Arameans

The Arameans (Hebrew: אֲרַמִּים, romanized: arammim, Classical Syriac: ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, romanized: ārāmāyē) were an ancient people from the Near East.

Arameans controlled many city-states in ancient Syria. Some of the states include Aram-Damascus,^[1] Hamath,^[2] Bet-Adini,^[3] Bet-Bagyan,^[4] and others. Many ancient Arameans were identified by their tribe names, many of them beginning with the word "Beth" (house).^[5] The Aramean states would largely fall to the Assyrian empire, when the emperor Ashurnasirpal began to take large amounts of land before moving into the Mediterranean region.^[6]

Today, the legacy of the ancient Arameans continues to be recognized by a number of Syriac Christian groups from the Middle East. These include Maronites,^[7] Arab Christians,^[8] and Assyrian people.^[9]

The origin of the word Aram, which forms the name "Aramean", is not clear. The first mention of Arameans that is not argued is in the inscriptions of Tiglath Pileser I (c. 1100 BC),^[10] who wrote about a victory against "Ahlamû of the land of Aram".^[11] The word is used to reference the 1st millenium BC inhabitants of geographical Syria.^[12] On the annals of Naram-Sin of Akkad (c. 2250 BC), it is mentioned that he captured "Dubul, the ensí of A-ra-me".^[13]

The word "Ahlamû" is attested to represent a population, and not a specific group of people. Even today, scholars agree that the Arameans can't be defined as one sole ethnic group,^[14] and the terms "Aramean" and "Aram" were never used by dynasts to refer to themselves or their country (with the exception of Aram-Damascus).^[15] It is believed that the terms Arami, Armi, and Arame were a toponym without any ethnic connotations, and there is no remaining evidence to suggest that these terms were used to refer to the Arameans.^[16] The relationship between the Arameans and "Ahlamû" is still greatly contested.

The ancient Arameans did not have unique religious gods or goddesses.^[17] Many of their religious figures included those who were worshipped in Canaanite, Babylonian, and Assyrian religion. Some gods and goddesses that the Arameans worshipped, like Hadad and Atargatis, are also found in these religions. The Arameans who lived outside of their land followed religious practices that were like those in the area they lived in.

1. ↑ Lipiński (2000), p. 347.
2. ↑ Lipiński (2000), p. 249.
3. ↑ Lipiński (2000), p. 163.
4. ↑ Lipiński (2000), p. 119.
5. ↑ Doak (2020), p. 54-55.
6. ↑ Healy (1991), p. 10.
7. ↑ Wiener, Noah (2012-10-12). "Group Seeks Recognition of Aramaic Language and Maronite Heritage". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 2025-06-15.
8. ↑ "Christian Arabs can now register as Aramaic Christians, not Arabs. | The Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2025-06-15.
9. ↑ Donabed, Sargon; Mako, Shamiran (2009). "Ethno-cultural and Religious Identity of Syrian Orthodox Christians". Revue d’Histoire de l’Université de Balamand. 19. ISSN 1608-7526. Non Jacobite scholars and others in favour of a recently promoted Syriac-Aramean identity have begun promoting a Pan-Arameanist ideology, which follows exactly the development of pan-Assyrianism from within the community itself.
10. ↑ Lipiński (2000), p. 25-27.
11. ↑ Seux, M.-J.; Briend, J. (1977). Texts from the Ancient Near East and History of Israel. Le Cerf. pp. 70–71.
12. ↑ Sader (2014), p. 16.
13. ↑ Lipiński (2000), p. 26-40.
14. ↑ Doak (2020), p. 51.
15. ↑ Sader (2014), p. 15.
16. ↑ Sader (2014), p. 339.
17. ↑ Doak (2020), p. 57.

• Doak, Brian R. (2020). Ancient Israel's Neighbors. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190690632.
• Healy, Mark (1991). The Ancient Assyrians. Osprey. ISBN 9781855321632.
• Lipiński, Edward (2000). The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 9789042908598.
• Sader, Hélène (2014). The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004229433.