IN RECONSTRUCTING CHRISTIAN HISTORY, Bible scholars have relied almost exclusively on piecing together archaeological bits from a dead past. That is, until rather recently. With the discovery a little over 70 years ago of remote Christian villages in the area that is now Kurdish Iraq, researchers realized they had an accessible, living source from which to understand the culture and language of the Christian Bible.
As it turned out, these village dwellers still lived a life whose customs and language were preserved from the time of the Bible. What is more, they spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
These Biblical customs and language were Bible translator George M. Lamsa's heritage. Born and raised in one such Christian village in northern Syria, he grew up reading the Peshitta, an Aramaic version of the Bible that dates back to at least the fifth century. After moving to the United States following World War I, Lamsa translated from the Aramaic of the Peshitta into English. The result was Lamsa's Holy Bible from the Ancient Eastern Text.
