ARAM SOCIETY FOR SYRO-MESOPOTAMIAN STUDIES

HISTORY AND IDENTITY
ARAM is an independent, non-political, inter- religious, non-profit-making society concerned with all aspects of Syro-Mesopotamian cultures. It was founded by Dr Shafiq AbouZayd in 1986/87 at Oxford University, where the new society found wide backing from the Oriental Institute and its staff. In 1989 the first volume of ARAM Periodical was published, and the first ARAM International Conference was held, on the subject of the Nabataeans and Petra, gathering over 70 scholars from various Western and Middle Eastern universities. In 1990 the papers of the Nabataeans conference were published in Volume 2 of ARAM Periodical and they constitute the latest word of academic experts on this topic. In 1991 the Second International Conference of ARAM was organised on the subject of the Syriac and Arab cultures during the Abbasid era in Iraq, and its papers have been published in Volume 3 of the periodical. The same year, 1991, saw major changes: Dr AbouZayd set up ARAM Society in the United States of America, basing it at Harvard University, where he found encouragement and a warm welcome from the teaching staff of the Near Eastern Department. The Third International Conference of ARAM, held in September 1992, was on the subject of the Decapolis, the largest ever meeting on this topic. Around 65 scholars assembled to study the history and the identity of the Decapolis during the time of the Roman empire in Syria. From 1994 onwards the ARAM International Conferences will be held at regular intervals at Harvard University as well as at Oxford University on different subjects related to the Syro-Mesopotamian civilisations. See more details about ARAM Periodical and Conferences below.
ARAM draws its name from Aramaic, which was a focal point of Ancient Syro-Mesopotamian cultures. However, ARAM does not confine itself solely to Aramaic culture, but attempts to deal with all cultures of the geographical area influenced by Aramaic culture, i.e. the Syro-Mesopotamian region, or the so-called Fertile Crescent. Consequently, ARAM aims to study any subject related to Syro-Mesopotamian cultures, from the beginning of history up until the present time. In this respect, the first ARAM conference, on the Nabataeans, the thirdood among its people, with their different social and spirituals beliefs. It is a society for everyone who shares an interest in its identity, irrespective of race, religion or status. As a non-political society, ARAM can never allow itself to become involved in any political activity, and indeed the ARAM Committee has the right to cease the membership of any member of ARAM who uses the Society for any political purpose or does not respect its inter-religious identity. See more details about ARAM Fellowship below.
ARAM keeps regular contacts with more than five thousand addresses all around the world, most of them universities, institutes and scholars in Near Eastern studies. Our aim is to go beyond Europe and the USA and very soon we hope to see the birth of ARAM in the Middle East.

ARAM COMMITTEE
ARAM
The Oriental Institute
Oxford University
Pusey Lane
Oxford OX1 2LE
England
Tel: 44-1865-514041; Fax: 44-1865-516824;
E.Mail: 100753.3143 (direct) or aram@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Members of the Committee (United Kingdom):
Dr Shafiq AbouZayd (Oxford University)
Dr Jeremy Black (Oxford University)
Dr Sebastian Brock (Oxford University)
Dr Lawrence Conrad (Wellcome Institute, London)
Dr John Healey (University of Manchester)
Prof Wilferd Madelung (Oxford University)

ARAM
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Harvard University
6, Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
USA
Tel: 1-617-4955757; Fax: 1-617-4968904
E.Mail: coakley@husc.harvard.edu (direct), or nelc@husc.harvard.edu

Members of the Committee (USA):
Prof Steven Cole (Harvard University)
Prof William A Graham (Harvard University)
Prof Sidney Griffith (Catholic University of America)
Prof Daniel Harrington (Weston School of Theology)
Prof Wolfhart Heinrichs (Harvard University)
Prof John Huehnergard (Harvard University)
Prof Peter B Machinist (Harvard University)
Prof Wheeler M Thackston (Harvard University)

ARAM
Department of History
American University of Beirut
Beirut
Lebanon
Tel: 961-1-811346; Fax: 961-1-
E.Mail: archaeol@aub.edu.lb or seikaly@aub.edu.lb
Members of the Committee:
Dr. Helen Sader (American University of Beirut)
Dr. Helga Seeden  (American University of Beirut)
Dr. Samir Seikaly (American University of Beirut)
Prof. Nicola Ziadeh  (American University of Beirut)

International Chairman of ARAM Society:
Dr. Shafiq AbouZayd (Oxford University)


ARAM Periodical & Conferences
Back issues are still available.
Contents of Volume 1, 1989:
Prof. Nicholas Postgate (University of Cambridge): Ancient Assyria - A Multi-Racial State.
Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford): Three Thousand Years of Aramaic Literature.
Mr. Alan Millard (University of Liverpool): Mesopotamia and the Bible.
Dr. John Healey (University of Manchester): Ancient Aramaic Culture and the Bible.
Dr. John Healey (University of Manchester): Were the Nabataeans Arabs?
Dr. Michael Dols (University of California): Syriac into Arabic: the Transmission of Greek 	Medicine.
Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford): The Dispute between Soul and Body: an Example 	of a Long-Lived Mesopotamian Literary Genre.
Dr. Hashim Behbehani (University of Kuwait): Arab-Chinese Military Encounters: Two Case 	Studies 715-751 AD.
Mr. Moussa Domit (New York Arts Gallery): The Art of Saliha Douaihy.
Prof. Paul Dion (University of Toronto): Medical Personnel in the Ancient Near East. As� 	and ashipu in Aramaic Garb.
Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd (University of Oxford): The Acts of Thomas and the Unity of the 	Dualistic World in the Syrian Orient.
Dr. Zeidoun al-Muheisen (Yarmouk University): Yasileh.
Dr. Hugh Kennedy (St Andrew's University):  Change and Continuity in Syria and Palestine 	at the Time of the Moslem Conquest.
Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford): Syriac Culture in the Seventh Century.
Mr. Nicholas Campion (Bristol): The Concept of Destiny in Islamic Astrology and its Impact 	on Mediaeval European Thought.
Prof. Michael Hollerich (Santa Clara University): Arthur V��bus Remembered.
Dr. Sebasatian Brock (University of Oxford): Arthur V��bus' Contribution to Syriac Studies.

