Arameans

The Arameans are the indigenous people of Syria and Mesopotamia, which the Hebrews called "Aram-Naharaim" (Aram of the two Rivers). They established several important kingdoms, spread the knowledge of the alphabet, and generally exercised a great influence on the advance of civilization. Their language spread to the neighboring peoples. It survived the fall of Niniveh (612 B.C.) and Babylon (539 B.C.) and remained the official language of the Persian empire (538-331 B.C.). There is evidence to show that Aramaic was widely used in Palestine in Roman times. Hence, Jesus and his direct followers spoke Aramaic, and words in that language have been preserved in the New Testament in transliteration as well as translation.

Since the end of the Aramean kingdom of Osrhoene, the peaceful-minded Arameans have been without any state of their own. They have been constantly victimized for different religious massacres, discrimination, ethnic cleansing and persecutions for hundreds of years, so that they became a minority in the area, which was called by themselves "Aram", "Aram-Nahrin" and "Beth Aramaye".

After converting to christianity the East and West-Arameans adopted the term "Syrian" (in Greek "Syrioi", in Aramaic "Suryoyo"/"Sur(y)aya"), which became both a lingual and a group designation [to avoid a confusion with the residents of today's Syria i will use here in the plural form the term "Syriacs"]. But they continued to call themselves Arameans and used this Greek term as a synonym for their original name.
Despites their common language, culture and history the Arameans of today are divided into various groups (Syriacs, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Maronites, Melkites, Mandeans). Some of the Arameans insist on calling themselves "Assyrians"; other prefer the term "Chaldean".
There are no descendants of the historical ancient Assyrians and the Chaldeans of Antiquity were just a group of Arameans. There is no reason for the present-day Arameans to name their nation "Assyrian" or "Chaldean"- the names given to them by unknown western missionaries in the 16th and 19th century. The only historically correct name for these groups is Aramean, as it is testified by many historians and the great scholars of the Arameans, who enlightened the entire Mankind.

The Historians

"The people we [Greeks] call Syriacs were called by the Syriacs themselves Aramaeans..."

(See J.G. Kidd, Posidonius (Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries, 1988), vol. 2, pt. 2, pp. 955-956)

"Indeed, 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 Arimaeans and Aramaeans..."

(The Geography of Strabo, translated by Horace Leonard Jones and published in Vol. I of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1917, Book I, Chapter 2, p. 153)

"But some understand that the Syriacs are Arimi, who are now called the Arimaeans"

(ibid, Book XIII, Chapter 4, p. 177)

"The poet also mentions "Arimi" by which, according to Poseidonius, we should interpret the poet as meaning, not some place in Syria or in Cilicia or in some other land, but Syria itself; for the people in Syria are Aramaeans, though perhaps the Greeks called them Arimaeans or Arimi."

(ibid, Book XVI, Chapter 4, p. 373)

Flavius Josephus, born about 37 A.D. in Jerusalem and died 100 A.D. in Rome, was a 1st century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 and later settled in Rome.

"Aram had the Arameans, which the Greeks called Syriacs."

(Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whiston in 1737, Book I, Chapt. 6)

"The Aramaeans, also called Syriacs, descended from Aram."

(Eusebius' Chronicle, Translated from Classical Armenian by Robert Bedrosian, New Jersey, 2008, The Hebrew Chronicle [22])

"Aram is the name of the ancestor, whose genealogy combines the Adites, Thamudaeans, the people of Sawad [southern Iraq], and the people of Jazira [Mesopotamia]."

(Aloys Sprenger: Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammad: Nach bisher Grösstentheils unbenutzten Quellen, published by Georg Olms Verlag, 2003, p. 506)

Al-Mas'udi, born 895 in Baghdad [Iraq] and died 957 in al-Fustat [Egypt], was a historian and traveler, known as the “Herodotus of the Arabs.” He was the first Arab to combine history and scientific geography in a large-scale work.

"Tur Abdin is the mountain where remnants of the Aramean Syriacs still survive."

(Macoudi. Le livre de l'avertissement et de la revision, trad. par B. Carra de Vaux. Paris, 1897, p. 81)

"Thence it is two days to Haleb (Aleppo) or Aram Zoba, which is the royal city of Nur-ed-din."

(The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, critical text, translation and commentary by Marcus Nathan Adler, M.A., London, 1907, p. 50)

"The authority of the Head of the Captivity extends over all the communities of Shinar, Persia, Khurasan and Sheba which is El-Yemen, and Diyar Kalach (Bekr) and the land of Aram Naharaim (Mesopotamia), and over the dwellers in the mountains of Ararat and the land of the Alans, which is a land surrounded by mountains and has no outlet except by the iron gates which Alexander made, but which were afterwards broken."

(ibid, p. 62)

Prof. Dietrich Hermann Hegewisch, born Dec. 15, 1746 in Quakenbrück [Germany] and died April 4, 1812 in Kiel, was a prolific german historian at the University of Kiel with a wide span of interests.

"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?"

(D.H. Hegewisch: Die Aramäer oder Syrer; ein kleiner Beitrag zur allgemeinen Weltgeschichte, Berlinische Monatschrift, 2, 1794, p. 193)

"The names Syria, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Babylon, etc. stem from the Greeks, who were not familiar with the true geography of these lands when the names first started to be used. Later, partly because of continuing ignorance and partly because of convenience despite having accurate knowledge, they persisted in using them since it would have required something of an effort to give up the old, familiar names and divisions of the countries and switch to the new ones, even if they were more accurate. The old, true, and single name of these lands is Aram; it is mentioned numerous times in the Bible of the Old Testament, and Greek scholars were also familiar with it and probably described the population of these areas as Arameans, though seldom, as they usually continued to use the term Syrian, which had been familiar to the Greeks. In the whole of the Old Testament where there is mention of the Aramaeans, they always are called the one and namely people. However, they appear already in the history of the patriarchs and in the writings of the last prophets. After these, the notices of the Greeks and subsequently of the Romans begin. The attentive reader will not miss that the scholars among them connected the name of the Syriacs with the name of the widespread people, despite having little knowledge of these countries."

(ibid, p. 197-198)

"The Syriacs or Arameans were not merely a numerous and large people, they were also a much cultivated people."

(ibid, p. 207)

Prof. Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren, born October 25, 1760 in Arbergen, near Bremen [Germany] and died March 6, 1842 in Göttingen, was a german historian. He possessed vast and varied learning, perfect calmness and impartiality, and great power of historical insight, and is now looked back to as the pioneer in the movement for the economic interpretation of history.

"The countries comprehended by the Greeks under the general name of Syria, formed another principal portion of the Persian territory on this side of the Euphrates; but the term Syria was used by them in so loose and indefinite a manner that a previous account of it is necessary. The appellation of Syria answers, in its widest signification, to the oriental term Aram, and denotes all the countries inhabited by the Aramaeans or Syriacs; embracing not only the countryes of this side the Euphrates, but frequently, also, Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and even Assyria properly so called, or Kurdistan, on the oder side the Tigris"

(Historical Researches Into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Principal Nations of Antiquity: Vol. 1. Asiatic Nations. by Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren, translated by David Alphonso Talboys, George Bancroft, published by D. A. Talboys, Oxford 1833, p. 126-127)

Prof. Theodor Mommsen, born Nov. 30, 1817 in Garding, Schleswig [now in Germany] died Nov. 1, 1903 in Charlottenburg, near Berlin, was a German historian and writer, famous for his masterpiece about the History of Rome. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902.

"the history of the Aramaean or Syriac nation which occupied the east coast and extended into the interior of Asia as far as the Euphrates and Tigris"

(The History of Rome, written between 1854 and 1856, Leipzig, by Theodor Mommsen, Translated with the Sanction of the Author by William Purdie Dickson, Book First, Chapter One)

"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."

(ibid, Book Third, Chapter One)

Prof. Rubens Duval, born 20 Oct., 1839 in Morsang [France] and died 1911, was the foremost French authority on Syriac literature of his day. A renowned lexicographer, he published widely in the field of Syriac studies, and his works remain indispensable today.

"Syria herself or Syria close to Euphrate, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, the oriental provinces like Adiabene, Garmai, Susiana, were mainly inhabited by the Arameans who after the evangelisation of these countries adopted the name Syriacs."

(Anciennes Litteratures Chretiennes. II: La Litterature Syriaque par Rubens Duval, Troisieme Edition, Paris 1907, p. 4)

Prof. Theodor Nöldeke, born March 2, 1836 in Harburg near Hamburg [Germany], died December 25, 1930 in Karlsruhe, was the leading german semitic scholar, who studied at Göttingen, Vienna, Leiden and Berlin.

"It is understandable that the most important nationality becomes the name of the country, so the name 'syriac' becomes ethnological and is the same as 'aramaic' [...]

Also, the Orientals regarded the original political-geographical name as correct for the native Aram. Thus the Alexandrian Jews use the terms 'Aram', 'aramaic' etc. and 'Syria', 'syriac', etc. interchangeably within the Old Testament, whether it concerns things on this side or beyond the Euphrates."

(Theodor Nöldeke: Assyrios Syrios Syros, in Zeitschrift für klassische Philologie, Hermes 5, Berlin 1871, p. 461)

"To discuss how the Arameans came to abandon use their old name less and adopt the Greek expression 'syriac', etc. for themselves - their language and nationality - would take us out of the scope of this essay."

(ibid, p. 462)

"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 nationality in Syria, and in this way this originally political-geographical term became an ethnological one that was identified with the local 'Arameans'."

(ibid, p. 468)

"From the time the Greeks came to have a more intimate acquaintance with Asia, they designated by the name of the 'Syriacs' the people who called themselves 'Aramaeans'."

(Compendious Syriac Grammar by Theodor Nöldeke, translated from the second and improved german edition by James A. Crichton, London, 1904, see introduction)

"the nation of the Arameans. This national name later, mainly in consequence of Jewish-Christian literature influences, gave way to the Greek designation Syriacs."

(Verzeichnis der Syrischen Handschriften der königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin von Eduard Sachau 1. Abteilung, Berlin 1899, Vorrede I)

"Today's Syriacs are regarded largely as the descendants of the old Arameans, who were resident in the country, as far as we can retrace history."

(Vom Mittelmeer zum persischen Golf durch den Haurän, die syrische Wüste und Mesopotamien, by Dr. Max von Freiherrn von Oppenheim, Band I, Berlin 1899, p. 6)

He speaks of Aram as "our country" in a number of places.

