Aramean states

Map of the Aramean states and other post-Hittite states

The Aramean states or Aramean kingdoms were an Iron Age group of Aramaic-speaking polities that arose in the northern Levant and northern Mesopotamia during the early first millennium BCE, following the collapse of major Late Bronze Age powers such as the Hittite Empire and Mitanni.

Centered in modern-day Syria, these states included kingdoms such as Aram-Damascus, Hamath, Bit Agusi, and Bit-Adini, among others. Several of the northwestern Aramean states were also Neo-Hittite states, as successors of the Hittite Empire maintaining the latter's traditions (alongside Luwian-speaking successors).

The Aramean states played a key role in the political landscape of the early Iron Age Levant until their conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Origins and early history

Quoting William Schniedewind, “the rise of the Aramean states is shrouded in darkness”. ^[1] The Arameans are thought to have expanded from the Syrian steppe northward and eastward into Mesopotamia during the Late Bronze to early Iron Age, in the context of the collapse of the Hittite, Mitanni, and Egyptian spheres.

According to K. Lawson Younger Jr.,

The very designation “Arameans” masks the fact they were not a unified group, except in general terms of language; and in this, the very diversity of the Aramean tribes is reflected in the diversity of the Aramaic dialects that are encountered in the earliest Old Aramaic inscriptions. It is clear that there were numerous dynamics at work in the creation of the different Aramean polities. ^[2]

Biblical texts mention Aramean kingdoms, particularly Aram-Damascus and Aram-Zobah, often in the context of their conflicts with the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

List of the main Aramean states

• Southwestern Aramean states (modern central to southern Syria):
  • Aram-Zobah (location uncertain), an important political power in the 10th century BCE ^[3]
  • Aram-Damascus (capital: Damascus), the best-documented Aramean kingdom, frequently mentioned in both Biblical and Assyrian sources; an important political power in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE ^[3]

• Northwestern Aramean states (modern northwestern Syria) – several of them also Neo-Hittite states:
  • Bit Agusi
  • Bit-Adini
  • Hamath

• Eastern Aramean states (northern Mesopotamia and the Middle Euphrates valley):
  • Bit-Zamani
  • Bit Bahiani (capital: Tell Halaf)
  • Bit-Halupe
  • Laqe ^[a]

Decline and Assyrian annexation

Main article: Assyrian conquest of Aram

In the words of Mario Liverani,

the situation of the Aramean states east of the Euphrates was very different. These states had suffered from the pressure of the Assyrian expansion, aimed at controlling the entire Mesopotamian territory, well before the mid-ninth century BC. ^[5]

In 732 BCE, Tiglath-Pileser III annexed Aram-Damascus.

Legacy

After the collapse of the Aramean states, Aramaic continued to be used in the region and spread as a lingua franca of the Achaemenid Empire. ^[6]

In the 3rd century CE, the Aramean city Palmyra became the capital of the short-lived Palmyrene Empire.

See also

• Aram (region)
• Arameans
• Aramaic
• Neo-Hittite states
• Post-Hittite states
• Iron Age Levant

Notes

1. “Aramean tribe and a region on the Middle Euphrates”. ^[4]

References

1. Schniedewind 2003, p. 276.
2. Lawson Younger Jr. 2016, p. 109.
3. Eerdmans 2000, p. 86.
4. Liverani 2013, p. 610.
5. Liverani 2013, p. 438.
6. Metzger & Coogan 2004 , p. 17: "Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Persian empire [...]"

Sources

• Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. 2000.
• Lawson Younger Jr., K. (2016). A Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins to the End of Their Polities. Society of Biblical Literature. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1g69w78. JSTOR   j.ctt1g69w78.
• Liverani, Mario (2013). The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy.
• Metzger, Bruce Manning; Coogan, ‎Michael David (2004). The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible.
• Schniedewind, William M. (2003). "The Rise of the Aramean States". Mesopotamia and the Bible.