Draft:Aramean people

This page is about the modern Aramean people. For the ancient Arameans, see Arameans.

Not to be confused with Armenians or Aromanians.

Arameans
Sūryoyē / Ōromōyē

ܣܽܘܪ̈ܝܳܝܶܐ / ܐܳܪ̈ܳܡܳܝܶܐ
Flag of the Syriac-Aramean people
Total population
c. 3,000,000–3,500,000
Regions with significant populations
Turkey	c. 25,000
Syria	c. 300,000
Iraq	c. 139,581
Diaspora:	Varies
Sweden	c. 100,000–150,000
Germany	c. 120,000
United States	c. 89,000–106,000
Netherlands	c. 30,000
Lebanon	c. 25,000
Belgium	c. 15,000
Israel	c. 15,000
Languages
Native languages Neo-Aramaic languages (Turoyo, Sureth, Siryon) Popular non-native languages (Kurmanji, Arabic)
Religion
Predominantly Syriac Christianity Majority Syriac Orthodoxy Small minority Protestantism | Sunni Islam | Byzantine Rite
Related ethnic groups
Assyrians | Maronites | Mhallami | Hebrews

Arameans (Syriac: ܣܽܘܪ̈ܝܳܝܶܐ/ܐܳܪ̈ܳܡܳܝܶܐ, romanized: Sūryoyē/Ōromōyē), frequently referred to as Syriacs or Syriac-Arameans, are an ethnic minority indigenous to Mesopotamia and the Levant, with one of their historical heartlands and most prominent origin being Tur Abdin, a region in present-day southeastern Turkey. Arameans underwent a name change after converting to Christianity; they began identifying as Syriacs to distinguish themselves from pagan ancestors and associations.

Arameans speak Aramaic, with dialects divided into three main varieties: Turoyo, the most common one, and Suret, which are forms of Modern Aramaic (Neo-Aramaic), and Classical Syriac ("Kthobonoyo"), a Middle Aramaic liturgical language. Virtually all remaining Syriacs in Tur Abdin, as well as some who moved to Istanbul, continue to speak Turoyo, which they call "Suryoyo," "Turoyo," or "Surayt" (Syriac). Many in the Middle East and diaspora are also working to preserve the language and pass it on to their children.

Syriac-Arameans, though impacted by Arabization, managed to preserve their identity. While many adopted Arabic in daily life, rural communities in regions such as Tur Abdin continued to speak Modern Aramaic dialects, and Classical Syriac remained in use as a liturgical and literary language. Converts to Islam were rapidly Arabized, and as a result, no Muslim Aramean communities exist.

Arameans are Christians primarily of the Syriac Orthodox faith, which traces its roots to early Christian communities in the Tur Abdin. It is part of modern Mardin province and is considered the spiritual homeland of the Syriac Orthodox, who have historically been rivals of the East Syriac Rite Churches.

Due to centuries of persecution and instability in their ancestral homeland, most Arameans now live in diaspora communities around the world, particularly in Europe. Waves of forced migration were driven by religious persecution and violence, including the Hamidian massacres, the Sayfo, and more recently, the rise of ISIS. These events drastically reduced the Aramean population in the Near East and forced many to start new lives abroad.

History

Main article: Arameans

Antiquity

Various eastern Aramean city-states (shown in non-green colors).

Various Luwian and western Aramean states (shown in orange shades) in the 8th century BC.

Aram was the historical homeland of the Aramean people, stretching across the Levant and into parts of northern Mesopotamia. Arameans, a Semitic people, first appear in Assyrian and Babylonian records in the late 12th century BCE as pastoralist tribes moving between the Euphrates and the Orontes. Over time, they transitioned from nomadism to establishing city-states such as Aram-Damascus, Hamath, Bit-Zamani, and Bit-Adini. Although politically fragmented, these polities shared a common origin and language. Aramaic spread rapidly across the Near East and eventually replaced Akkadian, becoming the lingua franca of the region. Although the most important territories settled by the Arameans were located in geographical Syria, they also expanded into more distant regions, stretching from Tur Abdin to Nisibis.

Archaeological and historical evidence indicates that the Arameans expanded into Assyrian and Babylonian territories during the early first millennium BCE. By the 10th century, they were present in central Babylonian cities and had begun to control key trade routes along the Euphrates. By the 8th century, around forty Aramean tribal groups were settled along the Tigris and its tributaries, forming a buffer between Babylonia and Elam. Despite close contact with Babylonian urban life, many Aramean groups resisted assimilation and preserved their nomadic or semi-nomadic traditions.

In Assyrian territory, Aramean migration unfolded in phases: initial pastoralist movement (c. 1197–1114 BCE), conflict with Assyria (c. 1114–1056 BCE), ascendancy during Assyrian decline (c. 1055–935 BCE) marked by the formation of polities like Bit-Bahiani and Bit-Zamani, and renewed confrontation as Assyria reasserted control (c. 934–884 BCE). After their city-states were destroyed by kings such as Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III, Arameans increasingly turned to commerce. Over time, they came to dominate the internal trade of the Assyrian Empire; by the time of Sargon II, most trader names were Aramaic. Arameans contributed decisively to the ideological and cultural development of Assyria, more than any other ethnic group. By the 9th century BCE, the Arameans had become the largest ethnic and cultural group in Assyria and could be found at all levels of Assyrian society. Arameans in Assyria were assyrianized only in the sense of becoming citizens of the state. Even though they became citizens of the Assyrian state, it was Assyria that was transformed—linguistically, culturally, and administratively—by Aramaic influence.

Assyrian deportation policies, which displaced around 4.5 million people, further accelerated this transformation. As the empire grew, it absorbed vast numbers of Aramaic-speaking peoples whose cultural and linguistic influence increasingly diluted Assyria’s distinct identity. In contrast to the east, Aramean groups in the western Fertile Crescent faced little centralized resistance after the Late Bronze Age collapse. There, weakened city-states allowed Arameans to establish new kingdoms more quickly, while in the Hittite and Assyrian zones political ascent and sedentarization were more gradual.

With the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the 8th century BCE, many Arameans were conquered and dispersed, which further spread Aramaic culture into Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and western Persia. Arameans and the Aramaic language came to shape the Assyrian Empire through the annexation of lands west of the Khabur and Euphrates and the mass deportation of local populations. Over time, the Arameans gradually reshaped the cultural identity of the empire and outlived it, serving as a link to the Chaldean and Achaemenid empires. Assyrians, vastly outnumbered by their captives, compelled them to contribute to the building and maintenance of the state and in doing so absorbed considerable linguistic and cultural elements. Following the fall of Assyria in the late 7th century BCE, Aramean regions came under Neo-Babylonian and later Achaemenid Persian control, though not much changed since the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Persians adopted Aramaic as their official administrative language, known as Imperial Aramaic, used from Egypt to India.

In the Seleucid period, Greek rulers, particularly the Seleucids, fought over the region of Coele-Syria—a name derived from an Aramaic phrase meaning "the whole of Aram." Greek usage of “Syria” generalized the term to much of the Levant, obscuring the older Aramean identity. From around 280 BCE, Aramaic speakers increasingly came to be known as “Syrians,” a change reinforced by the Septuagint, the 3rd-century BCE Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, which systematically rendered “Aram” and “Arameans” as “Syria” and “Syrians”. This linguistic shift replaced the original terminology in widespread use. Reflecting on this transformation, the American orientalist Robert W. Rogers noted that it was most unfortunate that “Syria” and “Syrians” ever entered English Bible translations, and argued that the original terms Aram and Arameans should have been preserved instead. Greek-speaking settlers identified Aramaic speakers as Syrians or Assyrians and excluded them from civic status in Greek-founded cities, as seen in records from Babylon and Dura-Europos.

Mesopotamian civilization ultimately declined due to the absence of a central state, the rise of new cities under Alexander the Great and his successors, and cumulative cultural shifts introduced by Persians, Greeks, Arameans, and pre-Islamic Arabs, who could neither be repelled nor fully assimilated.

Early Christianity

Map of Osroene (Edessa), historically populated by Arameans.

Dayro d-Mor Gabriel, established in the 4th century, located in Tur Abdin.

By the first century BC, the Aramean kingdoms had vanished, but Aramean populations remained in northern Mesopotamia. Under the rule of the Abgarid dynasty, Osroene emerged as a political entity where Aramaic culture persisted and the population was predominantly Aramean. Its capital Edessa, emerged as a center of Aramean (or Syriac), literary culture, particularly during the period when the Severan dynasty ruled in Rome. Inhabitants of Edessa spoke a dialect of Aramaic, and dynastic and personal names recorded there demonstrate the endurance of Aramean identity in the region. In Syriac literature, Edessa and its surroundings were described as part of Aram, and the Christianized population appear to have regarded themselves as the sons of Aram in the regions on both banks of the Euphrates.

In the Doctrine of Addai, it is narrated that the early conversion of Edessa's King Abgar V's and his people to Christianity via the missionary Addai, marking the spread of Christianity among Aramaic speakers. Jacob of Serugh, drawing from Edessan legends, referred to Abgar as a “son of the Arameans” and described Edessa as the “daughter of the Arameans” who embraced Christ without apostolic instruction. In contrast, Jerusalem was portrayed as requiring legal mediation and rejecting Christ, whose first fifteen bishops were Arameans, according to Eusebius. Arameans thus became one of the first people to convert to Christianity.