Contents of Volume 2, 1990 (Proceedings of the First International Conference of ARAM: The Nabataeans - Oxford University):
Dr. Zeidoun al-Muheisen & Dr. Dominique Tarrier (Yarmouk University): A la M�moire de 	P�re Jean Starcky.
Mr. Peter Parr (University of London): Sixty Years of Excavation in Petra: A Critical 	Assessment.
Prof. John Bartlett (University of Dublin): From Edomites to Nabataeans: the Problem of 	Continuity.
Dr. Piotr Bienkowski (Museum of Liverpool): The Chronology of Tawilan and the "Dark 	Age" of Edom.
Prof. David Graf (University of Miami): The Origin of the Nabataeans.
Dr. Manfred Lindner (Naturhistorische Gesellschaft, Nurnberg): A Unique Lithic Early 	Bronze Edomite-Nabataean Site in Southern Jordan: both Past and Present.
Dr. John Healey (University of Manchester): The Nabataean Contribution to the 	Development of the Arabic Script.
Prof. William Jobling (University of Sydney): Some New Nabataean and North Arabian 	Inscriptions of the Hisma in Southern Jordan.
Dr. Youssif Qozi (University of Baghdad): Remarques sur une Inscription Nabat�ene de 	Mada`in Salih/Al-Higr.
Mr. Karl Schmidt-Korte (Frankfurt): An Early Christian Record of the Nabataeans: the 	Maslam Inscription (ca. 350 AD).
Dr. Robert Wenning (University of M�nster): Two Forgotten Nabataean Inscriptions.
Dr. Fawzi Zayadine (Department of Antiquities, Jordan): The Pantheon of the Nabataean 	Inscriptions in Egypt and the Sinai.
Dr. Ernst Axel Knauf (University of Heidelberg): Dushara and Shai al-Qaum.
Dr. Joseph Patrich (University of Haifa): Prohibition of a Graven Image among the 	Nabataeans: the Evidence and its Significance.
Dominique Tarrier (Yarmouk University): Baalshamin dans le Monde Nabat�en: � propos de 	D�couvertes R�centes
Dr. Zeidoun al-Muheisen (Yarmouk University): Ma�trise de l'Eau et Agriculture en 	Nabat�ne: l'Exemple de Petra.
Mr. Julian Bowsher (Museum of London): Early Nabataean Coinage.
Mrs. Jaqueline Dentzer-Feydy (Universsity of Paris 1 -Sorbonne): Khirbet Edh-Dharih: 	Architectural Decoration of the Temple.
Dr. David Johnson (Brigham Young University): Nabataean Piriform Unguentaria.
Mrs. Marie Killick (Oxford): Les Nabat�en a Udhruh.
Mrs. Diana Kirkbride (Copenhagen): The Nabataeans, Trajan and the Periplus.
Dr. Margaret Lyttleton & Dr. Thomas Blagg (London): Sculpture from the Tenemos of Qasr 	el-Bint at Petra.
Mr. James Mason & Dr. Khairieh `Amr (Department of Antiquities, Amman): A Study of 	Nabataean Pottery Manufacturing Techniques. An Experiment for Reconstructing the 	Production of Fine Bowls.
Dr. Gerald Mattingly (Johnson Bible College): Settlement on Jordan's Kerak Plateau from 	Iron Age IIC through the Early Roman Period.
Prof. Avraham Negev (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Mampsis - the End of a Nabataean 	Town.
Dr. Fran�ois Villeneuve (Ecole Normale Superieure): The Pottery from the Oil Factory at 	Khirbet EDh-Dharih (2nd Century AD).
Dr. John Zeitler (Naturhistorische Gesellschaft, Nurnberg): A Private Building from the First 	Century BC in Petra.
Dr. Mohammad Abdul-Latif Abdul Karim (University of Baghdad): The Nabataeans in the 	Arab Tradition.
Dr. Salih Harmarneh (University of Jordan): The Nabataeans after the Decline of the Political 	Power: from the Arabic Islamic Sources.

