Ancient Language Used by Jesus (Aramaic) Still Spoken in Syrian Village

Ma'aloula is a tranquil village of clay houses and stone grottos in Syria, a few miles off the heavily traveled main road between Damascus and Aleppo.

The 5,000 residents of Ma'aloula are among the 18,000 speakers of Aramaic, the ancient Semitic language that Jesus used to preach to the apostles, according to the Edmonton Journal website. Aramaic is also spoken in two smaller villages near Ma'aloula, and in isolated communities in Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.

One of the ironies of Ma'aloula is that by a margin of nearly two to one, more Muslims than Christians still speak the language of Christ, although churches outnumber mosques by eight to two. The Christians of Ma'aloula are divided between Greek Catholic believers and those who follow the Greek Orthodox teachings.

True to Christ's teachings -- and unlike most of the world -- the various faiths in Ma'aloula have generally gotten along well for many centuries.