Arameans

Aramean Talent Adrian Lahdo Signs with Club Como

New Midyat Project Seeks to Draw Syriac-Arameans Back to Tur Abdin

The Story of Hanne Safar and His Family

The Enduring Roots: Aramean Clan and Family Structures in Tur Abdin

The Society of the Arameans in the Ancient Era

The Murder of Ibrahim Shabo, the Last Aramean Mayor of Midyat

Aboud Zazi – Izla Shafirto

Rozune—Coin in the Bread

King Abgar V of Edessa and the Letter to Christ

Tlawhe—Aramean Lentil Soup

Cuisine

Music

Dances

Traditional garments and embroidery motifs that show the region, celebration, and community pride.

Clothing

Arts and Crafts

Traditions

Religion

Identity

Ancient history

Modern history

Syriac history

History

Language

Biographies

Sayfo

Gabola—Aramean Wheat Porridge Dish

Basle am Behe—Chives with Eggs

Labaniye—Aramean Yoghurt Soup

Audio

Ninib Lahdo – Gerke Shamo

Ninib Lahdo – Bi Hubo Nafilina

Jan Karat – Durina lu Athro

Video

Telkari: Aramean Art Form of Making Delicate Jewelry

Faith and Tradition

Hano Qritho: A Little Spring of Joy Before the Great Fast

Syriac Orthodoxy or Assyrian Orthodoxy in North America and the USA?

Native Aramean Population of Tur Abdin

Modern Assyrian Identity Revival

Arameans in Germany

Ancient Syria & Anatolia: Aramean Mythology, Religion & Traditions

Ancient DNA from the Halzi Gate (612 BC) Confirms Aramean Continuity in Mesopotamia and What It Means for Modern Arameans

Ancient Aramean Laws and the Origins of Justice in the Ancient Near East

Syriac-Aramean Battle for Azakh During Sayfo

Syriac-Aramean Village of Arnes During Sayfo

Syriac-Aramean Village of Armun During Sayfo

Syriac-Aramean Village of Arkah During Sayfo

“The real missionaries of culture in the empire were the Arameans (Syriacs), who were connected with the West by their Christianity, and in their translations diffused Greek literature through the Orient.”

Arameans (Syriacs) played a key cultural role in the Sassanid Empire by acting as intermediaries between the Greek-speaking West and the East. Through their Christian connections and translation work, they spread Greek knowledge and literature across the Orient.

Aramean Missionaries

"And among the Greeks and among us, this is indeed the very name as it is expressed; but among the Hebrews, it is properly rendered as: 'I am Yéhyéh; Yéhyéh has sent me to you.' And it is translated into our language—that is, that of us Arameans, who are Syriacs—as 'the Being.'

Indeed, we find that our holy Syriac teachers—Mor Ephrem, Mor Jacob, Mor Isaac, and Mor Philoxenus—also constantly call God by this name, saying 'the great Being,' 'the hidden Being.' Likewise, we find that the holy Greek teachers also consider it proper to use this name above all others when speaking of God, in preference to other names."

Arameans and the Name of God

Mor Dionysius Abdelnur of Urhoy, Bishop of Kharput, remarked that the scholars from the monastery of Mor Barsawmo "adorned the nation of the Arameans with splendor."

“Lament on the Destruction of the Monastery of Mar Barsauma near Malatya” by Mor Dionysios ‘Abd an-Nur is a mourning text that reflects on the ruin of one of the most important Syriac Orthodox monasteries. It likely combines grief over the monastery’s physical destruction with praise for its past role as a major center of learning, spirituality, and leadership in the Syriac/Aramean tradition.

Adorning the Aramean Nation

"Aram, from whom sprung the Syriacs, whose Name anciently was Aramei; the Children of Aram. A Name not unknown to the ancient Grecians; for Homer mentions the Αερμις in his second Book of Iliads; and so doth Hesiod; and Strabo also saith, that many understood by the Arimi, the Syriacs. And the Syriacs at this day call themselves Arameans."

17th-Century Syriacs

The fully preserved hack silver, shaped like an irregular disc, bears the single-line inscription “(Property) of Barrakib, son of Panmuwa” and was found among the rubble of the Northwest Palace in Sam'al.

