Imperial Aramaic

Meanings

1. The chronolect of the Aramaic language (mid-8th century–late 4th century BCE), intermediate between Old Aramaic and Middle Aramaic, that was used as a language of public life and administration in the late Neo-Assyrian Empire (from the reign of King Tiglath-Pileser III [r. 745–727 BCE] onward), the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and the Achaemenid Empire, until the latter’s conquest by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE.
2. The Imperial Aramaic of the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE) only.

Etymology

Designated imperial for the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and Achaemenid Empires.