Contents of Volume 3, 1991 (Proceedings of the Second International Conference of ARAM: The Syriac-Arabic Cultural Interchange during the Abbasid Era - Oxford University):
Dr. Carmela Baffioni (University of Naples): Probable Syriac Influences in the Ikhwan al-	Safa''s logical Epistles?
Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford): `Come, Compassionate Mother..., come Holy 	Spirit': a Forgotten Aspect of Early Eastern Christian Imagery.
Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford): Some New Syriac Documents From the Third 	Century AD.
Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford): The Syrian Background to Hunayn's Translation 	Techniques.
Dr. Hans Daiber (Vreije Universiteit, Amsterdam): Nestorians of 9th Century Iraq as a 	Source of Greek, Syriac and Arabic. A Survey of Some Unexploited Sources.
Dr. Stephanie Dalley (University of Oxford): The Gilgamesh Epic and Manichaean Themes.
Prof. Sidney H. Griffith (Catholic University of America): The Apologetic Treatise of 	Nonnus of Nisibis.
Dr. Johannes den Heijer (University of Leiden): Syriacisms in the Arabic Version of Aristotle's 	Historia Animalium.
Dr. Bo Holmberg (University of Lund): The Trinitarian Terminology of Israel of Kashkar (d. 	872).
Mr. Robert Hoyland (University of Oxford): Arabic, Syriac and Greek Historiography in the 	First Abbasid Century: An Inquiry into Inter-Cultural Traffic.
Dr. Shamil Kubba (Jordan): Origins of the Islamic City.
Prof. Wilferd Madelung (University of Oxford): Al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim and Christian 	Theology.
Prof. Michael Morony (University od California.L.A.): The Aramaean Population in the 	Economic Life of Early Islamic Iraq.
Dr. Henri Hugonnard-Roche (C.N.R.S. Paris): Contributions Syriaques aux Etudes Arabes de 	Logique � l'Epoque Abbasside.
Dr. Samir Khalil Samir (Universit� St Joseph-Beyrouth): Un Trait� Perdu de Hunayn ibn 	Ishaq Retrouv� dans la "Somme" d'Ibn al-`Assal.
Prof. Irfan Shahid (Georgetown University): In Memoriam: Metropolitan Gregorius Bulus 	Behnam, 1916-1969.
Dr. Gotthard Strohmaier (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum, Berlin): Hunain ibn Ishaq - an 	Arab Scholar Translating into Syriac.
Dr. Sarah Stroumsa (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): The Impact of Syriac Tradition on 	Early Judaeo-	Arabic Bible Exegesis.
Dr. Mauro Zonta (University of Pavia): Ibn al-Tayyib, Zoologist and Hunayn ibn Ishaq's 	Revision of Aristotle's De Animalibus - New Evidence from the Hebrew Tradition.

Contents of Volume 4, 1992, (Proceedings of the Second International of ARAM: The Decapolis - Oxford University):
Prof. David Graf (University of Miami): Hellenisation and the Decapolis.
Dr. Martin Goodman (University of Oxford): Jews in the Decapolis.
Dr. W. Harold Mare (Covenant Theological Seminary-USA): Abila: a Thriving Greco-Roman 	city of the Decapolis.
Dr. Robert Wenning (University of M�nster): Nabataeans in the Decapolis/Coele Syria.
Dr. Ali Zeyadeh (Birzeit University): Urban Transformation in the Decapolis cities of 	Jordan.
Dr. Gideon Foerster & Prof. Yoram Tsafrir (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Nysa-	Scythopolis in the Roman period: `a Greek city of Coele Syria` - Evidence from the 	excavations at Bet-Shean.
Dr. Maurice Sartre (Fran�ois Rabelais University): Les cit�s de D�capole septentrionale: 	Canatha, Raphana, Dion et Ahadra.
Dr. Michael Fuller & Mrs Neathery Fuller (St Louis Community College-USA): Regional 	Survey and ethnoarcharological investigations at Abila.
Dr. Pau Figuras (Ben-Gurion University): The Roman worship of Athena-Allat in the 	Decapolis and the Negev.
Mr. Jacques Seigne (IFAPO-Amman): A l'ombre de Zeus et d'Artemis, Gerasa de la �capole.
Dr. Robert H. Smith (College of Wooster-USA): Some pre-Chritian religions at Pella of he 	Decapolis.
Dr. Robert W. Smith (Miami University): Secondary use of the necropoleis of the Decapolis.
Dr. Dominique Tarrier (Yarmouk University): La n�cropole de Yasileh et les tombeaux du 	nord de la Jordanie.
Dr. Zeidoun al-Muheisen (Yarmouk University): Le site de Yasileh et la D�capole.
Dr. Margaret O'Hea (University of Adelaide): The glass industry of the Decapolis.
Mr. Julian Bowsher (Museum of London): Civic organisation within the Decapolis.
Dr. Yizhar Hirschfeld & Dr. Erez Cohen (Israel Antiquities Authority): The reconstruction of 	the Roman baths at Hammath Gader.
Dr. Leah di Segni (Hebrew University): Greek inscriptions of the bath-house in Hammath 	Gader.
Dr. John D. Wineland (Miami University): Archaeological and numismatic evidence for the 	Political structure and Greco-Roman religions of the Decapolis, with particular 	emphasis on Gerasa & Abila.
Prof. Alan Walmsley (University of Sidney): Vestiges of the Decapolis in orth Jordan during 	the Late Antique and Early Islamic periods.
Dr. Willard W. Winter (Cincinati Bible College and Seminary): A Byzantine basilica at Abila.
Dr. Karel J. Vriezen (University of Utrecht): The centralised church in Umm Qais (andcient 	Gadara).
Mr. Robert Guin�e & Miss. Nicole Mulder (University of Utrecht): Survey of the Terrace and 	western theatre area in Umm Qais.
Miss. Susanne Kerner (German Protetant Institute of Archaeology): Umm Qais-Gadara: 	recent excavations.
Dr. Esti Dvorjetzki (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Medicinal hot springs in Eretz-Israel 	and the Decapolis during the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.

