Why are there no ancient Aramaic religious texts identified?

Question

Herbrew, Greek, Ethiopian, but no Aramaic? Seems odd since it was the lingua franca of the common man in Palestine.

According to the Collophon attached to most of the existing copies, the Kebra Nagast originally was written in Coptic, then translated into Arabic in the Year of Mercy 409 (dated to AD 1225)

I am corrected: The Book of Daniel, written in Hebrew and Aramaic,

The contents of the (Nag Hammadi) codices were written in Coptic, though the works were probably all translations from Greek

With Peshitta you are close, however, I do not think the original writings were in Aramaic, but rather that items cited as evidence are a result of the original writers/thinkers probably if not being native speakers used the language daily. Nontheless, a good thing to consider. I give you points for widening the view of those who will read this post.

Without specific reference which you can research on line or at a good library, the best evidence for origin of the Targums is as translations of the underlying Hebrew text in order to clarify it to the common man.

Answer 1

As has been stated earlier, there are many places in the Bible where Aramaic has played a critical part:

1) Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26 — quotations of documents from the 5th century BCE concerning the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.

2) Daniel 2:4b–7:28 — five tales about Daniel and his colleagues, and an apocalyptic vision.

3) Jeremiah 10:11 — a single sentence in the middle of a Hebrew text denouncing idolatry.

Aramaic also played a large part in the New Testament in that some theories show evidence that there was a very distinct written Aramaic layer. However, I've dealt with this rather in-depth over at the question: "Wasn't the Old Testament written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek?" [1] Some quick pieces of evidence include mistranslations ("rope" as "camel", "burn" as "slow" and others), puns and poetry that the Greek does not contain.

As for other religious documents:

- There is the Zohar, the foundation of Kabbalah. [2]

- There are hundreds of Aramaic incantation bowls and protection amulets that were part of Jewish and Babylonian folk religion. [3][4]

- The religious texts of the Mandeans, such as the Qoolasta and the Book of John the Baptist, are in Mandaic Aramaic. [5]

- The wide assortment of Targums, which (although mentioned earlier by other answerers) I argue are more religious interpretations than strict translations. [6]

- Much of the Talmud. [7]

Answer 2

Try the Peshitta.....written in Aramaic.

Lingua franca for "common" man....not much was written down in those days. Everyting was hand-copied. Besides, Hebrew was the sacred language of the time...Aramaic was the "street" language, so to speak.

Answer 3

I don't know where you're getting that information. There are religious texts in Aramaic though most are written in either Hebrew or Greek.

Answer 4

Book of Daniel was written in Aramaic.

Answer 5

Wasn't Nag Hammadi written in Aramaic? I think other gnostic texts were as well.

Answer 6

Aramaic Designs
www.AramaicDesigns.com Aramaic translations, books, tattoo designs, and crafts.

Answer 7

Kebra Negast

Answer 8

Probably the same reason Jesus is white and Mary Is hispanic.The whole situation just keeps on getting more and more miraculous.

Answer 9

i may be misunderstnading your question, I have a Aramaic Bible.

Answer 10

How about the Targums?