(See Sidney H. Griffith, "Julian Saba, `Father of the Monks' of Syria," Journal of Early Christian Studies 2 (1994), esp. pp. 201-203)

"From Hebrews and Arameans, and also from the Watchers: to You be praise and through You to Your Father, be also glory!"

(The Nisibene Hymns, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. XIII, translated by Rev. J.T. Sarsfield Stopford, B.A., Hymn 67., no.20.)

Hymn for virgins:

"The Arameans praised him with their branches."

(Edmund Beck, ed., Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Virginitate, Louvain, 1962, CSCO Syr 223, p. 64)

Discourse to Hypatius IV:

"They have combined and made from the word 'man,' 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)."

(S. Ephraim's Prose Refutations of Mani, Marcion and Bardaisan. Transcribed from the Palimpsest B.M. Add. 14623 by C. W. MITCHELL, M.A., volume 1 (1912), p. 122)
[note: Mitchell rendered "Aramaic" as "Syriac" here, see thereforre the original syriac text, where it is "Aramaic"]

Against Bardaisan's "Domnus":

"But the Philosopher of the Arameans (i.e. Bardaisan) made himself a laughing-stock among Arameans and Greeks"

(S.Ephraim's Prose Refutations of Mani, Marcion and Bardaisan. Transcribed from the Palimpsest B.M. Add. 14623 by the late C. W. MITCHELL, M.A., C.F., volume 2 (1921) pp.7)
[note: the translator rendered twice "Arameans" as "Syriacs" here, see therefore the syriac text]

"For because 'light' in the Aramaic language is called as masculine, and 'eye' feminine in the same [...]

And lo, he, Bardaisan, calls the moon feminine in the Aramaic language"

(ibid, p. 49)

Against Mani:

"and there ended the construction of the Aramaean Philosopher"

(ibid, p. 225)

"[...] 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 doctrine of Addai, the Apostle, translated by George Phillips, London 1876, p. 2)

"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."

( The Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle, Translated by Amir Harrak. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005, p. 38)

"After the blessed Mar Mari had returned from the territories of the Syriacs, he came down to Beth-Aramaye, beginning with the region of Radan."

(ibid, p. 41; compare with the syriac version on p. 40)

"After many years of going around Beth-Aramaye, where he brought to the Christian faith many among the Jews and the pagans..."

(ibid, p. 67)

"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."

(ibid, p. 69)

"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."

(ibid, p. 71)

"As for the blessed apostle, he returned with his companions and went up to Beth-Aramaye, Seleucia, and Ctesiphon."

(ibid, p. 75)

"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."

(The Book of the Cave of Treasures, translated from the Syriac by E. A. Wallis Budge in London 1927, p. 132)

Joshua the Stylite, author of a chronicle composed in AD 507, was a man from Edessa of good education and eyewitness of many of the events which he describes in his history of the time of affliction at Edessa and Amida and throughout all Mesopotamia.

"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."

(The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, translated by William Wright, Cambridge 1882, p. 54-55)

He praises Ephraem in a Hymn as the adornment of the Arameans, as opposed to the Greek culture:

"He who gazed diligently in his mind on the great Moses, and after the model of the Hebrew women he taught the Aramaean women to give praise with their madrashe"

(Ed. Joseph Amar, A Metrical Homily on Holy Mar Ephrem by Mar Jacob of Serugh, Patrologia Orientalis 47,1, p. 46)

"He who became a crown for the entire Arameandom, (and) by him we have been brought close to spiritual beauty"

(ibid, p. 155)

In his Homily on Addai, the Apostle and King Abgar of Edessa:

"This one opened the big gate of baptism in Edessa, the city full of blessings for the prudent ones.
This one brought the glorious garments from the house of the Father and bathed and embellished the daughter of the Arameans when she was taken [as wife]."

(Syriac Manuscripts from the Vatican Library: Volume 1, VatSyr. 117 number 108. On Addai the Apostle and Abgar the King of Edessa. Fol. 268b)

"[The Patriarch] Jacob and [the apostle] Addai were sent to Aram-Nahrin, 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 Edessa he opened up a big fountain of living waters."

(ibid, Fol.270a)

"The shepherd Addai, who was also sent to Aram, separated all the white [sheep] from the articulate flock that he pastured."

(ibid, Fol. 270b)

In his Homily on Edessa and Jerusalem:

"The darkness of the world and the blackness of Abgar, the Aramaean's son, the world of darkness became light through Abgar in Christ."

(Words, Texts And Concepts Cruising The Mediterranean Sea: Studies On The Sources, Contents And Influences Of Islamic Civilization And Arabic Philosophy And Science : Dedicated To Gerhard Endress On His Sixty Peter Bruns' Ein Memra des Jakob von Serug Auf Edessa und Jerusalem, p. 546)

about Edessa:

"The daughter of the Arameans, albeit aloof, heard his lore"

(ibid, p. 549)

In the Homily on "Guria and Shamuna” he praises these martyrs from the neighborhood of Edessa:

"Two precious pearls, which were an ornament for the bride of my lord Abgar, the Aramaean's son."

(A Homily on Guria and Shamuna Composed by Mar Jacob, Text tr. A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (eds.), Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8, 1886)
(See Syriac Manuscripts from the Vatican Library: Volume 1, VatSyr. 117, number 224:On Shmona and Gurya. Fol. 551a, p. 1099)

About the biblical Patriarch Abraham:

"The fate of the sacrifices received Abraham the Aramean."

(Mimro inedit de Jacques de Saroug sur le Sacerdoce et l`autel par Micheline Albert, in: Parole de L´Orient X (98-98), p. 68)

In his homilies against the Jews he writes:

"There was Abraham, from the house of Nahor, in the country of Aram."

(Micheline ALBERT, Jacques de Saroug Homélies contre les Juifs Edition Critique du Texte Syriaque inédit traduction française, introduction et notes Turnhout Brepols 1976 in Patrologia Orientalis Tome XXXVIII- Fasicule 1 - n° 174, p. 76)

about Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel:

"Rebecca fled to Jacob into the country of Aram."

(ibid, p. 133)

In the Homily on Tamar:

"Leah and Rachel, straightforward women of integrity, were contending over Him in the land of Aram."

(See, for example, S.P. Brock, “Jacob of Serugh’s Verse Homily on Tamar (Gen. 38),” in Le Muséon 115:3-4 (2002), line 76 (text, p. 282 & transl., p. 295)

In the Homily on Samson:

"Isaac received Thee and raised up a likeness of Thee on Gologtha, And Jacob stole Thine image and fled to the land of Aram."

(A Homily on Samson By Mar Jacob, Bishop of Serugh (+ A.D. 521), translated from the Syriac by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery)

Philoxenus of Mabugh was born around AD 430 in the village of Tahal in the region of Beth Garmai in Persia. Afterward, his parents moved the family away due to persecution from the pagans and the family then settled in Tur Abdin [southeastern Turkey] where Philoxenus became a monk of great learning and reputation. He studied together with James of Sarug in Edessa and in the famous Monastery of Mor Gabriel in Tur Abdin. He was martyred in AD 523 in Philippopolis in Thrakia and was one of the greatest church fathers.

In his hymn against Habib he says:

"This term mixture or fusion is found in all the writings of our Fathers, both in the Aramaic and in the Greek (writings)."

(M. Brière et F. Graffin, Sancti Philoxeni Episcopi Mabbugensis Dissertationes decem de une a sancta trinitate in corporato et passo (Memre contre Habib) III Dissertationes 6a 7a 8a in Patrologia Orientalis Tome XXXIX Fasicule 4 n°181, p. 694)

John Rufus, an anti-Chalcedonian historian and biographer, was a priest at Antioch and disciple of the great anti-Chalcedonian leader, Peter the Iberian (417-491).

He writes about the Life of St. Abhai, the ascetic bishop of Nicea:

"They were instructed in both of the writings: in this Aramaic writing that is named Syriac and also in the Greek writing that is called Roman [...]

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."

(Syriac Manuscripts from the Vatican Library; Volume 1, VatSyr 37: Life of St. Abhai, Bishop of Nicea. Fol. 157a-157b)

His Holiness Patriarch Michael the Great revised this life story of Saint Abhai in 1185.

The historian and bishop Simeon of Beth Arsham, which was located near Seleucia-Ctesiphon [Iraq], was a famous man who made disciples and baptised three great and famous men among the Magians. He passed away in Constantinople, probably about 532-533.

He says 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 Edessa)"

(Syriac Manuscripts from the Vatican Library; Volume 1, VatSyr 135, number 6: A letter by Bishop Simeon of Beth Arsham concerning Barsauma and the heresies of the Nestorians. Fol. 25b)

about Mar Benjamin:

"Mar Benjamin the Aramean, who later became the abbot of the school in the village of Daira, which (lies) in the diocese of our monasteries."

(ibid)

about those 'Nestorians' who were driven from Roman Edessa and went to Persia, where they became bishops:

"Acac (in) Beth Aramaye and Bar-Sawmo the abominable in Nisibin."

(ibid, Fol.26a)

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!"

(ibid, Fol.27a)

Jacob of Edessa, born in the village of Aindaba, in the province of Antioch, around 640, and passed away in the Tal’ada monastery, 708, was one of the most prolific writers of syriac literature. He studied at the famous monastery of Kenneshrin and later at Alexandria and was appointed bishop of Edessa. Jacob was a theologian, historian, and linguistic translator in Syriac and Greek languages.

"It is in this way we the Arameans, that is to say Syriacs [...]"

(Maurice Brière, Les Homiliae Cathedrales de Sévère d'Antioche Traduction Syriaque de Jacques d'Edesse (Suite) Homelies CXX A CXXV in F. Graffin, Patrologia Orientalis Tome XXIX-Fasicule 1, p. 196)

He says in his book "The Six Days":

"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."

(Schtoth Yaume: Hexaemeron, Die Schöpfungslehre des Jakob von Edessa (+708). Nach der Estrangelo Handschrift, die 839 n. Chr. geschrieben wurde; abgeschrieben von Erzbischof J.J. Cicek, Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 1985, p. 60)

"The bees cast the fructifying seed of their nature into it; thus it is according to the manner of speaking in our Aramaic tongue."

(ibid, p. 171)

"But in the manner of speaking (of) the Arameans, (some) people call them chirping gadflies."

(ibid, p. 175)

"This name of the word "Soul" which we are using among the words of our tongue of the land of the Two Rivers that is to say the Aramaic, we borrowed it from the noble and old language, that one of the Hebrew.

