Nov 12, 2006

THE ASSIMILATION OF THE LOCAL POPULATION INTO THE ARAMEAN NATION BY THE ARAMEAN CIVILIZATION AND THE ARAMEAN LANGUAGE

Today, historians are amazed at the fantastic Aramaean development.

The Aramaean tribes came from the Syrian Desert and brought along with them their Aramaean language. They intermingled with peoples such as the Canaanites (the Phoenicians), the Assyrians, the Rittites, the Babylonins, and other who contributed to the Aramaean development. The Arameans worshipped a special god, "Radad", the ancient god of the Amorites. They also worshiped other gods whom they adopted from their neighboring nations. Rowever, Radad became the foremost god of the Arameans, especially in the kingdom of Damascus. The Arameans also adopted the Phonenician alphabet which they developed further. This alphabet was later known as the Aramaean alphabet. In the preface of his famous work, Kaufman wrote that the ancient Arameans spoke an East Semitic language, which was very closely related to the language of the Amorites. The close similarity in language, history and religion made some historians believe that the Arameans and the Amorites were one and the same people. The Aramaic language is perhaps a mixture of a New Amorite dialect and a Canaanite language. That which is certain is that the Aramaic language is easy to write.

It was therefore easy for the inhabitants of Babylonia to learn it. We must not either forget that many Amorite tribes had settled down in Babylonia, and in Assyria too.

No doubt the inhabitants of Babylonia had begun their merging into one single Aramaean civilization. This merging, this assimilation was owing to geographical proximity, language, and not in the least, to the strong will to live in a peaceful and fertile Babylonia. The influence of the Aramaean civilization was great also in Assyria. During the 25th International AssyriologyCongress, the historian and scholar Tadmor Iaunched his latest Andings under the caption: ' 'The Aramaization of Assyria”, 20).

In his study Tadmor Wrote: ' 'Today it is universally accepted that the vanquished Arameans together with other Semitic peoples in the west have had a great impact on the culturai development because of their superiority in numbers". Obviously he had in mind the influence of the Arameans on the Assyrians. Tadmor enumerates the names of the Aramaean civil servants who acted as soldiers and commanding officers in the Assyrian army. Tadmor's conelusion was that the number of the Arameans widely surpassed that of the Assyrians, 21).

On account of the incorporation of the Aramaean kingdoms into the Assyrian empire and not in the least owing to the deportation of a great number of Arameans into the centre of Assyria. GareIli put forward similar views in his study' 'The Importance and Role of the Arameans in the Administration of the Assyrian Empire." In this study, he gives examples about tens of Aramaean officials( with Assyrian names), for instance the Aramaean philosopher, Ahiqar ,22).

and the Aramaean queen Naqia Zakhutu, the mother of the kings Asserhaddun and Assurbanipal.

Further, the great role played by the incorporated Aramaean areas is mentioned in the article. In his summary, GareIli writes: 23)"It seems as if the Aramaean influence during this period had penetrated so deeply, that one is tempted to look upon the Assyrian empire as an Assyrian Aramaean empire. This line of thought one finds in Lewy The orientalist" .

GareIli believes that the cultural cooperation with the Assyrians was to advantage of the Arameans "and in this way, the vanquished Arameans were able to take revenge on their victors - the Assyrian-during the 10th century B.C. 24).

The interest of the German orientalists for Aramaean history was aroused at the beginning of this century.

It is a pit Y that their achievements did not reach the Syriac intellectuals.

The interest of the Syriac scholars was focused on church matters, which made them aliens to their own Aramaean history. But in spite of the strong ties to the church (both in the east and in the west), the Syriacs have never denied their Aramaean origin. This is something that we find clearly expressed in Bishop Manna’s preface. We have noticed that the Syriac historians have forgotten the history of their kingdoms.

Consequently, the Syriacs have had to suffer abuse from other people especially from the Greeks, who have made the Syriacs an object of ridicule by saying "You have not had a single king", today however; nobody can describe the national, cultural, and church history of the Syriacs in this manner, 25).

This is so thanks to the comprehensive studies that have been assigned to the ancient Assyrian writings, which contain information conceming the Aramaean kingdoms and the important role played by the Arameans up to the 7th century B.C.

However, one important problem still remains today, namely, to ascertain when the Arameans began to be called Syriacs. This will be treated in later articles.


Henry Bedros Kipha. Paris.

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