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Aram

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

Aram (Hebrew: אֲרָם or ʾĂrām), was the son of Shem, according to the Table of nations of Genesis 10 in the Bible. He was the progenitor of the Aramaeans. His brothers were Arpachshad, Asshur, Elam, and Lud. He was the father of Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash

1 The Descendants of Aram
- 1.1 Aramaeans
2 See Also
3 References

The Descendants of Aram

Aramaeans

There once existed in the Middle East, centered around the territory called Syria today, a nation of people called the Aramaeans, who are often mistaken with Amorites by historians. Their racial type ranged from Mediterranid to Alpinid or Nordid (similar to the sub-racial varieties found amongst the Hebrews). In other words, Aram gave rise to a white, Caucasian people, occasionally with blonde hair.

As Dr. Robert Gayre, in his work on The Syro-Mesopotamian Ethnology as Revealed in Genesis X, wrote:

“

… we come to Aram. This refers to the land of the Aramaeans … These were definitely an Indo-European people, as their features from the Egyptian monuments make plain without any doubt, both as to colour and form.

They became settled in Syria and in the land of Nahor (Nahorim) and also in the city of Ur (that which is in Mesopotamia, and not that in Babylon). It was from this city that Abraham emigrated in the first instance … This then is the stock from which Israel came.

… at the time of the Patriarch there is even reason to believe that as Syrians they were of northern European type.^[1]

”

However, the Mediterranean type was much more common than the northern European type among the Aramaeans, as is evidenced by physical remains. The New Bible Dictionary concurs, warning that the Aramaeans are called "Syrians" in the English Old Testament where the Hebrew is “Aram”. In other words, they were not Arabic-type peoples which are extant today in Syria and who go by that name. Those Arabic-type peoples, who are descendants of Joktan and Ishmael, migrated into Syria and Mesopotamia from south of the northern Arabian Desert and through the Iranian mountains. The Greeks called them "Syrians" because they were part of the Assyrian Empire. Some Aramaeans joined with the Neo-Hittites in Northern Syria while others settled in Babylonia mixing with the Arabic peoples there. Those that mingled with the Arabs in Syria are known as Syrians.

The Syrians today are still quite different to the Arabs of Saudi Arabia in many ways, and in fact, appear to have many characteristics with the Greeks with whom they also mixed.

"Aram" means to be "high" or "exalted", later coming to mean "a mountain". The name indicates that they were a people of ruling class attributes similar to his closest brother Arpachshad where "Ar" means to be "high" or "noble" and "chesed" means to be "clever" or "wise".

Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was an Aramaean (Genesis 28:2) as was her brother Laban (Jacob’s father-in-law) and of course Jacob’s wives. This is why Jacob is called an Aramaean in the Book of Deuteronomy. Laban lived in Aram-Naharaim (Deuteronomy 26:5), which means "Aram of the two rivers" (i.e. the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). It was also known as Haran, where Terah, Abram, and their family once lived (Genesis 24:10). Nahor, Abram’s brother (and not to be confused with his grandfather of the same name) had a son called Aram (Genesis 22:21-32). One would assume that his descendants intermarried with the Aramaeans, his racial kin. We also find a curiosity in 1 Chronicles 1:17 where the sons of Aram are elevated to be, along with their father, sons of Shem, their grandfather.

Both history and the inspired Bible reveal that the Assyrians took them captive and placed them in Kir or Kur, near Armenia. In 2 Kings we are told:

The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death. 2_Kings 16:9

The prophet Amos mentioned much the same:

I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir," says the LORD. Amos 1:3

Josephus wrote similarly in his famous Antiquities of the Jews. He wrote that the Assyrians

“… transplanted the people of Damascus into Upper Media and brought a colony of Assyrians, and planted them in Damascus.”^[2]

Notice – they settled close to related nations. But where else could they be today, aside from Syria? Pliny makes mention that the Syrians were known as Arimaeans and Aramaeans^[3]. He also mentions a people called Aramii in southern Russia amongst the Scythians. With them were the Arimaspi.