(ibid, p. 244)

In one of his letters he writes:

"also beacuse, I tell you truly, the Hebrew language is the first speech, and not Syriac or Aramaic, which many people - even among those who are important and famous - have erroneously supposed to be the first, whereas I say that it is that of the Hebrews, and not that of the Arameans. "

(W. Wright, "Two Epistles of Mar Jacob, Bishop of Edessa." in Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record NS 10, 1867, 430-460 [ms. Brit. Libr., Add. 12172])

The writer says regarding the year 504-505:

"The year eight hundred and sixteen: The Romans devastated all the Persian territory from Nisibis to the boundaries of Beth Aramaye, killing, destroying, taking prisoner and plundering."

(The Chronicle of Zuqnin, Parts III and IV, english translation by Amir Harrak, Toronto 1999, p. 41)

after the Arab conquest in 640 he says about the caliph Abd al-Malik, who reigned till 705:

"He published a severe edict ordering each man to go to his own country, to his village of origin, to inscribe there in a register his name, that of his father, his vineyards, olive trees, goods, children and all that he possessed. Such was the origin of the tribute of capitation and of all the evils that spread over the Christians. Until then the kings took tribute from land but not from men. Since then the children of Hagar began to impose Egyptian servitude on the sons of Aram."

(ibid, p. 148)

About the imposator appeared in the West and seduced and killed many among the Jews:

"He went down to the land of Beth Aramaye that was immersed in all the evils of sorcery, and devoted himself to sorcery and all diabolical tricks."

(ibid, p. 163)

In relation to Jazira, the term which refers to Upper Mesopotamia from Osrhoene in the West to Mount Sinjar in the East, being the land of the Syriac-speaking Christians:

"land which spoke the language of the children of Aram"

(ibid, p. 225)

About the Arab Muslims who married Christian women:

"As for the people who married (Syriac) women, sired Syriac children, and mixed with the Syriacs, and whom no one was able to distinguish from the Arameans, he quickly found out about them."

(ibid, p. 226)

Patriarch Dionysius of Tell Mahre, born at Tell Mahre near ar-Raqqa on the Balikh River and passed away Aug. 22, 845, was author of an important source document on Eastern Christianity between the reigns of the Byzantine emperors Mauricius and Theophilus.

"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 Edessa is the country of the Syriac-Aramaic language and its foundation."

(J-B Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien Patriarche Jacobite d'Antioche (1166-1199) Tome I-II-III (French) and Tome IV (Syriac), Paris, 1899, Livre XII Chap XVI, p. 524)

Monk Anton († 850) of Tigrit [Iraq] was a brilliant writer in syriac-aramaic poetry and his writings influenced the Arab poetry.

He says in his book "The knowledge of Eloqeunce" in Chapter 5 on Wafa:

"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 Wafa, an Aramaean philosopher."

(The Scattered Pearls: A History Of Syriac Literature And Sciences by A. I. Barsoum, translated by Matti Moosa, Edition: 2, revised, published by Gorgias Press LLC, 2003, p. 224)

Moses Bar Kepha, born at Balad [Iraq] in 813 and passed away in 903, was one of the most celebrated bishops of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the ninth century.

He says in his book "The Six Days":

”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 Aquilas and Symachus. ”

(Patriarch A. Barsaum, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch: Its Name and History, published by the syriac organizations in Middle Europe and Sweden 1983, p. 17)

Dionysius Jacob Bar Salibi, the great spokesman of the syriac church in the 12th century, was a native of Malatya [Turkey] and passed away Nov. 2, 1171, in Amid [Diyarbakir, Turkey]. He was bishop of Marash and of Mabugh as well. His works include poems, prayers, homilies, liturgies, a commentary on the six Centuries of Evagrius with the text translated into Syriac, a treatise against heresies, expositions of the Syrian Eucharistic service and doctrine, and commentaries on the Old and New Testaments.

He says in his book against the Armenians:

"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"."

(A. Mingana, The work of Dionysius Bar Salibi against the Armenians, in Woodbrooke Studies, Vol.4, Cambridge, 1931, p. 54)

Against the Melkites he says in his book "Discussions":

"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."

(A. Mingana, A Treatise of Bar Salibi Against the Melchites, Cambridge, 1931, p. 57)

"Because of hatred they (the Greeks) call us Jacobites instead of Syriacs and we answer and say that the name Syrian by which you do not call us anymore does not rank before the honorable name because this name is derived from Syrus, who ruled over Antiochia and after him the land was named Syria...however we are the descendants of Aram and from his name we were called in ancient times by the name Arameans."

(Bishop J.E. Manna, Chaldean-Arabic Dictionary, Babel Center Publications. Beirut 1915, p. 11-21)

He enumerates 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”

(J-B Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien Patriarche Jacobite d'Antioche (1166-1199) Tome I-II-III (French) and Tome IV (Syriac), Paris, 1899, pg 7 Livre II Chapitre I )

about Aram, the son of Kemuel, and his descendants:

"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]"

(ibid, p. 18-19 Livre III Chapitre II )

regarding the wars of king David against Israel's neighbours:

"In the eighteenth year of the reign of [king] David, Hanon took on his charge the kings of Aram and Harran."

(ibid, p. 36 Livre IV Chapitre X)

"The first tongue is Aramaic from which is developed Hebrew."

(ibid, p. 9-10)

about the strike between the turks and francs and the siege of Edessa during the period of the crusaders:

"These things happened in the year 1414 on the river Baliha, which arises in Paddan-Aram."

(ibid, p. 593 Livre XV Chapitre X)

about Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, he says:

"He (also) sent from among those who were with him [the apostle] Aday so as to preach in Beth Aramaye."

(ibid, p. 117 Livre VI Chapitre IX)

about the war between the caliph Al Mamoun of Baghdad and Mohammed:

"Because stones were not to be found in Baghdad, just as there were not any in Beth Aramaye, they ended up in breaking the columns which they had taken down from the churches, and they were throwing them into the (ballistic) machines."

(ibid, p. 496 Livre XII Chapitre VII)

about Abu Ishak (925-994), who was the chief of the state chancellery of Baghdad:

"Abusak, king of the Arabs [Muslims], left Baghdad and went up to live between the two rivers (i.e. canals) which flow from the Tigris and irrigate the regions of (Beth) Aramaye; they are called the Great Qutlub and the Little Qutlub."

(ibid, p. 530 Livre XII Chapitre XIX)

regarding the Mesopotamian history:

”The kingdoms which have been established in antiquity by our race, (that of) the Arameans, namely the descendants of Aram, who were called Syriacs."

"The Arameans then, whom the Greeks call Syriacs, took hold of Aram."

(ibid, p. 748, appendice II)

regarding the names of the Catholicos of the Nestorians:

"Acac, who protrudes in the school of Edessa together with Bar-Sawmo and Narsai, who were instructed in the books of Diodorus and Theodorus in this Aramaic writing."

(ibid, p. 775, appendice VI)

The "Chronicle to the year 1234" was written at about the year 1237 A.D. by an anonymous writer probably from Edessa.

"From Adam until the building of the tower the language was Hebrew and others say they spoke the Syriac language, which is Aramaic"

(The Syriac World History. Secular and Ecclesiastical, Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 2004, p. 29)

"in Babylon Nebuchadnezar spoke in the Aramaic language"

(ibid, p. 70)

Jacob of Bartelli († 1241), born at Bartelli near Mosul [Iraq], was an outstanding philologist and theologian.

He writes in his book "Questions and Answers":

"Some of them were called Arameans, some Izleans and some others Sofnians."

(Patriarch A. Barsaum, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch: Its Name and History, published by the syriac organizations in Middle Europe and Sweden 1983, p. 23)

Gregorios Bar Hebraeus, born 1226 in Malatya and passed away July 30, 1286 in Maragheh [Iran], is noted for his works addressing science, philosophy, poetry, language, history, and theology and is called "Ocean of Wisdoms", "Light of the East and West", "Prince of Learning Men", "The Greatest Sage", "The most Learn man possessing Divine Knowledge"...

He says in his "Book of the Rays":

(Buch der Strahlen die groessere Grammatik des Barhebraeus : Uebersetzung nach einem kritisch berichtigten Texte mit textkritischem Apparat und einem Anhang zur Terminologie. Leipzig : O. Harrassowitz, 1907-1913, preface)

"From Aram, that is Syria, we are saying Aramean [...], that is to say Syrian and from Aram, which is Harran, the city of the pagans, we are saying pagan [...] The East Syriacs do not know the first one and read in the 2nd Book of Kings (18:26) 'speak to your servants in the aramaic language' [...] and it is obvious that the scripture demands here 'syriac' and not 'pagan'. And in Paul's Epistle to the Galatians [2,14] they read 'if you who are a Jew, live like a pagan' [...] and it is obvious that the scripture demands here 'pagan' and not 'syriac'.

(ibid, p. 44)

The book of the laughable stories:

"let this book be a religious friend to the reader, whether he be Muslim, or Hebrew, or Aramean, or a man belonging to a foreign country."

(Bar Hebraeus, tr. E.A. Wallis Budge, The Laughable Stories. Luzac & Co., London 1897, p. 3-4)

In his famous chronography we read:

"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."

(The chronography of Gregory Abû'l-Faraj, transl. by Ernest A. Wallis Budge, London 1932, p. 6)

"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."

(ibid, p. 8)

"twenty years before 'Abraham was born Darmasuk (Damascus) was built by Morfos, and Josephus saith that 'UZ, the son of 'Aram, built it."

(ibid, p. 10)

"And after Isaac died the children of Esau were subject to Moab and Ammon, and 'Aram, and they came to war against Jacob and his sons in Hebron"

(ibid, p. 11)

"And it is said that this 'Azarya, by the help also of an Aramean book, that is to say, Syrian, wrote the 'Oraita, and this is the Peshitta edition which is in the hands of the Syrians."

(ibid, p. 24)

In his book "Storehouse of Secrets":

"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"

(M. Sprengling & W.C. Graham, Barhebraeus' Scholia on the Old Testament (Oriental Institute publications 13). Chicago 1931, p. 45)

"The Syriac tongue is from Aram the son of Shem the son of Noah; the name is transmitted in Aramaic."

(R. Payne Smith, Thesaurus syriacus, Oxford 1879-1901, Volume 1, column 388)

"Aram is Inner Syria, that is Palestine, while outer Syria is called Aram-Nahrin."

(ibid)

"The most elegant aramaic dialect is that, which is spoken in Edessa, Harran and by the inhabitants of outer Syria."

(ibid, column 389)

In his syriac grammar book:

"The Arameans don't want to mix with the pagans."

(ibid)

"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."

