Derives from the collective ethnic term for the Arameans and belongs with Canaanite to the north-western branch of the Semitic languages. For its system of writing, Aramaic adopted the Phoenician 22-character alphabet. The most ancient form of the language is Old Aramaic (10th-8th cents. BC) found in inscriptions in North Mesopotamia and Syria (Tell Feḫerije [1], Arslantaš, with Aramaic-Assyrian bilingual inscriptions and Aramaic-Assyrian-Luwian hieroglyph trilingual inscriptions, Tell Ḥalaf, Breğ, Zinçirli,…
Aramaic(340 words)
Cite this page
Müller-Kessler, Christa (Emskirchen), “Aramaic”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e131280>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510
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