Christianity was transmitted through the local Aramaic dialect, which developed into Classical Syriac, the principal literary and liturgical language of Syriac Christianity. Syriac religious culture remained deeply Semitic in language and symbolism, distinct from the Hellenistic Christian forms that were dominant elsewhere in the Roman Empire. According to Walter E. Aufrecht, early Eastern Christianity is truly Aramaic Christianity and this remains one of the best kept secrets of Western scholarship. Bema formed a central feature of Aramean church buildings by the third century, developing from the Jewish synagogue structure. Cave of Treasures (ch. 18) indicates it was already established in Christian architecture by then. By the fifth century, stone bemata replaced earlier wooden ones likely used in the time of Ephrem.

Romans, and earlier the Greeks, understood that the people they called Syrians often referred to themselves as Arameans in their own language. Aramaic was widely spoken across the Levant and Mesopotamia, and this linguistic connection led Roman authors to associate the broader population with the term Syrian. Geographically, Arameans within the Roman Syrian ethnos were distinguished from Aramaic-speaking populations beyond the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, particularly around Nisibis, where speakers of Syriac or related dialects were identified as Assyrians and not included in the Syrian ethnos. In Late Antiquity, Syrian Christians began to draw clearer distinctions between Syrian-Arameans and Assyrians, challenging earlier Greek traditions that had often conflated the two.

By the 2nd to 3rd centuries, the Syrian ethnos continued to develop, with Arameans forming a significant subgroup primarily identified as speakers of Aramaic dialects, particularly Syriac, which originated in the region around Edessa and became the most widely spoken Aramaic dialect of the Syrian ethnos by late antiquity. Literary sources of late antiquity referred to Syriac as "the language of the Syrians," and the term "Aramean" was used in certain cases to denote their language usage, distinguishing Arameans as a linguistic community within the Syrian ethnos.

In Late Antiquity, some Aramaic and Greek-speaking communities formulated an ethnic definition of “Syrian” linked to Aramaic-speaking ancestors and descent from Aram, son of Shem. Rooted in Jewish and Christian traditions, this view appears in the writings of Josephus, who identified Aram as the ancestor of the Arameans and noted that the Greeks referred to them as Syrians. An Armenian translation of Eusebius’s Chronicle preserved this genealogy, stating that Arameans, also called Syrians, descended from Aram and later inhabited the empire of the ancient Assyrians. Syriac-speaking communities in Edessa and surrounding regions during the fifth and sixth centuries understood themselves as descendants of Aram and as speakers of Syriac; Syriac authors in upper Mesopotamia, particularly around Edessa, emphasized this descent and conceived of their community as an Aramean people defined by language, ancestry, and sacred geography.

Composed between the fifth and seventh centuries, Book of the Cave of Treasures likely originated in Sasanian and contributes to the idea of a Syriac- or Aramaic-speaking ethnic identity. Syriac, also called Aramaic, is described as the world’s oldest language and the only one spoken before the Tower of Babel, referred to interchangeably as ‘Syrian’ and ‘Aramean.’ At the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the text recounts that Pilate named Herod “the Greek,” Pilate the Roman, and Caiaphas the Hebrew as responsible for his death, explicitly stating that the Syrians, represented by King Abgar, had no part in the killing of Christ. Arameans contributed significantly to this dynamic through figures like Saint Ephrem the Syrian, whose bilingual works bridged linguistic communities, fostering a shared Syrian ethnos.

Later Roman Syrians, both Greek- and Syriac-speaking, viewed Saint Ephrem the Syrian not only as a poet writing in Syriac but as one who served the Syrian people. Greek authors such as Theodoret of Cyrrhus described him as one who “daily waters the ethnos of Syrians”, and Sozomen noted that he wrote in the language of the Syrians and surpassed the Greeks in wisdom. Syriac authors identified Ephrem as a poet of an Syrian-Aramean people, with Jacob of Sarug calling him the “crown of all the Aramean people” and a “great rhetor among the Syrians”, while Philoxenus of Mabbug referred to him as “the teacher of us Suryoye,” reinforcing the association of Syriac-speaking Christians with descent from Aram. Ephrem himself referred to his homeland as Aram, his language as Aramaic, and his people as Arameans. He described Bardaiṣan as an “Aramaean” philosopher, and has been described as the “authentic voice of Aramaic Christianity.” Earlier Greek authors, such as Posidonius, as cited by Strabo, observed that ‘Aramean’ was a name Syrians used for themselves in their own language, and some Aramaic speakers may have continued this usage through the Roman period.

During this period, Beth Aramaye (lit. land of Arameans) was an ecclesiastical province of the Church of the East, centered on Seleucia-Ctesiphon and located in central and southern Mesopotamia. Christianity is attested in Beth Aramaye from the fourth century, though Syriac Christianity in the region largely disappeared by the 14th century. Known in Persian as Asoristan, the region was called Beth Aramaye in the Syriac language of its inhabitants. Its population was clearly majority Aramean, and the name reflected the significant presence of Arameans. Syriac sources referred to the inhabitants as Ārāmāye, and the province included important dioceses such as Kaskar, Ḥirta, and Dayr Qonni. Under Sasanian rule, the area formed part of the Sawād and was known for its canal-supported agriculture. Jews referred to it as the “land of pure lineage,” reflecting their longstanding presence there for nearly a thousand years.

Following the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Aramean-speaking Christians of Edessa and Mesopotamia rejected the Chalcedonian definitions and established their own ecclesiastical organization. While living an ascetic life, Yohannon of Tella preached Miaphysitism for sixteen years and ordained many priests and bishops, laying the foundations of the Church of the Syriac Miaphysites. Thanks to the undertakings of Jacob Baradaeus, Edessa became the stronghold of Syriac Miaphysitism, which eventually was institutionalized as an independent Church called the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. West Syriac tradition preserved its theological writings, historical compositions, and liturgical practices through the Classical Syriac language.

Middle Ages

Byzantine rule

Map of the Byzantine Empire.

In the cultural and religious life of the eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire—collectively known as Oriens—the Arameans played a notable role as one of the Semitic peoples contributing to the shaping of Christian identity and expression. Alongside the Jews, they were active participants in the development of Syriac sacred poetry, most notably the metrical hymns of Ephrem the Syrian, which influenced Greek hymnographers such as Romanus the Melode. This literary and theological tradition placed Aramaic-speaking Christians at the center of sacred song and religious education in the region. Within the broader framework of Oriens Christianus, a concept referring to the Christianized East under Byzantine rule, the Arameans were counted among the diverse peoples—including Armenians, Georgians, Copts, and Ethiopians—who received the Byzantine mission civilisatrice. Each group developed its own local variant of Christian culture, informed by the ideals of the Byzantine Church. Arameans, therefore, were not peripheral but integral to the transmission and adaptation of Byzantine religious, liturgical, and cultural forms in the Near East during late antiquity and the early Byzantine period.

During the reign of Constantine V Copronymus, thousands of Armenians and monophysitic Syrians were seized by Byzantine forces during raids in Germanicea, Melitene, and Erzeroum and were resettled in Thrace. Others from the same regions were placed along the eastern frontiers, though they were later captured by the Arabs and relocated to Syria. During the reign of Leo IV, a Byzantine expedition into Cilicia and Syria resulted in the capture of thousands, with one source claiming 150,000, who were relocated to Thrace. Most of these were Syrian Jacobites, though Armenians may have been included as well.

Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas encouraged the Syrian Jacobite Patriarch John VI Sarigta to relocate to northern Mesopotamia in order to escape persecution from the newly appointed Chalcedonian Patriarch of Antioch. This led to a Syrian migration to the region around Melitene, Marash, and Edessa, although the promise of protection was soon rescinded: the Syriac patriarch and bishops were brought to Constantinople, imprisoned for refusing to accept the Acts of Chalcedon, and only released under John I Tzimiskes in 969. According to S. P. Cowe, Byzantine policy sought to subjugate Miaphysite groups like the Syrians through three steps: encouraging their settlement in distant borderlands, relocating their ecclesiastical leadership into imperial-controlled areas, and subordinating their hierarchy to Constantinople, often by reducing patriarchs to the rank of archbishops. Notably, this policy was not consistently applied; in Antioch, where political sensitivity was greater, the enforcement of orthodoxy remained strict, and the presence of Jacobites was deliberately reduced by diverting them to the northern frontier zones.

Following Basil II’s death, the imperial approach toward non-Chalcedonian Christians began to harden. After 1028, under Constantine IX, religious policy shifted decisively toward coercion. In 1029, the Jacobite Patriarch John VIII Bar Abdoun was summoned to Constantinople in an effort to bring him into the imperial Church, but when he refused to submit, he was excommunicated by the synod and exiled. At the same time, Church and state coordinated actions against Jacobites in Melitene, where their leaders were questioned before a synod in the presence of members of the senate. While some bishops abjured their beliefs and were reinstated under conditions, others remained steadfast. The synod soon issued further rulings that penalized mixed marriages, barred heretics from offering legal testimony against Orthodox Christians, and restricted their rights of inheritance—measures that, though largely ineffective, intensified local resentment and disloyalty. Given the growing Turkish threat to the eastern provinces, many non-Chalcedonians may have concluded that life under Muslim rule would be preferable to ongoing Byzantine oppression.

In contrast to their treatment under Byzantium, the Jacobites were generally well received under Latin rule during the Crusades. Alongside other Eastern Christians such as the Armenians and Nestorians, the Syrian Jacobites were seen by the Latins as relatively unproblematic. A thirteenth-century Dominican noted that while they were historically labeled as heretics, they were “men of simple and devout life” who no longer adhered to the doctrinal errors of their past, and in many ways differed little from the Latins themselves. These sentiments reflected a more pragmatic and tolerant approach compared to the rigid doctrinal stance of the Orthodox Church.

