The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria

language and script 73

g­stem infinitive forms with /m­/ prefix; a gt­stem with infixed /­t­/; and
the by­forms nšwn ‘women’ and sʾwn ‘ewes’ instead of nšn and šʾn. they
will be discussed at greater length in the sections on script, phonology,
morphology, and lexicon.

1.3 Aramaic in Central Syria

central Syrian aramaic is best preserved in extensive royal treaties ins­
cribed on three stelae from Sefire near aleppo and dating from ca. 750 B.c.;6
a short dedicatory inscription of King Bar­hadad as well as a longer memo­
rial inscription of King Zakkur from the same region and period; and a
couple of graffiti consisting of personal names from hamath. these texts
appear to be rather homogeneous in terms of spelling and language. While
the aramaic variety underlying the tell fekheriye inscription has disap­
peared from the written record, the standard idiom of the region between
aleppo and damascus subsequently seems to have become more influen­
tial in the west and in the south. Such a situation can explain the pres­
ence of numerous old aramaic phonological and morphological features
in the transjordanian tell deir ʿalla plaster inscription from ca. 800 B.c.
in addition to several lexical and stylistic canaanisms in the same lite­
rary composition.7 aramaic varieties also grew deep roots in the admini­
stration of the neo­assyrian and neo­Babylonian empires. they are
associated with a younger stage of “old aramaic” by some and with early
manifestations of “official aramaic” by others. during the achaemenid
empire, however, these were all largely eclipsed by official aramaic in the
strict sense, i.e., the medium of the persian chancellery, which is based on
a formerly unattested Babylonian dialect of aramaic. Western forms of
aramaic nonetheless re­emerged after the fall of the achaemenid empire,
especially in palestine.8 it is often maintained that the wisdom sayings of
aḥiqar, which have been incorporated into an official aramaic compo­
sition preserved in an elephantine papyrus, originated in Syria between
ca. 750 and 650 B.c.9 given the present state of knowledge, this claim is
rather difficult to substantiate on purely linguistic grounds.

6 See fitzmyer ²1995 for an edition with translation and extensive commentary.
7 for a summary of the discussion, see Beyer 2011: 123–126.
8 cf. gzella 2008 for a brief outline of the history and impact of official aramaic.
9 cf. Lindenberger 1983: 279–304 (northern Syria); Kottsieper 1990: § 62h (southern
Syria).