Disc-shaped chopped silver

During the excavation of Sam'al (Zincirli), particular attention was paid to the building structures. This was, after all, the first excavation in the northern Syrian-Anatolian region to attempt a comprehensive survey of the monuments, which, from an architectural-historical perspective, primarily involved the examination of architectural structures. Naturally, the fortifications were the best preserved, particularly the gates, which were very carefully constructed. Among them was the relief depicted here from the east wall of the outer enclosure. The figure is initially anthropomorphic in body and clad in a short, belted apron adorned with a decorative border. On the upper body, one notices a short-sleeved shirt; on the feet, beak-shaped shoes. The head, however, is that of a bird of prey, yet it possesses mammalian ears as well as a tuft on the forehead and neck. A pair of wings hangs down from the back. The figure thus conveys an image more akin to a griffin. In the act of striding forward, the bird-headed creature appears to express an active defensive posture through its raised arms, which would correspond to the relief’s position at the castle entrance. The stele of Asarhaddon was found inside this gate

Orthostat depicting a griffin

Like the city and castle gates, the entrances to other buildings in Sam’al also featured decorative elements, of which this column base is a particularly distinctive example. The castle structures known as bit hilani had entrances with a considerable clear span. To support the lintel, one or more columns were therefore inserted at this point, with stone bases serving as their foundations. This architecturally load-bearing element was always given a distinctive design. The piece shown here from Hilani III is one of two identical bases in the form of double sphinxes, whose powerful backs figuratively supported the columns and which simultaneously served as guardian figures at the entrance. The left front section has been supplemented with a cast of the right side. [Joachim Marzahn]

Stone column base

Several fragments of an orthostat slab were found near the hall structure in front of Hilani IV at the Sam'al fortress; when pieced together, they formed the image of a gazelle carrier. The relief may have belonged to the entrance jamb of the eastern hall section, where additional fragments were found, some of them in situ. If so, it would have been part of a tentatively reconstructed procession of musicians and servants leading up to a dining scene. The figure depicted should therefore be interpreted as a game bearer rather than a sacrificial animal bearer. An Assyrian influence is unmistakable: the beaked shoes associated with the Anatolian tradition have been replaced; the surface of the image is rendered much more finely with smoother transitions; and anatomical details (limb and muscle structure) are clearly visible. Only the stocky proportions still reflect a local artistic conception. [Joachim Marzahn]

Man with a gazelle

Aramean children in the church yard near the village school of Beth Qustan, 1998, gathered with their teacher (malfono), reflecting the close bond between faith, education, and community life in Tur Abdin.

Children with Teacher, Beth Qustan

Qusnoye men and boys gathered at the village well during the hot season, sharing water and moments of daily life under the sun.

Qusnoye men and boys at the well

Four Aramean men in the village of Beth Qustan, Tur Abdin, during the 1960s; brotherhood and village life

Men of Beth Qustan, 1960s

A glimpse into a cherished moment from 1974–1977: the wedding of Sabri and Aznif Elma dBe Barsaumo in the village of Beth Debe (Badibe). Villagers gathered together in joy and celebration, sharing laughter, music, and tradition. The sound of the kemence filled the air as people came together in happiness, preserving a timeless expression of Aramean culture, unity, and love.

Be Barsaumo Wedding in Badibe

"And Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Aramean, because he told him not that he was going." Greek: Jacob, however, hid his heart from Laban the Syriac."

Bar Hebraeus records “Laban the Aramean” in the Syriac Peshitta and gives the Greek equivalent “the Syriac,” expressed in Aramaic as “Suryoyo,” treating the two as synonymous.

Laban the Aramean Rendered Suryoyo

The relief of a standing male figure is part of the sculptural decoration of the outer castle gate of Sam’al, one of the so-called Late Hittite–Early Aramaic city-states in northern Syria (today Zincirli, Turkey, located not far from the Turkish-Syrian border). The gate complex was discovered as early as 1882, but was not systematically investigated until 1888. The orthostats uncovered during the excavations on the southern side of the castle hill were, with few exceptions, still in situ; about half were decorated with reliefs. On the orthostat block in a prominent position—the side wall of the eastern forecourt leading to the gate—the weather god is depicted, iconographically identified by his attributes: a bundle of lightning bolts in his left hand and an axe in his right. The deity is clad in a short, close-fitting robe held together by a wide belt. As additional weapons, the weather god carries a sword and a conical helmet with a round, blunt top. His feet are clad in the typical shoes pointing sharply upward. Particular care has been taken in the rendering of the face, the chin and cheek beard, as well as the long neck braid, which is coiled spirally at its lower end. [RBW]

Relief depicting the weather god