Contents of Volume 5, 1993, (A Festschrift for Dr Sebastian P. Brock):
Prof. Luise Abramowski (University of T�bingen): Die Reste der syrischen �bersetzung von 	Theodor von Mopsuestia, De Incarnatione, in add 14669.
Dr. Micheline Albert (Universit� de Sorbonne): Lettre de Gr�goire de Nysse � son fr�re 	Pierre d'Ann�si-S�baste.
Dr. David Bundy (Christian Theological Seminary-USA): Revising the Diatessaron against the 	Manichaeans: Ephrem of Syria on John 1:4.
Dr. James T. Clemons (Wesley Theological Seminary-USA): Syriac Studies in the United 	States: 1783-1900.
Dr. J F Coakley (Harvard University): Yaroo M Neesan, `a missionary to his own people'.
Dr. Johann Cook (University of Stellenbosch): Syriac studies in South Africa.
Dr. Peter S. Cowe (Columbia University): Philoxenus of Mabbug and the Synod of 	Manazkert.
Prof. Han J. W. Drijvers (Groningen University): New Syriac inscriptions.
Dr. Michel van Esbroeck (University of Munich): Les versions syriaques du Panegirique de 	Gr�goire le Thaumaturge.
Dr. Jean-Marie Fiey (Universit� St Joseph-Beyrout): L'imprimerie des Dominicains de 	Mossoul 1860-1914.
Dr. Fran�ois Graffin (Paris): Adresses d'un sup�rieur de monast�re � ses fr�res.
Prof. Sidney H Griffith (Catholic University of Beirut): Henri Hyvernat (1858-1941) and the 	beginning of of Syriac Studies at the Catholic University of America.
Prof. Andr� de Halleux (Universit� de Louvain): L'annonciation � Marie dans le commentaire 	syriaque du Diatessaron.
Prof. Susan Harvey (Brown University): The memory and meaning of a saint: two homilies on 	Simeon Stylites.
Dr. Bo Holmberg (Lund University): Syriac studies in Sweden.
Dr. Erica Hunter (Cambridge University): A scroll amulet from Kurdistan.
Mr. Konrad Jenner (Rijks University-Leiden): A review of the methods by which Syriac 	biblical and related manuscripts have been described and analysed.
Dr. Hubert Kaufhold (University of Munich): �ber Datum und Schreiber der Handschrift 	Vaticanus Syriacus 51.
Dr. David J. Lane (College of the Resurrection-England): Admonition and analogy: 13 	chapters from Shubhalmaran.
Prof. Michael Lattke (University of Queensland-Australia): Die griechischen W�rter im 	syrischen Text der Oden Salomos.
Dr. Kathleen McVey (Princeton University): The sogitha on the Church of Edessa in the 	context of other early Greek and Syriac Hymns for the consecration of Church 	buildings.
Dr. Dana Miller (Harvard University): George, bishop of the Arab tribes, on true philosophy.
Dr. Robert Murray (London University): It was springtime': the source of Jerome's rendering 	of a phrase in Genesis 35:16 and 48:7.
Dr. Andrew Palmer (University of London): `A lyre without a voice': the poetics and the 	politics of Ephrem the Syrian.
Dr. Martin G. F. Parmentier Hilversum-Holland): Pseudo-Gregory of Nyssa's homily on 	poverty.
Prof. Paul-Hubert Poirier (Universit� Laval-Qu�bec): Note sur un mot des Actes de Thomas.
Dr. Gerrit D. Reinink (Rijks University-Leiden): Pseudo-Ephraems `Rede �ber das Ende' und 	die Syrische eschatologische Literatur des siebenten Jahrhunderts.
Dr. Fr�d�ric Rilliet (Universit� de G�n�ve): Une victime du tournant des �tudes syriaques � la 	fin du XIXe si�cle. R�trospective sur Jaques de Saroug dans la science occidentale.
Prof. Lucas van Rompay (Rijks University-Leiden): Memories of paradise. The Greek `Life of 	Adam and Eve' and early Syriac tradition.
Dr. Alison Salvesen (Oxford University): Spirits in Jacob's revision of Samuel.
Prof. Irfan Shah�d (Georgetown University): The restoration of the Ghassanid Dynasty, AD 	587: Dionysius of Tellmahre.
Dr. Robert Taft (Oriental Institute-Rome): Some structural problems in the Syriac Anaphora 	of the Twelve Apostles I.
Dr. Martin Tamcke (Phillips University-Germany): Die Konfessionsfrage bei den lutherischen 	Nestorianen.
Dr. Jacob Vellian (St Ephrem Institute-India): The early Syriac manuscripts of the Qurbana of 	Malabar (a historical survey concerning their impact on Malabar liturgy).
Dr. John Watt (University of Wales): The Syriac reception of Platonic and Aristotelian 	rhetoric.
Prof. Gabriele Winkler (University of T�bingen): Neue �berlegungen zur Entstehung des 	Epiphaniefests.
Dr. Witold Witakowsi (University of Uppsala): The division of the Earth between the 	descendants of Noah in Syriac tradition.
Dr. Ugo Zanetti (Universit� de Louvain): Projet d'une Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca.

