Aramaic is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, southeastern Anatolia, Eastern Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula, where it has been continually written and spoken in different varieties for over three thousand years.
The Syriac language, also known natively in its spoken form in early Syriac literature as Edessan, the Mesopotamian language and Aramaic, is an Eastern Middle Aramaic dialect. Classical Syriac is the academic term used to refer to the dialect's literary usage and standardization, distinguishing it from other Aramaic dialects also known as 'Syriac' or 'Syrian'. In its West-Syriac tradition, Classical Syriac is often known as leššōnō kṯoḇonōyō or simply kṯoḇonōyō, or kṯowonōyō, while in its East-Syriac tradition, it is known as leššānā ʔatīqā or saprāyā.
Gregory Bar Hebraeus, known by his Syriac ancestral surname as Barebraya or Barebroyo, in Arabic sources by his kunya Abu'l-Faraj, and his Latinized name Abulpharagius in the Latin West, was a Maphrian of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1264 to 1286. He was a prominent writer, who created various works in the fields of Christian theology, philosophy, history, linguistics, and poetry. For his contributions to the development of Syriac literature, has been praised as one of the most learned and versatile writers among Syriac Orthodox Christians.
The Arameans, or Aramaeans, were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BC. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered central regions of modern Syria.
The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syriac Rite in the Syriac dialect of the Aramaic language, it is part of Syriac Christianity. Headquartered in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows, Baghdad, Iraq, since 1950, it is headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako. In 2010, it had a membership of 490,371, of whom 310,235 (63.27%) lived in the Middle East.
Syriac Christianity is a branch of Eastern Christianity of which formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expressed in the Classical Syriac language, a variation of the old Aramaic language. In a wider sense, the term can also refer to Aramaic Christianity in general, thus encompassing all Christian traditions that are based on liturgical uses of the Aramaic language and its variations, both historical and modern.
Syriac literature is literature in the Syriac language. It is a tradition going back to the Late Antiquity. It is strongly associated with Syriac Christianity.
Dionysius bar Salibi was Syriac Orthodox writer and bishop, who served as metropolitan of Amid, in Upper Mesopotamia, from 1166 to 1171. He was one of the most prominent and prolific writers within the Syriac Orthodox Church during the twelfth century.
The Neo-Aramaic or Modern Aramaic languages are varieties of Aramaic that evolved during the late medieval and early modern periods, and continue to the present day as vernacular (spoken) languages of modern Aramaic-speaking communities. Within the field of Aramaic studies, classification of Neo-Aramaic languages has been a subject of particular interest among scholars, who proposed several divisions, into two, three or four primary groups.
Terms for Syriac Christians are endonymic (native) and exonymic (foreign) terms, that are used as designations for Syriac Christians, as adherents of Syriac Christianity. In its widest scope, Syriac Christianity encompass all Christian denominations that follow East Syriac Rite or West Syriac Rite, and thus use Classical Syriac as their main liturgical language. Traditional divisions among Syriac Christians along denominational lines are reflected in the use of various theological and ecclesiological designations, both historical and modern. Specific terms such as: Jacobites, Saint Thomas Syrian Christians, Maronites, Melkites, Nasranis, and Nestorians have been used in reference to distinctive groups and branches of Eastern Christianity, including those of Syriac liturgical and linguistic traditions. Some of those terms are polysemic, and their uses have been a subject of terminological disputes between different communities, and also among scholars.
Western Aramaic is a group of Aramaic dialects once spoken widely throughout the ancient Levant, predominantly in the south, and Sinai, including ancient Damascus, Nabatea, Judea, across the Palestine Region, Transjordan, Samaria as well as Lebanon in the north. The group was divided into several regional variants, spoken mainly by the Nabataeans, Mizrahi Jews, Melkites of Jewish descent, Samaritans and Maronites. All of the Western Aramaic dialects are considered extinct today, except for the modern variety Western Neo-Aramaic, which is still spoken by the Arameans (Syriacs) in the towns of Maaloula and Jubb'adin in Syria.
Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa was the first Patriarch of what was to become the Shemʿon line of Chaldean Catholic Church, from 1553 to 1555, after it absorbed this Church of the East patriarchate into full communion with the Holy See and the Catholic Church.
David of Basra, sometimes rendered Dudi of Basra or David of Charax, was a 3rd- and 4th-century CE Christian metropolitan bishop who undertook missionary work in India around the year 300. He is among the earliest documented Christian missionaries in India, perhaps later only than the apostle Thomas, who may have visited India in the 1st century, though sources for the period are fragmentary and sometimes confused.
Édouard René Hambye, was a Belgian Jesuit missionary priest in the Indian subcontinent, and a leading scholar on the history of Indian churches. Hambye is the author of Christianity in India, and a contributor to The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India. He was often published under the name E. R. Hambye, and in India was anglicized as "Edward".
Shimun X was Patriarch of the Shemʿon line of primates of the Church of the East, from c. 1600 to c. 1638. He is claimed both by the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. Upon accession to the patriarchal throne, he moved his seat from Urmia to Salmas, and also resided in Khananis near Qodshanis. He succeeded Patriarch Shimun IX Dinkha who was in full communion with the Catholic Church. Unlike his predecessor, who was officially recognized by Rome as the Patriarch of the Chaldeans, Shimun X was not formally recognized by the Catholic Church because his election was based on hereditary principle, reintroduced after the death of his predecessor. Hereditary succession was considered an unacceptable practice by the Rome. In 1616, contacts between patriarch Shimun X and the Catholic Church were initiated, upon arrival of Catholic missionaries to the region. Patriarch composed a profession of faith, that was sent to Rome for assessment. Upon examination, Shimun′s profession was found inadequate, and he was not received into communion with the Catholic Church. Similar attempt was made in 1619, but wit no final conclusion. Because of such complex situation, his legacy was viewed differently along denominational lines, and claimed by both sides. He is considered as pro-Catholic by the Chaldean Catholic Church, and also as non-Catholic by the Assyrian Church of the East.
Mar Shimun XVI Yohannan was Patriarch of the Shem'on line (Qodshanis) of the Church of the East, from 1780. In 1804, he became the sole Patriarch among traditionalist Christians of the East Syriac Rite, because the rival Patriarch Eliya XII (1778-1804) of the Eliya line died without successor. Shimun XVI remained patriarch until his death in 1820.
Sidney H. Griffith is a professor of Early Christian Studies at the Catholic University of America. His main areas of interest are Arabic Christianity, Syriac monasticism, medieval Christian-Muslim encounters and ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.
Aramaic studies are scientific studies of the Aramaic languages and literature. As a specific field within Semitic studies, Aramaic studies are closely related to similar disciplines, like Hebraic studies and Arabic studies.
Eliya XII was Patriarch of the Church of the East, from 1778 to 1804, with formal residence in Rabban Hormizd Monastery, near Alqosh, in modern Iraq. His birth name was Ishoyahb, and he was the elder son of priest Abraham, who was brother of the previous patriarch Eliya XI (1722-1778). In 1744, Ishoyahb was consecrated as metropolitan, and designated as presumptive successor by his paternal uncle, patriarch Eliya XI, who died in 1778, and Ishoyahb succeeded him, as patriarch Eliya XII. His tenure was marked by a prolonged rivalry with his pro-Catholic cousin Yohannan Hormizd, who also claimed the patriarchal throne. In 1804, Eliya XII died and was buried in the Rabban Hormizd Monastery, as the last patriarch of the senior Eliya line.
