,' 2 as it is written in the Aramaic (the explanation) that this (word) refers to a (single) man, that is the Primal Man, the Father of the Five Shining Ones whom they call ZIWANE (the Bright Ones)."
"Following Hairan, who is worthy of honor among the saints, was Šahlupa, zealous and caring and hard-working in fear of God. Also this holy father was from Beth Aramaye."
“After 'Ebedh-Msiha came the blessed Hiran, from the land of Beth Aramaye. In the early days of his episcopate, there was terror and war everywhere. The sun eclipsed and refused to shine on us: a sign of the Lord's wrath against the exasperating people. For in his time, there were many wars between Romans and Parthians, and Artaban, king of the latter, entered the land of the Romans and burned several towns in Beth Aramaye”
“From the beginning they had rushed into Mesopotamia, then into Beth Aramaye.”
"They are called Syriacs or Syrians. They call their country Syria and their language Syriac or Syrian to distinguish themselves from their fellow Aramaeans who did not convert to Christianity."
"I wish that, despite their intense zeal for the Christian religion, they had continued to preserve their noble Aramaic name, which was not at all soft on Christianity, but rather was intended to revive in them the memory of their past glory and the greatness of their Aramaic state throughout the ages."
"The Arameans are the sons of Aram, son of Shem. They were a large and famous nation. Their homeland from the oldest days was the vast country that they settled in with their father before everyone else, so it was named after them: the land of Aram or the land of the Arameans."
"It is bounded to the east by the land of Persia, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea, to the north by the land of Armenia and Asia Minor, and to the south by the Arabian Peninsula. So it includes the land of Babylon, Assyria, Mesopotamia, the land of the Levant, and Lebanon."
"When the Greeks took over this country (in 312 BC) and saw the remains of the Assyrian kings in it, they called it Syria, a corruption of Ashur in Aramaic, and they said in it Assur Ya, then they shortened it to Syria."
"However, the Arameans continued to call their country Aram and claim to be related to it until they embraced the Christian religion. Then they began, with excessive jealousy, to abandon their old name, Arameans."
“The fifth meter of poetry is usually composed of six or seven strophics whose number sometimes increases or decreases. This meter belongs to a man named W'afa, an Aramaean philosopher. The composition of poetry by this man, whose name has been unknown for generations, is evidence that this art (poetry) is old with us.”
"Languages, again first ascended to the generations of Aram and was then called the Aramaic language. Secondly, many wise men and philosophers who have no comparison in ancient times spread and expanded the Syriac language. We have no place to count them except for a few to mention, like Ahiqar the great sage who lived at the end of the eighth century and beginning of the seventh century BC, and likewise Wafa the Aramean, the famous philosopher who was praised in his time, and other scholars from whom, it is said, great nations learned all knowledge and teachings of philosophy and logical wisdom and other teachings, and even the signs and letters of ancient Aramaic inscribed on stones."
”Mor Philoxenus said also that the translation of the Bible called 'The Simple-Pashitto' which was translated into our language, the Aramaic, is the work of Agola and Soomkhos. ”
"Glory and praise before him in the morning in which the splendor of the king's son shone forth. The mountains will be humbled and the valleys will be filled. The ropes strike the earth harshly, and the sons of Aram rise and offer praise. The twenty-second voice in the signs of the upper monastery has no common arrangement. Because I loved your law, my prayer comes before you. May our prayer be pleasing to you."
"I found these four first letters written above in that manuscript from which we wrote. The preparation of this holy seal that we present to you today, our beloved Aramean brothers, is a portion of the hymns of our blessed fathers that was taken from the great books and arranged specifically for the pilgrims of those holy monasteries."
"May the peace of your Lord be with you according to His promise, and may He drive away from you all the conflicts of the accuser. May peace increase in the church and in the congregations, and may the children of the daughter of the Arameans rejoice in faith. Son of God who is the way of life, have mercy on your church on the day of your revelation. Glory to you. Again, peace of Saint Mor Jacob, a little from the second discourse."
"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."
Here, Bar Salibi makes the connection between modern Syriacs being descendants of the ancient Arameans, emphasizing the connection between 'Suryoye Oromoye.'
In the grammar of Bar Hebraeus, 'Aramean,' as written in the Aramaic part of the text, is translated as 'Syriac' in the Latin part.
Thus, Aramean is equated with Syriac.
