>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?