Jacobites were also present in significant numbers in Cyprus, which fell under Latin control following its conquest by Richard I of England in 1191 and transfer to Guy de Lusignan in 1192. As Muslim advances displaced Christian populations across the region, many Syrian Jacobites, Maronites, and Armenians fled to the island, where they established their own churches—mentioned explicitly in papal bulls addressed to Cyprus. The Orthodox Church in Cyprus retained its autocephalous status, but Latin pressure created growing tension. In 1229, Patriarch Germanus addressed a letter to both Greeks and Syrians on the island, praising those who resisted Latin services and urging them to worship at home, a stance that further deepened internal divisions.

In the later Byzantine period, harsh views on the Jacobites were codified by influential canonists such as Balsamon, who regarded them as heretics alongside Latins and Nestorians. He explicitly forbade communion with them and banned the sharing of churches, pronouncing anathema on anyone who associated with them. While his rulings shaped later Orthodox policy, they were not without opposition; some legal scholars in Constantinople openly challenged his views during his lifetime.

Under Islamic rule

Syriacs, historically Aramaic-speaking Christians of the Near East, were the descendants of the ancient Arameans who had embraced Christianity in the early centuries of the Common Era. Deeply influenced by the Hellenistic Christian culture radiating from Antioch, they adopted the Greek ethnonym Syroi (Syria/Syrians), which evolved in Syriac as Suryoyē, and came to identify themselves as such. Despite ecclesiastical and theological divisions, they shared a common linguistic and cultural heritage centered on the use of Syriac, a literary dialect of Aramaic. By the seventh century, Syriac-speaking Christians were organized into three main churches: the Melkite Church, which followed Chalcedonian theology and remained aligned with Byzantine imperial authority; the Church of the East, often labeled Nestorian, which had taken root in the Sasanian Empire after the Council of Ephesus; and the Syrian Orthodox Church, a Miaphysite tradition that developed an independent hierarchy through the efforts of figures like Jacob Baradaeus in the sixth century.

Following the Arab Muslim conquest of the Near East in the 630s, the regions historically inhabited by Syriacs—from northern Mesopotamia to the Levant—came under Islamic rule. This transition marked the end of Roman-Byzantine and Sasanian dominion over Aramaic-speaking Christians and introduced a new political-religious order. Although the change of power was sudden, the Syriacs adapted with relative pragmatism. Their communities, which had long experienced theological marginalization and persecution under Byzantine rule, now found themselves subjects of a Muslim state that permitted religious plurality under conditions of political and fiscal subordination. The new rulers retained many local administrative structures, and Syriac remained in use as a language of learning and record-keeping across much of the former eastern Roman and Persian provinces.

Syriac-speaking Christians did not initially perceive the Arab conquests as catastrophic. Contemporary Syriac sources provide only sparse references to the invasions, suggesting that the military upheaval may have been less traumatic for the general population than previous Sasanian incursions. In many cities, such as Edessa and Nisibis, surrender was negotiated without extensive destruction, and in the countryside, life continued with relative continuity. The major change was in status: Syriacs, now classified as dhimmīs, became a protected but subordinate population and required to pay the jizya (poll tax), a fiscal burden that exempted them from military service but publicly marked them as non-Muslims. Christian communities were also expected to follow a series of social and legal restrictions which, over time, crystallized in legal frameworks such as the so-called Pact of ʽUmar.

Although placed under legal and fiscal constraints, Syriac Christians remained culturally vibrant. Many played essential roles in the early Islamic state as physicians, secretaries, artisans, and translators. Most notably, scholars from both the West Syriac and East Syriac traditions were central to the Graeco-Arabic translation movement, especially under Abbasid patronage. Texts by Aristotle, Galen, and other classical authors were transmitted from Greek into Syriac and then into Arabic, preserving the legacy of antiquity and laying foundations for Islamic philosophy and science. Syriac monasteries such as Qenneshre, Zuqnīn, and Mor Mattai continued to be centers of education, manuscript copying, and theological production. Church leaders such as the Catholicos of the Church of the East and the Jacobite Patriarchs maintained ecclesiastical autonomy and convened synods, even as they navigated fluctuating policies of tolerance and restriction under successive caliphs.

Arabization and Islamization unfolded gradually. In rural areas, Syriac language and Christian faith remained dominant for centuries, while in urban centers, increasing taxation and social disadvantage prompted some to convert to Islam. Many conversions were driven by economic pragmatism rather than ideological conviction. Arabic slowly displaced Syriac in public administration and urban commerce, though the latter remained the primary language of worship, theology, and historiography within the churches. Already aligned with Byzantine Christology, the Melkite Church adopted Arabic for liturgy and theology more rapidly than the Miaphysite and Dyophysite churches, which retained Syriac as their primary medium of expression well into the medieval period.

By the ninth century, stricter enforcement of the dhimmī regulations, including the wearing of distinctive dress, the destruction or banning of new churches in Muslim-majority cities, and exclusion from public office, increasingly marginalized Syriac Christians. Under caliphs such as al-Mutawakkil, these restrictions were codified and applied with greater consistency. Nevertheless, despite rising social pressures, Syriac communities continued to exist in significant numbers across Mesopotamia, Syria, and Persia. Their literary and theological traditions remained active, producing chronicles, polemics, hagiographies, and translations, which preserved their historical memory and cultural identity amid changing political and religious landscapes.

Syriac authors continued to equate Aramaye (Arameans) with Suryayē (Syriacs). Muslim authors, by contrast, showed little interest in identifying the ancient Arameans as a distinct people. Instead, they used the term Nabaṭ to refer to the Aramaic-speaking populations of the conquered regions, particularly the rural peasants and farmers of Iraq. In the narrative world of the Chronicle of Zuqnin, Arameans are presented as one of the indigenous groups inhabiting northern Mesopotamia alongside Jews, polytheists, and Muslims. Syrian Orthodox Christians increasingly interpreted their origins through the framework of the Hebrew Bible, reinforcing the belief that Syriacs were Syriac-speaking descendants of Aram and the ancient Aramaeans. Jacob of Edessa and later authors identified the Syriacs as the offspring of Shem and his son Aram, believed to have inhabited the regions where Syriac-speaking Christians lived. Chronicle of Zuqnin similarly refers to Syriac Orthodox Christians as Syriac-Arameans, and sons of Aram.

Even as Arabization proceeded, the Syriac identity did not disappear. Many of the names, liturgical rites, and institutions established during this early Islamic period would endure into the Ottoman era and beyond. The resilience of Syriac Christianity during the first three centuries of Muslim rule illustrates a complex interplay of adaptation, resistance, and cultural continuity under conditions of external dominance.

Under Seljuk, Mongolian and Ottoman rule

Seljuk

Map of the Seljuk Empire (1092)

After Islamic rule, during the Seljuk period, Syriacs lived in good relations with both the Great Seljuk and the Anatolian Seljuk beyliks. Many individuals from the Syriac community served the Seljuk administration in major cities such as throughout northern Mesopotamia, Baghdad, Mosul, and Erbil. Construction masters of Syriac background were also employed alongside Armenians in the building of architectural works. A central written source from this era is the Chronicle of Michael of Malatya, a Syriac patriarch who held office between 1126 and 1199. Composed in three volumes and covering the period from the creation of the world to the year 1195, the chronicle was discovered in 1899 by the Catholic priest Jean-Baptiste Chabot. Michael, elected patriarch in 1166, maintained respectful ties with King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Kilij Arslan II. A meeting between Michael and the sultan took place on 9 July 1182, which the patriarch described as an “honourable event.” His chronicle includes attention to geological and meteorological occurrences, while the third volume gives particular focus to the power struggles involving the Danishmendids and the Seljuks. Syriac sources from this period illustrate continued engagement with local political developments without signs of separatist ambition.

Moreover, in his chronicle, Michael asserts that the Syrians are of Aramean descent, writing: "With the help of God, we write down the memory of the kingdoms which belonged in the past to our Aramean people, that is, sons of Aram, who are called Suryoye, that is, people from Syria." Following the works of Flavius Josephus through intermediaries, Michael explains how the Greeks changed the names of ancient Near Eastern peoples and empires. He states that "the Arameans were called Syrians by the Greeks, and the Othoroye were called Assyrians." Michael the Great also posits that the primeval language was Aramaic, from which Hebrew descended.

Stability during the Seljuk period was eventually disrupted by the Mongol invasions, which led to massacres affecting the Syriac population. Eastern Syriacs responded to this violence by fleeing into the mountainous regions, while Western Syriacs suffered the most extensive and brutal acts of destruction. A prolonged period of suffering followed, lasting approximately a century. No indication appears of political retaliation or mobilization during this time; instead, the community endured the consequences of imperial collapse and conflict until the onset of Ottoman control. This prolonged exposure to violence contributed to a broader communal orientation that prioritized religious cohesion over political structuring. A self-perception as the “people who fear God the most” further reinforced a religiously centered identity, and efforts toward ethnic or nationalist organization remained absent apart from a few small principalities. Lack of sufficient population density in regions inhabited by Syrians is cited as another reason for the absence of ethnic-based structuring.

Bar Salibi wrote against the Armenians, asserting that they were unaware of their true heritage. He pointed out that the name "Armenian" is derived from "Armenia," a geographical location rather than a person. He claimed that it was the Syrians who had enlightened Armenian scholars, revealing their descent from Togarma, a son of Japhet. In contrast, Bar Salibi emphasized that the Syrians trace their ancestry to Shem, with their patriarch being Kemuel, the son of Aram. He stated that Syrians are sometimes referred to as "Arameans" in the scriptures, and their name "Syrians" comes from Syrus, who established Antioch, with the region being named "Syria" after him.

