PREFACE
Over the past years several monographs concentrating on the Phoenician
and Punic cultures, the Luwians, and Ugarit have appeared in the series
Handbook of Oriental Studies. in contrast, Central Syria has been largely
neglected, especially with regard to its Aramaean culture.
This handbook aims to provide a comprehensive view of the current
research on the culture of the Aramaeans of Syria. it extends from their
first mention in written sources in the 12th century B.C. to the crush-
ing defeat of the last Aramaean insurgency under Ya ʾubidi of Hamath in
720 B.C. However, both this time frame and the borders of Syria will be
exceeded in this handbook for various reasons, as the Aramaeans influ-
enced or were influenced by the Assyrian, Babylonian, Anatolian, Phoeni-
cian, Palestinian, Egyptian, and North Arabian cultures.
Given the detailed and extensive research that has been conducted in
all areas of Aramaean culture, such as its history; social, legal, and eco-
nomic conditions; philology and epigraphy; religion, art, and architecture
it would not be possible for a single researcher to have a comprehensive
knowledge of all these areas. i have thus invited an international group
of specialists to contribute to this volume. i thank them all very much for
their efforts and willingness to participate. Overlaps and contradictions in
their representation of the different areas of Aramaean culture reflect the
current state of research.
When i first presented the idea for this anthology to the editor of the
Handbook of Oriental Studies, Prof. Wilfred H. van Soldt (Leiden), at the
Rencontre Assyriologique in Paris in 2009, he immediately recognized
the desideratum of such a volume and readily agreed to include it in the
series, for which i am very grateful. Jennifer Pavelko and Katelyn Chin
handled everything on the part of Brill Publishing. They have carefully
and competently supervised the development of this book, and i heartily
thank them.
in Tübingen, several of my staff have helped with the creation of this
volume over the years: Jessica Baldwin translated several of the chapters
into English and Benjamin Glissmann helped with the plates. Alexan-
dra Gath, Christiana Hägele, Judith Klaiber, Susanne Maier, and Barbara