Volume 6, 1994: (Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference: The Arab-Byzantine-Syriac Culture Interchange during the Umayyad Era in Syria (Bilad al-Sham) - Oxford University):
Dr. Michael Bates (The American Numismatic Society): Byzantine coinage and its 	imitations, Byzantine coinage and its imitations: Arab-Byzantine coinage.
Dr. Monica Blanchard (Catholic University of America): The Georgian version of the 	martyrdom of St Michael, monk of Mar Sabas monastery.
Dr. Lawrence Conrad (Wellcome Institute): Did Walid I found the first Muslim hospital?
Prof. Han Drijvers (University of Groningen): The testament of our Lord. Jacob of 	Edessa's response to Islam.
Dr. Pau Figueras (Ben-Gurion University): The impact of the Islamic conquest on the 	Christian communities of the Third Palestine.
Dr. Michael Fuller (St Louis Community College-USA): Continuity and cultural interchange 	at Tell Tuneinir, Syria.
Prof. Sidney Griffith (Catholic University of America): Michael, the Martyr and monk of Mar 	Sabas monastery, at the court of Caliph 'Abd al-Malik: Christian apologetics.
Dr. Claus-Peter Haase (Kiel University): Is madinat al-Far - in the Balikh region of northern 	Syria - an Umayyad foundation?
Mr. Robert Hoyland (Oxford University): The correspondence between Leo III (717-741) and 	'Umar II (717-720).
Dr. Geoffrey Khan (Cambridge University): The pre-Islamic background of Muslim legal 	formularies.
Dr. W. Harold Mare (Covenant Theological Seminary-USA): The Christian church of Abila of 	the Decapolis and the Yarmouk Valley System in the Umayyad period.
Mr. W. Andrew Oddy (British Museum): The earliest Umayyad coinage of Gerasa and 	Scythopolis.
Dr. Andrew Palmer (London University): Two Jacobite bishops, Theodotus (d. 698) and 	Simeon (d. 734), and their relations with the Umayyad authorities.
Dr. Steven A Rosen (Ben-Gurion University): Israel The nomadic periphery: archaeology of 	pastoralists in the south central Negev during Late Antiquity.
Prof. Daniel Sahas (University of Waterloo): Cultural interaction during the umayyad period: 	the `circle' of John of Damascus.
Dr. Elizabeth Savage (London): Iraqi christian links with an early Islamic sect.
Prof. Irfan Shah�d (Georgetown University): The Umayyad ajnad: Byzance apr�s Byzance.
Prof. Ahmad Shboul (University of Sydney): Umayyad Damascus: notes on its population and 	culture based on Ibn `Asakir's History.
Mr. Claude Vibert-Guigue (IFAPO-Amman): Le projet franco-jordanien de relev� des 	peintures de Quseir `Amra.
Dr. Pamela Watson (British Institute of Archaology-Amman): Pictorial painting on pottery 	and its demise in the mid-7th century AD: the case of the Jerash bowls.
Dr. Donald Whitcomb (University of Chicago): Were there amsar in Syria?
	Miscellaneous:
Dr. Sebastian P. Brock (Oxford University): Andr� de Halleux's contributions to Syriac 	studies.
Prof. Abraham Negev (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Khaznet fira'un at Petra - 	iconoclasm Nabataean. style.

Contents of Volume 7, 1995 (Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference of ARAM: Palmyra - Oxford University).
Dr. Khaled Asaad (Department of Antiquities-Palmyra): Restoration work at Palmyra.
Dr. Marek Baranski (University of Warsaw): The great colonnade of Palmyra reconsidered.
Dr. Fran�oise Briquel-Chatonnet (Coll�ge de France): Un crat�re palmyr�nien inscrit: 	nouveau document sur la vie religieuse des palmyr�niens.
Prof. Malcolm A.R. Colledge (University of London): Palmyrene funerary iconography in its 	Greek and Roman contexts.
Dr. Valentina Columbo (University of Milano): Nabataeans and Palmyreans: an analysis of 	the Tell el-Shuqafiyye inscriptions.
Dr. Eleonora Cussini (University of Bologna-Italy): Transfer of property at Palmyra.
Dr. Stephanie Dalley (University of Oxford): Bel at Palmyra, Apamea, and Assur.
Prof. Han J. W. Drijvers (University of Groningen): Inscriptions from Allat's Sanctuary.
Prof. Michael Gawlikowski (University of Warsaw): News from Palmyra: Current Work and 	Perspectives of Research.
Dr. David Graf (Miami University): Safaitic inscriptions at Palmyra.
Prof. Delbert R. Hillers (John Hopkins University): Palmyrene Aramaic: Lexical and 	grammatical notes.
Dr. Saito Kiyohide (The Nara International Foundation-Japan): Excavation at Southeast 	Necropolis in Pamyra from 1990 to 95.
Dr. Mohammed Maraqten (Marburg/Lahn University): Arabic words in Palmyrene 	inscriptions.
Dr. W. Harold Mare (Covenant Theological Seminary-USA):: Abila and Palmyra: Ancient trade routes from southern Syria into Mesopotamia.
Dr. Gerald Mattingly (Johnson Bible College): The Palmyrene luxury trade and Revelation 	18: 12-13 - a neglected analogue.
Dr. Antoni Ostrasz (Warsaw University): The urban growth of Palmyra seen from Jerash.
Prof. Klaus Parlasca (Universit�t Erlangen-N�rnberg): Probleme der Palmyrischen Kunst.
Dr. Palmira Piersimoni (Italy): A Palmyrene prosography: Methodological Problems.
Dr. Andreas Schmidt-Colinet (University of Bern): Textiles and the quarries of Palmyra.
Dr. Jacques Seigne (IFAPO-Amman): The peribolos of the temple of Bel.
Dr. Annemarie Stauffer (Fachhochschule K�ln): Eastern and Western Fashion - 	Reconstruction and Analysis of  Palmyrene garments.
Dr. Dominique Tarrier (Yarmouk University-Jordan): Banquets culturels palmyr�niens et 	nabat�ens.
Dr. J�rgen Tubach (Martin-Luther Universit�t-Germany): Das Akitu-Fest in Palmyra.
Prof. Ernest Will (Institut de France-Paris): Architecture locale et architecture imp�riale � 	Palmyre.
Prof. Andrzej Zaborski (Warsaw University): Notes on Palmyrean language.

