The Assyrian people (originally and most commonly known as Assyrians and other later variants of the name, such as; Syriacs, Atorayeh, Ashuriyun, Assouri, Syriac Christians, ''Suroye/Suryoye'', Chaldo-Assyrians, (see names of Syriac Christians) are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia. They are Eastern Aramaic speaking Semites who trace their ancestry back to the Sumero-Akkadian civilisation that emerged in Mesopotamia circa 3500 BC, and in particular to the northern region of the Akkadian lands, which would become known as Assyria by the 23rd Century BC. The Assyrian nation existed as an independent state, and often a powerful empire, from the 23rd century BC until the end of the 7th century BC. Today that ancient territory is part of several nations; Assyria was ruled as an occupied province under the rule of various empires from the late 7th century BC until the mid 7th century AD when it was dissolved, and the Assyrian people have gradually become a minority in their homelands since that time. They are indigenous to, and have traditionally lived all over Iraq, north east Syria, north west Iran, and the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey.

Many have migrated to the Caucasus, North America, Australia and Europe during the past century or so. Diaspora and refugee communities are based in Europe (particularly Sweden, Great Britain, Denmark, Germany and France), North America, Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia, southern Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan and Jordan.

Emigration was triggered by such events as the Assyrian genocide in the wake of the First World War during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, the Simele massacre in Iraq (1933), the Islamic revolution in Iran (1979), Arab Nationalist Baathist policies in Iraq and Syria, the Al-Anfal Campaign of Saddam Hussein. and to some degree Kurdish nationalist policies in northern Iraq.

The major sub-ethnic division is between an Eastern group ("Assyrian Church of the East" Assyrian "Chaldean Christians", "Syriac Orthodox", and "Ancient Church of the East") indigenous to Iraq, northwest Iran, northeast Syria and southeast Turkey, and a Western one ("Syrian Jacobites").

Most recently the Iraq War has displaced the regional Assyrian community, as its people have faced ethnic and religious persecution at the hands of both Sunni and Shia Islamic extremists and Arab and Kurdish nationalists. Of the one million or more Iraqis reported by the United Nations to have fled, nearly forty percent (40%) are Assyrian, although Assyrians comprise only 3% - 5% of the Iraqi population.

History

The Assyrian people can trace their ethnic and cultural origins to the indigenous population of pre-Islamic and pre-Arab Mesopotamia (in particular Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, Babylon, Mari, Eshnunna, Adiabene, Osroene, Hatra and the province of Assyria under Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman and Sassanid rule, since before the time of the Akkadian Empire.

Mesopotamia was originally dominated by the Sumerians (from 3500 BC) and the native Semites, later to be collectively known as Akkadians lived alongside them. Akkadian ruled city states first appear circa 2800 BC. In the 24th century BC the Akkadians gained domination over the Sumerians under Sargon the Great who founded the worlds first empire. By the 21st century BC the Akkadian Empire had collapsed, and the Akkadians split into essentially two nations; Assyria and some time later, Babylonia, although Babylonia was ruled by non native dynasties for most of its history. According to the Assyrian King List the earliest Assyrian king was a 23rd century BC ruler named Tudiya. Assyria became a strong nation in the 21st and 20th century BC, founding colonies in Asia Minor. In the 19th century BC a new wave of Semites, the Amorites entered Mesopotamia from the west, usurping the thrones of the Akkadian states of Assyria, Isin and Larsa, and founded Babylon as an independent ''City State'' The Amorite rulers turned Assyria into a short lived imperial power from the late 19th century BC until the mid 18th century BC, However, after its fall to Babylon they were driven from Assyria by a king named Adasi in the late 18th Century BC, but eventually blended into the population of Babylonia in the south. By approximately 1800 BC, the Sumerian race appears to have been wholly absorbed by the Semitic Akkadian population. According to the story told in the Book of Genesis, it is around this time that the tribal leader Abraham travelled out of Mesopotamia and became the father of his people, the Hebrews.

