"Aramaic is a language of central importance for the study of the ancient world, beginning from the early first millennium BCE up to the Islamic period and beyond. Aramaic stories are found in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament), and Aramaic influence is felt in the Greek text of the New Testament. It was the language of Eastern Christianity for centuries, as well as a major language of Jewish literature (along with Hebrew) through most of the first millennium CE. It still survives as a spoken language in a few communities (and their diasporas) in parts of the Middle East. This grammar focuses on the Aramaic of the second half of the first millennium BCE and the first century CE, a crucial era which saw the rise and fall of the Persian and Hellenistic empires and the rise of early Judaism and the birth of Christianity. It also saw the ascent of Aramaic to the status of a major language. From this period we have Aramaic writings that are relevant for the history of law, religion, language, and literature, including many that shed light on the most pivotal events and ideas of the time. Knowledge of Aramaic and its literature is a key that opens many doors"--

This easy-to-understand book includes everything you need to learn Biblical Aramaic, including a lexicon of Biblical Aramaic, the complete annotated text of all 269 Bible verses written in Aramaic, and chapter exercises with an answer answer key.

The study of biblical Aramaic, an ancient Semitic language from which the Hebrew alphabet was derived, is necessary for understanding texts written during certain periods of early Jewish and Christian history and is especially important for the study of the books of Daniel and Ezra. This new textbook is a thorough guide to learning to read and translate biblical Aramaic and includes an introduction to the language, examples of texts for practice translations, and helpful comparison charts.

Modern grammar of Biblical Aramaic and Related Dialects that is up-to-date and engages student interest by beginning with primary texts.

In this volume—the first complete history of Aramaic from its origins to the present day—Holger Gzella provides an accessible overview of the language perhaps most well known for being spoken by Jesus of Nazareth. Gzella, one of the world’s foremost Aramaicists, begins with the earliest evidence of Aramaic in inscriptions from the beginning of the first millennium BCE, then traces its emergence as the first world language when it became the administrative tongue of the great ancient Near Eastern empires. He also pays due diligence to the sacred role of Aramaic within Judaism, its place in the Islamic world, and its contact with other regional languages, before concluding with a glimpse into modern uses of Aramaic. Although Aramaic never had a unified political or cultural context in which to gain traction, it nevertheless flourished in the Middle East for an extensive period, allowing for widespread cultural exchange between diverse groups of people. In tracing the historical thread of the Aramaic language, readers can also gain a stronger understanding of the rise and fall of civilizations, religions, and cultures in that region over the course of three millennia. Aramaic: A History of the First World Language is visually supplemented by maps, charts, and other images for an immersive reading experience, providing scholars and casual readers alike with an engaging overview of one of the most consequential world languages in history.

Being direct descendants of the Aramaic spoken by the Jews in antiquity, the still spoken Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects of Kurdistan deserve special and vivid interest. Geoffrey Khan’s A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic is a unique record of one of these dialects, now on the verge of extinction. This volume, the result of extensive fieldwork, contains a description of the dialect spoken by the Jews from the region of Arbel (Iraqi Kurdistan), together with a transcription of recorded texts and a glossary. The grammar consists of sections on phonology, morphology and syntax, preceded by an introductory chapter examining the position of this dialect in relation to the other known Neo-Aramaic dialects. The transcribed texts record folktales and accounts of customs, traditions and experiences of the Jews of Kurdistan.

"An Introduction to Aramaic" introduces biblical Aramaic to beginning students already familiar with Hebrew. All Aramaic passages in the Old Testament plus other Aramaic texts are included. Includes paradigms, a complete glossary, resources for further study, exercises, and an answer key. Paperback edition available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org).