CHAPTER FlVE
 Did our forefathers abandon their Aramaic name?

An accepted fact that the Arab sources refer to the Syrian Arameans as "Nabateans" and refer to the Syriac language as the "Nabateans language", all this because of the strong relation and neighbourhood between the Nabateans and the Arab tribes before the spread of Islam. The Assyrian King "Tiglet Pilesser" the third (724 - 745) B.C. mentioned in one of his records that the "Nabatean" tribe was one of the Aramaic tribes that lived in Old Babylon (review the first part of this research). Islam gave Ahl al Dhimmah" or "Ahl Al Kitab" referring to the Christian Jews and Sabians, the freedom to practice their religion under certain conditions, while the Moslems were fighting against the Heathen religion forcing its followers to become Moslems.

In the year 830 A.D. the caliph Al Maumoun (22) visited the city Rama and was greatly surprised to discover that some Harranians are neither Christians nor Jews. Since some Harranians were still faithful to the Old Heathen religion, when questioned by the caliph they claimed that thay are Sabians, in order to escape the punishment of death or the acceptance of the Islamic religion.

This could have been the turning point when the Arab sources of information started to consider the religion of Sabian Heathen. The following quotation by Renan is taken from El Fahrest (23):
"Another story about the Sabians of Al Bataeh, who followed the religion of the "Nabateans", they glorify the stars, keep idols, and they are usually called "Harranians". After this visit of Al Mamoun, the Moslem Arabs started to recognize the people of Harran as Heathens.This could be the reason why the words Harranian and Nabatean were recognized as synonyms to Heathen in Arabic sources. Bar Ali wrote in his Syriac dictionary (24) the following: "Aram itself is Harran of Mesopotamia".
The Syriac dictionary of Bar Bahlul states (25):
"Aram is Harran and the Arameans are the Harranians" meaning that the the Harranian are Heathens.
Our forefathers were careful, during their golden age, not to connect their old Aramaic name with the Harranian name which, in the Arabic sources, had become a synonym to Heathen. Our Syrian fathers used, therefore, two different pronounciations for the same name, that is:
"ARAMAYA OROMOYO" to mean Syrian, and "ARMAYA ARMOYO" to mean Heathen.
This fact by itself is a strong proof that our forefathers did not abandon their old Aramaic name and in spite of the strangers they preserved it. Bar Hebeaeus wrote (26):
"The Arameans (the Syrians) refuse to mix with the Heathens".

This difference or separation in the pronounciation happened in the end of the ninth century or in the beginning of the tenth century. This separation was done because of the relations with the Heathen Harranian during the 9th century AD and not in the early centuries of Christianity when our forefathers accepted the christian faith. If bishop Manna had read the book of RENAN and QUATREMERE he would not have entangeled himself with these grave errors. Manna along with many Syrians today believe in a false theory, because they don't understand what authentic historical records say about the Syrian name.
Since we have explained the circumstances under which the Aramaic name began to mean Heathen.
Are we able to understand today, when the name Syrian meant Christian? In answering this question we make the assurance that our forefathers never abandoned their Aramaic name neither in the "Early centuries" as Bishop Manna claims nor during the tenth century AD., because the history books of Bar Hebraeus, Bar Salibi and Michael the Great ( the Syrian) (27) are full of references stating that the Syrians are only Arameans and that they boasted that nobody can change these authentic facts found in the Syrian history books. The Syrian generations in the future will take authentic history facts only because false theories tend to retard development of nations and their culture.

CHAPTER SIX
 When did the name Syrian begin to mean christian?

We have presented several examples where the Aramaic name was a synonym to Syrian. We find also how our forefathers expressed the difference between "ARAMAYA OROMOYO" Syrian and "ARMAYA ARMOYO" the Heathen people of Harran.
We have stated also how Bar Salibi ridiculed the Greeks for their attachment to their old name which meant in their language "Heathen". If the name Aramaic means Heathen, Bar Salibi would not have proudly declared that he is Aramean!
There is no doubt that our forefathers, during the dark ages of Ignorance and devastation, that engulfed the whole Near and Middle East, dropped the differentiation between the two pronounciations, and the Aramaic name began partly to mean heathen. This can be clearly noted from the Arabic translation of the history of Elia, bishop of Nisibis, in the 12th century. We read this Syriac statement We find in the Arabic translation (28) "The church remained without leader until the death of Al-Hadjjadj".
In this translation the translator did not translate the term "BETH ARAMAYA" (the Arameans' land), because the Aramaic name may meant heathen and the translator was afraid of saying "the church of the Arameans", because it would have been understood as "the heathen church". Another statement (29) in the Arabic tanslation of this Syriac quotation is "Bardaisan the Christian was born in it on the 11th of July". This is the only statement where we find the word Suryaya/Suryoyo translated as "christian"! But this statement does not support Bishop Manna's theory because the translation was done after the 12th century AD! Previously we raised the following question: when did the name Syrian start to mean christian? Through this article the readers have read the Syriac quotations which assure that our forefathers, during the early centuries when they accepted christianity and even in their golden years, used the words Mshihoyo and Khristyono referring to a christian, and Hanfo referring to Heathen. We have also presented many proofs that the name Syrian was a synonym to Aramean. Our forefathers differentiated between the use of Oromoyo/ Aramaya Syrian and Armoyo/ Armaya to mean Heathen or Harranian, they did this because they feared the Moslems and not because they liked that.
Arts and science was flourishing among the Syrians until the 10th century AD. It is well accepted that the Syrians played a great role in the transfer of the Greek and Syriac cultures to the Arabs, especially during the days of Al Mamoun. But after the fall of the Syriac countries in the hands of the "Mamluks" and the "Ottomans" dark ignorance engulfed the Syriac cities, villages and monasteries.
Syriac language began te be less used. Scholars and writers became less and their knowledge very limited. Wars of the crusaders, the Monguls destroyed many places and the Syrians suffered a huge loss of lives.
During this long dark period of our history from the middle of the 13th century AD. and until the end of the World War l, our forefathers began to use the Aramaic name partly to mean heathen because of their ignorance and lack of understanding what it really means. Since the names Aramaic and Syrian were used as synonyms by the eastern and western Syrians, and since the Aramaic name began to mean Heathen they started to use the name Syrian to mean Christian.

"The name Syrian means Christian" was a result of the first equation (the name Aramaic means Heathen). This conclusion has nothing to do with the fact that our Aramean forefathers accepted the Christian religion, and that the name Syrian meant Christian to the eastern Syrians in the late centuries A.D. The acceptance of the Syrian people to this false theory lead to the misunderstanding that our Aramean forefathers abandoned their old name. The educated class of the Syrian people today are perplexed between accepting the false theory or the writings of our forefathers. Those Syrians who read the introduction of bishop Manna are more than those who read the books of our forefathers.

The coming article will discuss the importance and effects of bishop Manna's introduction among the Syrian people.

ARAM No.7 Summer 1994 P.30-37