Old Aramaic language

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Old Aramaic
Region Extinct evant!Fertile "rescent evolved into #iddle Aramaic $y the %rd century "& Language family Afro'Asiatic
o

(emitic "entral Aramaic Old Aramaic Language codes

ISO 639-3 Linguist list

oar oar

Old Aramaic refers to the earliest stage of the Aramaic language, taken to give )ay to #iddle Aramaic $y the %rd century (a conventional date is the rise of the (assanid &mpire in **+ "&), &merging as the language of the Aramaean city'states of the evant in the &arly Iron Age, -ld Aramaic )as adopted as a lingua franca ($esides Assyrian) in the .eo'Assyrian &mpire, and in this role )as inherited for official use $y the Achaemenid &mpire during "lassical Anti/uity, After the fall of the Achaemenid &mpire, local vernaculars $ecame increasingly prominent, fanning the divergence of an Aramaic dialect continuum and the development of differing )ritten standards,

Contents
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2 Ancient Aramaic * Imperial Aramaic % 3ost'Achaemenid Aramaic

+ ate -ld &astern Aramaic 4 ate -ld Western Aramaic 5 References

Ancient Aramaic[edit
6Ancient Aramaic6 refers to the earliest kno)n period of the language, from its origin until it $ecomes the lingua franca of the Fertile "rescent and 7ahrain, It )as the language of the Aramaean city'states of 8amascus, 9amath and Arpad,

(ilver ingot of 7ar'Raki$, son of 3anammu)a II,021 :ing of (am;al (the modern <incirli 9=y>k), ?here are inscriptions that evidence the earliest use of the language, dating from the 2@th century 7"&, ?hese inscriptions are mostly diplomatic documents $et)een Aramaean city'states, ?he alpha$et of Aramaic at this early period seems to $e $ased on 3hoenician, and there is a unity in the )ritten language, It seems that, in time, a more refined alpha$et, suited to the needs of the language, $egan to develop from this in the eastern regions of Aram, -ddly, the dominance of the .eo'Assyrian &mpire under ?iglath' 3ileser III over Aram in the middle of the Ath century led to the esta$lishment of Aramaic as a lingua franca of the empire, rather than it $eing eclipsed $y Akkadian, From B@@ 7"&, the language $egan to spread in all directions, $ut lost much of its homogeneity, 8ifferent dialects emerged in Assyria, 7a$ylonia, the evant and &gypt, 9o)ever, the Akkadian'influenced Aramaic of Assyria, and then 7a$ylon, started to come to the fore, As descri$ed in * :ings 2A:*5, 9eCekiah, king of Judah, negotiates )ith Assyrian am$assadors in Aramaic so that the common people )ould not understand, Around 5@@ 7"&, Adon, a "anaanite king, used Aramaic to )rite to the &gyptian 3haraoh, 6"haldee6 or 6"haldean Aramaic6 used to $e common terms for the Aramaic of the "haldean dynasty of 7a$ylonia, It )as used to descri$e 7i$lical Aramaic, )hich )as, ho)ever, )ritten in a later style, It is not to $e confused )ith the modern language "haldean .eo'Aramaic,

Im!erial Aramaic[edit
Im!erial Aramaic
-fficial Aramaic Region Era Language family Ancient .ear &ast B@@D%@@ 7"& Afro'Asiatic
o

