Aramaic studies

As a distinctive academic discipline, Aramaic studies started to develop during the Early Modern period,[1] and they were initially focused on the study of the Christian Aramaic heritage, embodied in Syriac language and cultural traditions of Syriac Christianity.

[2] During the 19th century, Aramaic studies were constituted as a modern scientific field of research.

In the process, several traditional misconceptions were challenged and consequently abandoned, most notable of them being the long-standing "Chaldean misnomer" (Chaldaic, Chaldee) for the Biblical Aramaic.

[3] The exonymic origin and nature of the ancient Greek use of "Syrian" labels as designations for ancient Arameans and their language (in Septuagint and other Greek sources) was also analyzed,[4] but conventional Syrian/Syriac nomenclature was kept in reference to Edessan Aramaic language, still labeled as Classical Syriac.

Christian Aramaic studies emerged in Europe by the end of the 15th century,[15] and developed gradually during the Early Modern period.