outlook: aramaeans outside of syria 351
in view of the long aramaean pre-history of north palestine and the area
around the sea of Galilee, the short “israelite” presence should not be
overestimated. the population groups surely remained the same during
the “israelite intermezzo,” and only the assyrians, with their deportation
policy, caused any major changes. finally, it has to be mentioned that
even if Geshur, Bit maacah, and aram-damascus were different aramaean
tribes, it is difficult to grasp the major differences in their “aramaean” cul-
ture and symbolic systems. the problem is the lack of primary sources. in
the following case of aram-damascus the availability of sources is slightly
better than for Geshur and Bit maacah.
- Aram-Damascus in Palestine in Its 9th–8th Century
Political Interactions with Israel
the founding of the northern tribal-confederation chief-/kingdom of israel
in the first half of the 9th century B.C., followed, not long after, by the rise
of the tribal chief-/kingdoms ammon and moab (edom a century later) in
transjordan, created a concurring situation in north palestine between
the new chief-/kingdoms and the neighboring aramaean tribal chief-/
kingdoms. although the historicity of Jeroboam i as chief/king of the
northern tribes is not questioned, there is much controversy about what
the northern kingdom of israel actually looked like and what it included.
On the basis of more recent archaeological research, it can be argued that
megiddo, the Jezreel Valley, the Beth-shean plains, and Galilee (kinneret,
hazor, dan) were regions subjected to a very checkered political history,
in which the local élites and tribes (see above, section 2, on Geshur and
Bit maacah) at times pursued their own interests and often proved quite
flexible in their outward loyalties (aram-damascus or israel).54 the
Jezreel Valley and Galilee constituted an intermediate area between the
“aramaean” and the “israelite” tribal groups, so that these areas could or
would not, without further ado, be integrated into the social, political, and
cultural structure of a tribal-confederation kingdom ruled from samaria
or damascus, both being far away. from the 9th century B.C. on,
54 North palestine of trans- and Cisjordan was a segmented ethno-linguistic landscape
and a borderland where the influences of israel, phoenicia, and aramaean tribes (at first
Geshur and Bit maacah, later aram-damascus) crossed over. and it can be observed that
the mingling of syrian/aramaic and palestinian elements could create something new, i.e.,
a new regional and local style. the material remains of north palestine support this: syrian
and central palestinian pottery styles could be mixed with each other and generate a new,
typical regional pottery style (e.g., kinneret).