Aramaea
- See Aram-Naharaim and Arameans.
Aramea is the land of the Arameans. In the Hebrew Bible, it is called "Aram-Naharaim", which means "Aram of two rivers", to distinguish it from the other Aram. The Kingdom of Aramea, which existed more than 6,000 years ago, was located in central Syria where the City of Aleppo (aka Halab) now stands. This kingdom is perhaps the oldest in the Middle East. It is where the Aramaic language originated. As Christians began to inhabit that area of Syria, a dialect of Aramaic, Syriac was born. Hence Syriac has been associated with Christian Syrians. There are several Catholic Rites in the area, which while Catholic, are different from the Roman Rite. Two of these are the Maronite Catholic Rite and the Melkite Catholic Rite, both common to Syria and Lebanon. Some Arameans of today dream of an Aramea in Lebanon where the Syriac Maronites (who are Arameans) now rule the country. Aramaic, the language of Jesus, would replace the Arabic language as the official language of the future-state.
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