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 Musicians

The piece of jewelry features a pictorial depiction that can be interpreted as a dining scene. A figure, presumably female, sits on a throne with a high backrest. She rests her feet on a small footstool. In her right hand, raised and bent in front of her body, she holds an object that may be a flower. In front of the seated figure stands a table with crossed legs. On it lie several flat objects stacked on top of one another. These are likely depictions of flatbreads. The rectangular pendant is elaborately soldered together from a multitude of individual parts. The pendant’s eyelet alone consists of eleven open rings placed side by side. The individual pictorial elements—the seated figure and the table—were cut from gold sheet, and the interior design was chased. These elements were then soldered onto the rectangular base plate. The highly decorative frame of this base plate consists of four different wires. The two inner wires are intertwined, while the two outer wires are soldered on smoothly.

Gold pendant depicting a meal

This ivory furniture post features highly intricate carvings on three sides. While one side depicts a man walking with a lotus stem in his right hand and a staff with a jackal’s head in his left, the other two sides each show a woman walking, holding an Udjat eye and a small bird, respectively. Ivory is a special craft that was particularly popular among the Arameans, according to Edward Lipinski

Furniture posts with relief carvings

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

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

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