Mongolian

Map of the Ottoman Empire in 1683

After Bar ʿEbroyo’s death in 1286, the Mongol Ilkhans claimed hegemony over regions where Syriac Christians were numerous, excluding Syria, which remained under Mamluk control. Under rulers like Arghun and Ghazan, the Mongol Ilkhans continued a policy of favouring non-Muslims for key government positions, benefiting Syriac Christian leaders. Ghazan’s reign initially saw significant persecution of Syriac Christians, including the destruction of religious buildings, the execution of prominent Christian figures, and the imposition of large fines on Christian patriarchs. Ghazan’s motivations for these actions remain unclear but may have been influenced by internal Mongol politics and pressures from Muslim elites. After the death of Ghazan’s advisor Nawruz, who had been blamed for these harsh policies, Ghazan ended the persecution and returned to the Ilkhanate’s earlier practices of supporting Syriac Christian leadership. This shift was accompanied by continued patronage for Muslim elites, especially Sufi scholars. Ghazan’s military campaigns against Mamluk-controlled Syria in 1299, 1301, and 1303 ended in Mongol defeats or withdrawals, with the failure of these campaigns halting further Mongol expansion into Syria.

After Ghazan’s death, his brother Öljeitü Khudabanda took the throne and continued efforts to seek alliances with Western European powers, hoping to strengthen the Ilkhanate’s position against the growing Mamluk influence. However, Khudabanda’s reign marked a decline in support for Syriac Christians. In 1322, the Ilkhanate signed a peace treaty with the Mamluks, further complicating relations with the Syriac Christian communities. Following Abu Saʿid’s death in 1335, the Ilkhanate fragmented, and smaller regional powers rose to fill the vacuum. Dynasties like the Chobanids, Jalayirids, and Artuqids controlled key areas such as Baghdad and Mardin. Political fragmentation enabled the rise of the Qaraqoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu Türkmen confederations, which controlled parts of Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Iran, reshaping the political environment for Syriac Christians under their rule. New dynasties brought varying policies that impacted Syriac Christians, with some offering protection, while others enforced more restrictive measures.

Portrait of Timur (d. 1405), commissioned by his grandson Ibrahim Sultan in the 1436 Zafarnama.

Timur Lenk, renowned for his military conquests, launched several invasions into the Middle East. In 1393 and 1401, Timur captured Baghdad, temporarily displacing local rulers. Despite the temporary displacements, many dynasties retained their power, with the Jalayirids reasserting control over Baghdad after Timur’s campaigns. Timur’s last Middle Eastern campaign enabled the Aq Qoyunlu to gain control of parts of upper Mesopotamia, but their dominance was short-lived. Aq Qoyunlu, under Uzun Ḥasan, sought to assert their Islamic sovereignty, but their efforts were defeated by the Safavids under Shah Ismaʿil I, who secured victory by 1507. This shift in power dramatically changed the political dynamics of the region, leading to the division of the Middle East between the Ottomans and Safavids, with Syriac Christians increasingly divided between the two empires, each with differing approaches to their Christian populations.

After the death of Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Philoxenus I Nemrud in 1292, the patriarchate splintered, leading to the establishment of new patriarchates in Mardin, Sis, and Melitene. Mardin's patriarchate remained at Dayr al-Zaʿfaran monastery, while the patriarchate in Sis relocated to Damascus. In 1364, Sobo established a new patriarchal line for Ṭur ʿAbdin, reflecting the deepening political divisions of the time. After the collapse of Mongol power in 1335, the Syriac Christian hierarchy in Iraq became unstable. Denḥa II lived in Karamlish, but his succession remained unclear, as did that of many Syriac Christian leaders. By 1500, an Eastern Syriac Catholicos had settled near Gazarta (Cizre), with his successor buried in Mosul in 1504. The instability of Syriac Christian leadership during this period mirrored the political fragmentation and rising power of local dynasties.

Hereditary succession, initially adopted by the Mardin patriarchate in 1333, continued in the region through the 1480s, though the Syriac Orthodox patriarchates of Syria and Ṭur ʿAbdin did not follow this practice. Political fragmentation and dynastic changes during the late mediaeval period also led to a decline in monasticism. Few monasteries in Ṭur ʿAbdin and other areas are mentioned in surviving sources, illustrating the broader decline of monastic life during this period. Despite these challenges, Syriac Christianity spread further into Cyprus, Central Asia, and China during the late Mongol period. Manuscripts from places like Dunhuang in China and Central Asia attest to the presence of Syriac Christians in these regions. However, these networks began to decline after the Mongol era, especially outside the arc from Lebanon to north-western Iran, with Christianity in Kerala being one of the exceptions.

Ottoman

Deyrulzafaran or Dayro d'Mor Hananyo in Aramaic.

Under Ottoman administration, Syriac-Arameans became part of the millet system, a model that grouped subjects according to religion rather than ethnicity or language. Rights granted to other non-Muslim groups were likewise applied to Syriac-Arameans, who were allowed to maintain their religious practices. However, classification as a distinct millet remained inconsistent. At different times, Syriac-Aramean communities were administered under the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate or the Armenian and Gregorian Church. No major problems are recorded from this arrangement, yet by the late nineteenth century, Syriac-Arameans leaders began seeking direct representation through their own ecclesiastical hierarchy. Ottoman yearbooks from the 1890s began listing Syriac-Arameans separately from the Armenian Patriarchate, and by 1895, firmans issued to Syriac patriarchs confirmed the recognition of the "Kadim Süryani Patrikliği" (lit. Ancient Syriac Patriarchate), based in the Deyrulzafaran Monastery, as an independent patriarchate under the designation of the Ottoman Syriac Ancient Church. No indication of difficulties appears in relation to the exercise of ecclesiastical authority under this system, though formal millet status remains uncertain. Likewise, the legal classification of Syriac-Arameans as a minority group is described as a matter of ongoing discussion.

Missionary activity directed at Syriac-Aramean communities began with Catholic initiatives in the mid-eighteenth century in locations such as Aleppo and Mosul. By the nineteenth century, missionary operations intensified, expanding in scope and influence. One of the central goals of these missions was to organize Syriac-Arameans under an Assyrian identity, with the broader aim of assigning them a national character. Opposition arose from within the community; clerics such as Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum rejected this development, describing it as a British scheme that could lead to the loss of traditional faith. Protestant missionaries also introduced certain modifications in religious rituals and practices, creating further variation among Syriac-Arameans affected by these external influences. Nonetheless, adherence to a religious identity remained dominant in most Syriac-Aramean communities, especially in areas such as Syria and Turkey, where the Aramean view of their ancestry continued to find widespread acceptance due to the linguistic and liturgical continuity between Aramaic and Syriac.

Across the 10th to 19th centuries, no political or social mobilization based on ethnic foundations emerged among Syriac-Arameans. Religious life, expressed through the Syriac language, liturgy, and ecclesiastical tradition, formed the main framework of group identity. Integration into successive empires occurred without major rebellion or claims of national autonomy. Efforts to reinterpret Syriac-Aramean heritage through missionary-driven national categories did not take root in all regions, particularly where Syriac clergy and faithful upheld continuity with the Aramean Christian heritage. Apart from foreign missionary influence in the nineteenth century, no additional movements disrupted the religiously defined orientation of Syriac society.

Modern history

Sayfo and persecution

Main article: Sayfo

In 1915, the Aramean genocide, or Sayfo (“the sword”), was the mass killing and deportation of Syriac Christians during World War I by the Ottoman authorities, particularly under Interior Minister Talaat Pasha. Alongside Armenians and other Christian groups, Syriac and Chaldean communities between Urfa and Cizre were especially targeted. In the Hakkari region, Assyrians who had allied with Russia were later abandoned and attacked, fleeing to Urmia in Iran, where many were again massacred after 1918.

It led to the destruction of more than half of the Syriac population in eastern Turkey, with several dioceses nearly erased. Entire Christian regions like Bsheriyyeh and Hakkari were left without their native communities. While some emigration had started in the 19th century, it was the Sayfo that triggered a massive exodus, resulting in the widespread Syriac diaspora that continues to define much of the community today.

During the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Patriarch Elias III, through his representative Archbishop Ephrem Barsaum, petitioned for autonomy for the his people. Requests included the recognition of the suffering of his people, acknowledgment of their losses, and compensation. By the time of the Lausanne Peace Conference in 1922–1923, Elias III shifted his stance, abandoning the request for autonomy and adopting a pro-Turkish position, urging his community to remain loyal to Turkish authorities. In February 1923, he stated that the Syriac Orthodox community did not seek minority rights and preferred to live peacefully under Turkish rule.

Sayfo monument at the St. Petrus and Paulus Church in Botkyrka, Stockholm County, Sweden.

In 1924, Elias III was exiled by the Turkish government, partly due to his initial advocacy for Syriac autonomy and his later pro-Turkish position. He was deprived of his Turkish citizenship for acquiring Iraqi citizenship without seeking permission from Turkish authorities, severing his relations with Turkey. In 1933, the official Patriarchal See of the Syriac Orthodox Church was established in Homs, and since 1959, it has been based in Damascus.

During the mid-20th century, the Turkish state implemented a broad Turkification policy aimed at standardizing place names across the country, particularly those of non-Turkish origin. In 1957, a Renaming Specialized Committee was established, and by 1978 it had examined approximately 75,000 settlements and geographical locations, resulting in the renaming of 28,000 places—many of which were located in Southeastern Anatolia and originally bore Kurdish, Arabic, or Aramaic names.

Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church referenced the Arameans as part of a historical analogy to justify Russia’s role in defending Christians in the Middle East. He stated that just as the Russian Empire once saved the Arameans when the Ottoman Empire sought their destruction, so today Russia continues that tradition by protecting Christians in the region.

21st century

In the winter of 2015, during an Islamic State (IS) campaign, hundreds of Christians were kidnapped and killed in villages near the Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates. Many villages inhabited by Syriac Orthodox Christians in northern Syria were destroyed, with churches being burned and abandoned. Violence from IS forced many Christians to flee Syria and seek refuge in Tur Abdin. In Mardin, the Kirklar Church congregation welcomed many of the 150 Aramean refugees. For these refugees, Mardin serves as a stop on their journey to Europe, where they hope to have a better chance of being granted asylum as Christians.

Arameans in Southeastern Turkey face significant challenges due to the confiscation of religious properties by Turkey's religious authority, Diyanet. Mardin regional government confirmed the appropriation of 50 church properties, including churches, monasteries, cemeteries, and farming lands by Diyanet. Such actions contribute to broader concerns over the loss of cultural heritage, with many Arameans trying to determine which of their properties around Tur Abdin were targeted. Arameans still living in Turkey encounter significant obstacles in preserving their religious and cultural heritage. Efforts to preserve or construct churches and organize training for student priests are being "massively hindered."

2014 recognition

Main article: Arameans in Israel

In the 2010s, a movement emerged within parts of Israel’s Christian minority to promote recognition of Aramean identity, separate from the broader Arab classification. Activists including Shadi Halul and Father Naddaf advocated for the revival of the Aramaic language and sought state recognition of Aramean nationality, particularly among Maronite, Syriac, Greek-Catholic, and Melkite Christians with ancestral ties to the ancient Aramean people. This effort was part of a broader attempt to emphasize non-Arab Christian identity and a perceived historical alliance between Arameans and Jews/Israelis.

On 16 September 2014, the Israeli Ministry of the Interior announced official recognition of “Aramean” as a nationality category in the Israeli Population Registry. In parallel with this legal recognition, 2014 also saw legislative efforts aimed at distinguishing between Christian and Muslim citizens in Israeli society.

In July 2016, Haaretz estimated the number of Israeli Christians eligible to register as Arameans to be 13,000. In October 2019, the Israeli Christian Aramaic Organization estimated the eligible number at 15,000. As of 2017, 16 individuals had registered as Arameans in the Population Registry. According to interviewees in a 2022 article in Middle Eastern Studies, 2,500 Israelis had registered as Arameans with the Ministry of Interior, while another 2,000 had submitted applications to change their designation from Arab to Aramean—altogether constituting around 1.5% of the Christian population in Israel.

Aramean to Syriac name shift

Origin

Syriac authors argue that the term Syrian (Sūryoyo) was internalized by Syriac-speaking Christians under the influence of external political forces. For instance, the 10th-century East Syriac scholar Ḥasan bar Bahlūl, in his Lexicon, explains that the toponym Syria is derived from the name of the king Syros. He states: "At first, Syrians were called Aramaeans; and after Syros began his reign over them, they began to be called Syrians." However, modern scholarship supports the already dominant view that Syrian is derived from Assyrian. Syria and Syrian were derived from Greek usage long before Christianity. After Alexander the Great's conquest in the 4th century BCE, Greeks applied the name to the region west of the Euphrates.

Adoption

Initially, the Greeks used the term Syrian to refer to all subjects of the Assyrian Empire, without regard to their nationality. In the 7th century BCE, the seafaring Greeks used the term Syroi/Syrioi to refer to the subjects of the Assyrian Empire, with whom they had contact along the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Later, they became familiar with the fuller form Assyrioi, and Herodotus informs us that Assyrioi was the barbaric form of the Greek Syrioi. Black Sea Syrians were more specifically called Leukosyroi or the "White Syrians," presumably referring to their skin color, which left the simple name Syroi/Syrioi to describe the subjects of the Assyrian Empire in northern Syria. Since these subjects were predominantly Aramean, the shift of the name Syroi/Syrioi from being a political and geographical term to becoming a "national" or ethnic one is easily understood. Over time, however, they applied the name specifically to the northwest Semitic regions, eventually associating it with the predominant nationality in these areas. As a result, Σύροι (Syrians) became synonymous with Αραμαῖοι (Aramaeans), leading the Arameans themselves to adopt this term.

Herodotus himself, however, always differentiated between the names Syria and Assyria. According to Randolph Helm's research, Herodotus consistently distinguished the names Syria and Assyria and used them independently of each other. To Herodotus, Syrians were the inhabitants of the coastal Levant, including North Syria, Phoenicia, and Philistia, while Assyria always referred to Mesopotamia and its inhabitants as Assyrians.

With the adoption of Christianity in the second century, the traditional self-designation Arāmāyā (Arameans) was replaced by the term Suryoyo, derived from the Greek Syrios (or Syros). This change occurred because Arāmāyā had become associated with the meaning of pagan, largely due to its use in the Hebrew translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, where Aramean was used to translate the Greek word Hellēn (Greek), referring to non-Jewish or pagan people. As a result, Arāmāyā acquired a negative connotation and was no longer an acceptable self-designation for Christian Syrians. Although older Syrian writers still used Arāmāyā to refer to their language, they avoided using it for their people to prevent confusion with its new meaning.

Syriac Christians in the early period, who were ethnic Arameans, developed two distinct vocalizations of the word Aramaya to mean either Aramean (Aramaya) or pagan (Armaya). In the vocalized text of the Peshitta New Testament, Timothy’s father and Titus are described as Armaye, not Greeks (Acts 16:1, 3; Gal 2:3), and several times in the Acts and Epistles, Jews and Armaye (Gentiles) are contrasted. In Luke 4:27, Naaman is described as an Armaya, apparently meaning gentile and pagan. However, this word renders Σύρος in the original Greek of Luke, so it may have originally been vocalized as Aramaya, meaning an ethnic Aramean before it took on a specifically religious connotation. Later authors were aware of the ambiguity of the term 'Aramean.' Hence, Ephrem speaks of Laban the ܚܢܦܐ, the pagan, instead of Laban the Aramean.

Quatremère suggested that the newly converted Arameans to Christianity adopted the name "Syrian" because, with their new religion, they sought a new identity, ashamed of their pagan associations and relatives. This change is reflected in the Bible, where Arameans are named as Syrians and Aram as Syria. In the 3rd century BCE, during the translation of the Hebrew Bible into the Greek Septuagint, the terms for Aramean and Aramaic were rendered as Syrian and "the Syrian tongue," a practice later adopted by Jews and Christian communities in Palestine.

As of the year 2000, the Syriac Orthodox Church changed its name from "Syrian" to "Syriac" to avoid confusion with the modern Syrian national identity.

Aramean communities

Homeland

Turkey and Tur Abdin

A view of the Tur Abdin plain with a Syriac-Aramean flag waving.

Before World War I, around 619,000 Syriac Christians lived in the Ottoman Empire. Over one fifth were in the Armenian provinces, with about 60,000 in Diyarbakir, 25,000 in Sebastia, 18,000 in Van, 15,000 in Bitlis, and 5,000 in Kharberd. Most were members of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, centered mainly in Tur Abdin, east of Mardin, a historic Aramean region and an early stronghold of Syriac monasticism. Today, approximately 20,000-30,000 Arameans (Süryaniler) remain in Turkey, down from about 250,000 during the early Republic. By the 1960s, about 20,000 Arameans lived in Tur Abdin. Following World War I, thousands of Syriacs emigrated due to violence, but their situation remained precarious. Lack of higher education, employment opportunities, and ongoing insecurity further pushed Arameans to emigrate from Tur Abdin. Many also used the 1961 Turkish-German labor agreement to migrate to Germany legally, escaping not only poverty but also religious discrimination. Living mainly in southeastern Turkey, Syriacs later became caught between Turkish military operations and Kurdish conflicts, causing another 45,000 to migrate between 1960 and 2000. Most who left forfeited Turkish citizenship, making return difficult.

Despite the Treaty of Lausanne granting protections to all non-Muslim minorities, Turkey limited recognition only to Armenians, Greeks, and Jews, Syriacs were excluded and the only Christian minorty that had been excluded, preventing them from establishing schools to train clergy, while foreign clergy faced visa obstacles. Communities lacking clergy lost properties to confiscation by the General Directorate of Foundations (GDF), and returning Syriacs who had lost citizenship are unable to reclaim properties. Today, the Syriac community controls only 19 foundations, many under threat of further expropriations. The Mor Gabriel Monastery, considered by Syriacs to be the "second Jerusalem," became the symbol of this struggle. Five lawsuits based on "ludicrous complaints" threatened up to 1,000,000 square meters of monastery land. Although Turkey claims judicial independence, observers argue that such lawsuits could not proceed without government support, and court delays continued to obstruct justice. Even positive signals, such as permission for church services or the election of the first Syriac member of Parliament, were overshadowed by discriminatory acts. Turkish schoolbooks have falsely accused Syriacs of treason, despite the fact that Syriac Christians historically remained loyal, neither siding against the Ottoman nor Turkish state.

The return of Syriacs is considered crucial for restoring abandoned villages and revitalizing religious heritage. Studies emphasize that returning Syriacs would contribute to the "Europeanization" process in terms of civic values and citizenship education. However, obstacles such as infrastructural problems, restrictions on religious freedom, and persistent discrimination hinder return migration. Stronger support from the European Union is regarded as necessary to spark meaningful change.

