outlook: aramaeans outside of syria 365
mentioned once in 2 kgs 16: 10: king ahas of Judah went to damascus
and brought back “aramaean-inspired” new ideas for the altar in
Jerusalem.- during the assyrian and Babylonian deportations inhabitants of
palestine were exiled into aramaean settled areas in syria and in
Babylonia. in these exiles the acculturation of the israelites/Judeans
with the aramaeans went forth and when israelites/Judaeans came
back to palestine, these returnees imported to palestine the culture,
traditions (and family members) that had resulted from the aramaean-
israelite/Judaean interaction, acculturation, inter-marriage, and inte-
gration. evidence of the coexistence and interaction between israelite
deportees and aramaeans in syria and assyria, and Judaean deport-
ees and aramaeans in Babylonia is available. Cuneiform texts from
ma ʾallanate (7th century B.C.) testify a vital convergence of hebrew,
akkadian, and aramaic speaking and writing population groups at a
place in close proximity to tell halaf/Guzana/Gosen.120 Cuneiform
archives from al-yahudu in Babylonia draw a similar picture of the
interaction, inter-marriage, and coexistence of aramaeans, Judeans,
and Babylonians.121
in sum, all three possibilities are well attested and can be combined. a
diachroncal line may even be plausible with the growing intensity of the
aramaean presence in palestine and from the iron age i on. Josh 13: 13
may not be that far off (whatever “today” may be122): “But the israelites
expelled not the Geshurites, nor the maacathites: and Geshur and maacah
dwelled among israel until today.”
120 see lipiński 2010: indexes 1–3. the texts are also included in the PNA volumes. see
e.g., the names of “hanāna” (West semitic nos. 8 and 9), “handî” (aramaic no. 2), “iaṭyahû”
(hebrew), “idrī-anu” (aramaic no. 4), “ikkāru” (akkadian no. 6), “il-dalâ” (West semitic
nos. 6 and 10), “azrī-iāu” (hebrew no. 3), “ašīrâ, son of sameʾ-iāu” (aramaic no. 5), “mašî”
(semitic?), “Buššî” (arabic? no. 2), “Bēl-taklāk” (akkadian no. 5), “Bēl-bāni” (akkadian
nos. 3 and 4).
121 Wunsch – magdalene 2011: 113–134 and Wunsch (forthcoming).
122 see e.g., knauf 2008: 131 referring to the 5th century B.C. as the beginning of Jewish
settlements in Galilee and a mixed population in the 2nd century B.C.