Contents of Volume 8, 1996 (Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference of ARAM: Trade Routes in the Near East: Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Times - Oxford University):
Dr. Hamad M. Bin Seray (United Arab Emirates University): Spasinu Charax and its 	commercial Relations with the East through the Arabian Gulf.
Prof. John Carswell (Islamic Department-London): All at Sea: Recent Research in the Indian 	Ocean.
Drs. Lucida Dirven (University of Leiden): A possible trade connection between Dura-	Europos and Palmyra.
Dr. J. M. Frayn (University of London): Aspects of Trade on the Judaean Coast in the 	Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Dr. John F. Healey (University of Manchester): Palmyra and the Arabian Gulf  trade.
Prof. Michael Gawlikowski (University of Warsaw): The Euphrates Route between Syria and 	Mesopotamia.
Dr. David F. Graf (University of Miami): The Silk Road in Late Antiquity.
Dr. Amos Kloner (Israel Antiquities Authority): Stepped Roads in Roman Palestine.
Dr. Marlia Mundell Mango (University of Oxford): Byzantine Trade with the East.
Dr. Mohammed Maraqten (Marburg/Lahn University- Germany): Dangerous Trade Routes: 	On the Plundering of Caravans in the Ancient Near East.
Dr. Gerald Mattingly (Johnson Bible College-USA): The King�s Highway, the Desert 	Highway, and Central Jordan�s  Kerak.
Dr. Leo Mildenberg (University of Zurich): Petra on the Frankincense Road? - Again.
Prof. A.S. Al-Azzawi (Jordan University of Science and Technology): Khayyan el-Mushref 	between the Trade Routes.
Prof. Avraham Negev (Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Oboda - A Major Nabataean 	Caravan Halt.
Dr. Sarit H. Oked (Ben Gurion University of the Negev): Patterns of the Transport Amphora 	at Ostrakine during the 6th and 7th Century.
Dr. Andrew Palmer (University of London): The Routes of Pilgrims to Jerusalem.
Dr. Mohammad A. R. Al-Thenayian (King Saud University-Riyadh): The Yemeni Highland 	Pilgrim Route between San�a and Mecca.
Dr. Alo�s van Tongerloo (University of Leuven): The Three Magi wandering Eastward.
Dr. Donald Whitcomb (Chicago University): The Darb Zubayda: An Abbasid trade route and 	its settlements across Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Fawzi Zeyadine (Department of Antiquities-Amman): The Spices and Silk Routes in 	Transjordan in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Prof. Nicola A. Ziadeh (American University of Beirut): External Trade of Bilad al-Sham 	under the Early Abbasids.

Contents of Volume 9, 1997 (Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of ARAM: Who were or are the Aramaeans? - Harvard University)
Prof. Peter Machinist (Harvard University): The emergence of Aramaic popular literature in the first millennium BCE.
Prof. Paul E. Dion (University of Toronto): Aramean royal courts and civilian structures of 	authority.
Prof. Han Drijvers (University of Groningen): 
Prof. Hartmut K�hne (Freie Universit�t Berlin): The Arameans on the Lower Habur, 1000 - 	500 BC.
Dr. Stephen J. Bourke (University of Sydney): The archaeology of Gilead and the Aramean 	presence in north Jordan: recent research at Pella in Jordan.
Prof. Stephen Cole (Harvard University): The early history of the Arameans in Iraq.
Dr. Stephen Grosby (Villanova University): `rm klh: a nation of ARAM?
Prof. John Huehnergard (Harvard University): What is Aramaic?
Prof. Stephen Kaufman (Hebrew Union College-USA): What isn�t Aramaic? a 	lexicographer�s dilemma.
Dr. Chul Bae (Harvard University): Aramaic as a lingua franca in the Ancient Near East.
Prof. Oktor Skjaervo (Harvard University): Aramaic `heterograms� in Iranian scribal 	traditions.
Dr. Yona Sabar (University of California at L.A.): Parallel features of development in Jewish 	neo-Aramaic and modern Israeli Hebrew.
Dr. Erica C.D. Hunter (Cambridge University): Aramaic-speaking communities of Sasanid 	Mesopotamia.
Dr. Victoria Erhart (Dumbarton Oaks): The Arameans of the 6th - 8th Centuries CE.
Dr. Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley: Mandeans in the USA today: the tenacity of traditions.

ARAM Forthcoming Conferences:
The Mamluks in Bilad al-Sham: History and Archaeology, 1-4 April 1997 (American University of Beirut-Lebanon)
ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies is organising its Eighth International Conference on the subject of The Mamluks in Bilad al-Sham: History and Archaeology, to be held at the American University of Beirut (Lebanon), on 1-4 April 1997. Scholars are invited to study the Mamluk pottery, architecture, heritage management, numismatics, biographical dictionaries, military system, hospitals and educational institutions, Islamic jurisprudence, and the Muslim-Christian relations after the defeat of the Crusaders.
If you wish to give a paper, please indicate the title and return to our Oxford address. All papers given at the conference will be published in a future edition of ARAM Periodical, subject to editorial review.
If you know of colleagues who might like to contribute to the conference, please add their names and addresses.

Apameia and its Cultural Context: July 14-17, 1997 (Oxford University)
ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies is organising a series of conferences on Greek and Syriac in Late Antique Syria, and its Ninth International Conference will study the theme of Apameia and its Cultural Context, July 14-17, 1997 at Oxford University.
Although the focus of attention will be on Apameia, proposals of papers on other localities in Northern Syria West of the Euphrates (but excluding Antioch), which deal with the interaction of Greek and Syriac, will also be welcome.
If you wish to deliver a paper, please indicate the title and return to our Oxford address. All papers given at the conference will be published in a future edition of the ARAM Periodical, subject to editorial review.
If you know of colleagues who might like to contribute to the conference, please add their names and addresses.

Aramaic-Syriac-Greek-Arabic Cultural Interchange in the Arab Peninsula: 13-15 July, 1998 (Oxford University)

Transmission and Innovation: Scientific and technological thought in Syro-Mesopotamian area, 1000 BC - 1000 AD. 12-14 July 1999 (Oxford University).

Edessa and the East of the Euphrates, July 2000 (Oxford University).