(Bar Hebraei Grammatica Syriacae, ed. Ernst Bertheau, Göttingen 1843, p. 2)

"The Aramaic language is the Syriac language of Edessa."

(Patriarch A. Barsaum, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch: Its Name and History, published by the syriac organizations in Middle Europe and Sweden 1983, p. 23)

In his book "Summary of Nations":

"The language of all mankind was one, the Syriac, and it was divided into three parts. The clearest was Aramaic."

(Patriarch A. Barsaum, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch: Its Name and History, published by the syriac organizations in Middle Europe and Sweden 1983, p. 27)

Yeshu` Bar Kilo († 1309) was a priest from the village of Hah in Tur Abdin [Turkey]. He published many letters.

In his 9th letter to a priest he says:

"to the priest who was elected as light to the Aramean people"

(Bar Kilo I, Bar Chacaco II, David Beit-Rabban III, edited by Ishok Bar Armalto, Beirut 1928, p. 22)

In his 13th letter to a deacon:

"in this way in the beauty of wisdom you have overthrown evil and its snare. The whole people of the Arameans sees that he refreshs his thirst."

(ibid, p. 31)

Naum Faik, born in Amid [Diyarbakr, Turkey] in 1868 and passed away on February 5, 1930, studied and mastered the syriac language, of which he became greatly fond. He also mastered the Turkish language. In 1910 he published a newspaper entitled Kawkab Madenho (Star of the East). He immigrated to the US in 1912 where he lived in NJ. There, he established the newspaper Beth Nahrin (1916-1921), and later became the editor of Huyodo (Union) for one year (1921-1922, 39 issues)

His article "Virtue of our Aramaic language" was published in Kawkab Madenho on April 8, 1911:

"the first foundation which God created on earth was no other than the Syriac foundation and the first creation which he created was the Aramean one."

(Mehmet Simsek. “Sark Yildizi Gazetesi.” Süryaniler ve Süryanilik IV 'ün Içinde, Hazirlayanlar Ahmet Tasgin, Eyüp Tanriverdi ve Canan Seyfeli, 48. Ankara: Orient Yayinlari, 2005)

His article "The Aramean journalist and his highly-valued principles" was published in Huyodo's first issue on May 28, 1921, in the United States:

"With the support by the one who has been presented in the beginning, this newspaper was founded to teach the sons of the Aramean nation who they are, educate them in the nationalistic spirit and love for our language, all based on liberal and humane principles.
The magazine is the first of its kind issued in Arabic for the Arameans regardless of sect and church membership in the diaspora. We have realized the great need for an Arabic newspaper of the Aramean nation's sons (the majority of today's Arameans are Arabic-speaking) that would cover many main and sub-areas on our people's situation in the news, culture and history and become a mouthpiece in both the diaspora and home [...]

However, the desire to see a new renaissance among our Aramean nation's young people has grown stronger with time [...]

It began, according to the wish of the people, to publish the magazine in two languages: Aramaic (east and west) and Arabic. Our people must now support this newspaper that was founded to educate the people about its obligations towards our culture, our nation, our country, our language and our religion [...]

For our Aramean brothers we present this newspaper, published in the beautiful writing and good printing quality, and with a content of useful articles [...]

This magazine is published in two or three languages. It is like a garden, but with many kinds of fruits. Those who can not read Aramaic, can read the Arabic section of the newspaper [...]

A nation is characterized by its culture and its language. The time has also come for us to demonstrate our genuine Aramean belonging and our noble language for the whole world and prove that we are the descendants of our glorious ancestors.
May the Arameans remember their true roots and their connection with former national fame for the brave to get up and rebuild their nation's greatness, as in the past [...]

The Arameans were in former times, a source of science, art, law and civilization. [...]

We should go in our fathers' footsteps in the formation, spread our Aramaic culture and educate our children and young people, who will become tomorrow's leaders for us [...]

We hope also that the greatest support we can get will come from our Maronite brothers, who also belong to the Aramean nation. The purpose and the underlying reason why this newspaper has been founded is to unite all Arameans to build consensus and national unity and encourage them to their glorious fathers' language in a stronger position, because we all have a common ethnic, language and liturgy origin. There is no difference between the Arameans in Lebanon and Syria and the Arameans in Mesopotamia and Persia. There are only a few ecclesiastical differences, which do not prevent them from joining us to rebuild the Aramean nation, learning our language and publish literature about the history and culture, which was close to go down, or to educate all children and young people, teach them our language and teach them about our ancient ancestors who created the science and civilization in the Middle East, the great ancestors have remained shining light of knowledge and heaven of culture.
The Arameans' sense conservation that we have seen of our Maronite brothers and their efforts to preserve their native language alive in their schools and churches, raises within us the hope that they will be our best helpers in our nationalist and cultural struggle. It is a fact that they were the first to spread knowledge of the Aramaic language in Europe [...]

We do not exaggerate when we commend these men and their knowledge by emphasizing their efforts in the development of the Aramaic language [...]

We are issuing this newspaper in both Aramaic and Arabic, a language that all Arameans master. Aramaic is the people's old language and Arabic the new (literary) language. The goal is to motivate Arameans to reach such a level of mastery of our old language that it can be equated with the Arabization mound level."

(Naum Faik: Den arameiska jounalistiken Och Dess högaktade principer, published in Aram (Stockholm, Arameiska Akademikernas Förbund) nos. 15-16, 1998)

Patriarch Aphrem Barsaum, born on June 15, 1887, in Mosul [Iraq] and passed away on June 23, 1957 in Homs [Syria], devoted much of his time to writing. He studied many languages, including Syriac, Arabic, French and Turkish. He taught at the Deir al-Za’faran monastery [Turkey] before being consecrated Bishop of Syria and eventually Patriarch of Antioch. Known as both a churchman and a scholar, he wrote several published works.

He says in his book "History of Tur Abdin":

"His history in our ‘river language’, in other words Syro- Aramaic, which is loved deeply by all its children and shown to the people…."

(Patriarch Aphrem I. Barsaum: History of Tur Abdin, translated by Gregorios Bulus Behnam into arabic, Baghdad 1963. ND Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 1985, p. 9)

"The first inhabitants of Tur Abdin were the Arameans"

(ibid, p. 14)

"... of our teachings and our language, Aramaic..."

(Nurbe, by Theophilos George Saliba. Bar Hebräus Verlag, Losser-Holland 1989, p. 31)

"...on the Aramean heights..." [in the sense of speaking of the pride of Syrian Orthodox and their Aramaen heritage]

(ibid, p. 32)

On the passing of the syriac orthodox father St. Dionysios, the Metrian of Malabar (India), who was named Yawsef and was born on the 28th of June 1909:

"On the Indian heights heroes have fallen;
And in the mountains of the Arameans good people succumbed.
Honorable bishops, chosen and immaculate, astonishing and miraculous;
The knives of the nobility hit them to the bone."

(ibid, p. 34)

Another poem, published in 1931 in “Khekmtho” (wisdom) in Jerusalem, on the passing of priest Jacob Saka:

“The man who enlightened the East in our century has passed away;
Who gave esteem to the Arameans and let them shine.”
"Jacob Saka was an honourable priest from Bartelli;
He served Syrianism and structured it in perfect passion.
He also lectured the Aramaic dialect for forty years
In Bartelli and in the monastery of Mor Mattay [Mosul]"

(ibid, p. 40)

About Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia) written in Homs (Syria) on the 20th of May 1943:

"Beth Nahrin of the Arameans, the beloved place of the Syriacs"

(ibid, p. 43)

"Beth Nahrin Beth Abraham, the land of Noah, Shem and Aram"

(ibid, p. 44)

In a syriac hymn, which he composed for the school of Mossul and published in “Sefro Suryoyo” [The Syriac Writing] in Aleppo (Syria) in 1947 :

"The Ephremic school of Aramean education which shaped the heads of our priests with divine aid."

regarding the syriac community:

"The Syriac community was known from its beginning as the Aramean community"

(Patriarch A. Barsaum, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch: Its Name and History, published by the syriac organizations in Middle Europe and Sweden 1983, p. 1)

about the name of the church:

"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."

(ibid, p. 43)

In his book "The Scattered Pearls" he writes about the syriac (Aramaic) language:

"The Aramaic (Syriac) language is one of the Semitic tongues in which parts of the Holy Bible, such as the Prophecy of Daniel and the Gospel according to S. Matthew, were revealed. Some scholars consider it the most ancient of the lnaguages of the world; even the more moderate ones consider it one of the oldest."

(The Scattered Pearls: A History Of Syriac Literature And Sciences by A. I. Barsoum, translated by Matti Moosa, Edition: 2, revised, published by Gorgias Press LLC, 2003, p. 3)

on the syriac science:

"In the beginning, the Syrian-Aramaeans had a refined language adorned with literature comprising both prose and poetry[...] There survived also a few lines of poetry by Wafa, the Aramaean philosopher and poet who lived long before the Christian era, together with a few legends inscribed on the tombs of some of the Abjarite kings of Edessa."

(ibid, p. 6)

on the syriac poets:

"On the other hand, the poets whose poems we can neither describe nor criticize because they are unavailable are Wafa the Aramaean, Bar Daysan (d. 222)..."

(ibid, p. 37)

about the apochryphal writings:

"Mention has also been made of the story of Ahiqar (abridged from an Aramaic copy written earlier than the Book of Tobit in the seventh or fifth centuries B.C.) which was published by Rendel Harris in Cambridge in 1898 and translated into French by Francis Nau in 1909."

(ibid, p. 51)

on the philosophical writings of the Syriacs in general:

"The first Christian philosophical work, however, is Bardaysan's Laws of the Countries. Bardaysan was an Aramaean philosopher who embraced Christianity but was excommunicated for his heresy."

(ibid, p. 180)

on the biographies of syriac scholars and writers:

"This period begins with the two philosophers, Wafa the Aramaean, in the pre-Christian era and then Bar Daysan, who lived at the end of the second and the beginnirlg of the third centuries A.D."

(ibid, p. 221)

on syriac sciences and literature:

"This is in contrast to the Christian Greek nation, which enjoyed the fruits of its rich language, but avoided learning the Aramaic tongue and thus did not benefit from the product of our scholars and historians."

(ibid, p. 196)

"Wafa the Aramaean was an ancient philosopher and poet who lived well before the Christian era."

(ibid, p. 224)

about Anton of Tigrit:

"The style of his book is grand and eloquent. It is truly the pride of the Aramaic tongue."

(ibid, p. 384)

bbout new born children names:

"The baptizands should be baptized in the names of the Saints and Martyrs according to the tradition of our venerably syriac-aramean orthodox church fathers."