(emitic "entral Aramaic Im!erial Aramaic

Early forms

-ld Aramaic Im!erial Aramaic Language codes

ISO 639-" arc ISO 639-3 arc

Around 4@@ 7"&, follo)ing the Achaemenid con/uest of #esopotamia under 8arius I, Aramaic (as had $een used in that region) )as adopted $y the con/uerors as the 6vehicle for )ritten communication $et)een the different regions of the vast empire )ith its different peoples and languages, ?he use of a single official language, )hich modern scholarship has du$$ed -fficial Aramaic or Imperial Aramaic, can $e assumed to have greatly contri$uted to the astonishing success of the Achaemenids in holding their far' flung empire together for as long as they did6,0*1 In 2E44, Richard Frye /uestioned the classification of Imperial Aramaic as an 6official language6, noting that no surviving edict eFpressly and unam$iguously accorded that status to any particular language,0%1 Frye reclassifies Imperial Aramaic as the lingua franca of the Achaemenid territories, suggesting then that the Achaemenid'era use of Aramaic )as more pervasive than generally thought, Imperial Aramaic )as highly standardisedG its orthography )as $ased more on historical roots than any spoken dialect, and the inevita$le influence of 3ersian gave the language a ne) clarity and ro$ust fleFi$ility, For centuries after the fall of the Achaemenid &mpire (in %%2 7"&), Imperial Aramaic D or near enough for it to $e recognisa$le D )ould

remain an influence on the various native Iranian languages, Aramaic script and D as ideograms D Aramaic voca$ulary )ould survive as the essential characteristics of the 3ahlavi )riting system,0+1 -ne of the largest collections of Imperial Aramaic teFts is that of the 3ersepolis fortification ta$lets, )hich num$er a$out five hundred,041 #any of the eFtant documents )itnessing to this form of Aramaic come from &gypt, and &lephantine in particular (see &lephantine papyri), -f them, the $est kno)n is the Wisdom of Ahiqar, a $ook of instructive aphorisms /uite similar in style to the $i$lical $ook of 3rover$s, Achaemenid Aramaic is sufficiently uniform that it is often difficult to kno) )here any particular eFample of the language )as )ritten, -nly careful eFamination reveals the occasional loan )ord from a local language, A group of thirty Aramaic documents from 7actria have $een discovered, and an analysis )as pu$lished in .ovem$er *@@5, ?he teFts, )hich )ere rendered on leather, reflect the use of Aramaic in the +th century 7" Achaemenid administration of 7actria and (ogdiana,051 -ld Aramaic and 7i$lical 9e$re) $oth form part of the group of .orth)est (emitic languages, and during anti/uity there may still have $een su$stantial mutual intelligi$ility, In the 3esahim, ?ractate AB$, 9anina $ar 9ama said that Hod sent the eFiled Je)s to 7a$ylon $ecause 60the 7a$ylonian1 language is akin to the eshon 9akodesh6,

#ost-Ac$aemenid Aramaic[edit

"oin of AleFander the Hreat $earing an Aramaic language inscription

7ilingual inscription (Hreek and Aramaic) $y Ashoka the Hreat, %rd century 7" at :andahar, Afghanistan ?he con/uest $y AleFander the Hreat did not destroy the unity of Aramaic language and literature immediately, Aramaic that $ears a relatively close resem$lance to that of the 4th century 7" can $e found right up to the early *nd century 7"&, ?he (eleucids imposed Hreek in the administration of (yria and #esopotamia from the start of their rule, In the %rd century 7"&, Hreek overtook Aramaic as the common language in &gypt and (yria, 9o)ever, a post'Achaemenid Aramaic continued to flourish from Judaea, Assyria, #esopotamia, through the (yrian 8esert and into northern Ara$ia and 3arthia, 7i$lical Aramaic is the term for the Aramaic passages interspersed in the 9e$re) 7i$le, ?hese passages make for a small fraction of the entire teFt (of the order of 2I), and most of it is due to the Aramaic parts of the 7ook of 8aniel:

&Cra +:AD5:2A and B:2*D*5 D documents from the Achaemenid period (4th century 7"&) concerning the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem, 8aniel *:+$DB:*A D five su$versive tales and an apocalyptic vision, Jeremiah 2@:22 D a single sentence in the middle of a 9e$re) teFt denouncing idolatry, Henesis %2:+B D translation of a 9e$re) place'name,

