You’ll see it in the headlines from time to time. It’s usually some variant of “which language did #Jesus speak?” or “is ISIS exterminating the language of Jesus?”. Scholars – well educated scholars – will make reference to the destruction of Jesus’ native language in modern Near

Eastern communities or perhaps examine the relevance of #Aramaic phrases that have been left in #Scripture. There is certainly nothing wrong with such generalization that remain correct on a technicality and, more than likely, will not have any real influence on the intellectual

or spiritual life of the faithful. However, for those that wish to dive deeper, I present the real and complicated story of Aramaic. We’ll examine this language – well, languages – from their birth in the 9th century B.C. up to the #dialects that are spoken and hold #liturgical

significance today.
Early Aramaic is known to us through a number of inscriptions found throughout the #Levant that date back as far as the 9th century BC. By and large, there is no real variation in script or spelling in the record, and the dialectical variations that do exist

disappear from the historical record very early on. Those differences that did exist, such as the odd way of forming plural in the Tell #Fekherye inscription (850 BC) or the already-antiquated use of certain grammatical features in the #Zincirli (800 BC) inscriptions, disappear

by the beginning of the 8th century BC. Thus, we can infer by the homogeneity of the inscriptions across economic and juridical records across the Levant that Early Aramaic had stabilized and standardized by this time. This standardization became known as Imperial (Official) Aram

aic, which is recognized as having arose around the 8th century BC when Aramaic became the #lingua franca of the Near East. So widespread, in fact, that it would be used in the #Achaemenian administration through the end of the 4th century BC. Various attestations of its use can

be found as far away as #Egypt. Documents in Imperial Aramaic are also quoted in the Book of #Ezra. While this Aramaic dealt with matters of state and record, a close cousin – Standard Literary Aramaic – emerged starting around the 7th century BC and existed in complementarity

with the Imperial language. We know of it from many works, including some narratives elements of the Book of Ezra and #Daniel, as well as documentation found at #Qumran and other fragments.
Now, starting around the 3rd century BC, Aramaic began to fracture into a number of

dialects again – together, these are called Middle Aramaic. Among these are #Palestinian Aramaic (as seen in the Bar #Kokhba letters), #Nabatean Aramaic (based on the dialect of those living around #Petra, though found as far away as #Greece and Egypt), and several other less-

attested dialects which show contact with Early #Arabic and #Mesopotamian elements. Interestingly, although Middle Aramaic began to split into #Eastern and #Western #recension in this time, the two continued to exert influence upon each other. It is also worthy to note that Stand

ard Literary Aramaic continued to be used in an official capacity as far away as #Turkmenistan and the #Caucuses.
Palestinian Aramaic would, starting in the 3rd century AD, develop into #Byzantine-era #Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, better known as #Galilean Aramaic (the language

of Christ!). Widely attested in the historical record, some great examples of Galilean Aramaic include the Palestinian #Talmud, #Targums, and many #midrashim. It was closely related to #Samaritan Aramaic and #Christian Palestinian Aramaic. This particularly dialect, emerging in

the 3rd century AD, was widespread until the #Mohammedan invasion. It was spoken until the 8th century AD and was used in the #Melkite Liturgy until the 13th century AD. At this same time Eastern Aramaic was represented by many literary dialects, including #Mandaic (which has be

indispensable for its preservation of diacritical marks), #Jewish #Babylonian Aramaic, and Syriac.
However, it would be a misnomer to characterize #Classical #Syriac as entirely Eastern. Rather, it occupies a middle position between Eastern and Western Aramaic. The linguistic

corpus is largely of a Christian nature and can be found as early as 2nd century AD. Although it was largely phased out as a #spoken language by the 800s, it went on to have an important significance in the #NearEast that rings down to the #Church today. This is the #liturgical

language of the Syriac #Orthodox Church, the #Maronite Church, the #Chaldean #Catholic Church, the #Malankara Orthodox #Syrian Church, the #Syro #Malabar Catholic Church, the Syro- #Malankara Catholic Church, and the Syriac Catholic Church. It is also the language of the #Peshitta

, an early #translation of #scripture that helps scholars to access the #Semitic mind. It is written in three main styles – #Estrangela, #Serto, and #Nestorian.
Today, there still exists small #enclaves and #diaspora #communities that speak a #modern version of Aramaic –

actually there are three. Eastern #NeoAramaic, known to some as “ #ModernSyriac” or “ #Assyrian”, is the progeny of the #EasternAramaic mentioned above. Curiously, it retains some elements from Eastern Aramaic that disappeared by #ClassicalSyriac. It is still spoken in #Kurdistan,

#Iraq, #Iran, and #Turkey. #WesternNeoAramaic is still spoken in a few villages near #Damascus. It is closest to #PalestinianAramaic, although substantial changes and shifts have occurred. Lastly, in parallel with Classical Syriac, is an intermediary dialect called #Turoyo. It is

still spoken in southeastern Turkey and in the diaspora community throughout Europe.