(Patriarch Aphrem Barsaum: The Sacrament of Holy Bastism and Matrimony. According to the Ancient Rite of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, Losser-Holland, second edition, 1989, p. 10)

The great Metropolitan Philoxenos Yuhanun Dolabani (1885-1969), born in Mardin [Turkey], was one of the outstanding scholars that the Church has seen in the near past. He wrote many books, in which he expressed his relationship with the Aramaeandom.

In his hymn "Love towards the Aramaeandom" he says: "Because of love towards you, O Aramaeandom, I have been deeply in love since childhood. During weakness and strength I will serve you faithfully."

(Bron: Hikmet, Vol. 8, Nr. 4/86 (Mardin, 1954), p.85)

In his book of the bee, written 1914 in the monastery of Deyrulzafaran [Turkey]:

"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."

(preface of kthobo d-deburitho, published by Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland, 1986)

"The Aramaic language is more important to us Arameans than any other language, because it is the tongue of our race."

(ibid, p. 16)

"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."

(ibid, p. 22)

"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."

(ibid, p. 46)

"Be therefore similar like these Arameans: in the fear of God, and in abundance and in philanthropy toward your brethren and the members of your race, so that a good remembrance (of that) is written down for you in books and in the hearts of the Aramaeandom."

(ibid, p. 47)

"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."

(ibid, p. 58)

In Bar Hebraeus' "Book of the Dove" written by Dolabani in the monastery of Deyrulzafaran in 1916:

"To you our Aramean reader is this book dedicated, bearing (many) advantages."

(preface of kthobo d-yawno, published by Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 1983)

In Bar Hebraeus' book "Mush'hotho" written by Dolabani in 1929 in the monastery of St. Marc in Jerusalem:

"Bar Hebraeus has left to the Aramaeandom an incomparable preface whose propositions are excellent;"

(kthobo d-Mush'hotho, published by Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 1983, C)

"I beseech the Lord to make them mighty supports for the exaltation of the Aramaeandom!"

(ibid, O)

In the book of the poems of Patriarch Yuhanon Bar Ma‘dani written in Jerusalem in 1929:

"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."

(preface of Mimre d-Bar Maadani, ND Holland 1980)

In his poem of mourning about the death of Naum Faik († 1930):

"He was a trombone who raised his voice for our nation and because of the Aramean language of our fathers he did not stop blowing in our group."

(published in Naoum Fayeq: Dhikra wa-Takhlid, by Murad Cheqqe, p. 129-130, Damascus 1936)

In the book of the letters of David Bar Faulus, which he wrote 1953 in Mardin:

"All who love the Aramaeandom are eager to familiarise themselves concerning his instruction."

(preface of kthobo d-egrothe d-david bar faulus, published by the syriac printing of wisdom, Mardin, 1953)

"I set out to publish it, and see, with the Lord's help it is finished; I offer it to dear Aramean readers!"

(ibid, p. 1)

In the book of the poems of Patriarch Noah from Lebanon, written 1956 in Mardin:

"That it may it be immediate gain in the hands of those who love Aramaic learning."

"See, I offer it today as a tasteful gift to those who love Aramaic learning."

(preface of kthobo d-mush'hotho d-fateryarkho nuh lebnonoyo, published by the syriac printing of wisdom, Mardin, 1956)

"As the patriarch Noah grew up, he was was educated in our orthodox faith, and loved humility. He was instructed in the sciences and learnt the Aramaeandom and the teaching of the faith."

(ibid, p. 2)

In the history book of the anonymous from Edessa about the afflictions in Edessa, Amid and Mesopotamia, written in 1959 in Mardin:

"We loved to disseminate it in Syriac, in the language of its author, so that we might render service with good pronunciation to our own Aramaic language, and to the writers of our own regions of Mesopotamia, Nisibis, I mean, and Amid, and Edessa and the rest."

(preface of makthbonuth zabne ulsone, published by Verlag Bar Hebräus. Losser-Holland 1984)

In the book of the wisdoms of the Aramean sage Ahiqar written in 1962 in Mardin:

"The primacy of the ancient writings in the Aramaic language is undeniable, because before all languages its culture advanced and its wisdom was disseminated."

(preface of Ahikar sofro w hakimo published in Holland, 1981)

"Now already the splendours of the story I/you wished to restore are completed. I join it from its Arabic versions as a light and plan, for those who revise the book. I present it to my dear Aramaic pupils that they should be wary of the evil traps of Nadan."

(ibid, p. 4)

George Danhash, born 1921 in Sadad [Syria] and passed away 1969, was an educator and writer. He studied Syriac under Ishak Bar Armalto and Naaman Abdelmesih from Qarabash. He composed a number of nationalistic poems.

His poem "beloved Homeland" was published with musical notation by Gabriel Assad in 1939:

"Blow the spirit of unity, fraternity and vigilance into the heart of our sons in all congregations to live the Arameandom."

(The Cluster of the National Songs by Shamiram Khoury, Thomas Press - Lebanon, p. 36)

Chorepiscopos Malke Beth-Qashisho Afrem (1895-1979) was from the village of Arbo (Tur Abdin).

He appealed to the readers of the Syriac Magazine of Aleppo (Syria) in 1945:

"let us stretch out and reach out the hand for unity, and let us labor in the field of the beloved Aramean nation."

(Theophilus George Saliba, Metropolitan of Mount Lebanon (ed.), Madbro da-Nsibin: tash'ito d-hayaw d-khuroyo Melke (tr. The Nisibine Desert: The Biography of Chorepiscopos Malke), Bushriye, Lebanon: matba'tho d-Tuma [Thomas Publisher], 1984, p. 115)

In his book titled "memorizations" from 1948 he says about the inhabitants of his village Qarabash:

"All of them were syriac orthodox Arameans."

(His book mahdonwotho, published in Sweden 2004, p. 8)

"The author of these memorizations is a syriac orthodox Aramean called Abed Mshiho Bar Yuhanun Bar Naaman."

(ibid, p. 16)

"The people which inhabit Syria was called Aramean or Syriac."

(ibid, p. 42)

He says in his poem "O sons of our homeland":

"O sons of our homeland! O sons of our homeland! Come, O Youngsters of Aram, let us renew our oaths"

"Let's build up the tower of Babylon to raise the name of Aram"

(private collection of nationalistic poems by my brother Gabriel Joseph)

(see his mdarshono, Syriac-Grammar, published by Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 1986)

In his teaching book 7 which he had written in 1968 in Kamishli [Syria]:

"Now it was established according to the desire of (certain) people by school teachers that a knowledge of the Syriac Aramaic language was useless for them."

"I am convinced that we can serve God quite profitably with compassion for Aramaeandom, and to him be the glory for ever."

(preface of herge d-keryono, teaching book 7, by Naaman A. Mesih N. Karabash, published by Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 1986)

Denho Ghattas Makdisi Elias, born in Midyat, Tur Abdin in 1911, passed away in Sao Paulo [Brazil] in 2008, was a great poet and excellent writer in syriac.

He writes in his poem on Tur Abdin in the year 1934:

"The sons of Aram, who created civilization and bestowed the wonderful gift of the alphabets to the world, lead and brought the entire creation out of illiteracy by means of their precious (alphabetical) characters and discoveries"

(tugone by Gattas M. Elyas. Bar Hebräus Verlag, Losser-Holland 1988, p. 43)

in his letter from 19944 to his friend Naaman Abdelmesih from Qarabash he writes:

"To the brother and Aramean writer"

(ibid, p. 91)

follow this link to read my interview from 2007 with Denho Ghattas Makdisi Elias

Clemens Joseph David, born 1829 in Amadiye [Iraq] and passed away in the year 1890, was ordained Archbishop of Damascus in 1879. He studied in Mosul and was both an excellent scholar in Arabic and Syriac.

In his Dictionary he writes:

“And when the Arameans converted to Christianity they forgot about their (Aramaic) name, and were called Syriacs distinguishing them from the heathen Arameans.”

(preface of Grammaire de la langue Arameenne, Deuxième Edition, Mossul, 1896)

"The Syriac nation has the honour of belonging to Aram...the Chaldean name covers all the eastern Arameans"

(Kitab al-Lumaa al-Shahiya fi Nahu al-Lugha al-Suryaniya, printed in Mosul, 1896, p. 17-18)

In his book about the eagerness of children, written in 1908, he honours the glories of the Aramaic Civilization:

"Discourse on the glorious deeds of the Arameandom"

"Let us arrive to … so as to examine and talk about the exalted glorious deeds and the beautiful virtues of the Arameandom and raise and build our foundations on the foundations of her wise teachers and eminent scribes."

"And these [aforementioned] things altogether complete the Arameandom, [which is] rich in treasures."

"Since man can conquer and be conquered, it follows from this that language, too, can exalt and be exalted, although the Aramaic literature is in many and various ways more precious and excellent than the rest of the languages."

"Aramaeandom has other achievements and is adorned by other splendours. When the human race multiplied on earth and became involved in experimenting in various sciences and crafts, they managed to devise writing, and these same Arameans were the first ot achieve renown in this: they put into written records their practices, customs and new discoveries. It was from them that the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and Egyptians learnt, and then taught other peoples. We also encounter the splendid and distinctive accomplishments of Aramaeandom when reflect and realize that from the Greeks the Syriacs first took over learning and knowledge through the labour of their hands and the sweat of their brow; then, without wearying, and without receiving any reward, they transmitted it to the Arabs, and from them the Latins wisely took it over in a surrepticious way."

"You, my beloved Aramaic friends, need to learn to read and steep yourself in this language to embrace the breadth and amplitude of your fathers."

(see introduction of kthobo d-regath shabre, printed in the syriac patriarchate in the school of Sharfe, Lebanon, 1908)

George Amira, born 1568 in Ehden [Lebanon] and passed away in 1644 in Kannoubin, was sent to Rome by the patriarch Sarkis Rizzi in December 1583, when he was 15 years old. In 1596 he published his Syriac grammar there in Latin, one of the first of its kind in all of Europe, and also a New Testament in Syriac. Possibly also in 1596 he was ordained priest and then bishop of Ehden in the Lebanon, and then was elected patriarch of the Maronites in 1633.

"Aram, that is Syria [...], Aramean that is Syrian."

(quoted by Dr. D. Chwolsohn in Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, Band I., St. Petersburg, Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1856, p. 444)

George Karmsadinoyo came from the village of Karm Sadde [Lebanon], near Bshirrai. He studied in Rome, became a priest, and completed his Syriac dictionary in 1619.

