outlook: aramaeans outside of syria 339
5. Palestine (Angelika Berlejung)
angelika Berlejung- The Rise of the Aramaeans and Their Arrival in North Palestine
in the 10th and 9th Centuries B.C.
the inhabitants of the territories called “aram” (“aram” being originally
a toponym without ethnic connotations) have been called “aramaeans”
in the assyrian texts and in the Old testament, but the term “aramaean”
was never a self-designation.1 the term “aramaean” enters history with
its first attestation in the inscriptions of tiglath-pileser i (1114–1076 B.C.).
he fought against the “aḫlamu of the land of the aramaeans” (aḫ-la-mì-i
kur ar-ma-ia.meŠ) or the “aḫlam-aramaeans‚” in the euphrates Valley
from suḫu to Carchemish, pursuing them near mount Bishri (west of der
ez-Zor) and conquering six of their cities.2 tukulti-Ninurta i (1240–1205
B.C.) regarded mount Bishri as “the mountains of the aḫlamu” (ša-da-an
aḫ-la-mi-i),3 who can partly be identified with the group later called the
“aramaeans.” according to e. lipiński4 the aramaeans who settled in the
early 12th century B.C. in the mount Bishri area are meant when texts from
emar refer to “the armies of the mountain” (eriN.meŠ kurHar-ri or eriN.
meŠ Ṭár-wi).5 aramaeans would then have been a population living in
the mountains and entering the plains mainly for martial purposes. this
hypothesis is based mainly on the theory that the aramaeans entered syria
as outsiders and nomadic invaders, a theory which seems to be outdated.
today, scholars prefer to consider the aramaeans as an indigenous local
group within syria, which participated actively (and, seen in retrospect,
successfully) in the change of the social conditions that characterize the
transition of the late Bronze age to the iron age. the aramaeans were
no invaders but the direct descendants of the Bronze age syrian popula-
tion groups and the heirs of their culture. that the aramaeans were not
newcomers in syria but were part of the local population (which perhaps
integrated aḫlamu and other groups) is indicated by the continuity in
1 sader 2010: 277. for the discussion on “all aram” on the sefire stele ia (as self-
designation or/and ethnic or territorial term) see Grosby 2002: 150–165.
2 rima 2, a.0.87.1 vv. 44–63 par., for the following, see lipiński 2000a: 35–40; id.
2006: 203–224; sader 2010: 275–283.
3 rima 1, a.0.78.23: 70.
4 lipiński 2006: 206.
5 e.g., arnaud 1986: no. 42: 9 and id. 1991: no. 25: 2–3; 44: 2–3.