Assyria and later Babylon, became major powers. There were further influxes of peoples such as Hurrians, Kassites and Mitanni, the Kassites ruled Babylon for over 500 years, and the Mitanni dominated Assyria for a brief period. The Kassites, like the Amorites before them, seem to have disappeared into the general population in Babylonia, while the Mitanni and Hurrians were overthrown and driven out of Assyria. Assyria then once again became a major imperial power from 1365 BC until 1076 BC, rivalling Egypt.

In the 12th century BC a new influx of Semites from the west took place, with the arrival of the Arameans. The Arameans originally set up small kingdoms within Mesopotamia, but were eventually brought under control and incorporated into Assyria and Babylonia where they were culturally and politically Akkadianized, and they ethnically intermixed and blended in with the native Akkadian population.

It was not until the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-608 BC) and the influx and interbreeding with Aramean tribes that the Assyrians and Babylonians began to speak Aramaic, the language of the Aramaean tribes who had been assimilated into the Assyrian empire and Mesopotamia in the 9th century BC. Mass relocations were enforced by Assyrian kings of the Neo-Assyrian period. During the period of the Neo Assyrian Empire many Israelite Jews were deported to Assyria and a fair proportion of these were absorbed into the general population.

The Neo Assyrian Empire (911 BC - 608 BC) saw a massive expansion of Assyrian power, Assyria became the center of the greatest empire the world had yet seen, with Babylon, Chaldea, Persia, Elam, Media, Gutium, Israel, Judah, Aramea (modern Syria), Phonecia/Canaan, Palestine, Mannea, much of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), the neo Hittite states, Corduene, Egypt, Cyprus, parts of the Caucasus, Dilmun, Samaria, Edom, Nabatea and Arabia brought under Assyrian control, the empire of Urartu defeated and conquered in the Caucasus, the Nubians, Ethiopians and Kushites defeated and driven from Egypt and the Phrygians paying tribute to Assyria.

After the fall of Nineveh

Following the distruction of the Neo Assyrian Empire by 608 BC, the population of the Assyria came under the control of their Babylonian relatives until 539 BC. Ironically Nabonidus, the last king of Babylonia was himself from Assyria. From that time, Assyria as a political and named entity was under Persian Achaemenid, Macedonian, Seleucid, Parthian Arascid, Roman and Sassanid rule for seven centuries undergoing Christianization during this time. Assyria flourished during the Achaemenid period (from 539-323 BC), becoming a major source of manpower for the Achaemenid armies and a breadbasket for the empire, belieing the Biblical assertion that Assyria was both depopulated and devastated. Assyrians are also attested as having important administrative posts within the empire.

The Seleucid empire succeeded that of the Achaemenids in 323 BC, from this point Greek became the official language of the empire at the expense of Mesopotamian Aramaic. The general populace of Assyria were not Hellenised however, as is attested by the survival of native language and religion. The province flourished much as it had under the Achaemenids for the next century, however by the late 3rd century BC Assyria became a battleground between the Seleucid Greeks and the Parthians but remained largely in Greek hands until the reign of Mithridates I when it fell to the Parthians. During the Seleucid period the term ''Assyria'' was altered to read ''Syria'', a Mediterranean form of the original name that had been in use since the 8th or 9th century BC among some western Assyrian colonies. The Seleucid Greeks also named Aramea to the west ''Syria'' (read ''Assyria'') as it had been an Assyrian colony for centuries. When they lost control of Assyria proper (which is northern Mesopotamia, north east Syria and part of south east Anatolia), they retained the name but applied it only to Aramea (i.e. The Levant). This created a situation where both Assyrians and Arameans to the west were referred to as ''Syrians'' by the Greco-Roman civilisations, causing the later Syrian Vs Assyrian naming controversy. It was renamed Assuristan during the Parthian era. The Parthians appeared to have exercised only loose control at times, leading to the virtual resurrection of Assyria with the native kingdom of Adiabene 15 BC to 117AD. Its rulers were converts from Mesopotamian religion to Judaism and later Christianity, and it retained Mesopotamian Aramaic as its spoken tongue.

