11-21-2013, 06:20 AM
"Syria" is the Greek word for "Aram", and "Syriac" is the Greek word for "Aramaic." Which is why most speakers dislike the term. It's foreign. We don't refer to our language as "Syriac."
Assyrians kinda had colonies all over the place. It was a military strategy. Many Assyrian cities have been uncovered in modern-day Syria. The empire covered the entire Middle East, including Egypt.
That being said, Assyrians took the Aramean language and made it an international lingua franca. Prior to that, it was a local language of a particular set of desert tribes. After that, it became the language of three world empires and dozens of nations, including the Israelites.
I think people tend to forget that it was the Assyrians that gave prominence to Aramaic. Had it not become the official language of the empire, Our Lord would probably have spoken Hebrew as His native language.
+Shamasha
Assyrians kinda had colonies all over the place. It was a military strategy. Many Assyrian cities have been uncovered in modern-day Syria. The empire covered the entire Middle East, including Egypt.
That being said, Assyrians took the Aramean language and made it an international lingua franca. Prior to that, it was a local language of a particular set of desert tribes. After that, it became the language of three world empires and dozens of nations, including the Israelites.
I think people tend to forget that it was the Assyrians that gave prominence to Aramaic. Had it not become the official language of the empire, Our Lord would probably have spoken Hebrew as His native language.
+Shamasha