"We call 'Syriacs,' in a special way, those living in the land West of the Euphrates River, from the Mount Amanon in the north of Antioch until the boundaries of Palestine, and from the Red Sea until the Euphrates.
And in a figurative way, we call 'Syriacs' those who speak this Aramaic language from the West and East side of the Euphrates (that is to say from the Mediterranean Sea until the land of Persia).
We said this, in order to show in a special way, that the 'Syriacs' are those living in the West. And the inhabitants of the Island that is to say those living between the land of the Two Rivers are inhabtiants of the land situated on the East side of the Euphrates: and that Urhoy is the country of the Syriac-Aramaic language and its foundation."
and from Adam until the present time they were all of one speech and one language. They all spake this language, that is to say Syriac, which is Aramaic, and this language is the king of all languages. Now, ancient writers have erred in that they said that Hebrew was the first [language], and in this matter they have mingled an ignorant mistake in their writing. For all the languages that are in the world are derived from Syriac, and all the languages in books are mingled with it."
"And in such danger I stood bitterly, when I was asking for death for myself earnestly, without hesitation, with thought and meditation, to go to the courtyard of the church, the daughter of the Arameans."
"Tell how Zion rejected his burden and the Church confesses his death by which it was saved. Blessed is Christ who uprooted Zion who loved the calf and thirsted for blood, and chose the Church, daughter of the Arameans, through his life-giving death by which it was saved. Blessed are the children, blessed are the children who were worthy to see Christ when he entered Jerusalem riding on a borrowed, bare colt."
"And how did the son of a donkey carry him? Zion denied, and the Church confesses, in his death is life by which she was saved. Blessed is Christ who uprooted Zion, who loved the calf and thirsted for blood, and chose the Church, daughter of the Arameans, in his death is life by which she was saved. Blessed are the children, blessed are the children who were worthy to see Christ, when he entered Jerusalem riding on a borrowed, stripped colt."
"And in such danger I stood bitterly, when I was asking for death for myself earnestly, without hesitation, with thought and meditation, to go to the courtyard of the church, the daughter of the Arameans."
"It appears that the south was so named also by us Arameans. But as for the north, it is not known to us why it was called (such) by the ancient sons of Aram."
"The Greek translation [the Septuagint] calls allways Aram and Arameans "Syriac". Consequently, Aram becomes the father of the Syriacs. And from this name (of Aram), those living in Mesopotamia were called "Arameans". There is another Aram descending from Shem, he dwelt in the land situated in the East side of the sun."
"The Armenians say: 'From whom do you descend—you who are Syriacs by race?' — Against them we will say: Neither you know from whom you descend. The name 'Armenian' is derived from "Armenian" which is the name of a country (and not of a person). It is we (Syriacs) who have enlightened your authors and revealed to them that you are descending from Togarma, who was from the children of Japhet. As to us Syriacs we descend racially from Shem, and our father is Kemuel son of Aram, and from this name of Aram we are also called sometimes in the Books by the name of 'Arameans.' We are called 'Syriacs' after the name of 'Syrus,' who built Antioch with its banlieue; and the country was called after him, 'Syria'."
"Neither the Greeks are our fathers nor the Romans, nor are the Jews the fathers of Christians: all these are loose expressions and old women's tales. If Yawan, the father of the Greeks, was born before Aram, our father, there might have been occasion for discussion, but when this is not the case, how did you then glory in the not very weighty words of those haughty and arrogant people."
"[...] in the reign of king Abgar, son of king Ma'nu, in the month of October, on the twelfth day, Abgar Ukkama sent Marihab and Shamshagram, chiefs and honoured persons of his kingdom, and Hannan the tabularius, the sharrir, with them, to the city which is called Eleutheropolis, but in Aramaic Beth-gubrin[...]"
"The ancient inhabitants of Tur Abdin were the Arameans— a Syriac speaking people. Since they were citizens of Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia) they are akin to the Arameans of Iraq, Syria proper and Palestine."
"If someone asks about eliminating the confusion resulting from the English use of the 'Syrian' name in the USA because it is translated in French 'Syrien' and in English 'Syrian' for both country and religion, so that no one could distinguish between the different kinds of the religious rites. And if we add the word 'Orthodox' to the 'Syrian' name, there will be association with Greek Orthodox, who in the recent years, named themselves 'Syrians' as coming from Syria. There is no way to change the accepted French or English use of this word. However, the present ambiguity would disappear if we add 'Aramaic' to the Syriac language, and 'Aramean' to the Syrian Church."