Adiabene, like the rest of northern Mesopotamia was conquered by Trajan in 117 AD, and the region was named Assyria by the Romans. Christianity, as well as Gnostic sects such as the Sabians and Manicheanism took hold between the 1st and 3rd Centuries AD. The Parthians regained control of the region a few years later, and retained the name Assyria (Assuristan). Other small kingdoms had also sprung up in the region, namely Osrhoene and Hatra, which were Aramaic/Syriac speaking and at least partly Assyrian. Assyrian identity appears to have remained strong, with the 2nd century writer and theologian Tatian stating clearly that he is an Assyrian, as does the satirist Lucian in the same period. Assur itself also appears to have been independent or largely autonomous, with temples being dedicated to the national god of the Assyrians (Ashur) into the second half of the 3rd Century AD, before it was once again destroyed by the invading Sassanids in 256 AD. The Sassanids recognised the land as Assyria, retaining the name Assuristan. Assyrians still seem to have retained a distinct identity and a degree of local autonomy in the Sassanid period, during the 4th century the region around Nineveh was governed by a certain local Assyrian king, who was pointedly named Sennacherib, who established the Mar Behnam monastery in memory of his son. In 341 AD, the Zoroastrian Shapur II ordered the massacre of all Christians in the Persian Empire, most of whom were Assyrians. During the persecution, about 1,150 Christians were martyred under Shapur II. Assyria remained recognised as such by its inhabitants, Sassanid rulers and neighbouring peoples until after the Arab Islamic conquest of the second half of the 7th century AD.

These Assyrians became Christian in the first to third centuries. They were divided by the Nestorian Schism in the fifth century, and from the eighth century, they became both an ethnic minority and a religious minority following the Arab Islamic conquest of Mesopotamia.

Arab conquest

After the Arab Islamic invasion and conquest of the 7th century AD, Assyria as a province was dissolved, but they continued to be referred to as Ashuriyun by the Arabs. Assyrians initially experienced some periods of religious and cultural freedom interspersed with periods of severe religious and ethnic persecution. As heirs to ancient Mesopotamian civilisation, they also contributed hugely to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayads and the Abbasids by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic. They also excelled in philosophy, science and theology ( such as Tatian, Bar Daisan, Babai the Great, Nestorius, Toma bar Yacoub etc.) and the personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrian Christians such as the long serving Bukhtishu dynasty. However, non-Islamic proselyting was punishable by death under Sharia law, which led the Assyrians into preaching in Transoxania, Central Asia, India, Mongolia and China where they established numerous churches. The Church of the East was considered to be one of the major Christian powerhouses in the world, alongside Latin Christianity in Europe and the Byzantine Empire.

From the 7th century AD onwards Mesopotamia saw a steady influx of Arabs, Kurds and other Iranic people, and later Turkic peoples, and those retaining native Mesopotamian culture, identity, language, religion and customs were steadily marginalised and gradually became a minority in their own homeland. This process of marginalisation was largely completed by the massacres of indigenous Assyrian Christians and other non-Muslims in Mesopotamia and its surrounds by Tamerlane the Mongol in the 14th century AD. However, many Assyrian Christians survived the various massacres and pogroms, and resisted the process of ''Arabization'' and ''Islamification'', retaining a distinct Mesopotamian identity, Mesopotamian Aramaic language and written script. The modern Assyrians or Chaldo-Assyrians of today are descendants of the indigenous inhabitants of Mesopotamia, and in particular Assyria, who refused to be converted to Islam or be Arabized.

Culturally, ethnically and linguistically distinct from, although both quite influencing on, and quite influenced by, their neighbours in the Middle East—the Arabs, Persians, Kurds, Turks, Jews and Armenians — the Assyrians have endured much hardship throughout their recent history as a result of religious and ethnic persecution.

Mongol and Turkic rule

The region came under the control of the Mongol empire after the fall of Baghdad in 1258. The Mongol khans were sympathetic with Christians and didn't harm them. The most prominent among them was probably Isa Kelemechi, a diplomat, astrologer, and head of the Christian affairs in the Yuan-held East Asia. He spent some time in Persia under the Ilkhans. The 14th century AD massacres of Timur in particular, devastated the Assyrian people. Timur’s massacres and pillages of all that was Christian drastically reduced their existence. At the end of the reign of Timur, the Assyrian population had almost been eradicated in many places. Toward the end of the thirteenth century, Bar Hebraeus (or Bar-Abraya), the noted Assyrian scholar and hierarch, found “much quietness” in his diocese in Mesopotamia. Syria’s diocese, he wrote, was “wasted.”

