Cultural and Linguistic Background
See also: Cultural and historical background of JesusAramaic, as a Semitic language, was a common language of the Eastern Mediterranean during and after the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and Achaemenid Empires (722 BC – 330 BC) and remained a common language of the region in the 1st century AD. Indeed, in spite of the increasing importance of Greek, the use of Aramaic was also expanding, and it would eventually be dominant among Jews both in the Holy Land and elsewhere in the Middle East around 200 AD; it would remain so until the Arab conquest in the 7th century.
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