aramaic

Aramaic is a Semitic language in the Afro-Asiatic language family, originating with Aramaean communities in the Levant during the late Bronze Age. It spread widely across the Near East and became a common lingua franca in several empires, including the early Achaemenid state, where Imperial Aramaic served as an administrative language for many centuries. Aramaic texts span from the 10th century BCE onward, and the language has left a substantial corpus of inscriptions, letters, biblical passages, and literary works.

Historically, Aramaic developed through a series of dialect groups. Old Aramaic varieties appeared in the first millennium BCE, with Northwest Aramaic and other local forms used in different Aramaean kingdoms. Imperial Aramaic became the standard written register across Mesopotamia and the Levant. Middle Aramaic includes the literary Syriac tradition and Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, among others, while Late Aramaic covers longer post-classical developments. Neo-Aramaic refers to post-medieval forms that survive in various communities to the present day.

Today, Aramaic is spoken in several modern forms, most prominently among Assyrian and Chaldean communities in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, as well as in diaspora communities. Modern Aramaic varieties—often grouped as Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, and Turoyo—face language preservation challenges but continue in everyday use, liturgy, and education. The language has also influenced other languages through the Aramaic script, which contributed to the development of the Hebrew and Syriac scripts. Aramaic remains an important subject of biblical, historical, and linguistic study.