7i$lical Aramaic is a some)hat hy$rid dialect, It is theoriCed that some 7i$lical Aramaic material originated in $oth 7a$ylonia and Judaea $efore the fall of the Achaemenid dynasty, According to historical criticism, defiant Je)ish propaganda shaped Aramaic 8aniel during (eleucid rule, ?hese stories might have eFisted as oral traditions at their earliest stage, ?his might $e one factor that led to differing collections of 8aniel in the Hreek (eptuagint and the #asoretic ?eFt, )hich presents a lightly 9e$re)'influenced Aramaic, Jnder the category of post'Achaemenid is 9asmonaean Aramaic, the official language of 9asmonaean Judaea (2+*D%B 7"&), It influenced the 7i$lical Aramaic of the Kumran teFts, and )as the main language of non'$i$lical theological teFts of that community, ?he maLor ?argums, translations of the 9e$re) 7i$le into Aramaic, )ere originally composed in 9asmonaean, 9asmonaean also appears in /uotations in the #ishnah and ?osefta, although smoothed into its later conteFt, It is )ritten /uite differently from Achaemenid AramaicG there is an emphasis on )riting as )ords are pronounced rather than using etymological forms, 7a$ylonian ?argumic is the later post'Achaemenid dialect found in the ?argum -n/elos and ?argum Jonathan, the 6official6 targums, ?he original, 9asmonaean targums had reached 7a$ylon sometime in the *nd or %rd century "&, ?hey )ere then re)orked according to the contemporary dialect of 7a$ylon to create the language of the standard targums, ?his com$ination formed the $asis of 7a$ylonian Je)ish literature for centuries to follo),

Halilean ?argumic is similar to 7a$ylonian ?argumic, It is the miFing of literary 9asmonaean )ith the dialect of Halilee, ?he 9asmonaean targums reached Halilee in the *nd century "&, and )ere re)orked into this Halilean dialect for local use, ?he Halilean ?argum )as not considered an authoritative )ork $y other communities, and documentary evidence sho)s that its teFt )as amended, From the 22th century "& on)ards, once the 7a$ylonian ?argum had $ecome normative, the Halilean version $ecame heavily influenced $y it, 7a$ylonian 8ocumentary Aramaic is a dialect in use from the %rd century "& on)ards, It is the dialect of 7a$ylonian private documents, and, from the 2*th century, all Je)ish private documents are in Aramaic, It is $ased on 9asmonaean )ith very fe) changes, ?his )as perhaps $ecause many of the documents in 78A are legal documents, the language in them had to $e sensi$le throughout the Je)ish community from the start, and 9asmonaean )as the old standard, .a$ataean Aramaic is the language of the Arameo'Ara$ kingdom of 3etra, ?he kingdom (c. *@@ 7"&D2@5 "&) covered the east $ank of the Jordan River, the (inai 3eninsula and northern Ara$ia, 3erhaps $ecause of the importance of the caravan trade, the .a$ataeans $egan to use Aramaic in preference to -ld .orth Ara$ic, ?he dialect is $ased on Achaemenid )ith a little influence from Ara$ic: 6l6 is often turned into 6n6, and there are a fe) Ara$ic loan )ords, (ome .a$ataean Aramaic inscriptions eFist from the early days of the kingdom, $ut most are from the first four centuries "& ?he language is )ritten in a cursive script that is the precursor to the modern Ara$ic alpha$et, ?he num$er of Ara$ic loan )ords increases through the centuries, until, in the +th century, .a$ataean merges seamlessly )ith Ara$ic, 3almyrene Aramaic is the dialect that )as in use in the (yriac city state of 3almyra in the (yrian 8esert from ++ 7" to *B+ "&, It )as )ritten in a rounded script, )hich later gave )ay to cursive &strangela, ike .a$ataean, 3almyrene )as influenced $y Ara$ic, $ut to a much lesser degree, Arsacid Aramaic, that in use during the Arsacid empire (*+B 7" D **+ "&), represents a continuation of Achaemenid Aramaic, )idely spoken throughout the )est of the empire, Aramaic continued as the scri$al $asis for 3ahlavi as it developed for the needs of 3arthian: using an Aramaic'derived script and incorporating many heterograms, or Aramaic )ords meant to $e read as 3arthian ones, ?he Arsacids sa) themselves as a continuation of Achaemenid rule, and so Arsacid Aramaic, more than any other post' Achaemenid dialect, continued the tradition of the chancery of 8arius I, -ver time, ho)ever, it came under the influence of contemporary, spoken Aramaic, Heorgian and 3ersian, After the con/uest of the 3arthians $y the 3ersian'speaking (asanids, Arsacid 3ahlavi and Aramaic )ere influential on (asanian language use,0B1

