Rupture and Continuity:The Arameans in the West Asian History and the Transformation of the Aramean Identity
First attested in historical records dating back to the late 2nd millennium BCE,the Arameans are one of the contemporary Western Asian peoples with a long and continuous history.Despite the political disunity among the early Arameans as well as the cultural similarities between them and the surrounding ethnic and cultural groups,a certain degree of trans-regional and trans-tribal Aramean identity was formed among the early Arameans,as they shared the(self-)designation of'Aram',the Old Aramaic language and the worship of the god Hadad.Over the next two millennia,the extent of the Aramaic-speaking communities and the nature of the Aramean identity changed dramatically.Except for the language,most cultural elements that defined the early Aramean identity appear to have undergone fundamental changes.However,such changes did not result in the complete assimilation of this group into their neighbours.On the contrary,with the adoption of'Syria'as a new geographical and ethnic(self-)designation and the rise of various Aramaic/Syriac-speaking Christian churches,the Aramaic-speaking communities maintained and consolidated their ethnic identity by virtue of a series of linguistic,cultural and religious elements.In this process,the identity marker which plays the most critical role has changed over time.
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