"The Holy Spirit is fulfilled upon the baptized immediately after baptism, and the baptized children shall be named with the names of saints and martyrs according to the ancient tradition of our Syriac Aramean church fathers. The Orthodox glorified ones, also with Syriac names like their fathers, are very fitting and praiseworthy, and not with names foreign to our priestly heritage."
"The year 815 (A.D. 503-4). When the Roman emperor learned what had happened, he sent his magister Celer with a large army. When Kawad heard this, he directed his marches along the river Euphrates that he might go and stay in that province of his which is called Beth Armaye."
Mor Sevira Yacob Bartelli († 1241), was the bishop of the convent of Mar Mattay and Azerbaijan. He writes in his book 'Questions and Answers':
"Some of them were called Arameans, some Izleans and some others Sofnians."
"From ܐܪܡ, 'Syria,' we say ܐܳܪܳܡܳܝܳܐ, 'Syrian,' with Zqopho at Olaph, Rish, and Mim. However, from ܐܪܡ, which refers to the city of the pagans, ancient Harran, it is ܐܰܪܡܳܝܳܐ, meaning “pagan,” with Ftoho at Olaph and an unvocalized Rish. The East Syrians are unfamiliar with the former and read in (2 Kings 18:26) ܡܠܠ ܥܡ ܥܒ̈ܕܝܟ ܐܰܪܡܳܐܝܬ, "Speak with your servants in Aramaic,” with Ftoho at Olaph and an unvocalized Rish. It is evident that the script here demands 'Syrian' and not 'pagan.'
And in Paul (Galatians 2:14), they read ܐܢ ܐܢܬ ܕܝܘܕܝܐ ܐܢܬ ܐܰܪܡܐܝܬ ܚܝܐ ܐܢܬ, "If you, who are a Jew, live as a pagan," again with Ftoho at Olaph and an unvocalized Rish. It is clear that the script here demands 'pagan' and not 'Syrian.' But this is not the case with the West Syrians, who, by using Zqopho, make a distinction between the pagan and the Syrian."
"In this way, in the beauty of wisdom, you have overthrown evil and its snare. The whole people of the Aramean-Syriacs see that he refreshes his thirst."
"For because 'light' in the Aramaic language is called as masculine, and 'eye' feminine in the same"
"he, Bardaisan, calls the moon feminine in the Aramaic language"
The Sefire Steles document the treaties between Mati'el of Arpad and the king of KTK, mentioning "all Aram" and "Upper and Lower Aram," directly referencing the geographical and political expanse of Aramean influence. The inscription states:
"The treaty of Bar-Ga'yah, king of KTK, with Mati'el, the son of 'Attarsamak, the king [of Arpad; and the treaty] of the sons of Bar-Ga'yah with the sons of Mati'el; and the treaty of the grandsons of Bar-Ga'[yah and] his [offspring] with the offspring of Mati'el, the son of 'Attarsamak, the king of Arpad; and the treaty of KTK with [the treaty of] Arpad; and the treaty of the lords of KTK with the treaty of the lords of Arpad; and the treaty of Ha[bur]u with all Aram and with Misr and with his sons who will come after [him], and [with the kings of] all Upper-Aram and Lower-Aram and with all who enter the royal palace."
"...she and the Arameans who were beside the river, their warriors they slew, their cities they captured, and their spoil they carried off [15]... she and the Arameans in great numbers came and a battle they made, and the Arameans, his helpers, they slew...."
"(As for) the rest of the dangerous Arameans who dwell in their district (and) who had paid attention (lit.: “inclined their cheek”) to Marduk-apla-iddina (II) (Merodach-Baladan) and Šutur-Naḫūndi and taken (themselves) to the Uqnû River, a far-off place to live (lit.: “a distant dwelling”),"
"... I received substantial ... from ...] the land Aram, the land Bīt-Amukkāni, [the land Bīt-Dakkūri, ...]."
"While I was br[inging about] the defeat of the Chaldeans (and) Arameans of the Eastern Sea"
"With the support of the god Aššur, my lord, I took my chariots and warriors (and) set off for the desert. I marched against the Aḫlamû-Arameans, the enemies of the god Aššur, my lord."
