Aramaic is the native name of a language that first manifests itself in inscriptions in Syria early in the 1st millennium B.C. but that in subsequent centuries, during the period of the Assyrian and Persian empires, was widespread throughout the Near East and is found as far afield as Egypt, Cilicia, and Iran. Aramaic served as a language of public life and administration of ancient kingdoms and empires, and also as a language of divine worship and religious study.