Syriac

Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic that became the main literary and liturgical language of many Christian communities in the Near East from the early centuries CE. Syriac-speaking scholars translated and transmitted Greek philosophy and science. Accounts of the Sasanian Empire note their presence at Gundeshapur, and accounts of the Abbasid Caliphate describe the translation of Syriac texts into Arabic as part of Baghdad's great translation movement.