It is extremly essential for us to review the highlights of this subject discussed in the two previous parts of this article which is about the famous Introduction of Bishop Eugin Manna, which is about the history of the Syriac Aramean people. This review is especially important for those who did not read the two previous articles which were published in this ARAM periodical No. 2, 3, 4.
 

This part three is a continuation of the same subject.

The First Part was about the subject: "The Aramean Belonging" - Included the following subjects:
- the Aramean presence.
- the Aramaic Land.
- the Aramaic culture.
- Modern World Attention and interest in the Aramean History

The Second Part
"In calling the Aramaic people as Syrians" included the following subjects:
Chapter 1 - About Bishop Manna's Reference to the source of the name.
Chapter 2 - Errors and contradictions about the reference to the source of the name.
Chapter 3 - The Relation of the name Syria to Surus.
Chapter 4 - Quatremere and what he wrote about the origin of the name Syria.

This Third Part

When did the name "Syrian" begin to mean Christian?
According to Bishop Manna the name "Syrian" started to mean Christian "in the early ages" (l). We intend to support with proof that this theory is false. It is essential for us to know: from what source did Bishop Manna drew this theory?
Did he give supporting proofs to this theory which he actually copied from some European scholars, as we unfold in this article? We will actually establish when OUR forefathers started to use the name Syrian to mean christian. Did they really mean to change their Aramaic name simply because they accepted the christian religion?

Chapter 1 - Syrian means christian an idea spread in Europe
Chapter 2 - Can we find in the books written by our forefathers anything to support this theory?
Chapter 3 - Did Bishop Manna read the book written by the French Scholar Renan?
Chapter 4 - The idea spread and accepted by the educated Syrian groups.
Chapter 5 - Did our forefathers abandon their Aramaic name?
Chapter 6 - When did the name Syrian begin to mean Christian?

 

CHAPTER ONE
 Syrian means Christian, an idea spread in Europe

You might wonder when you learn that the scholar Quatremere in his book about the "Nabateans" is the first who links the Syrian name to the Christian religion, and the acceptance of our Aramean forefathers to the idea, but the French scholar Renan did not seem to believe or accept this idea or theory. We quote from Quatremere's Book (3) "Later, this Aramaic people got used to calling themselves Syrians when duty demanded of them to refuse this strange name. This people accepted to abandon their real Aramaic name to be forever forgotten, a name carried by their forefathers for long ages before them".
"How can we then explain the introduction of the names Syria and Syrians to the people who lived beyond the river Euphrates? If I am not mistaken, I believe that it was through the Christian religion, the Aramean people were convinced that they should be converted or changed into a new people, and abandon their old name. This linkage (abandoning the old Aramaic name) - if I am not mistaken - I believe is proved by the use of the Aramaic word "ARAMAYA" which is not different from the Aramaic name "ARMAYA" except in one aspect, that is an Aramaic linguistic vowel which makes it to mean "pagan". It was in this way that the name Syrian was spread among the Arameans".

Quartermere was the first to suggest the theory of the Arameans accepting the name Syrian because of their conversion to Christianity.
We notice that in his presentation he reflects his doubts by saying twice "if I am not mistaken" and "I believe" without giving any proof to support his theory. As far the proof he claims about the difference between the two pronounciations is a very poor because it is taken from the dictionaries of Bar Bahlul and Bar Ali written in the 10th century. This change in the pronounciation was effected in the 10th century A.D. and had nothing to do with our forefathers accepting the Christian religion.

We will present several Aramaic records proving that our forefathers never denied their Aramaic name. We are obliged to prove this for the sake of history, against the fact that the scholar Quatremere never presented real proofs that the Aramaic people abandoned their old Aramaic name.

Quatremere's book promoted two theories that are of concern to us:

A - The Greeks called the Aramaic people Syrian - a name extracted from Assyria.

B - The Acceptance of the Syrian name by the Aramaeans, when they accepted the Christian religion, and their abandoning of their old Aramaic name.

The scholar Renan adopted the first idea only as we have disclosed previously; yet there is another scholar, whose name is Larsow, who wrote a book in the year 1841 entitled "De Dialect Linguae Syriacare" in which he adopts the second theory which is that the name Syrian was given to the Aramaic Christians.
It is most probably that Bishop Manna copied this theory from Larsow and not from Quatremere.

 

 

CHAPTER TWO
 Can we find in the books written by our forefathers anything to support this theory?

 

We have already stated that Quatremere presented his theory without giving proofs to support it. If his theory is "right" it would be easy for the historian to find support for his theory in the Syriac literary sources, and in the books of our forefathers, therefore we endeavored to find if our forefathers did use the name Syrian to mean Christian and then Aramaic name to mean heathen.

After a long research in the Syriac sources we have come to the following conclusions:
A - We found no record to support Quatremere's theory.

B - The Syrians used the word Mshihoyo or the Greek word Khristyono to name the Christian.

C - The Syrians used the word Hanfo to mean heathen.

D - The Syrians used the "Aramaic" and the "Syrian" names interchangeably to mean the same Syriac-Aramean people.

The following are some proofs that support the conclusions we have come to. We quote from the Syriac history book of the Unknown Edessene (4) "The water entered the sanctuary of the church of the christians". It is well established that the history book of the mentioned Edessene writer was written early in the third century A.D. Another quotation from the same book (5) "YeshuYahb the leader of the christians".
In another page we read (6) "Nero was the first who persecuted the christians in his days...".
In another page we read (7) "Constantine granted freedom to all the christians." In the book known as the Maronite history we read (8) "Mani was arguing with the Jews and Heathens..." Another quotation (9) "He abandoned the teaching of the christians". In another page (10) we read "He was also a bitter persecutor of the christians". From the history book which ends in the year 724 A.D.we find (11) "He desired to make his name known and forever remembered and to respect the christians. God's people".
In reference to Mar Ephrem he writes: (l2) "Mar Ephrem the Syrian" and not Mar Ephrem the Christian. When he speaks about Mar Isaac, he says( 13): "Isaac teacher of the Syrians". Another quotation (l4) "Abdallah son of Mohammad gave orders, and the walls of the Syrian cities were destroyed". The word "Suryaya" means the Syrian people and not the christian.
Jacob of Edessa wrote (15) "Thus we the Arameans, that is to say the Syrians". Dionisius of TelMahre says (16): "Since then the sons of Hagar i.e.( the Moslem Arabs) enslaved the Arameans like the Egyptian slavery". Dionisius of TelMahre speaks about the Syrians and he uses the word Arameans which are synonyms. In a Syriac text from the seventh century we read the following:
"YeshuYahb was treated respectfully throughout his life, by the king himself and his two christian wives Sherin the Aramean and Mary the Greek".
By saying Sherin the Aramean the writer does not mean that she is pagan because the text says that she is christian and this is a proof that Aramean did not mean pagan but Syrian. If we go back to Bishop Manna's Introduction we can find strong proofs that the name Syrian was used interchangeably with the name Aramaean, especially in Manna's following quotation.

From Bar-Salibi: ".............the name Syrian which you have deprived us from, is not considered honorable to us ... We are the sons of Aram and we were named Arameans after his name."
 

This quotation proves the following:
A - the name "Syrian" did not mean "Christian" in the year 1171 AD during the life of Bar Salibi, because it was not honorable to him.
B - the name "Syrian" was given to the Arameans. Doesn't he say we are the sons of Aram?
C - If the books and the records of our forefathers have no mention or proof to support Quatremere's theory, from where did Manna get this thought?
In the following chapter, we will discuss the source where Bishop Manna drew his theory.