While earlier works were concerned mainly with the reconstruction of their political history, modern treatments of the subject have widened the scope of scholarly studies to include the results of recent archaeological excavations.
In search of an Aramaean identity, scholars carefully studied their material culture and tribal society. This recent evidence has shed new light on the origin of the Aramaeans and on the formation processes of their polities.
The study of their material culture, economy, religion, art, script, and language has provided a new basis for an in-depth revision of this very important period of Syrian history. Bunnens, Guy, ed. Essays on Syria in the Iron Age. Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement 7.
Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Press, An edited collection of scholarly articles which discuss various aspects of Aramaean history and culture as well as the results of some recent excavations in Syria which are relevant to the origin and material culture of the Aramaeans. Wevers, and Michael Weigl, eds. The World of the Aramaeans. London: Sheffield Academic Press, This three-volume Festschrift in honor of Paul-Emile Dion is a wide-ranging multi-authored work that discusses aspects of Aramaean culture as well as its connections to neighboring cultures.
Dion, Paul Emile. Paris: Gabalda, Extensive discussion of the political history of the Aramaean states of Syria and an in-depth investigation of their social structure. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, Collection of scholarly articles dedicated to the study of the geographical boundaries of some Aramaean polities. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, This comprehensive work adds to the previous studies a detailed investigation of the small Aramaean entities on the Euphrates bend, of northeast Syria, and of the Aramaeans of south Babylonia, who had been treated separately.
It also dedicates chapters to the economic history and religion of the Aramaeans. This instinctively brings to mind the biblical account of Rachel hiding the home gods. Ancient West Semitic traditions live here in myths, memory, and present-day life, intermingling with the history of the Amorites and Arameans. Egeria, an early female Christian pilgrim, in her travel account to Harran in the 4th century AD, records a beautiful story of her pilgrimage to the churches and wells in the plain.
She visits Harran and Paddan-Aram and sees the biblical world and the stories of the Patriarchs as if they had taken place yesterday. So do we. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only.
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Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. December No. March Vol. IV, No. Satellite image showing the location of Harran. The Great Mosque. All photos courtesy of Minna Silver and date to unless otherwise noted. Panoramic view of the Harran plain. Camels at the foot of the tell.
According to rabbinic Jewish tradition, Ur of the Chaldees, the birthplace of Abraham, was also located in Aram-Naharaim. It was from Haran in the region of Paddan-aram that Abraham obeyed God's call to immigrate to Canaan Gen , 32 ; Abraham considered himself an Aramean and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob married Aramean girls from Haran who were their kinswomen Gen , 66 ; ; Deuteronomy refers to Jacob-Isael as a "wandering Aramean.
Haran in the center of Aramean activity in Genesis while Aram-Damascus is the central topic for the Arameans in 1 st and 2 nd Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. One of the most politically influential Aramean city-states was Aram-Damascus.
It came under the control of the Davidic Kingdom 2 Sam but later asserted its independence 1 Kng The Arameans often had dealings with the Northern Kingdom of Israel under the period of the Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and functioned as both friends and enemies 1 Kng As the Assyrian Empire swallowed up the various Aramean polities, it also ingested masses of Aramaic speaking peoples along with their scribal and literary traditions.
Aramaic eventually replaced the Assyrian's Akkadian language as the lingua franca of the entire Middle East. Aramaic was the language of administration and commerce of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires. Arameans fought in the army of the Babylonians and were among the forces of Nebuchadnezzar in the conquest of Judah and Jerusalem in the 6 th -century BC 2 Kng ; Jer
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