The Stele of Shalmaneser III describes his military campaigns in western Mesopotamia and Syria. It describes Shalmaneser’s victory at the battle of Karkar, situated in northern Syria, where he overthrew an alliance of 12 local kings. Shalmaneser had inscribed on the monolith:
"Karkar, his royal city, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. 1,200 chariots, 1,000 cavalry, 20,000 soldiers, of Hadad-ezer, of Aram; 700 chariots, 700 cavalry, 10,000 soldiers of Irhulêni of Hamath; 2,000 chariots, 10,000 soldiers of Ahab, the Israelite."
"I am Zakkur, king of Hamath and Luash... Bar-Hadad, son of Hazael, king of Aram, united against me seventeen kings... all these kings laid siege to Hazrach... Baalshamayn said to me, 'Do not be afraid! ...I will save you from all [these kings who] have besieged you.'"
In December 402 B.C.E., Ananiah, son of Haggai, borrowed two monthly rations of grain from Pakhnum, son of Besa, an Aramean with an Egyptian name. This receipt would have been kept by Pakhnum and returned to Ananiah upon repayment of the loan. No interest was charged on the loan, but a penalty was imposed for failing to repay it by the appointed date.
"[The Patriarch] Jacob and [the apostle] Addai were sent to Aram-Naharaim, so that they would fulfill both the New and Old (Testament words)."
"Addai himself, too, came to the land of Beth Aramaye, so that these symbols drawn by Jacob would be fulfilled through him. And (so) in Urhoy he opened up a big fountain of living waters."
"The nation of the Arameans: This national name later gave way to the Greek designation 'Syriacs,' mainly due to influences from Jewish-Christian literature."
The Greeks were largely unfamiliar with the name 'Aramaeans.' Apart from Posidonius, whom Strabo follows, only another Oriental writer, Josephus, mentions it (Antiquities 1, 6, 4). It is highly improbable that Homer was referring to them with the terms Ἔρεμβοι (Eremboi - 'Erembians') or εἰν ᾿Αρίμοις (ein Arimois - 'in Arimi'). Instead, the Greeks referred to these people as 'Syriacs.'
Seelen (de Dis Syris, prol. cap. 1) explained that Σύριοι (Syriacs) or Σύροι (Syriacs) was a shortened form of ᾿Ασσύριοι (Assyrians). Initially, the Greeks used 'Syriacs' to describe the subjects of the Assyrian Empire without distinction of nationality. However, over time, they applied this name specifically to the northwestern Semitic regions, eventually associating it with the predominant nationality in these areas. Thus, Σύροι (Syriacs) became synonymous with ᾿Αραμαῖοι (Aramaeans).
I have explored this argument in greater detail in an article recently published in Hermes, to which I must refer the reader. Over time, the Aramaeans themselves gradually adopted the Greek name 'Syriacs.' While the dominance of Greek rule and education played a significant role in this shift, an even more powerful factor contributed to it: the change of religion.
Quatremère (Jour. As., Feb. 1835, p. 122 f.) suggested that newly converted Aramaic Christians, feeling ashamed of their pagan compatriots, believed that adopting a new religion also required adopting a new name. As a result, they embraced the term Σύροι (Syriacs), which appears in the New Testament.
“Regarding the name of this nation and its language is the original ‘Aramean’ in essence also the only one [sic], that for the employment of the present-day scholarship as yet strongly fits.”
“From the time the Greeks came to have a more intimate acquaintance with Asia, they designated by the name of ‘Syriacs’ the people who called themselves ‘Arameans’.”
"Since the times of Alexander [the Great], if not already somewhat earlier, people have started to transfer the name of the Syriacs exclusively over the prevailing in Syria nationality, and in this way this originally political-geographical term became an ethnological one that was identified with the local Arameans."
"It is well understandable that people have started to transfer the name of the country to the most important nationality and so the name 'Syriac' was apprehended ethnological and was equated with 'Aramaic'."
"The main body of the population of all these wide landscapes from the Mediterranean Sea to beyond the Tigris belonged to a certain nationality, that of the Arameans."
"the Arameans defended their nationality with the weapons of intellect as well as with their blood against all the allurements of Greek civilization and all the coercive measures of eastern and western despots, and that with an obstinacy which no Indo- Germanic people has ever equalled, and which to us who are Occidentals seems to be sometimes more, sometimes less, than human."
"The names Syria, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Babylon, and others stem from the Greeks, who were unfamiliar with the true geography of these lands when the names were first used. Later, partly due to ongoing ignorance and partly for convenience, these names persisted even after more accurate knowledge became available. It would have required considerable effort to abandon the old, familiar names and divisions in favor of new, more accurate ones. The true and original name of these lands is Aram. It is mentioned numerous times in the Old Testament, and Greek scholars were also familiar with it. They likely referred to the people of these regions as Arameans, though this was rare, as they generally continued to use the term Syriac, which had been familiar to them."
