Table of Contents
Note: Click the speaker icon () to hear the pronunciation. Icons in headings read only the section title and open the tab without scrolling. Icons in content read the entire section text in English, excluding Aramaic words or phrases with separate icons. Aramaic words and example phrases are read in Hebrew voice. Audio stops if the same or another button is clicked.
Introduction
Aramaic (aramāya or ārāmīt) is a group of related Semitic languages and dialects, closely related to Hebrew and Arabic, with a history spanning from antiquity to the present. Originating around 1100 BCE in the Fertile Crescent, Aramaic served as a lingua franca in the Middle East, notably in the Achaemenid Empire as a language of trade and government alongside Persian. It includes ancient dialects, Imperial Aramaic (500 BCE–200 CE), and modern Neo-Aramaic languages, such as Assyrian and Mandaic, spoken by about 500,000 people today, primarily in Western Asia. Galilean Aramaic was likely the native language of Jesus Christ. The Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic, is central to Syriac Christianity and its extensive religious and literary tradition. Aramaic is written in the Aramaic alphabet or its variants, like the Syriac alphabet.
Aramaic script sample.
Origin
Aramaic first appeared in the region of ancient Aram, located in modern-day Syria, and was spoken by the Aramean people in various Aramaic city-states and later kingdoms.
The Kingdom of Aram in the Levant, 830 BCE.
Historical Significance
Aramaic has a 3,000-year historical tradition and was the lingua franca of major empires like the Assyrian and Persian empires, as well as a key language in Judaism and Syriac Christianity.
Video on Aramaic's historical significance.
Religious Importance
Significant portions of the Old Testament were originally written in Aramaic, and it is the primary language of the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. Aramaic was almost certainly the native language of Jesus Christ, spoken widely in the Middle East during its peak, from India to Greece. Phrases like Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani (“My God, why have you forsaken me?”) in the New Testament reflect its use.
Dialects
Aramaic is not a single language but a group of related languages and dialects across different time periods, from antiquity to the present. These include ancient Aramaic (1100 BCE–500 BCE), Imperial Aramaic (500 BCE–200 CE), and modern Neo-Aramaic languages like Assyrian and Mandaic.
Assyrian Empire
Aramaic was widely used in the Assyrian Empire. After the Assyrians relocated large Aramaic-speaking populations to northern Mesopotamia, it became an administrative and official language alongside Akkadian, another Semitic language. Due to its simpler alphabet compared to Akkadian’s complex cuneiform script, Aramaic eventually replaced Akkadian entirely.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire.
Persian Empire
Aramaic retained its prestige during the Persian Empire, influenced by Old Persian. After the annexation of Upper Mesopotamia, it became the de facto language of trade, transactions, and official documents across the Middle East, adopted as the second official language of the empire. Known as “Imperial Aramaic” or “Official Aramaic,” it was standardized and used from Asia Minor and Egypt to the Indus Valley.
Map of the Achaemenid Empire.
Aramaic papyrus from the Jewish military colony in Elephantine, Egypt, Persian period.
Post-Persian Period
After the fall of the Persian Empire to Alexander the Great, Aramaic ceased to be the primary administrative language, replaced by Greek. However, it remained widely spoken in regions like Judea, Galilee, northeastern Syria, northern Iraq, and northeastern Turkey. In the Roman Empire, alongside Greek and Latin, Aramaic was one of the most spoken languages.
Bilingual Aramaic and Greek inscription by Indian Mauryan king Ashoka, Afghanistan, 630 BCE.
Coin of Alexander the Great with Aramaic inscription.
Neo-Aramaic Languages
Today, Neo-Aramaic languages are spoken by small, scattered populations in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, northern Iran, and southeastern Turkey. The Assyrian Neo-Aramaic language, written in the Syriac alphabet, is the most widespread. Western Neo-Aramaic dialects are nearly extinct, spoken in a few Syrian villages, while Eastern dialects, like Assyrian, are sometimes distinct enough to be considered separate languages. Due to migration and historical events like the Assyrian genocide and wars in Iraq and Syria, the number of Aramaic speakers has drastically declined, and the language is at risk of extinction.
Image depicting Aramean culture.
Turoyo, a ‘mountain Aramaic’ dialect spoken on the Turkey-Syria border.
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic language.
Alphabet
Aramaic is written in the Aramaic alphabet, a descendant of the Phoenician alphabet, which influenced many Middle Eastern scripts, including Hebrew and Arabic, and even extended to scripts like Uighur and traditional Mongolian. The Syriac alphabet, a variant of the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, is used for Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and resembles Arabic in its calligraphic style.
Syriac Aramaic alphabet.
Aramaic script example.
Example Phrases
Below are some common Aramaic phrases used in historical and religious contexts, along with their English translations. Click the speaker icons to hear the phrases pronounced in a Hebrew voice.
- Shlama lach (Peace be to you)
- Maran atha (Our Lord, come)
- Alaha natar (God protects)
Quiz
Test Your Knowledge!
Which writing system does the Aramaic language use?
Vocabulary Exercise
Select the correct meaning for the phrase:
Aramaic: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani
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