Western Neo-Aramaic

Western Neo-Aramaic (autonymously Aramyt or Sūret) is the last surviving Western Aramaic language, spoken by around 3,000 people in the village of Maaloula and two adjacent villages of Bakhah and Jubb'adin in the Anti-Lebanon mountains of Syria, north of Damascus. It is a direct descendant of the dialect of Aramaic spoken by Jesus Christ in 1st-century Palestine — the closest living language to Jesus' native tongue. The Maaloula population is overwhelmingly Christian (Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox), with the language having been preserved through religious-community isolation in the rocky mountain valleys. The 2013-14 Syrian War battle of Maaloula severely disrupted the speech community: many speakers were displaced or killed, religious sites were destroyed, and the village remained partially evacuated for years. Post-war revival efforts include the Maaloula Aramaic Language Academy and Damascus University Aramaic Studies department.