Aramaic << `ar` uh MAY ihk, >> language, is a language of the Middle East. It is a Semitic language and belongs to the Afro-Asian family of languages, along with Hebrew and Arabic. The earliest evidence of Aramaic dates from about 900 B.C. Jesus Christ and his disciples spoke Aramaic. Aramaic is still spoken by Assyrian Christians in isolated areas of Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. The long history of Aramaic and the wide extent of its use have resulted in many dialects.
The earliest samples of Aramaic writing date from about 900 B.C. Parts of the Biblical books of Ezra and Daniel and some of the ancient manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were written in Aramaic. A number of major Jewish works of the period from A.D. 1 to 600 were composed in Aramaic.
See also Hebrew language ; Semitic languages .
