The Aramaic Language – brief history
1. Historically, the Aramaic Language was the common language used in the fertile region of the ancient Near East (Mesopotamia area) about the Second Millennium BCE (Before Common Era) i.e. years 2000 BCE to 1001 BCE. It was the Spoken and Written language of the Arameans, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Hebrews and Syrians.
2. The term Aramaic comes from Aram which according to Hebrew scripture, Aram was the son of Shem and grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:22). The Aramaic language is also called a Semitic (or Shemitic) language, and Shemitic comes from Shem, son of Noah (Genesis 5:32).
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| Assyrian and Chaldean empires |
3. Aramaic language was practical, simple to write and speak, and widely used by officials, merchants and all classes of people (Jesus and all the common Israelite people speak and write Aramaic). It was the common language among different tribes and clans, and thus was used by the two great empires of Assyria and Chaldea (Babylon). Many countries including Egypt, Asia Minor, Pakistan and Persian (Iran), all used Aramaic for communication.
4. The Aramaic language evolved into major dialects, the Northern Aramaic dialect and the Southern Aramaic dialect, over a long period of time (more than 1000 years) when there were TWO Major Dispersion of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to Assyria and Chaldea.
5. According to history, the First Exile was around 721 BCE, where the Assyrians captured the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel and took them away to Nineveh, where they were eventually scattered all over Mesopotamia (Northern Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan). Then the Assyrian government repopulated Northern Israel with their own people, the Assyrians, who also spoke Aramaic, to inter-marry into the remaining Israelites that were not captured away. The descendants of these mixed marriages were known as Samaritans (See https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2021/08/who-are-samaritans.html). They speak a slightly different dialect of the original Aramaic language, derived from mixed Assyrian cultures, and local slangs.
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6. The Second Exile happened around 587 BCE, when the Chaldean King Nebuchanezzar, captured the remaining Two Tribes of Southern Israel, particularly the prominent tribe of Judah, into Babylon, the capital of the Chaldean empire. The exiled Israelites assimilated Babylonian cultures, myths, and way of life easily due to similar Aramaic language, and thus we have many of the Hebrew Torah stories plagiarized from the Chaldean writings over the centuries (See: https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2021/06/are-stories-in-genesis-in-bible-taken.html).
7. The Chaldean empire became weak after the death of King Nebuchanezzar, and the Persian (Iran) King Cyrus easily conquered Babylon around 539 BCE, and ended the Babylonian empire. Cyrus gave permission to the Israelites to return to their homeland, carrying with them the Southern Aramaic dialect and mannerism, up until the time of Jesus during the first century CE. The Southern dialect is slightly different from the Northern dialect (just like the Chinese have different dialects of Cantonese and Hakka). Knowing this, we can understand better now how the local Southern Israelites can identify Peter (who is from the north), just by listening to him talk Aramaic in the Northern dialect, when Peter denied knowing Jesus before the cock crowed (Mark 14:70). (Note: Jesus and his disciples are from Galilee, and spoke a Northern dialect of Aramaic).
8. However, after the First Century onwards Hebrew became more acceptable, and slowly became popular. Though Hebrew and Aramaic were two different languages, however they have similar grammar and vocabulary, and so both can commonly understand each other. Due to their close relations, some of the foreign Aramaic cultures and religious traditions from other nations were easily passed onto the later generation Israelites who speak Hebrew.