Antioch and the West of the Euphrates, July 2001 (Oxford University).


ARAM PERIODICAL: Subscription
ARAM publishes a bi-annual periodical, one volume in two issues, in which the Conference talks along with many other related articles on the Syro-Mesopotamian civilisations appear. The dimensions of ARAM Periodical are 23.58 cm x 16.57 cm and each volume contains approximately 450 pages. ARAM Periodical is a refereed journal, supervised by an editorial board which reserves the full right to select scholarly articles for publication. See Periodical contents above. All manuscripts for publication should be sent to our Oxford address: ARAM, The Oriental Institute, Oxford University, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE, England. Tel. 44-1865-514041; Fax 44-1865-516824. Our direct E.Mail number is: 100753.3143@compuserve. com, you can also use our University E.Mail number: aram@vax.oxford.ac.uk
If you would like to be subscribed to our ARAM periodical, please complete the form below and send it to our Publisher: Peeters, 153 Bondgenotelaan, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium, Telephone 32-16-235170; Fax 32-16-228500. Cheques should be made payable to Peeters and sent with your subscription form.
Please complete in block capitals:

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Subscription Rates: $50.00 Yearly Rates.
I have paid $ ................ as my subscription to ARAM Periodical for 1996 by cheque.
Subscriptions can be accepted for one complete year only. Prices include surface delivery.


ARAM FELLOWSHIP
"There shall be two classes of Membership in the ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian/Fertile Crescent Studies. There shall be a category of Membership known as `Fellowship Members', which shall consist of any member of the general public who has an interest in Syro-Mesopotamian studies, and who pays the dues established for this category on a regular basis and is otherwise in good standing with the Society. There shall also be a category of Membership known as `Academic Members', which shall consist of professors, teachers and other scholars in the field of Syro-Mesopotamian studies, who pay the dues established for this category on a regular basis and are otherwise in good standing with the Society. Except as otherwise noted, any reference herein to the `Members' shall refer to the total of Fellowship Members plus Academic Members, without distinguishing between these two classes." (Constitution of ARAM, Section 1).
Any person over the age of 18 who is in sympathy with the objectives of ARAM may apply in writing to the Central Committee for membership of the Fellowship of ARAM; and as an academic society, ARAM gives in its constitution a special privilege to its Academic Members, whose agreement on any decision at the Annual Meeting is final and binding. Every member should be aware of the academic non-political identity of ARAM, which "has the right to terminate a person's membership if that person in the reasonable opinion of the Central Committee either: uses the Society for any political purpose; does not respect the non- denominational or inter-religious identity of the Society; behaves indecently or immorally at the meetings of the Society; or uses his or her membership in the Society or the name of the Society for any commercial or financial profit or benefit." (Constitution of ARAM, Section 1).
Every member of the Fellowship is required to attend the Annual Meeting of the Society to be held during the yearly Conference of the Society, or as the Central Committee of ARAM may designate. A member of ARAM has also the right to attend all meetings of the Fellowship and should take part in their decisions and activities.
Benefits of membership are free subscription to the ARAM Newsletter and reduced admission fees for all ARAM activities.
Please complete the form below and send it to the ARAM address at Oxford University: ARAM, The Oriental Institute, Oxford University, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE, England. Tel. 44-1865-514041; Fax 44-1865-516824. Our direct E.Mail number is: 100753.3143@ compuserve.com, you can also use our University E.Mail number: aram@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Cheques should be made payable to ARAM and sent with your subscription form. Alternatively, payment can be made direct to ARAM, in which case proof of payment should be sent with your subscription form: ARAM, Lloyds Bank, High Street, Oxford OX1 4AA, England, Account Number 0425927, Sort Code 30-96-35. For the American Continent only: payment can be made direct to: ARAM, Shawmut Bank, Branch Number 020-0556, Account Number 05-0129-5961, Bank�s address: 515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ARAM is a registered charity in the UK and has tax-exempt status in the USA.

Please complete in block capitals:

Name: ......................................................................................................................................
Address: ..................................................................................................................................
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Date: .........................................................Signature...............................................................
For Academic members only:
Your University/Academic institution:..................................................................................
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Your academic title:..................................................................................................................

Subscription Rates
Non-Students:    $30.00/�20.00�Yearly Rates
Students:            $22.00/�15.00�Yearly Rates

I have paid $/� ............... as my subscription to the ARAM Fellowship for 1996 by cheque/ direct to Lloyds Bank (UK)/direct to Shawmut Bank (USA). (Delete as appropriate).
Once the subscription is paid to ARAM Society, money cannot be refunded in case of subscription cancellation.