The region was later controlled by Turkic tribes such as the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu. Seljuq and Arab emirate sought to extend their rule over the region as well.

Ottoman rule

The Ottomans secured their control over Mesopotamia and Syria in the 16th century. Non-Muslims were organised into millets. Syriac Christians, however, were often considered one millet alongside Armenians until the 19th century, when Nestorian, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldeans gained that right as well.

Hakkari massacre

In 1842 Assyrians living in the mountains of Hakkari in south east Anatolia faced a massive unprovoked attack from Ottoman forces and Kurdish irregulars, which resulted in the death of tens of thousands of unarmed Christian Assyrians.

Hamidian massacres

A major massacre of Assyrians (and Armenians) in the Ottoman Empire occurred between 1894 and 1897 AD by Turkish troops and their Kurdish henchmen during the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The motives for these massacres were an attempt to reassert Pan-Islamism in the Ottoman Empire, resentment at the comparative wealth of the ancient indigenous Christian communities, and a fear that they would attempt to secede from the tottering Ottoman Empire. Assyrians were massacred in Diyarbakir, Hasankeyef, Sivas and other parts of Anatolia, by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. These attacks caused the death of over thousands of Assyrians and the forced "Ottomanisation" of the inhabitants of 245 villages. The Turkish troops looted the remains of the Assyrian settlements and these were later stolen and occupied by Kurds. Unarmed Assyrian women and children were raped, tortured and murdered.

Assyrian genocide

The most significant recent persecution against the Assyrian population was the Assyrian genocide, which occurred at the onset of the First World War (1914-1918 AD). Between 500,000 and 750,000 Assyrians were estimated to have been slaughtered by the armies of the Ottoman Empire and their Kurdish allies, totalling up to two-thirds of the entire population. This led to a large-scale resettlement of Turkish based Assyrian people in countries such as Syria, Iran and Iraq (where they suffered further violent assaults at the hands of the Arabs), as well as other neighbouring countries in and around the Middle East such as Armenia, Republic of Georgia and Russia.

Modern history

Simele massacre

The Simele Massacre was the first of many massacres committed by the Iraqi Government during the systematic targeting of Assyrians of Northern Iraq in August 1933. The term is used to describe not only the massacre of Simele, but also the killing spree that continued among 63 Assyrian villages in the Dohuk and Mosul districts that led to the deaths of an estimated 3,000 or more civilian Assyrians.

Arab Ba'athist persecution

The Ba'ath Party seized power in Iraq and Syria in 1963, which introduced laws that aimed at suppressing the Assyrian national identity, the Arab Nationalist policies of the Ba'athists included renewed attempts to "Arabize" the Assyrians. The giving of traditional Assyrian/Akkadian names and Aramaic/Syriac versions of Biblical names was banned, Assyrian schools, political parties, churches and literature were repressed and Assyrians were heavily pressured into identifying as ''Arab Christians''. The Ba'athist regime refused to recognise Assyrians as an ethnic group.

The al-Anfal Campaign of 1986-1989 in Iraq was predominantly aimed at Kurds, however it saw many Assyrian towns and villages razed to the ground, a number of Assyrians were murdered, others were deported to large cities, their land and homes then being appropriated by Arabs and Kurds.

Kurdish persecution

After the established of the Kurdish Regional Government after 1991, the Kurdish Parliament passed a few laws permitting Kurdish settlers to seize lands owned by Assyrians. Assyrians, together with other ethnic minorities in northern Iraq, have since suffered a great degree of discrimination and pressure from Kurdish Nationalists, this includes the officially sanctioned theft of Assyrian land, political intimidation against Assyrian political parties, ethnic and religious discrimination and a number of kidnappings and murders.

Iraq War & Islamist attacks

Since the Iraq War started in 2003, social unrest and anarchy have resulted in unprovoked persecution of Assyrians in Iraq, mostly by Islamic extremists,(both Shia and Sunni), and to some degree by Kurdish Nationalists. In places such as Dora, a neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, the majority of its Assyrian population has either fled abroad, to northern Iraq or been murdered.

