Sunday Static #2: A Day Late, But Still Here

Continuing on with Sunday Static (albeit a day late, sorry it was a busy week), we have a new entry:

What sounded like:
kuma yeshua lechiam
or
kam yeshua lechiam
(No context was given.)

"Kuma" could mean "rising" or "resurrection" where "kam" could mean "he rose" or "he stood."

"Yeshua" is certainly "Jesus."

"lechaim" / "le-khayim" could mean "to life" in Samaritan Aramaic, which is the only Aramaic dialect to use the "-im" ending more frequently than the standard "-in"; but this would be very rare.

In all other Aramaic dialects on record, "to life!" would be closer to "le-khayin" or "la-khaye" (the latter, Syriac).

As such, "lechaim" appears to be Hebrew.

So overall, it looks like this phrase is Hebrew for something along the lines of:

"Jesus rose to life."

Very unlikely that there is Aramaic here.

Be sure to submit the speaking in tongues you've heard here in the comments of this post and next Sunday we'll go over them!

Peace,
-Steve

The Grave of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi

An agreement struck between the Tiberias Magistrate's Court and a Tzipori land-owner on Monday will allow the excavation of a tomb that may contain the remains of famed 3rd century Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi to begin next month.

This grave in Tzipori may contain the remains of third century Rabbi Yehoshua neb Levi.
Photo: Josiah Daniel Ryan

The work at the site, which features a clear inscription of the rabbi's name on the lintel and reportedly contains a terra cotta sarcophagus, may trigger significant opposition throughout the religious community, experts and religious authorities said on Tuesday.

"This is an important site," Antiquities Authority director Dr. Uzi Dahari, who personally holds the license to the dig, told The Jerusalem Post after the court's decision. "We don't know what's in there yet, but it could be very, very, significant. It may be Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, but it's impossible to know for sure until we dig."

[read the rest here]

-Steve

Ben Hur Getting Ready to Go

Dubbed by its director as "the biggest arena show ever", Ben Hur is just three weeks from its world premiere at London's O2 Arena. The production, which after London will embark on a 17-city tour, requires 500 tons of sand, 400 cast and crew and 46 horses for every performance.

Director Franz Abraham has been planning this monumental show for 15 years. He told The Times: "Now we are almost through to London and with all seriousness... this can be the most successful show on Earth". Confident of the show's credentials, he added: "It can run for 50 years”.

Kinda makes me want to visit London. :-)

But then again, I'd be scribbling notes down incessantly while I watch (like with what happened with the Passion... heh).

[The rest of the article here.]

-Steve

Sunday Static #1

Ever overheard a snippet of Aramaic tongues at church and wondered if it were for real?

Have a friend that channels an ancient Israelite king or scrawls automatic writing in their sleep?

Here's your chance to verify your unique contact with the divine.

Introducing the newest regular feature here at The Aramaic Blog:
Sunday Static.

Submit your best sounding out of the tongues you heard to the comment thread below, through the chat program on the right, or by email at Information@AramaicDesigns.com, and we'll do our darndest to find its Aramaic match, to be published each Sunday. Just in time for some comic relief after morning services. Comic relief? Yes! Enjoy this week's sample and inspiration for the feature:

What sounded like:
"Kuni no"
Overheard at church this morning. No specifics on the context.
In Western Classical Syriac it could mean:
"I am a pot," "I am a grain mill hopper" or "I am a cognomen."

(This submission, obviously, is a negative for genuine Aramaic.)

Keep in mind, we don't take any stand one way or the other over whether speaking in tongues, channeling, or automatic are real phenomena. We don't even claim to know whether any of the submissions we've received represent authentic contacts with the divine.

This feature ought to be reviewed with tongue firmly in cheek. It is perfectly possible that any submissions we received could actually be Aramaic, but many things can interfere with getting the proper translation for it on our end, namely the game of telephone between the hearing of it and its reaching us.

To give yourself the best shot of an accurate translation, fill us in on the context the example was heard in, what dialect of Aramaic you think it might have been in, mp3s if you can, or images of the writing (files will have to be emailed, of course).

It's anonymous and one has nothing to lose, and if it *is* something in actual Aramaic, then you will know what it means.

-Steve

A Concordance... From the Future!

Cruising eBay I came across a listing that I can only assume was posted by Dr. Who:

A Biblical Concordance in Hebrew and Aramaic published in 2026!

Obviously it was published in 1926 (the database they used only had a 2-digit year field set to the wrong epoch), but that is certainly much more boring...

Anyways, expect some new posts coming soon. Aramaic Designs is developing some neat new stuff for Aramaic enthusiasts, and I'm curious as to what others may think.

