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  • From: "Dr. Joel M. Hoffman" <joel AT exc.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] early Aramaic
  • Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 13:27:51 -0400 (EDT)

>That's because you assume Aramaic existed at that date.
>As it happens the earliest mention of Arameans occurs in
>connection with the Ahlamu in connection with Tiglath
>Pileser I's (1114-1075) campaign. There he refers to his
>pursuits of the Ahlamu Arameans. The Ahlamu appear

Does anyone know how old the earliest extant text in Aramaic is? I
remember reading the confusing claim in Beyer's (1986) _The Aramaic
Language_ that:

``Ancient Aramaic in written form appeared in the 11th
cent. b.c. as the official language of the first Aramaean
states,''

but

``the oldest witnesses to it are inscriptions from northern
Syria of the 10th--8th'' centuries bc.''

What makes us think Aramaic was written in the 11th century BCE if the
earliest witnesses to it are later?

Thanks.


-Joel Hoffman
http://www.exc.com/JoelHoffman



  • [b-hebrew] early Aramaic, Dr. Joel M. Hoffman, 09/25/2005

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