Late Old Eastern Aramaic[edit

#andaic magical 6demon trap6 ?he dialects mentioned in the last section )ere all descended from Achaemenid Imperial Aramaic, 9o)ever, the diverse regional dialects of ate Ancient Aramaic continued alongside these, often as simple, spoken languages, &arly evidence for these spoken dialects is kno)n only through their influence on )ords and names in a more standard dialect, 9o)ever, these regional dialects $ecame )ritten languages in the *nd century 7"&, ?hese dialects reflect a stream of Aramaic that is not dependent on Imperial Aramaic, and sho)s a clear division $et)een the regions of #esopotamia, 7a$ylon and the east, and Judah, (yria, and the )est, In the &ast, the dialects of 3almyrene and Arsacid Aramaic merged )ith the regional languages to create languages )ith a foot in Imperial and a foot in regional Aramaic, ?he )ritten form of #andaic, the language of the #andaean religion, )as descended from the Arsacid chancery script,0A1 In the kingdom of -sroene, centred on &dessa and founded in 2%* 7"&, the regional dialect $ecame the official language: -ld (yriac, -n the upper reaches of the ?igris, &ast #esopotamian Aramaic flourished, )ith evidence from 9atra, Assur and the ?ur A$din, ?atian, the author of the gospel harmony the 8iatessaron came from Assyria, and perhaps )rote his )ork (2B* "&) in &ast #esopotamian rather than (yriac or Hreek, In 7a$ylonia, the regional dialect )as used $y the Je)ish community, Je)ish -ld 7a$ylonian (from c. B@ "&), ?his everyday language increasingly came under the influence of 7i$lical Aramaic and 7a$ylonian ?argumic,

Late Old %estern Aramaic[edit

Further information: Aramaic of Jesus and Syriac language ?he )estern regional dialects of Aramaic follo)ed a similar course to those of the east, ?hey are /uite distinct from the eastern dialects and Imperial Aramaic, Aramaic came to coeFist )ith "anaanite dialects, eventually completely displacing 3hoenician in the 2st century 7" and 9e$re) around the turn of the +th century "&,

?he form of ate -ld Western Aramaic used $y the Je)ish community is $est attested, and is usually referred to as Je)ish -ld 3alestinian, Its oldest form is -ld &ast Jordanian, )hich pro$a$ly comes from the region of "aesarea 3hilippi, ?his is the dialect of the oldest manuscript of &noch (c. 2B@ 7"&), ?he neFt distinct phase of the language is called -ld Judaean into the *nd century "&, -ld Judaean literature can $e found in various inscriptions and personal letters, preserved /uotations in the ?almud and receipts from Kumran, JosephusM first, non'eFtant edition of his Jewish War )as )ritten in -ld Judaean, ?he -ld &ast Jordanian dialect continued to $e used into the 2st century "& $y pagan communities living to the east of the Jordan, ?heir dialect is often then called 3agan -ld 3alestinian, and it )as )ritten in a cursive script some)hat similar to that used for -ld (yriac, A "hristian -ld 3alestinian dialect may have arisen from the pagan one, and this dialect may $e $ehind some of the Western Aramaic tendencies found in the other)ise eastern -ld (yriac gospels (see 3eshitta), In the 2st century "&, Je)s in Roman Judaea primarily spoke Aramaic ($esides :oine Hreek as the international language of the Roman administration and trade), In addition to the formal, literary dialects of Aramaic $ased on 9asmonaean and 7a$ylonian there )ere a num$er of collo/uial Aramaic dialects, (even dialects of Western Aramaic )ere spoken in the vicinity of Judaea in JesusM time, ?hey )ere pro$a$ly distinctive yet mutually intelligi$le, -ld Judaean )as the prominent dialect of Jerusalem and Judaea, ?he region of &ngedi had the (outh'east Judaean dialect, (amaria had its distinctive (amaritan Aramaic, )here the consonants 6he6, 6heth6 and 6;ayin6 all $ecame pronounced as 6aleph6, Halilean Aramaic, the dialect of JesusM home region, is only kno)n from a fe) place names, the influences on Halilean ?argumic, some ra$$inic literature and a fe) private letters, It seems to have a num$er of distinctive features: diphthongs are never simplified into monophthongs, &ast of the Jordan, the various dialects of &ast Jordanian )ere spoken, In the region of 8amascus and the Anti' e$anon mountains, 8amascene Aramaic )as spoken (deduced mostly from #odern Western Aramaic), Finally, as far north as Aleppo, the )estern dialect of -rontes Aramaic )as spoken, ?he three languages influenced one another, especially 9e$re) and Aramaic, 9e$re) )ords entered Je)ish Aramaic (mostly technical religious )ords $ut also everyday )ords like 6)ood6), Nice versa, Aramaic )ords entered 9e$re) (not only Aramaic )ords like mmmn 6)ealth6 $ut Aramaic )ays of using )ords like making 9e$re) r !i, 6seen6 mean 6)orthy6 in the sense of 6seemly6, )hich is a loan translation of Aramaic "# meaning 6seen6 and 6)orthy6), ?he Hreek of the .e) ?estament often preserves non'Hreek semiticisms, including transliterations of (emitic )ords:

(ome are Aramaic like talitha (OPQRSP) that can represent the noun aly$ (#ark 4:+2),

-thers can $e either 9e$re) or Aramaic like %a&&ounei (TPUUVWXYR), )hich stands for 6my master!great one!teacher6 in $oth languages (John *@:25),

References[edit
2, *, %, +, 4, 5, B, A, &um! u! ' 3anammu)a II and 7ar'Raki$: ?)o (tructural Analyses, :, a)son Zounger, Jr,, Jniversity of (heffield &um! u! ' (haked, (aul (2EAB), 6Aramaic6, 'ncyclo(edia )ranica ", .e) Zork: Routledge [ :egan 3aul, pp, *4@D*52,p, *42 &um! u! ' Frye, Richard .,G 8river, H, R, (2E44), 6Revie) of H, R, 8riverMs 6Aramaic 8ocuments of the Fifth "entury 7, ",66, *ar+ard Journal of Asiatic Studies () (%!+): +45D+52, doi:2@,*%@B!*B2A+++, J(?-R *B2A+++,p, +4B, &um! u! ' Heiger, WilhelmG :uhn, &rnst (*@@*), ,rundriss der iranischen -hilologie: .and ). A&teilung /, 7oston: Adamant, pp, *+Eff, &um! u! ' (tolper, John A, #atthe) (*@@B), 6What are the 3ersepolis Forti\cation ?a$lets]6, 0he 1riental Studies 2ews 3 2otes ()inter): 5DE, Archived from the original on 2+ Fe$ruary *@@B, Retrieved *@@B'@*'2%, &um! u! ' .aveh, JosephG (haked, (haul (*@@5), Joseph .aveh, ed, Ancient Aramaic 4ocuments from .actria, (tudies in the :halili "ollection, -Fford: :halili "ollections, I(7. 2'AB+BA@'B+'E, &um! u! ' 7eyer, p, *A n, *BG Wieseh=fer, JosefG ACodi, ACiCeh, Ancient -ersia, pp, 22AD*@, &um! u! ' 6Iranian (cripts for Aramaic anguages,6 in the 7ulletin of the American (chools of -riental Research %+2 (*@@5), pp, 4%'5*,

?, #uraoka [ 7, 3orten, *@@+, A ,rammar of 'gy(tian Aramaic, 9and$ook of -riental (tudies, ?he .ear and #iddle &ast, 7rill, FranC Rosenthal, 2EE4, A ,rammar of .i&lical Aramaic, 5th revised edition, Wies$aden: -tto 9arrasso)itC,

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