Turkey’s application for EU membership in 1987 and its candidacy in 1999 placed religious freedom as a central benchmark. After 2002, the EU strategy shifted towards demanding broader improvements for all minorities. However, Turkey failed to meet expectations. Annual reports grew increasingly critical, and the European Parliament focused heavily on the Syriac issue, particularly criticizing property seizures and the Mor Gabriel cases. Syriacs remain unable to train clergy formally and face continuous property registration problems. Disillusionment with Turkey’s lack of progress led several EU states, including Germany and France, to prefer a “privileged partnership” over full membership, citing unresolved religious freedom violations.

File:Aramean demonstration in The Hague, Netherlands (1990).jpg

Arameans demonstrating in The Hague, Netherlands, against the ongoing murders of Syriac-Aramean Christians in the Tur Abdin region (1990).

Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit issued a directive regarding Süryani (Syriac or Aramaic Christian) citizens who had emigrated abroad due to PKK terrorism and other reasons. The directive noted claims that returning Syriac/Aramaic Christians faced difficulties regaining access to their villages, using their property rights, receiving religious education, and visiting relatives, and that foreigners were being restricted from visiting Syriac/Aramaic Christian-populated villages. It warned that these issues could be raised internationally as human rights violations. The Ministry of Interior was instructed to facilitate the return of Syriac/Aramaic Christians citizens to their villages. The directive emphasized that Syriac/Aramaic Christians, like all citizens, are under the protection of the state and must be allowed to fully exercise their constitutional and legal rights.

By 2009, the Turkish government, under its broader “democratization initiative” to address minority-related issues, signaled the possibility of restoring original place names. Turkey's Aramean community expressed hope that such measures would include the recognition and reinstatement of historical Aramaic toponyms.

Syria

Syriac/Aramean Christians, concentrated in Syria’s Jazira region, form a key Christian minority, identifying as Suryoye and speaking Turoyo, a dialect of Central Neo-Aramaic. Mainly Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic, they trace their roots to ancient Aramaic speakers, with historical centers in Tur Abdin, Turkey, around Mardin and Midyat, where the Bara Baita church near Dêrik highlights their longstanding presence. After the 1915 Ottoman genocide, many Suryoye migrated to the French-administered Jazira, later part of independent Syria post-World War II. During the French Mandate (1920s–1946), Qamishli’s 1926 establishment saw two-thirds of Nusaybin’s Christians resettle, making it a hub where they worked in commerce and crafts, and in the 1930s, they joined Kurds in an unsuccessful autonomy movement led by Syriac Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Gabriel I. Tappouni and Qamishli’s mayor Michel Dôme.

Under Baath rule, Syriac/Aramean Christians lived relatively stably by aligning with the regime’s Arab nationalist ideology, often identifying as Arab Christians to avoid scrutiny. They preserved their Turoyo language and cultural heritage despite pressures to assimilate. The Syriac Orthodox Church, their primary denomination, traces its origins to 1st-century Antioch, adopted Miaphysite theology in the 5th century, and is led by a Patriarch based in Damascus. The Syriac Catholic Church, formed in the 17th century as a Uniate split under the Roman Catholic Pope, serves approximately 5,000 believers in the Archeparchy of Hasakah and Nusaybin. The Syrian Civil War (2011–present) disrupted their communities, with Jabhat al-Nusra attacking Sere Kaniyê in 2013 and Islamic State abducting 150 Christians from Khabur River villages in 2015, followed by Turkish invasions in 2019 that displaced all Christians from Tal Abyad and Sere Kaniyê to SDF-controlled areas, regime cities like Aleppo, or abroad. The 2014 Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) made Syriac an official language in Jazira, with trilingual public inscriptions.

Politically, the 2005 Syriac Union Party (SUP), part of the Dawronoye movement, allied with the PYD in 2012, forming the Syriac Military Council and Sutoro police, integrating into the SDF with three Syrian Democratic Council representatives, advocating a unified Syriac identity. However, the Assyrian Democratic Party, established in 1978 and representing Assyrian Church of the East members, criticized the SUP for its broad ethnic inclusivity, arguing that only their church members speaking Assyrian Neo-Aramaic are true Assyrians, reflecting a stricter confessional identity. Both parties joined the AANES, but many Syriac Orthodox clerics support the Assad regime, and the pro-regime Gozarto Protection Forces clashed with Sutoro in Qamishli. In 2018, SUP’s push to reform Christian school curricula for Syriac instruction faced protests, leading to a compromise adding Syriac classes to state curricula.

Today, Syriac/Arameans live in Qamishli, Hasakah, and Dêrik, but emigration since 2011, driven by war and Turkish invasions, has reduced their numbers, with displaced Christians from Sere Kaniyê and Tal Abyad residing in AANES areas or regime cities, where Syriac is used in AANES education and media, and sites like Bara Baita remain cultural centers. Turkish and jihadist threats persist, with 2019 invasions erasing communities in Sere Kaniyê, and divisions between pro-AANES and pro-regime factions, seen in the 2018 curriculum dispute, continue, while their future hinges on AANES stability or Assad’s rule, as Turkish control threatens their existence and emigration challenges their presence.

Diaspora

An Aramean diaspora began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly following the Hamidian massacres (1894–1896) and intensified after the Sayfo. It was only since the 1960s that larger numbers of Arameans began emigrating to Europe, especially to countries like Germany, Sweden, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands, due to renewed waves of persecution, discrimination, and political instability in southeastern Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.

Europe

Arameans of Syriac Orthodox faith began settling in Germany in the 1960s, arriving as part of the broader wave of labor migrants from countries like Turkey, Greece, and Italy. However, unlike many of the so-called guest workers who primarily sought economic opportunity, Arameans were often escaping targeted persecution in the Tur Abdin region of southeastern Turkey, which intensified during the 1970s. Many had already taken refuge in Syria, Lebanon, or northern Iraq before continuing their migration to Western Europe. Germany, with its growing demand for labor and a relatively open immigration policy during that period, became one of the main destinations for these displaced communities.

In the decades that followed, Aramean communities in Germany organized themselves around their Syriac Orthodox religious identity and cultural traditions. By the early 2020s, the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch had grown to encompass more than 60 parishes across the country, serving an estimated 100,000 faithful. The church plays a central role in maintaining communal cohesion and preserving cultural practices, particularly through the continued use of classical Syriac as the liturgical language and Turoyo (also known as Surayt), a Central Neo-Aramaic dialect, as the spoken vernacular within families and community settings. Religious events, liturgical services, and educational programs within church schools (madrasse) reinforce these traditions and serve as the main venues through which younger generations encounter their heritage. In 1976, an Aramean association is established in Wanne-Eickel to preserve language and support new arrivals. Similar groups and a school for Aramaic and religion soon follow. By 1991, this leads to a church parish, legally continuing the earlier association.

Nevertheless, the community faces growing challenges linked to life in a secular and pluralistic society. Many younger Arameans, born and raised in Germany, speak German as their first language and increasingly struggle to understand liturgical Syriac or even conversational Turoyo. As a result, church leaders and educators have initiated various efforts to preserve language and faith among the youth, including bilingual liturgical materials and targeted youth programs. These challenges are compounded by a general lack of public recognition and understanding of the Aramean identity. For decades, many Germans have lumped Arameans under the broader category of “Turkish immigrants,” obscuring their distinct ethno-religious identity. This invisibility persists despite the establishment of churches, cultural centers, and the visible commemoration of Sayfo—the 1915 genocide of Arameans in the Ottoman Empire—which is observed annually on June 15 throughout the diaspora.

Today, Aramean diaspora in Germany exists as a deeply rooted yet still often overlooked minority. Their continued efforts to preserve language, faith, and communal identity in a context of increasing secularization and integration into German society reflect both resilience and adaptation. The presence of multiple generations now born in Germany, alongside newcomers fleeing recent conflicts in Syria and Iraq, adds further layers of complexity to this diaspora, making the German Aramean community one of the most significant in Western Europe in terms of both size and organization.

Since 2015, Germany marks June 15 as Aramean Remembrance Day, honoring the Arameans killed in the Ottoman genocide. A memorial in Berlin stands for the 3 million Christian victims. In 2022, Heidelberg University inaugurated the Research Center for Aramean Studies, a new unit focused on the history, language, culture, migration, and diaspora of the Arameans. It belongs to the Semitic Studies division at the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near East.

North America

A Syriac Orthodox diaspora in North America began in the late 19th century as a response to persecution and hardship in the Ottoman Empire. Early immigrants from towns like Kharput, Diyarbakır, Mardin, and Midyat arrived mostly between 1895 and 1915, fleeing massacres and seeking better lives. They initially lacked clergy and church buildings but formed tight-knit communities centered around shared culture and language. Later waves, arriving from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine after World War II, entered into already established church structures. Over time, generational shifts and assimilation into Western society created tensions between old and new immigrants, but Syriac Orthodoxy remained a central bond.

In Paterson, New Jersey, Sanharib Baley began publishing a newspaper titled Savto d-Oromoye, meaning “Voice of the Arameans.” It appears to have been published only in Ottoman Turkish, though the script it used is unknown, as no issues of the paper have survived. The newspaper was active in the early 20th century and drew both attention and criticism from other Syriac Orthodox publications. In a 1913 issue of the journal Intibāh, Savto d-Oromoye was accused of being an Armenian mouthpiece for having taken an Armenian from Diyarbakır as an editor. Intibāh was most likely the brainchild of Naum Faik, who lived in Diyarbakır. He later recalled that the history and desire for Intibāh, and its necessity for "our Aramaean nation" (qawminā al-ʾArāmī), had been kept in his heart for more than thirty years, ever since he entered school and began learning "our beloved Syriac language" (al-lugha al-Suryāniya).

