ABSTRACT
Of all the Semitic languages Aramaic has the longest history and this fact alone makes it particularly interesting and rich from a lexical point of view. The Nabataean corpus consists of a number of formal inscriptions from the Nabataean kingdom, a few Nabataean papyri of the late first/early second century A.D. and a vast number of graffiti. Some Akkadian influences are also found in Nabataean, and the Akkadian influence may be very old, going back to the period when Aramaic was more unified. Perhaps the most substantial outside influence on Syriac was from Greek. Even in early Aramaic there are elements of Greek influence, but from the time of Alexander Greek comes more and more to the fore. Syriac had its original home almost in the heartland of the Aramaeans and it was in close contact with the worlds of Iran and Greece.
