8 herbert niehr
research into the aramaean cultures of ancient Syria began in the early
20th century after the decipherment of cuneiform in the 19th century
allowed a new view of them. a. Šanda46 and M. Streck47 were the first to
present monographic works on the aramaeans. the continual increase in
sources, especially from aramaean Syria allowed for further works. these
include the comprehensive studies of S. Schiffer,48 e. G. h. Kraeling,49
and a. dupont-Sommer.50 additional detailed studies were conducted by
F. rosenthal51 on aramaic studies, r. o’callaghan52 on aram and aram-
naharayim, a. Malamat53 on the aramaeans of aram-naharayim and
their state-building, and M. F. unger54 on Israel and the aramaeans of
damascus.
the source material on the aramaeans of Syria further increased
with the publication of numerous assyrian and aramaic sources, lead-
ing to many important detailed and comprehensive studies. h. S. Sader55
researched the state-building of the aramaeans of Syria and e. Lipiński56
and G. G. G. reinhold57 wrote about the relations between Israel and the
aramaean states of Syria. S. ponchia worked on the states west of the
euphrates58 and a. Jasink on the neo-hittite states.59 p.-e. dion60 and
e. Lipiński61 presented large syntheses on the history, politics, societies,
law, and religion of the aramaeans of Syria.
46 Šanda 1902.
47 Streck 1906.
48 Schiffer 1911.
49 Kraeling 1918.
50 dupont-Sommer 1949.
51 rosenthal 1939.
52 o’callaghan 1948.
53 Malamat 1952.
54 unger 1957.
55 Sader 1987.
56 Lipiński 1978 and id. 1979.
57 reinhold 1989.
58 ponchia 1991.
59 Jasink 1995.
60 dion 1997.
61 Lipiński 2000a.