06-16-2012, 02:23 PM
Shlama Akhay.
It is important to note a couple of historical facts.
The Aramaic-speaking world during this time was split between Jews and Arameans (Gentiles). Geographically speaking, the nearest Gentiles to the Jews were Arameans. In fact, the Jews originated with (were originally) the Arameans.
Over time, the word "Aramaye" became synonymous with "gentile" in order to differentiate the two Aramaic-speaking populations. This was such a problem to the early Christian church, that we changed our own self-destination to the Greek form "Syriac" so as to shake off the negative connotation that "Aramaye" had taken on.
Like the Jews, the Arameans spread all over Mesopotamia, Arabia, Africa and Anatolia, and were commonly found amongst each other due to their cultural and linguistic affinity. This spreading helped to make Aramaic the Lingua Franca of a large area, and multiple empires, for over a thousand years.
As to the "wisdom" question, and I don't mean this to sound harsh but will say it anyway...long before the Greeks even learned how to read and write (indeed before they settled down in what we recognize as a civilized condition), the Mesopotamians (including the Arameans) were inventing almost every aspect of culture and science and education. While the Greeks were counting on their fingers, Mesopotamians were writing down calculus and geometry on clay tablets.
So again, I'm not sure that "wisdom", as relates to scientific thought, applies to the Greeks solely as they inherited this wisdom (and pretty much everything else) from the civilizations of the Semitic world, not the other way around.
+Shamasha
It is important to note a couple of historical facts.
The Aramaic-speaking world during this time was split between Jews and Arameans (Gentiles). Geographically speaking, the nearest Gentiles to the Jews were Arameans. In fact, the Jews originated with (were originally) the Arameans.
Over time, the word "Aramaye" became synonymous with "gentile" in order to differentiate the two Aramaic-speaking populations. This was such a problem to the early Christian church, that we changed our own self-destination to the Greek form "Syriac" so as to shake off the negative connotation that "Aramaye" had taken on.
Like the Jews, the Arameans spread all over Mesopotamia, Arabia, Africa and Anatolia, and were commonly found amongst each other due to their cultural and linguistic affinity. This spreading helped to make Aramaic the Lingua Franca of a large area, and multiple empires, for over a thousand years.
As to the "wisdom" question, and I don't mean this to sound harsh but will say it anyway...long before the Greeks even learned how to read and write (indeed before they settled down in what we recognize as a civilized condition), the Mesopotamians (including the Arameans) were inventing almost every aspect of culture and science and education. While the Greeks were counting on their fingers, Mesopotamians were writing down calculus and geometry on clay tablets.
So again, I'm not sure that "wisdom", as relates to scientific thought, applies to the Greeks solely as they inherited this wisdom (and pretty much everything else) from the civilizations of the Semitic world, not the other way around.
+Shamasha