The Arameans: Their Etymological and Historical Definitions, Origins, and Immigrations in the History of the Near East

Document Type : Academic research papers

Author

of Women for Arts, Science and Education, Ain Shams University

Abstract

The Arameans were a Semitic people and formed nomadic tribes that immigrated from the Arabian Peninsula or the Syrian Arab desert- the origin of the Semitic race- to the nearby fertile lands at different times. The term "Aram" was used in the different ancient texts of the Near East, indicating sublimity, elevation, and transcendence. Many opinions have been provided on the etymology of the term "Aram", claiming that it might suggest a geographical region, a god, or a person. Scholars have cited several texts with the term "Aram" in the 3rd and 2nd Millenium B.C. From the late 2nd Millenium to the first three or four centuries of the 1st Millenium, many socially structured Aramean groups immigrated across Mesopotamia and Syria due to several attractive factors, such as climate, disease, population pressure, economic decline or, on the contrary, economic recovery and international political conditions in these remote regions, Until they formed kingdoms in Syria and Iraq.

Keywords

Main Subjects