BOARD OF PATRONS
The ARAM Society is financed primarily by benefactors whose regular or occasional donations are used towards the Society's expenses. However, there is always a shortfall, especially now that we have to cover the expenses of two branches, in Oxford and in Harvard. ARAM would appeal to all supporters of its aims to provide financial and moral assistance, in order to enable it to continue its cultural mission. This mission is making daily progress throughout the world, and naturally entails an increase in expenditure. We are ready to provide any person who is interested in helping ARAM with a detailed report of our expenditures and financial needs. ARAM is establishing a tradition whereby its projects are linked with the names of their benefactors. For example, the Centre which we aim to buy for the ARAM Society in Oxford or in Harvard will be named after its benefactor(s) in order to show that ARAM is a gift from its friends to the world of culture. Therefore, those who wish to help ARAM are invited to join the Board of Patrons which aims to support ARAM financially and morally in its cultural mission. Patrons are welcome from anywhere in the world; they are patrons of ARAM Society as a whole, not of one branch in particular. Membership of the Board of Patrons is held for each calendar year and extended with the agreement of both the benefactor and the Central Committee of ARAM. The Board meets officially once a year, on the inaugural day of the annual conference, either in Oxford or in Harvard. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the accounts and the Board's contribution to the financial needs of ARAM for the coming year.
The minimum cost of membership is $200 per month or $2400 annually. Members of the Board of Patrons are honorary members of the Fellowship of ARAM, and the Central Committee of the Society will maintain regular contacts with every member in order to inform them about the activities of ARAM and the ways in which money is used to finance ARAM projects.
Cheques should be made payable to ARAM and sent together with the subscription form to the ARAM address at Oxford University: ARAM, The Oriental Institute, Oxford University, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE, England. Tel. 44-1865-514041; Fax 44-1865-516824. Our direct E.Mail number is: 100753.3143@compuserve.com; you can also use our University E.Mail number: aram@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Alternatively, payment can be made direct to ARAM, in which case proof of payment should be sent with your subscription form: ARAM, Lloyds Bank, High Street, Oxford OX1 4AA, England, Account Number 0425927, Sort Code 30-96-35. For the American Continent only: payment can be made direct to: ARAM, Shawmut Bank, Branch Number 020-0556, Account Number 05-0129-5961, Bank�s address: 515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. ARAM is a registered charity in the UK and has tax-exempt status in the USA.

Please complete in block capitals:

Name: ......................................................................................................................................
Address: ..................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................
City:.......................................................... Postcode:...............................................................
Country:.....................................................Telephone:.............................................................
Fax:............................................................E.Mail:...................................................................
Date: .........................................................Signature...............................................................

I would like to become a member of the Board of Patrons and will pay to ARAM: $/� ........................  Monthly [  ] Yearly [  ] as my subscription to the Board of Patrons for 1996 by cheque/direct to Shawmut Bank (USA)/direct to Lloyds Bank (UK).
(Delete as appropriate).

Non-Members: Benefactors
If you wish to help ARAM occasionally but do not want to become a Patron please write your name and address on the form above and fill in the section below, then send the counterfoil to the ARAM address at Oxford University.
I would like to make a gift of $/� ..........................  to ARAM on this occasion, but I do not want to be a Patron. I am paying by cheque/direct to Shawmut Bank (USA)/direct to Lloyds Bank (UK). (Delete as appropriate).

��ࡱ�, on the Decapolis, and the sixth, on Palmyra, are a result of the geographical definition of ARAM. But the second, the fourth and fifth conferences reflect the interest of ARAM in Aramaic culture. ARAM believes that the Syro-Mesopotamian civilisations possess their own unique cultural features which have continued to exist throughout history. Therefore, ARAM intends to bring out those cultural links which unite the different Syro-Mesopotamian cultures and to show the continuity of cultural tradition in the Fertile Crescent.
ARAM is planning to publish books in collaboration with researchers and scholars in both Arabic and European languages about Syro- Mesopotamian cultures and will also be instrumental in publishing new texts and translations to encourage the spread of knowledge. ARAM also intends to publish an Arabic edition of the ARAM periodical so that Syro-Mesopotamian people may read it in their own tongue.
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HISTORY AND IDENTITY
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��% Oxford University, where the new society found wide backing from the Oriental Institute and its staff. In 1989 the first volume of ARAM Periodical was published, and the first ARAM International Conference was held, on the subject of the Nabataeans and Petra, gathering over 70 scholars from various Western and Middle Eastern universities. In 1990 the papers of the Nabataeans conference were published in Volume 2 of ARAM Periodical and they constitute the latest word of academic experts on this topic. In 1991 the Second International Conference of ARAM was organised on the subject of the Syriac and Arab cultures during the Abbasid era in Iraq, and its papers have been published in Volume 3 of the periodical. The same year, 1991, saw major changes: Dr AbouZayd set up ARAM Society in the United States of America, basing it at Harvard University, where he found encouragement and a warm welcome from the teaching staff of the Near Eastern Department. The Third International Conference of ARAM, held in September 1992, was on the subject of the Decapolis, the largest ever meeting on this topic. Around 65 scholars assembled to study the history and the identity of the Decapolis during the time of the Roman empire in Syria. From 1994 onwards the ARAM International Conferences will be held at regular intervals at Harvard University as well as at Oxford University on different subjects related to the Syro-Mesopotamian civilisations. See more details about ARAM Periodical and Conferences below.
ARAM draws its name from Aramaic, which was a focal point of Ancient Syro-Mesopotamian cultures. However, ARAM does not confine itself solely to Aramaic culture, but attempts to deal with all cultures of the geographical area influenced by Aramaic culture, i.e. the Syro-Mesopotamian region, or the so-called Fertile Crescent. Consequently, ARAM aims to study any subject related to Syro-Mesopotamian cultures, from the beginning of history up until the present time. In this respect, the first ARAM conference, on the Nabataeans, the third, on the Decapolis, and the sixth, on Palmyra, are a result of the geographical definition of ARAM. But the second, the fourth and fifth conferences reflect the interest of ARAM in Aramaic culture. ARAM believes that the Syro-Mesopotamian civilisations possess their own unique cultural features which have continued to exist throughout history. Therefore, ARAM intends to bring out those cultural links which unite the different Syro-Mesopotamian cultures and to show the continuity of cultural tradition in the Fertile Crescent.
ARAM is planning to publish books in collaboration with researchers and scholars in both Arabic and European languages about Syro- Mesopotamian cultures and will also be instrumental in publishing new texts and translations to encourage the spread of knowledge. ARAM also intends to publish an Arabic edition of the ARAM periodical so that Syro-Mesopotamian people may read it in their own tongue.
ARAM's cultural mission for the Syro- Mesopotamian area is also a mission of peace and brotherh
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