"Do not the Syriacs, as they are usually called, or the Arameans, as they in fact are termed, deserve more attention in world history than they are usually given?"
"Poseidonius conjectures that the names of these nations also are akin; for, says he, the people whom we call Syriacs are by the Syriacs themselves called Arameans."
John Rufus, priest at Antioch, wrote the following:
"For at that time those who were instructed in wisdom were learning this Aramaic writing, namely Syriac, because it was the language of those who dwell in Mesopotamia from the beginning. After the Flood that was in the days of Noah the Arameans dwelled in Mesopotamia."
"Many of the sons of Aram were instructed in the Greek writing."
John Rufus, priest at Antioch, wrote the following:
"They were instructed in both of the writings: in this Aramaic writing, which is named Syriac, and also in the Greek writing, which is called Roman."
About the Catholicos Babai, he writes: "In the days of Babai the Catholicos, this Mari emerged as the teacher of the heresies of the followers of Paul of Samosata and Diodorus [of Tarsus] in Beth Aramaye. And Babai the Catholicos, the son of Hormizd, who was the secretary of Zabercan, the Marzban of Beth Aramaye, received the doctrine from him. Anyone who does not confess that Mary is Theotokos, let him be anathema!"
And about those 'Nestorians' who were driven from Roman Urhoy and went to Persia, where they became bishops, he states: "Acac (in) Beth Aramaye and Bar-Sawmo the abominable in Nisibin."
He writes in a letter concerning Barsauma and the heresies of the Nestorians about Acac, Catholicos of the Church of the East from 485-495/6 AD: "Acac the Aramean, who was called 'the suffocator/oppressor of farthings' at the very school (of Urhoy/Edessa)."
In the Martyrdom of Simon Bar Sabbae and His Companions, we read:
"But that deceiver also came to [the city of] Mahuze, which belongs to Beth Aramaye, and he deceived myriads of Jews."
In the Martyrdom of Simon Bar Sabbae and His Companions, we read:
"But that deceiver also came to [the city of] Mahuze, which belongs to Beth Aramaye, and he deceived myriads of Jews."
In the Martyrdom of Simon Bar Sabbae and His Companions, we read:
"And from Khuzestan [ancient Elam], he [King Shapur II] wrote an edict to the rulers of Beth Aramaye."
"These things were written by King Shapur II [309–379 AD] from Khuzestan to the rulers of Beth Aramaye."
We have written about something. And not even about this time of tribulation and bitterness that has come upon us because of our sins, and we were impoverished by the hands of Assyrians and barbarians. We could not find anyone who wrote anything. But to leave a memory of this evil time, and the bitter tribulation that the land endured in our days and in our time, from the hands of those Assyrians whom the prophet named when he said: The Assyrian is the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hands is my indignation, against a godless nation I send him, and against a people of my wrath I command him. This rod and this staff of the Lord, which he stretched out and gave to the Assyrians to rule the land with it. And it was also seen in the heavens, when it appeared and was visible for many days, and we had the will that perhaps those who come after us will hear of peace.
They will tremble and fear the Lord, and walk before Him in righteousness. Lest He deliver them also, as He delivered us into the hands of this destroyer. It is written to command your children. And again, ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you. Though we have searched in many places, we have not found exactly what is written, but something of it. And we have also investigated from ancient accounts of those who lived and passed away. And also those whose lives we witnessed, we wish to gather their deeds and place them here in order. But whoever encounters these and wishes to examine them should know that events and happenings of various kinds do not occur in one place or one kingdom or one region.
If one encounters writings that are incomparable to this, let them understand that even the early writers did not agree with each other. Rather, one diminishes while another magnifies, one writes about the church.
About the strike between the Turks and Francs and the siege of Urhoy during the period of the Crusaders, he writes:
"These things happened in the year 1414 on the river Baliha, which arises in Paddan-Aram."
About Aram, the son of Kemuel, and his descendants, he writes:
"Among the sons of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, was born Aram, who is [the son of] Kemuel, from whom descend the Arameans of Beth Nahrin [Mesopotamia]."
He lists in his world chronicle the children of Shem:
"The children of Shem are the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Ludians, and the Arameans, who are the Syriacs, the Hebrews, and the Persians."
