After Jerusalem fell to Babylon, Israelite populations moved through and remained in the Aramean/Syrian corridor between the land of Israel and Mesopotamia. This corridor was not a peripheral zone; it was the main overland passage connecting imperial capitals, provincial cities, caravan routes, and older Aramaic-speaking settlements.

Communities in this region preserved Yahwistic practice while adapting to Aramaic language, imperial administration, and mixed urban settings. Their closest trunk connection is Exilic Yahwism: covenant identity after temple loss, forced migration, and resettlement. Later eastern and northern Levantine continuities grow out of this same geographic bridge.