The Aramaic language, once the lingua franca of the Near East, originally introduced by nomadic desert folk from the "Arabian Peninsula," was originally propogated by the Assyrian Empire, and by the Achaemenid dynasty, as an official language of the Empire. In ancient Assyria it was written and spoken alongside the Akkadian language, and in Persia alongside Old Persian. Aramaic is still spoken today by many Christians in the Middle East, as well as by members of that community living in diaspora(see Assyrian diaspora). Syriac, a form of Aramaic, is used in the liturgy of the churches in which they traditionally belong or belonged to. Nowadays modern Neo-Aramaic languages are spoken such as: Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, and Turoyo in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon, and Western Neo-Aramaic in Ma'loula, Bakh'a and Jubb'adin in the Anti-Lebanon mountains of Syria. There are a few Jewish dialects of Aramaic remaining as well that are spoken in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora (see Kurdish Jews). Arabic and Hebrew contain many Aramaic loanwords. The name for the country of Lebanon comes from Mount Lebanon and its snow-capped peak which resembles Loubna or Laban: the Aramaic word for yoghurt. Even in Lebanon, where the language has all but disappeared, it is still used in the liturgy of the Maronite Church. Mandaeans, whom are a Gnostic sect from southern Iraq that revere John the Baptist as the "Greatest Teacher" and proclaim that Jesus, Muhammad, and Moses are false prophets, also speak an Aramaic language called Mandaic. "Leshana Aramaya" or "Leshana d'Aramaye" transliterated means "The Tongue of the Highlands" or "The Tongue of the Highlanders." In this context it is therefore most appropriate for the inhabitants of Beth Nahrain, the last stronghold of Syriac Christendom.

Identity-Crisis, an allusion to the Tower of Babel

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There is a lot of confusion concerning the identity of Aramaic-speaking Christians of the Middle East. They are variously identified by the following appelations: Aramaean, Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac(see Assyrian people). The communities are divided along linguistic, religious, nationalistic, and/or political lines. Linguistically they speak different dialects of Neo-Aramaic, nationally they are divided amongst their country of origin, and religiously they are divided amongst different denominations of Eastern Christianity, altogether bringing about a complex identity-crisis. With the pending War on Terrorism, and the increasing hostility towards "Arabs," a lot of people that may have previously identified as "Arab Christians" are identifying with their indegenous ancestors such as the inhabitants of Phoenicia (northern Canaan) which comprises most of modern-day Lebanon, and/or the Aramaeans of ancient Syria. In the bible; most of the instances where Aramaic or Aramaean is to be used, it is replaced with Syrian or Syriac which was the Greek-derived name for the area that encompassed the Assyrian Empire at the height of it's extent under Sargon II. In the bible, Jesus heals a Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter near Tyre and Sidon(Mark 7:24-37).

History of Syriac Christendom

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During the first century AD, Aramaic was lingua franca of the Near East and spoken by Christians, Jews and followers of various indegenous beliefs. However, communities separated by religion and geographical distance spoke different, sometimes unintelligible dialects of Aramaic. The other main language of the region was Koine Greek, which was spoken in the upper echelons of society and in the major urban centres of the Levant. The establishment of churches in urban centres in the Levant, Asia Minor and Greece led to Greek becoming the dominant language of the early church. However, the Christian faith also spread rapidly among the Aramaic-speaking peoples in the smaller towns and farther east. Early writings employ the name Armāyē (ܐܖ̈ܡܝܐ). However, Greek texts (including the Jewish Books of the Maccabees) referred to the language as Ashuri, and its speakers as Syriakoi. ^* Relatively early on in the development of the Aramaic-speaking church, the name Armāyē was abandoned in favour of the Aramaicised Greek name, Suryāyē (ܣܘܖ̈ܝܝܐ). Therefore, originally, Suryāyē were Christian Armāyē. Because of this distinction, the word Armāyā came to designate a pagan, even being applied to a person who did not speak Aramaic. From the Greek name, the English designation Syriacs is often used to refer to the entire community of Aramaic-speaking Christian people. Occasionally, the designation Syrians is used in the same manner, but this can lead to confusion with the modern nation-state of Syria and its inhabitants, some of whom are Syriacs, but the majority of whom are not. In the Middle Ages, Syriac scholars, particularly West Syriacs, revived the use of the designation Armāyē with a new vocalisation based on the Hebrew , producing Ārāmāyē (ܐܖ̈ܡܝܐ, pronounced Oromoye by West Syriacs). This designation often refers to a far larger group of people, usually including the Maronite Catholics, Melkite Greek Catholics and the Antiochian Orthodox''.

The community has traditionally been divided into western and eastern parts. The exact division is somewhat uncertain, and is variously based on geography, linguistics and church affiliation. In ancient times, the main division was defined by the border between the Roman and Persian empires. Linguistically, although all groups employ for a liturgical language the Middle-Aramaic variety spoken in Edessa — Classical Syriac — many also use different varieties of Modern Aramaic. As far as church affiliation stands, the Syriac Orthodox Church and Syrian Catholic Church generally represent the western group, while the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church the eastern.

As the Greek name Syriakoi is considered by many to be derived from the word Assyria (Ασσυρια), so many Aramaic-speaking Christians prefer to use the designation Assyrians or (ܐܬܘܖ̈ܝܐ, variously pronounced Othuroye, Atoraye and so forth). It appears that the few instances of the word in early Syriac texts refers simply to the inhabitants of the Mosul region, once dominated by the Assyrian cities of Assur and Nineveh. This designation for the region has continued ever since the days of the Assyrian Empire. It was referred to as Ashuristan by the Persians, which meant "Land of the Assyrians," up until the Ottoman conquest of Mesopotamia. This could explain the greater use of this designation among members of the eastern group. Assyrian as a modern ethnonym was introduced to the Western world in the 19th century by Protestant missionaries in the Ottoman and Persian Empire Empires, first to designate the followers of the so-called "Nestorian" creed led by the feudal patriarchal dynasty of the Mar Shimun at Qochanis, at the time mostly inhabiting the Hakkâri mountains and enjoying a relative autonomy within the Empire. This can be related to the 19th century context with the beginnings of modern archaeology (see the modern discovery of Babylonia and Assyria), and of the idea among some missionaries that associating the remnants of these Christian communities with a powerful ancient empire would be useful to instill a religious and national revival.

Aramaic languages | Assyria | Jewish languages | Languages of Asia | Semitic languages