"Aram is the name of the pagan city, that is the ancient Harran."

(R. Payne Smith, Thesaurus syriacus, Oxford 1879-1901, Volume 1, column 388)

Gabriel Cardahi (al-Qardahi, 1845-1931) was a priest and abbot in Lebanon. He produced reference works for the study of Syriac during his tenure. Among the major contributions made by him to Syriac studies was his massive Syriac-Arabic Dictionary, written 1887 and 1891.

Under the entry "Aram" he writes:

"The Aramaic language is syriac [of the] people of Edessa and Harran and the outer belt of Syria. And it is the purest syriac language by general agreement. It was only named that from calling it's people the Aramaeans, because their lineage goes back to the abovementioned Aram."

(Bar Lebo - Al-Lubab. Dictionarium Syro-Arabicum by Abbot Gabriel Al-Qardahi, Aleppo 1994, p. 70)

Paulus Assemani (1878-1944) was from the famous maronite family Assemani from Lebanon, Syria, which produced a number of excellent scholars and played a magnificent role in introducing the Syriac heritage to the West. He wrote a Hitory of Syriac Literature in Arabic.

"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."

(Lumaa Tarikhiya fi Fara'id al-Adab al-Suryaniya [= a short history of Syriac literature], Jerusalem 1933, p. 5)

"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."

(ibid, p. 9)

"The Arameans are the sons of Aram...their country is the area stretched from Persia in the east, from the Mediterranean in the west, from Armenia and Minor Asia in the north, and from Arabia in the south."

(Grammaire de la langue Araméene syriaque, second edition, Beirut 1962, introduction p. 1)

"After they became Christians the Arameans began leaving their old Aramean name to call themselves Syriacs...I wish they had never changed their old Aramean name."

(ibid, p. 2)

"Now I seek you, the children of Aram, what ever is your church denomination to remember your high origin and glorious history and to take care of your noble language..."

(ibid, p. 18)

Agapius of Hierapolis-Mabugh [Turkey] was a 10th century bishop. His world history features accounts of the world from its creation to the year 941/942.

"At that time [42 years after Moses was born] lived King Syrus. His rule was in Damascus. Syria was called by his name."

(Kitab al-Unwan according to the edition of Jesuit fathers, Beirut 1907, p. 26)

"In the 19th year of the birth of Isaac, Abraham heard that his brother Nachor, son of Tarih, had several children and among them was born Aram, son of Kemuel. His name was given to the Arameans, who inhabited Harran in Mesopotamia and the neighbouring countries up to the region of Mosul. We have found books who mention and inform about another Aram descending from Shem who lived in the East of Susa, towards Elam and Assur, who is the brother of Elam, from whom are descending the Elamites and Assyrians and their tribes. The borders of Aram spread from the homeland of Shem till the country of Misan; That's why the population of these and other countries took the name of Aram, their father, who came from the sons of Shem, the son of Noah."

(Agapius, Kitab Al-Unvan, editée et traduite en français par Alexandre Vasiliev, Part I, Patrologia Orientalis 5, Paris 1910, p. 666)

Simon Bar Sabbae († 344), was a bishop and the second catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon [Iraq] after Papa. He was killed by King Shapur II.

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."

(Syriac Manuscripts from the Vatican Library; Volume 1, VatSyr. 161, number 3. Martyrdom of St. Simeon (Symeon bar Sabba‘e), Bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and his companions. Fol. 20a)

"But that deceiver also came to [the city of] Mahuze, which belongs to Beth Aramaye, and he deceived myriads of Jews."

(ibid, Fol. 23a)

"Then, suddenly, a third edict sent by King Shapur [II; 309-379 AD] from Khuzestan came to the rulers of Beth Aramaye."

(ibid, Fol. 24a)

"Following after ‘Ebed Mešiha was the blessed Hairan, who was from Beth Aramaye. [...] In his time were many wars between the Romans and Parthians. And an Artabanus112, the grand king of the Parthians, pushed into the land of the Romans. And he set ablaze many cities of Beth Aramaye. [...]And in earlier times the Persians sought to pounce on the throne of the Parthians, and many times they tested their power in battle [...]
First they fell on Mesopotamia, on Beth Aramaye, on Beth Zabdai and Arzun."

(Sources Syriaques. Vol. 1. Msiha Zkha (texte et traduction). Bar-Penkaye (texte) par Mingana, Leipzig, 1907, p. 104-105)

IX. Bishop Šahlupa of Arbela (258-273 A.D.):

"Following Hairan, who is worthy of honor among the saints, was Šahlupa, zealouslycaring and hard-working in fear of God. Also this holy father was from Beth Aramaye."

(ibid, p. 109)

X. Bishop Aha d-Abuhi of Arbela (273-291 A.D.):

"And in unanimity they both choose of the entire people Papa, the Aramaean, a smart and wise man."

(ibid, p. 119)

“But some of the Syriacs who had entered deeply Christianity like Bardaisan who was known as the Aramean Philosopher...”

(F. Nau : Notes d’astronomie syrienne. Journal Asiatique. Série 10, 1910, p. 10)

The Khuzistan Chronicle, written by an Aramean Christian from Khuzistan [Iran] probably in 680 is described as the Syriac counterpart of the Armenian work of Sebeos.

We read about the relationship between the bishop Isho Yahb and the persian king Khosrau II. Parvez (590-628) :

"Isho Yahb was treated respectfully throughout his life, by the king himself and his two christian wives Shirin the Aramean and Mary the Greek".

(Th. Nöldeke: Die von Guidi herausgegebene syrische Chronik, Wien 1893, p. 10)

XV. - History of Catholicos Babai

"Having been fulfilled, all the fathers chose an inhabitant of Seleucia, relative of the astrologer Mousa, and secretary of Marzban of Beth Aramaye. He was called Babai, son of Hormizd."

(Patrologia Orientalis, Tome VII. - Fascicule 2, Histoire Nestorienne (Chronique de Séert), Seconde Partie (1), publiée et traduite par Mgr Addai Scher, Paris 1911, Published Paris : Firmin-Didot 1950, p. 129)

XVIII. - History of St. Abraham the Great

"The daughter of one of the notables of Nisibis was possessed by a demon, who tormented her much. God wanted to manifest the virtues of Mar Abraham, the demon shouted by the mouth of this girl: 'Misfortune with me! Here that this Aramean dressed in a coat and who lives in the School, drives me out and torments me.'"

(ibid, p. 134)

XXVII. - History of Mar Aba the Great

"He was scribe of Marzban of Beth Aramaye, who lived in Radan."

(ibid, p. 154)

XXXII. - History of Catholicos Joseph

"This man spend the greatest part of his life in the Greek empire, where he learned medicine. Back to Nisibis, he settled some time in a monastery and became attached to an Aramean king, who had then in this place the responsibility of Marzban."

(ibid, p. 176)

XXXII. - mortality rate at the time of Joseph

"Here is an anecdote relative to this plague. The inhabitants of Beth Armaye were all removed by the death; there remained only seven persons and a young boy."

(ibid, p. 184)

XLIX. - History of Rabban Haia

"After Mar Abraham's death, Raban Haia went to the desert of Egypt and prayed to Jerusalem. The divine grace called him then to return to Aramean ground and to build a convent in the region of Cascar."

(Patrologia Orientalis, Tome XIII - Fascicule 4 - N° 65, Histoire Nestorienne (Chronique de Séert), Deuxième Partie (II), texte arabe publié par S.G. Mgr Addai Scher avec le concours de Robert Griveau, Paris 1919, Published Brepols 1983, p. 453)

LIII. - History of Mar Yahb the hermit

"Yazdin, to whom Kosrau had entrusted the government of several provinces of Beth Armaye and the Mountain, having heard about him, came to ask himinsistently to ask God to return the life to one of his sons, who had died, and he widened him in front of the door of his cave."

(ibid, p. 458)

LVIII. - History of Khosrau Parwez, son of Hormizd

"Khosrau, by gratitude for Maurice, ordered to rebuild churches and to honor the christians. He built himself two churches for Marie and a big church and a castle in the country of Beth Laspar for his wife Shirin, the Aramean."

(ibid, p. 467)

Catholicos-Patriarch Timotheos I, born in Hazza, Arbil [Iraq] and passed away 823 in Baghdad, developed into one of the most important ecclesiastical writers and most capable organizers of the Church of the East, which by then extended into India and China.

He says to other East-Syrian bishops about Mor Yeshu'zkho:

"Mor Yeshu'zkho the Aramean, episcopos of (the city of) Seleucia..."

(Hanna Aydin: Die Syrisch-Orthodoxe Kirche von Antiochien, Bar Hebräus-Verlag, Glane-Losser 1990, p. 33)

About Catholicos Dodyeshu he says:

"Catholicos Dodyeshu' the Aramean…"

(ibid, p. 34)

"Syria was thus called by the name of Syrus, 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."

(Paulus Assemani: Lumaa Tarikhiya fi Fara'id al-Adab al-Suryaniya [= a short history of Syriac literature], Jerusalem 1933, p. 9)

Theodor Bar Koni, († 845 in Syria), was a teacher at the school of Kashkar [Iraq] in Beth Aramaye and one of the Forty-two Martyrs of Amorion.

In his book "Scholion" he says about the confusion of tongues as follows:

"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.”

(Patriarch A. Barsaum, The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch: Its Name and History, published by the syriac organizations in Middle Europe and Sweden 1983, p. 29)

Isho'dad, passed away in 853, was a native of Merv. He bacame bishop of Haditha [Iraq] near Mosul and flourished in the middle of the ninth century. He wrote commentaries on each book of the Peshitta New Testament and (at least) Genesis and Exodus in the Old.

In his book "Commentaries on the Old Testament" he writes:

Genesis, XXII:

"(By) Aram (the writing) means Harran. It is called Naharin, since (Aram), Edessa, Nisibis and Mahouze are called Nahrin and Beth-Nahrin."

(Commentaire d'Isodad de Merv sur l'Ancien Testament/1, transl. Ceslas van den Eynde, Louvain 1955, p. 90)

Genesis, X:

"Sons of Shem: Elam: Elamites and Houzites. Assur: Assyrians and Parthians. Arphaxad: Arameans; others say Persians. Lud: Lebaneses. Aram: Harranites."

(ibid, p. 142)

Genesis, XI:

"Abraham was indeed from Kashkar in Babylonia and the Babylonians are Arameans."

(ibid, p. 147)

Genesis, XI:

"according to some authors, (the writing) means Beth Aramaye, that is to say Mahouze. "

(ibid, p. 152)

Genesis, XXII:

"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."

