East Aramaic

language

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June 25, 2026

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East Aramaic is a branch of the Aramaic language, a Semitic language that originated with the Aramaeans. It is closely related to Hebrew and Phoenician and was written using a script derived from the Phoenician alphabet.1

Aramaic became a lingua franca in the Middle East by the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, eventually being supplanted by Arabic around 650 CE. In the early centuries CE, Aramaic split into East and West varieties. East Aramaic includes Syriac, Mandaean, and various Neo-Assyrian dialects. Syriac, in particular, was a significant literary language. East Aramaic is still spoken by small Christian communities in the Middle East.12

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Syriac language
Syriac was based on the East Aramaic dialect of Edessa, Osroëne (present-day Şanlıurfa, in southeastern Turkey), which became one of the chief centres of Christianity in the Middle East at the end of the 2nd century.
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Syriac was based on the East Aramaic dialect of Edessa, Osroëne (present-day Şanlıurfa, in southeastern Turkey), which became one of the chief centres of Christianity in the Middle East at the end of the 2nd century.
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Aramaic language
East Aramaic includes Syriac, Mandaean, Eastern Neo-Assyrian, and the Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud. One of the most important of these is Syriac, which was the language of an extensive literature between the 3rd and the 7th century. Mandaean was the dialect of a gnostic…
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East Aramaic includes Syriac, Mandaean, Eastern Neo-Assyrian, and the Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud. One of the most important of these is Syriac, which was the language of an extensive literature between the 3rd and the 7th century. Mandaean was the dialect of a gnostic…
Read More