Biblical Aramaic

From its roots in Phoenician script to its monumental spread across empires, religions, and continents, the Aramaic alphabet stands as one of the most influential writing systems in human history. Functioning as a consonantal abjad with 22 letters, it became the administrative script of the Achaemenid Persian Empire and the foundation for numerous descendant scripts—including Hebrew square script, Syriac, Arabic,… Read the rest

The Hebrew Tanakh, the foundational religious and literary corpus of ancient Israel, is primarily composed in Biblical Hebrew. However, embedded within its pages are several sections written in Aramaic, a closely related Semitic language that rose to prominence as the lingua franca of the ancient Near East during the Babylonian and Persian periods. This phenomenon of Biblical Aramaic—the use of… Read the rest

Biblical Aramaic, found in select portions of Daniel, Ezra, and Jeremiah, represents a profound intersection of language, imperial history, and theological expression during the exilic and post-exilic periods. As a dialect of Northwest Semitic origin, closely aligned with Imperial Aramaic, it served both administrative and theological functions in Scripture, offering insight into Jewish life under foreign rule. Its grammar, distinct… Read the rest