(ibid, p. 189)

Genesis, XXVII:

"Paddan is a city in Harran. Aram is Harran, and it is called sometimes Aram and sometimes Harran."

(ibid, p. 201)

Genesis, XXXV:

"According to others: he found the men who were called 'hemaye', that is to say, the rest of the peoples, which were destroyed before by the Arameans and the sons of Esau. "

(ibid, p. 213)

Book of Judges, III:

"The Arameans are Harranites, but as a certain number (among them) had emigrated of Aram-Nahrin and had settled in Damascus, (city) neighbor of the people, for this reason this (last) place was also called Aram; and it is likely that Cousau also lived there. However, Théodule, explaining the words: Because of Aram, Ephraim and the son of Romalya agreed to harm you, says that Aram is the king of Damascus. "

( Commentaire d'Isodad de Merv sur l'Ancien Testament/3, transl. by Ceslas van den Eyndë, Louvain 1963, p. 24)

1 Samuel, XIII:

"Saqa: (the writing) calls the paw; 'elayta: The leg, that the Arameans call vps and msht."

(ibid, p. 59)

1 Samuel, XIII:

"Sekta, that is put at the plow, Abouta, with which the mason adjust the stones; the Arameans call it krm.'"

(ibid, p. 61)

1 Book of Kings, XI:

"Haddad the Edomite; it is "the Aramaean"; all "Edomiteses" mentioned in this book are "Arameans""

(ibid, p. 131)

1 Book of Kings, XV, XVI:

"The book of the Chronicles says: When Asa sent the present to Bar Haddad, the prophet Hananya came to find Asa and blamed him for having leaned on the king of Aram and not on His God. "

(ibid, p. 137)

1 Book of Kings, XX:

"The words: he made a contract (with him), that is to say: Achab made with Bar Haddad a serious agreement (of his part) as (one makes) with a friend and a familiar, while the Aramaean deceived it (while saying) that he would establish in Damascus a market with his name, same as the Jews had established one for the father (of Bar Hadad) when, one day, he had defeated Samaria."

Isaiah, VI - VII:

"Also, he wants to say, that the capital of the Arameans is Damascus and its king Rason, and the capital of Samarie Ephraim and its king the son of Romalya, just like the capital of Juda is Jerusalem and its king Achaz."

(Commentaire d'Isodad de Merv sur l'Ancien Testament/4, transl. by Ceslas van den Eynde, Louvain 1969, p. 14)

Isaiah, IX:

"Although you gathered in great number the Arameans against us, however there was no rejoicing for you. "

Isaiah, XVI, XVII:

"And (he will be) of the rest of Ephraim as the glory (of the sons of Israel). The Greek says: the rest of the Arameans; the Hebrew: the rest of Aram; "because, (Aram), you were not better than the sons of Israel and their glory", since the Arameans, they also, in the same time as the Jews, dethroned their glory."

(ibid, p. 30)

Hosea, XII - XIII:

"And taking again the continuation (of the ideas) that he had abandoned above, he says: And Jacob fled to the land of Aram."

(ibid, p. 97)

Psalms, XLV - XLVI:

"Because of the numerous army that comes against us, it is as if the earth trembled. - The mountains shake: Pqah, son of Romalya, and Rason, king of Aram, that is to say of Damascus, who went up against Jerusalem. "

(Commentaire d'Isodad de Merv sur l'Ancien Testament/6, transl. by Ceslas van den Eynde, Louvain 1981, p. 82)

Psalms, LXXVII - LXXIX:

"And again in the time of Achaz, [all] (the men of Ephraim) got along with the Arameans, and wanted to remove the kingship from the house of David, because the soldiers had become numerous in the tribe of Ephraim. "

(ibid, p. 135)

Book II. Chapter XIV. - Of George of Perath Dhe M.

"Now when the Catholicus went down to Medhinatha dhe Beth Armaye, he heard and learned also concerning George of Perath dhe Maishan, how he was bringing accusations against him before the heathen, and also that he was making ready to offer resistance to him."

(The Book of Governors: The Historia Monastica of Thomas Bishop of Marga, E. A. Wallis Budge, Volume II, published by Gorgias Press LLC, 2003, p. 187)

Chapter XXII. - Of the going down of Rabban Simon to George the Catholicos

"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."

(ibid, p. 219)

Chapter XXIV. of John of Delum

"In the book which was composed by David, the pious bishop of the Kartewaye, which is called the "Little Paradise", which begins with the history of Rabban George bar-Sayyadhe, the head of the monastery, in the history of Abba Selibha the Aramean it is made known that a great famine took place in this country."

(ibid, p. 225)

Chapter XXXII. - Of Mar Isho-zekha, the Syrian, Bishop of Salakh

"This blessed man came from the country of Beth Armaye, and according to what I have learned from the ancients, he was a monk in this holy monastery."

(ibid, p. 240)

Chapter

Book VI. Chapter XV. - Of those Ascetics and holy men who were to be found in various places in the days of Rabban Gabriel

"And on the episcopal throne of Salakh there shone with apostolic light the holy Bishop Mar Isho-zekha, who came from the country of Beth Armaye;"

(ibid, p. 652)

Isho Bar Ali († 890), a physician as well as a lexicographer, was a pupil of Hunayn ibn Ishaq of Hira, the famous Aramean scholar, physician and scientist. He produced a noted Syriac-Arabic dictionary and created a new Syriac recension of the Diatessaron by vulgarizing its readings using the Peshitta.

He writes under the entry "Aram":

"Aram itself is Harran of Mesopotamia."

(R. Payne Smith, Thesaurus syriacus, Oxford 1879-1901, Volume 1, column 388)

"Syria is the country between Antiochia and Edessa and it was named Syria after Syrus, who killed his brother and ruled over Mesopotamia."

(quoted by Bishop J.E. Manna, Chaldean-Arabic Dictionary, Babel Center Publications. Beirut 1915, p. 11-21)

He equates "Aram" with "outer Syria" [northern Mesopotamia]

(quoted by Dr. D. Chwolsohn in Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, Band I., St. Petersburg, Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1856, p. 442)

Abu' l' Hassan from Baghdad, known as Bar Bahlul († 963), compiled his famous ‘Lexicon’, a small encyclopedia in which he collected, together with the lexicographical works of his predecessors, numerous notices on the natural sciences, philosophy, theology, and Biblical exegesis.

He recorded in his lexicon under the lemma "Syria":

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

(R. Duval (ed.), Lexicon Syriacum, Paris, 1888-1901, p. 1323-1324)

under the entry "Aram" we find the explanation:

"Aram according to Gregorius is Harran" [...] "Arameans Harranians" [...] "outer Syria [northern Mesopotamia]"

(ibid, p. 295)

under the entry "Aramean apricots":

"that is to say apricots"

(ibid, p. 736)

Elias of Nisibis, also known as Elias bar Shinaya, born on February 11th 975 in the town of Shina, that is at the confluence of the Tigris and the Great Zab and passed away 1049 in Nisibis, became metropolit of Nisibis. He was a prolific author who wrote many works both in Arabic and in Syriac. His greatest work was a history called "Annals" or "Chronicle".

In his syriac-arabic dictionary he equates the term "Aramean" with "Syrian".

(quoted by Dr. D. Chwolsohn in Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, Band I., St. Petersburg, Buchdruckerei der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1856, p. 440)

In his Chronography he writes:

"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."

(Chronographie de Mar Élie Bar Šinaya, Métropolitain de Nisibe, par L.-J. Delaporte Pubblicazione: Paris : H. Champion, 1910, p. 44))

The year 664:

" In which Mu'awia established Ziad, son of 'Obeia, governor of the Beth Aramaye areas."

(ibid, p. 89)

The year 694:

"In which Hegag, son of Jusuf, was established governor of Beth Aramaye."

(ibid, p. 94)

The year 695:

"The church of Beth Aramaye remained without chief until the death of Heggag; this means for 18 years."

(ibid, p. 95)

The year 715:

"In which Jezid, son of Muhallab, was established emir of Beth Aramaye."

(ibid, p. 99)

The year 720:

"In which Omar, son of Hubeira, became emir of Beth Aramaye."

(ibid, p. 100)

The year 724:

"In which Omar, son of Hubeira, was relieved of the Beth Aramaye emirate."

(ibid, p. 101)

The year 745:

"In which he established Omar, son of Hubeira, governor of Beth Aramaye."

(ibid, p. 105)

"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."

(Das Buch von der Erkenntnis der Wahrheit oder der Ursache aller Ursachen: nach den syrischen Handschriften zu Berlin, Rom, Paris und Oxford, herausgegeben von C. Kayser, Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1889, p. 198)

"The Book of the Bee" was written in the first half of the 13th century by Solomon († 1240), the metropolitan of Basra [Iraq].

"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."

(The Book of the Bee, edited and translated by Earnest A. Wallis Budge, M. A. [Oxford, the Clarendon Press] 1886, chapt. XXIII, p. 38)

"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."

(ibid, p. 99)

"He interprets this [oracle] plentifully - i mean this multiform oracle - somewhere in Pethor of Aram-Nahrin"

(Reinink G.J.: Gannat Bussame, I. Die Adventssonntage, Louvain 1988, p. 33)

George David Malech (1837-1909) studied theology at the Mission College in Seeri, Urmia (graduated 1855), and became a professor of oriental languages and literature at the Presbyterian Mission College in Urmia.

His book "History of the Syrian Nation and the Old Evangelical-Apostolic Church of the East: From Remote Antiquity to the Present Time" is devoted to the history of the Church of the East and current condition of his people:

"The sons of Arphaxad settled on the boundaries of Mesopotamia, and Asher, a son of Jacob, and Aram, lived in Mesopotamia proper. That country was called Aram and the inhabitants Arameans. The Greek name of the country, Mesopotamia, or the country between the rivers, in all probability, is a translation of the earlier Aramean name Beth-Nahrin, the country between the rivers, to which corresponds the Biblical: Aram naharayim. In Genesis the country is also called Padan Aram.
We are told that the offspring of Aram grew stronger and subdued the whole Mesopotamia, and for many centuries the Old Testament speaks of the country as Aramaic. 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.
Abraham, the patriarch, is a descendent of Arphaxad. He went from Ur in Chaldea, and he and the house of his father are called Arameans [...] The offspring of Ham were the earliest settlers in babylonia, but Arameans soon took the country and held it. [...]
But the language of Abraham and his ancestors was Aramaic, not only because Abraham descended from Aram, but Aram was really the geographical name of the country, and for that very reason the inhabitants also were called Arameans."