Later, in May 1921, a new newspaper called Ḥuyodo (The Union) succeeded Beth Nahrin, a newspaper established in 1916. In its first issue, Ḥuyodo (Union) published an Arabic editorial, likely written by Naum Faik, that called for unity among Eastern Christians, including Rum Orthodox and Maronites. It described them as sharing a common Aramaic heritage, emphasizing that Arameans from regions such as Lebanon, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia were essentially one people, divided only by theological differences, and invited them to support the newspaper’s cultural project.

Terminology within the Syriac Orthodox community has shifted over time. In the early 1900s, the term “Assyrian” was widely used, particularly in English-language publications. By the 1950s, the usage began to change, and “Syrian” became the preferred designation in official church contexts. Around the turn of the third millennium, the term “Syriac” emerged more prominently, and today all three terms coexist.

After being appointed Patriarchal Vicar, Mor Athanasius began the process of establishing an Archdiocese and chose to adopt the English term “Syrian,” following the precedent of the Patriarchate. While it is unclear whether this was his own decision, it is more likely that it was made with the support of Patriarch Ignatius Afram Barsoum, who had long opposed the use of “Assyrian.” In 1951, Mor Athanasius asked the Patriarch to address the matter formally. In response, Patriarch Barsoum authored a 22-page Arabic essay in 1952 titled Fī ʾIsm al-ʾUmma al-Suryāniya (“On the Name of the Suryānī Nation”). Mor Athanasius published the Patriarch’s handwritten manuscript using zincography and included a facing English translation, where the Arabic term Suryānī was rendered as “Syrian.” In the introduction, Mor Athanasius noted that the essay was necessary for Syriac Orthodox believers in the diaspora, who were living in isolation and lacked accurate knowledge about their Church, its language, and its history.

In his essay, Patriarch Barsoum stated that the Syrian nation had, from the beginning, been known as the Aramaean nation. He supported this claim with biblical references, writings from both West Syriac (Syriac Orthodox) and East Syriac (Church of the East) traditions, and citations from Western orientalists. He addressed the confusion caused by the translation of Suryānī into Western languages, especially French and English, where it became conflated with Surī, a term referring generally to inhabitants of Syria. To resolve this ambiguity, he proposed using “Syriac Aramaic” for the language, “Syrian Aramean” for the nation, and “Syrian Aramean Church” for the ecclesiastical institution. This issue had already surfaced in English-speaking contexts, where the term Suryānī was rendered simply as “Syrian,” creating difficulties for diaspora Arameans unfamiliar with their Church’s language and history.

It concluded with a strong rejection of the term “Assyrian,” which, according to Patriarch Barsoum, contradicted historical truth, diverged from ancient tradition, misrepresented the Aramean nation’s identity in all countries, and lacked support from Western academic authorities, including French, English, German, Italian, and American scholars. With this document, Mor Athanasius held not only a theological statement but also a scholarly affirmation from the Church’s highest spiritual and intellectual authority, defending the use of “Syrian” or “Syrian Aramean” and opposing “Assyrian.”

Culture

Music

Aramean music, which is primarily religious, plays a central role in the cultural revival of the Aramean community. Most of this music serves as a key marker of identity, helping to distinguish Arameans from surrounding Arab cultures. Alongside music, traditional Aramean dances such as bagie have been promoted as part of efforts to preserve and celebrate the group’s heritage. These dances are performed at community gatherings and cultural events, reinforcing a shared sense of history and belonging among Arameans.

Music in the Aramaic language expresses religious, historical, and national themes. The prayer Abun d’Bashmayo (Our Father in Heaven) is seen as a Christian prayer that unites all Arameans. Also common are zmirotho Suryoyotho (“Syriac songs”), which include national topics such as the Sayfo genocide. One example includes the line: "Ahna Kulna Suryo’ye, Suryo’ye Aramo’ye, min Tur ʿAbdin athoye", meaning “We are all Syriac-Arameans, Arameans from Tur Abdin.”, Tur Abdin being a place that suffered during the Sayfo.

Aramaic music became popular in the 1950s through Hanna Petros and Gabriel Assad, and continued in the 1960s with Jean Karat. In recent years, Aramean diaspora artists like Afram Cabro, Ninua, Robert Shabo, and the Australian group Azadoota have produced both religious and modern Aramaic music, including songs about Seyfo.

Gaboro, Ricky Rich, and Ant Wan are prominent Swedish rappers/musicians of Syriac-Aramean descent who have made significant contributions to the country’s hip-hop scene. Gaboro was a masked rapper from Norrköping, Sweden, known for blending melodic hooks with hard-hitting beats. He rose to prominence in 2022 with the viral track BOGOTA, followed by hits like SUAVEMENTE, HARKI, and SUAVEMENTE II, many of which gained popularity on TikTok and Spotify. Gaboro was instantly recognizable by his black mask featuring the eagle from the Syriac-Aramaic flag, which he said symbolized his heritage and paid homage to his roots: “It symbolizes all Syriac-Arameans. I thought everyone has a black mask, so I’ll add this eagle.” He often wore Louis Vuitton sunglasses over the mask and avoided public exposure, preferring to separate his private life from his music. On December 19, 2024, Gaboro was shot and killed in a parking garage in central Norrköping at the age of 23. Ricky Rich, often described as Sweden’s biggest Syriac artist, gained international attention through collaborations with ARAM Mafia, releasing hits like Min Diamant, Abonnenten, and Habibi, which charted across Europe and surpassed 65 million streams. Ant Wan, born Antwan Afram, is a Swedish rapper of Syriac-Aramean descent from Västerås and one of the most influential figures in Swedish hip-hop. Known for his emotive autotuned rap and themes of street life, mental health, and love, he rose to fame with songs like Kall, Komplicerat, and Malaika. In 2024, he made history by selling out Stockholm’s Tele2 Arena with over 40,000 in attendance—a milestone celebrated as one of the most significant events in Swedish hip-hop. His success is often credited to his strong following among youth from smaller towns, and as noted by critics, to the fact that he is a Syriac from Västerås who speaks directly to a generation that sees itself in him.

Arameans in sports

Gefe Fans, supporters of Syrianska FC, waving the Syriac-Aramean flag during a match.

Aramäer Gütersloh winning the Gütersloh city championship for the first time in 2003.

Football has served as a significant public platform for Aramean communities in Europe, particularly in Sweden and Germany. Syrianska FC, founded in 1977 in Södertälje by immigrants from Tur Abdin, is the most prominent Aramean football club and often seen as their national club. The club advanced through the Swedish football league system and reached Allsvenskan, the country’s top division, in 2010. During their time in Allsvenskan and Superettan, Syrianska FC attracted considerable attention in Swedish media, both for sporting achievements and for incidents involving supporters.

Gefe Fans, the club’s organized fan group, is noted for displaying Aramean symbols and banners at matches and supporting Syrianska FC. Several disputes involving Syrianska FC were reported, including fines issued by the Swedish Football Association for the use of pyrotechnics, incidents of violence between the rival fan group, Zelge Fans, supporters of Assyriska FF, and accusations of politically charged slogans displayed at games. In 2011, following a match against AIK, confrontations between Syrianska supporters and opposing fans led to investigations and increased security measures at future games. Additionally, Syrianska FC was fined multiple times for organizational lapses during matches, including crowd disturbances and pitch invasions.

In Germany, Aramean diaspora communities have also established football clubs, most notably Aramäer Gütersloh. The club, founded in 1987 first consisted of 20 members, as of 2017, the club had circa 150 members. Aramäer Gütersloh participated in regional leagues in North Rhine-Westphalia and serves as a community center for Aramean cultural activities alongside sports, and has contributed to maintaining the Aramean presence within the German amateur football scene.

Sport remains a significant area of community organization for the Aramean diaspora, with football clubs not only serving athletic purposes but also functioning as cultural institutions. Matches involving Aramean clubs frequently feature displays of national colors, flags, and Aramaic-language slogans, reflecting the continued cultural connection to Aramean identity through sports.

Telkari art

Gold filigree art

Telkari, also known as filigree, is a traditional art form involving intricate metalwork, particularly with silver, that holds significant cultural value among the Syriac-Aramean people. This craft has been practiced for millennia in Mesopotamia, with its roots tracing back to around 3000 BCE. The town of Midyat, located in the Tur Abdin region of southeastern Turkey, has been a central hub for this art, largely due to the contributions of the local Syriac community.

In Midyat, telkari is more than just an art form; it represents a vital aspect of the Syriac cultural heritage. The craft involves the meticulous twisting and soldering of fine silver threads to create delicate jewelry and ornamental pieces. Traditionally, this skill has been passed down through generations via an apprentice-master relationship, ensuring the preservation of techniques and designs unique to the Syriac artisans. Despite the challenges posed by modernization and migration, efforts have been made to sustain this tradition. Notably, the establishment of the Midyat Filigree Museum serves both as a preservation center and an educational facility, showcasing the historical and cultural significance of this art form.

The Midyat Filigree Museum, established by the Midyat Municipality, not only exhibits exquisite examples of this intricate art but also houses a production workshop. Visitors can observe the creation process and even purchase handcrafted items, thereby supporting the local artisans and the continuation of this cultural heritage.

Organizations and activism

Logo of the World Council of Arameans (Syriacs)

In the modern period, Aramean communities have established a number of organizations to preserve their cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage. Diaspora communities, particularly in Europe, have played a key role in raising awareness about Aramean history and identity.