Peace,
-Steve

The Manuscript Revealed!: Barack Obama's Ancient Aramaic Birth Certificate

Born in Babylon? The jig is up! Read on...

I must admit that I am surprised at my readership. Although I can imagine a number of individuals (you know who you are) realizing the absurdity of the document and hesitating to admit it. :-)

What you are looking at is the physical echo of a daydream, late one evening when I thought to myself:

Well, what if I took that YouTube video that has been circulating and smashed it together with the Kenyan birth certificate debacle?

In the wee hours of the night, refusing sleep, after translating and typesetting (both sloppliy), cutting and crinkling, the "artifact" was born:

The "ancient" document, itself, is a birth certificate for Barack Obama, placing his point of origin in Babylon at around 516-515 BCE.

Originally, I planned on sending a copy of it hand-inked on actual papyrus to the President, himself as a belated birthday gift, along with a cover letter explaining everything that went into it... but I figured that it might not be in good taste... (and at the same time might get me on some lists... or not but who knows? If there are I'm probably already on them. :-) ).

In either case, I hesitated and decided to share it on here with everyone else instead, so that ancient language buffs may enjoy a bit of a chuckle.

(Incidentally, if you're interested in a copy of it, send me an email.)

Peace,
-Steve

The Manuscript Revealed!: A Transcription

I've taken the time to "transcribe" a good portion of the document, and I'm "curious" as to what some of my more academic readers out there think. :-)

פתגם מולדא יום ואתר מולד שתה בירחה שתיתי בשנת שתיתי
זי דריהוש מלכא בבל
שם ברך הסין אובמה תנינא
אב שם שנן אתר מולד פלח ברך הסין אובמה כ קניא
תלמידא אם שם שם בתולה אתר מולד סטנלי חנה אובמה
דונהם יח קנסס יום פתגמא שבע בירחה שתיתי בשנת שתיתי
זי דריהוש מלכא

על בית פקידא לחוד

And then the final paragraph which I'll type in later (but 20 points to whomever does it before I do).

Comments? :-)

Peace,
-Steve

The Manuscript Revealed!

Above is a photo of the entire document that I had discussed in:

"Barack Hussein Obama" Mentioned in Ancient Manuscript?

Before I say any more: Does anyone notice anything interesting about it? ;-)

(Give it a click to see a much larger version.)

Peace,
-Steve

"Barack Hussein Obama" Mentioned in Ancient Manuscript?

I've seen a lot of oddities come across my desk from individuals looking to have Aramaic identified and translated. Pottery sherds, pottery shards (yes, there is a difference), incantation bowls, old Ketubahs that people find in their attics (my personal favorite), prayer books, jewelry, and even a copper scroll (not "The" Copper Scroll, but *a* copper scroll, no joke); but, when this came to me, I was a bit stunned. This is the very first time I have ever seen an artifact this unique.

It is a rather crumbling piece of papyrus that was once sealed with a wax impression. It is old. The handwriting and dialect unmistakably place the text as Imperial Aramaic.

At the top I can make out "ש[נת] ש[תי]תי ז[י] דריהוש מלכא" == "the si[xt]h [yea]r o[f] King Darius," (placing it during the Persian Administration) and the rest of it seems to be dealing with matters of inheritance within a family.

However, in the meat of the document, I immediately came upon some trouble with the phrase "ברך הסין אובמה" which was sticking out in the middle of the text. It gave me some serious difficulty.

"ברך" is certainly from the root "to bless" and "אובמה" seemed to come from the root "יבם" ("to marry a brother's widow"). Given this, I thought might be able to interpret "הסין" as the name "Hasin" and the context would be that this individual was cause to marry his brother's widow to continue the family line under the blessing of the widow's father.

However, this would require "יבם" to be in the Causitive form, specifically Aphel. Simply put, it couldn't be in Aphel, given the dialect, and given other demonstrated use of the Haphel elsewhere (the Haphel Causitive didn't become Aphel until after Imperal Aramaic).

After relaxing with a hot cup of tea and staring at that bit of text in context, I made the following strange connection:

ברך הסין אובמה
brk hsyn 'wbmh
barak huseyn 'owbamah

Even when writing this I'm still in a bit of shock. Am I seeing things? I feel that I've looked over that blasted YouTube video one too many times and that it's affecting me in a horrible way. I'm going to try and get some photos of this up ASAP so that others can take a closer look before I take the time to properly photograph the document in high resolution.

Peace,
-Steve

PS: Today is his birthday, no? I need some sleep... This day has been too much.

PPS: First photo is up. Not only do I have poor light this time of the evening, but I now feel I need to upgrade my iPhone.