"To the melodies composed of Bardesanes and his son Harmonius, both of Edessa, Ephraem wrote a large number of metrical hymns in the Aramaic language."

"When the Arameans became more numerous in Mesopotamia, that land was called Aram, for example: Aram Damascus, Aram Nahrin, Aram Beth Rekob, Padan Aram [...] After the fall of Babylon, the Babylonians called themselves Arameans, and in the New Testament the Aramaic name is mentioned several times [...]

Hassan Bar Bahlul, from Karan, in the year 963, A.D., was a very learned man and an able writer, who has written many books, and he says that the Syriac Christians were first called Arameans [...] The Syriac fathers and writers, in their historical works say, that these four names are one, and that we descend from the Arameans [...]

Others think that the name Syria is to be derived from the name of a king Sores, who was an Aramean, and who conquered Sham i.e. Syria, and Beth-Nahrin, i.e. Mesopotamia, and so these countries were called Syria after his name. And likewise, the Arameans, were called by the same name Syriacs. Bar Ali who wrote a dicitionary, says, that the whole country from Urha (Edessa) was called after the name of king Sores. Hassan Bar Bahlul in his dictionary says, that the whole Syrian country was called after the name of Sores. And after that time the Arameans were called Syriacs. Bar Salibi, a writer, says in his book Arovata, we were called Syriacs after king Sores.

Many learned men believe, that the Syriacs took their name from the apostles who preached the gospel to them. Because the Jews despised the Arameans which was their forefather's name, therefore, the Arameans who accepted Christianity, were called Syriacs.

Now, we do not see anything to hinder us from believing, that these four names designate one and the same thing. Now the Arameans, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs are one nation, and the syriac language is their language. Learned syriac writers tell us in their historical works, that the Aramaic language is the first language."

(ibid, p. 40-41)

"Likewise the old Simeon, and the prophetess Hannah (Luke 2:25-32) and the Chaldeans from the East who came and worshipped Jesus. These people were from Mesopotamia, or from Media-Persia. And if these men were from the countries mentioned they must have been Arameans, because the inhabitants of Mesopotamia consisted mainly of Arameans [...] The Arameans and Syriacs accepted Christianity from the apostles of Christ [...]"

(ibid, p. 48)

"In the times of the prophets, the Word of God came several times to Aram Naharaim (Mesopotamia) and to the Arameans."

(ibid, p. 49)

"On the day of Pentecost St. Peter mentions the name of some countries and some Jews who had come from them to Jerusalem to worship, viz: Parthia, Media, Elam and those that live in Mesopotamia. All these names are geographical names, and a great deal of the inhabitants of these countries were Arameans, who lived among the Jews. Hence it is very reasonable to believe that a great many of them were Arameans or Syriacs, who believed and were baptized and received the Holy Spirit and accepted the glad tidings about the Messiah, together with their relatives, friends and neighbours, and their countrymen [...]

in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians, etc. It is reported that they were Arameans [...]

Again Paul writes: I came to Damascus and the Syrian countries (Gal I, 16-21). A great part of the people in these countries were Arameans or Syriacs [...] Some people believe, that St. Peter went through Mesopotamia, till he came to Babylon, and no doubt he met children of Israel there and proclaimed to them the kingdom of Heaven, and he did the same to the Arameans also, but much more in Babylon, where he founded a congregation [...]

On this journey he went through Matarta, and there he found some people and preached to them. Some of them believed in our Lord; the first who believed were Bar Kashaba and Bar Meharperyotas, together with all his relatives. This place was in Mesopotamia and the inhabitants were Arameans."

(ibid, p. 50-51)

"The Arameans of Syria were converts to Christianity at an early date of our era. The "Doctrine of Addai" shows this."

(ibid, p. 75)

"The language of this version, the language of the Arameans, is in the most proper sense the original language of the Bible."

(ibid, p. 76)

Abraham Yohannan, born in Urmia [Iran] in 1853 and passed away 1925 in New York, pursued studies at the General Theological Seminary and was later ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church. From 1894 to 1925 he was also an instructor and later a professor in the Oriental Department at Columbia University.

In his modern syriac-english dictionary he writes:

"According to the generally accepted view the Syrians were first known as Armoye or Oromoye, that is Arameans, and their language is spoken of as armoyith or oromoyith, that is Aramaic. The language of the New Testament seems to make a distinction between Armoye and Oromoye, and Syriac grammarians, lexicographers and commentators agree as regards this distinction. The former expression is used to designate the Hellenists or Pagans and the latter is applied to Syriac Christians. In course of time, however, the designation Suryaya or Suryoyo or Suroyo 'Syrian' came to be substituted for Aramean because the latter expression seemed to smack of heathenism. So far, indeed, did this dislike of things Aramean go, that the Syrian Christians despised even their early Aramaic literature and probably destroyed it because it was heathenish.
The term Suraye is generally admitted to have been given to the people by the Greeks, although Syrian national tradition holds that it was in use long before the designation Aramean, and that the Greeks got it from the Arameans."

(A modern syriac-english dictionary by Abraham Yohannan, Part 1, Columbia University, New York 1900, introduction)

Mar Abimalek Timotheus, born 1878 in the Mar Bishu village [Turkey] and passed away in Trichur [India] on 30 April 1945, was consecrated in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Mar Shalitha in Kochanes [Turkey] in 1907 Metropolitan of Malabar and India. He was a learned man, who wrote books in the Malayalam language and supported the freedom struggle in India.

He said in the National Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, 1924:

"As is evidently known, the dwellers of the land of Mesopotamia were variously termed, in the Old Testament times, as the children of Aram, hence the land was called Aram-Nahrin or Padan Aram, and their language Aramaic...The Aramaic language was in use not only all over Mesopotamia, but in the North of Palestine and other places.
This was the language which our Lord spoke and in which the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist was first instituted, and I am glad to say that this is the very language which we still use in our liturgical services."

(The Modern New Testament from the Aramaic: With New Testament Origin, Comparative Bible Verses, & A Compact English-Aramaic Concordance : Deluxe Study Edition, Aramaic Bible Society, 2001, p. 374)

In his book New Testament Origin, written in 1947, he says:

"The Greek translation for some unknown reason changed the word "Arameans" (Syriacs) into "Greeks". Nearly all of Paul's references to "Greeks" thus actually refer to Arameans, that is, Syriacs."

(The Modern New Testament from the Aramaic: With New Testament Origin, Comparative Bible Verses, & A Compact English-Aramaic Concordance : Deluxe Study Edition, Aramaic Bible Society, 2001, p. 365)

In his dictionary "Treasure of the Syriac Language" (1897) he states:

"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."

(Treasure of the Syriac Language by Thomas Audo Metropolitan of Urmia, Part I-II., ND Verlag Bar Hebräus, Losser-Holland 1985, preface)

under the entry "Aramean" we find the explanation:

“Arameans, that is, Syriacs. Aramaic language, [that is] syriac”

(ibid, p. 49)

Metropolitan Addai Scher, born 1867 in Shaqlawa [Iraq] and murdered in 1915 became the archbishop of Seert [Turkey].

He writes in his book "Chaldo and Athur":

(Sa Grandeur Mgr. Addai Scher, De La Chaldee Et De L’assyrie Vol. 2, (Imprimerie Catholique, Beyrouht, 1913), 5)

about Tur Abdin:

"The first inhabitants of Tur Abdin are the Arameans, for they inhabited the whole Mountain of Masius..."

(quoted by bishop Julius Cicek in his introduction of Suleyman Hinno's gunhe d-suryoye d-tur abdin, Bar Hebräus-Verlag, 1987)

Eugene Manna (1867-1928), born in Bet Qopa [Iraq] was an educator and later the Metropolitan of Basra [Iraq].
In addition to his lexicon, he wrote a Syriac grammar and a two-volume collection of Syriac literature "Selected pieces of Aramean literature".

In his dictionary Aramaic-Arabic he writes:

"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 Aram 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 Aram. In the book of Genesis we read that Eliezer, the assistant of Abraham, traveled to Aram-Nahrin to the city of Nahor, to find a wife for Isaac [...]

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, 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 Syrus. Syrus 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 Syrian dates from a time about 400 or 500 B.C. [...]

The term Syrian was adopted by the East-Arameans (Chaldeans and Assyrians) after Christ through the apostles, who had proselytized these countries."

(Bishop J.E. Manna, Chaldean-Arabic Dictionary, Babel Center Publications. Beirut 1915, p. 11-21)

He wrote a book in Mosul in 1905 called "Key of the Aramean language or complete or practical Grammar of the two syriac dialects of the Occident and Orient"

He says:

"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."

(Rev. A. Mingana & A. S. Lewis (eds.), Leaves From Three Ancient Qur'âns Possibly Pre-`Othmânic With A List Of Their Variants, 1914, Cambridge: At The University Press, p. xxxi.)

"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 |150 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."

(A. Mingana, New documents on Philoxenus of Hierapolis and on the Philoxenian version of the bible. The Expositor, 9th series vol. 19 (1920) pp. 149-150)

in "The Early Spread of Christianity in Central Asia and the Far East":

"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".

(Asia Research Associates reprint of The John Rylands Library, vol. 9, No. 2, Part I., Foreword)

Bishop Israël Audo, born 6 Aug 1859 in Alqosh [Iraq] and passed away on 16 Feb 1941, was the brother of Touma Audo. He was appointed as bishop of Mardin in 1909.

He wrote a book about the Genocide on the Arameans called "The Book on the persecutions of the christian Armeniens and Arameans of Mardin, Diyarbakir, Séert, Djézireh-Ibn-Omar and Nisibis which took place in the year 1915".

(Jacques Rhétoré, Les Chrétiens aux bêtes Préface par J-P Péroncel-Hugoz Etude et présentation par Joseph Alichoran, Les Editions du Cerf, Paris, 2005, p. 219-220)

"In this way began the persecution against this poor people (the Armenians) in 1915, and it fell also on the Aramean people who live in Seert, Amid, Gozarto and Mardin and around them"

(History of the persecution of the Christians of Mardin, Amid, Seert, Gozarto, and Nisibis which took place in 1915, published by the Assyrian Federation in Sweden, 2005, p. 4)

"The reader may ask about the reason of the persecution and the great blood shedding and killing in uncountable numbers of the Armenian people and the Aramean peole [...]

"According to my strength and possibility I have shown the reason of this bitter persecution of the two nations: the Armenians and the Arameans"

(ibid, p. 5)

"About the persecution of the Chaldean Arameans, that is to say the Syrians"

(ibid, p. 19)