World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (WCA), based in the Netherlands, serves as the main international organization representing Aramean interests. It engages in cultural preservation, human rights advocacy, and political lobbying at institutions such as the United Nations and the European Parliament. WCA has organized several conferences at UN headquarters in Geneva, focusing on the situation of Arameans in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and has campaigned for the international recognition of the Sayfo genocide of 1915.

In Sweden, there are several national organizations that support the Syriac-Aramean community. One of the main organizations is Syrianska Riksförbundet (SRF), which was founded in 1978. It is a democratic and independent organization that represents Syriacs in Sweden. SRF works to promote equality, protect cultural and linguistic heritage, and strengthen the relationship between Syriacs and Swedish society. It has around 19,000 members and 34 local associations across the country. SRF organizes cultural and educational activities, supports youth work, and represents the community in contact with Swedish authorities and international partners.

In the early 1980s, a youth committee was formed within Syrianska Riksförbundet to organize activities for young people and preserve Syriac–Aramean culture. In 1992, the committee became an independent organization called Syrianska Ungdomsförbundet (SUF), and in 2010 it changed its name to Syrianska-Arameiska Ungdomsförbundet (SAUF) to reflect its cultural heritage. SAUF now has about 26 local associations and around 9,000 members. It supports Syriac-Aramean youth by organizing cultural events, encouraging education, and working with partners such as the World Council of Arameans. SAUF is also involved in Suryoyo Sat and is a member of LSU (Landsrådet för Sveriges Ungdomsorganisationer) and the Swedish UN Association. Since 2009, SAUF and SRF share the web magazine Bahro Suryoyo.

Another important youth organization is Syrisk Ortodoxa Kyrkans Ungdomsförbund (SOKU), which was founded in 1996 by Syriac Orthodox youth. It has 20 local associations and supports young members of the Syriac Orthodox Church in their religious, cultural, and social life. SOKU organizes Bible competitions, choir festivals, summer theology courses, camps, weekend courses, and leadership training. It focuses on both spiritual education and practical skills like association management and democracy. SOKU works with church leaders, other Syriac organizations, and public institutions, and is also a co-founder of the Syriac-Aramean satellite channel Suryoyo Sat, along with SRF and SAUF.

In Germany, national Aramean federations have organized cultural festivals and conferences to promote heritage awareness, notably in North Rhine-Westphalia where the Aramean population is concentrated. Clubs like Aramäer Ahlen have served not only as sporting organizations but also as cultural centers. However, challenges such as declining language transmission rates among younger generations and external political instability in the Middle East continue to affect the broader organizational work.

Traditions

Hano Qritho

Hano Qritho is a traditional Syriac-Aramean cultural and religious festival marking the approach of Lent. Its origins are rooted in an ancient legend from Tur Abdin, where a local king vowed that if victorious in battle, he would sacrifice to the gods the first person he encountered upon returning home. By fate, the first person he met was his daughter, Hano (Hannah). Accepting her destiny, she requested to spend forty days celebrating with her companions in the mountains. After the forty days, she returned, and the king fulfilled his vow. Before her death, Hano asked her friends to commemorate her memory annually through songs and celebrations, laying the foundation of the Hano Qritho tradition. The narrative parallels the biblical story of Jephthah’s daughter in the Old Testament.

Traditionally, Hano Qritho is celebrated one day before the start of the Great Fast (Lent). Celebrations include communal processions through villages, the collection of symbolic foods such as bulgur, butter, and eggs, traditional dances, singing of folk songs like the Hano Qritho melody popularized by Ninib Lahdo, and the carrying of a large wooden doll representing Hano. At the end of the festivities, the effigy is symbolically buried near the church grounds or in the local cemetery, completing the ritual.

In modern times, Hano Qritho continues to be observed by Syriac-Aramean communities in both the Middle East and the diaspora. In 2025, a notable celebration was held in the village of Mehrkan, in North and East Syria, organized by the Bethnahrin National Council (MUB) and the Syriac Cultural Association. The event gathered participants from across the Gozarto (Jazira) region, including Qabre Hewore, Qamishli, Hasakah, and Derik, and included traditional songs, processions, and communal meals.

Rozune

Among the Syriac-Arameans, particularly within the Syriac Orthodox Church, it is a long-standing tradition to bake bread with a hidden coin on March 9, the feast day of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. These martyrs were Christian soldiers who, according to tradition, were condemned in the year 320 to die on a frozen lake in the city of Sebaste (present-day Sivas, Turkey) for refusing to renounce their faith. One soldier eventually gave up and left the ice to save himself, but a Roman guard, moved by the steadfastness of the remaining thirty-nine, joined them and accepted their fate. It is said that forty crowns of martyrdom appeared above their heads, and when the guard stepped forward, one crown descended onto him, restoring the number of martyrs to forty.

To honor this event, Syriac-Aramean families bake a batch of bread rolls or flatbreads, with one piece prepared for each family member and a coin hidden in one of them before baking. During the meal, everyone receives a piece, and the person who finds the coin symbolizes the Roman guard who joined the martyrs—someone who came to the truth through conviction and remained steadfast in faith. Receiving the coin is considered a blessing and a sign of prosperity for the year to come. This tradition is a cherished part of Syriac cultural life, illustrating how faith, memory, and identity are preserved through food and ritual. While similar customs exist in other Christian traditions—such as the Greek practice tied to St. Basil on New Year’s Day—the Syriac version is uniquely rooted in the story of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and the symbolic act of joining them in spirit through the shared breaking of bread.

Siboro

Siboro is a feast celebrated by Syriac-Aramean Christians on March 25, commemorating the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary. The word Siboro means Annunciation, Announcement, or Good Tiding in the Syriac language. It falls during the Great Lent and marks the announcement that the Virgin Mary would become pregnant with Jesus Christ. On the night of Siboro, all sorts of grain are collected and mixed into dough to make unleavened bread called ṭabʿo (ܛܰܒܥܳܐ), which is blessed by a priest. In preparation, bracelets are made by knitting red and white threads, and on Siboro Day these threads are worn on the wrist or neck. The white thread symbolizes the divine nature and purity of Jesus Christ, while the red thread symbolizes his human nature and the blood he shed on the cross. The two colors are twisted together to represent the divine and human natures united in Christ through Mary. These threads are worn until Easter and are burned on Easter Monday. In many churches, the bracelets are distributed to members on the day of the Annunciation and worn continuously as a visible sign of Christian faith within the Syriac community. In some regions, black thread is added to the red and white. According to various interpretations, the three colors symbolize the Holy Trinity, or alternatively: black for Christ’s suffering and death, red for his blood, and white for his purity and divinity.

According to Christian belief, Adam and Eve’s sin resulted in all humanity being born in sin and expelled from the Garden of Eden. Baptism is practiced to cleanse from this original sin. God sent Jesus Christ, called the Lamb of God, to forgive and redeem humanity through his suffering and blood shed on the cross. This is considered the good news brought by Jesus Christ and also relates to the meaning of Siboro. Another narrative connects the Siboro bracelet to Noah’s Flood. In this version, a white dove sent by God returns with a white rope in its beak as a symbol of forgiveness. In some versions, the dove is injured and its blood stains the rope, which explains the red and white colors. The dove is also a symbol of Jesus Christ and peace, and its injury is compared to Christ’s sacrifice for the reconciliation between God and humanity.

While the red and white Siboro threads are specific to Syriac tradition, similar customs exist in other cultures. A comparable example is the marteniçka in the Balkans, a red and white bracelet with pagan roots. In Tur Abdin, the Siboro tradition is also observed among Yazidis, and among Kurds and Mhalmis (Muslim Assyrians), who knit blue and white strings called Basımbar.

Before the feast, women prepare the bread while singing the Syriac hymn The Bread of Life is Mine. Cross-shaped Siboro threads are placed on the dough. All cereals available at home are included. The bread is taken to the rooftop and left under the stars and moonlight while hymns are sung. After the priest’s special prayers, it is placed under the Bible in the church and then distributed to the congregation. Some families traditionally burn the bracelet under a pot of rice pudding.

Syriac-Aramean New Year

Most widely adopted in Syriac manuscripts, the Seleucid era commences on 1 October 312 BC and was utilized during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Proto-Byzantine periods. Referred to as the "era of Alexander" or "the era of the [Blessed] Greeks," this calendar system endured throughout the history of Syriac manuscripts. Observed by Arameans as the Aramean New Year, 1 October signifies the ancient Syriac-Aramaic New Year, grounded in the ancient Aramaic liturgical calendar. Noted in historical sources, this date functioned as the new year's start in older ecclesiastical traditions, long before the Roman calendar designated January 1 as the norm.

To preserve this historical tradition and reinforce their cultural identity, the World Council of Arameans has proclaimed 1 October as Aram Day, also referred to as the National Day of the Aramean People. On this day, many Arameans commemorate their heritage with cultural events, traditional food, music, and reflection on their roots in Mesopotamia.

In addition to its symbolic meaning as a New Year, 1 October is also linked to the veneration of Saint Addai of Edessa, one of the seventy-two disciples of Jesus (Luke 10:1), who is traditionally credited with the Christianization of the Aramean people. According to 5th-century Aramaic sources, Aday's mission was to bring the message of Christianity to "Mesopotamian Aram", including regions such as Tur Abdin and Edessa (modern-day Şanlıurfa).

See also

• Aram (region)
• History of the Arameans
• Sayfo
• World Council of Arameans
• Suryoyo/Turoyo language
• Syriac Christianity
• Syriac language
• Aramaic
• Neo-Aramaic languages

Bibliography

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References

Notes

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Categories:

• Arameans
• Ethnic groups in the Middle East
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