Islamic resentment over the United States occupation of Iraq, and incidents such as the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy, have resulted in their attacking the Assyrian Christian communities. Since the start of the Iraq war, at least 46 churches and monasteries have been bombed.

However, the new Iraqi government now officially recognises Assyrians ethnic and cultural identity, listing them as Chaldo-Assyrians (Ironically something the "Western Media" often refuses to do). The idea of an Assyrian homeland has not been rejected, and the ban on the giving of Assyrian names, teaching the Assyrian language and on Assyrian schools has been lifted. Assyrians have formed armed militias in an around Assyrian towns, villages and districts.

Many of the Assyrians who have suffered violent attacks in predominantly Arab Muslim cities such as Baghdad, Nasiriyah and Basra have moved north to their traditional homeland and are now congregating there, boosting numbers (A number of the ethnically and linguistically related Mandeans are doing the same). There has also been some small scale resettlement over the border in south east Turkey.

Demographics

[[File:Assyrian world popualtion.svg|thumb|400px|Assyrian world popualtion. ]]

Homeland

The Assyrians are considered to be one of the indigenous people in the Middle East. Their homeland was thought to be located in the area around the Tigris and Euphrates. Assyrians are traditionally from Iraq, south eastern Turkey, north western Iran and north eastern Syria. There is a significant Assyrian population in Syria, where an estimated 877,000 Assyrians live. Though it must be pointed out that Syriac Christians from western, central and southern Syria are not generally regarded as Assyrians but rather as Arameans. The true Assyrians of Syria reside mainly in northeastern and eastern Syria, particularly in the Al-Hasakah region. In Tur Abdin, known as a homeland for Assyrians, there are only 3,000 left, and an estimated 25,000 in all of Turkey. After the 1915 Assyrian genocide many Assyrians/Syriacs also fled into Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq and into the Western world.

The Assyrian/Syriac people can be divided along geographic, linguistic, and denominational lines, the three main groups being:

the "Western" or "Jacobite" group of Syria, and central eastern Anatolia (Syriac Orthodox Church & Syriac Catholic Church);

the "Eastern" group of Iraq, northeast Syria south eastern Turkey, northwest Iran and Armenia (Assyrian Church of the East & Ancient Church of the East);

the "Chaldean Christian" or "Chaldean Catholic"/Chaldo-Assyrian group of northern and central Iraq, northern Iran, and eastern Anatolia (Chaldean Catholic Church); Assyrian followers of the Chaldean Catholic church make up the majority of Iraqi Christian population since the conversion to Catholicism from the Assyrian Church of the East in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Diaspora

Since the Assyrian Genocide, many Assyrians have fled their homelands for a more safe and comfortable life in the West. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Assyrian population in the Middle East has decreased dramatically. As of today there are more Assyrians in Europe, North America, and Australia than in their former homeland.

A total of 550,000 Assyrians live in Europe. Large Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac diaspora communities can be found in Germany, Sweden, the USA, and Australia. The largest Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac diaspora communities are those of Södertälje, Chicago, and Detroit.

Identity

Assyrians are divided among several churches (see below). They speak, and many can read and write, dialects of Neo-Aramaic.

In certain areas of the Assyrian homeland, identity within a community depends on a person's village of origin (see List of Assyrian villages) or Christian denomination rather than their ethnic commonality, for instance Chaldean Catholic.

Today, Assyrians and other minority ethnic groups in the Middle East, feel pressure to identify as "Arabs", "Turks" and "Kurds". Assyrians in Syria who live outside of the traditionally and historically Assyrian northeastern region of the country are disappearing as an ethnic group, due to assimilation.

Neo-Aramaic exhibits remarkably conservative features compared with Imperial Aramaic, and the earliest European visitors to northern Mesopotamia in modern times encountered a people called "Assyrians" and men with ancient Assyrian names such as Sargon and Sennacherib. The Assyrians manifested a remarkable degree of linguistic, religious, and cultural continuity from the fall of the Neo Assyrian Empire through to the time of the ancient Greeks, Persians, and Parthians through periods of medieval Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman rule.

Assyrian nationalism emphatically connects Modern Assyrians to the population of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. A historical basis of this sentiment has been disputed by a few early historians, but receives support from modern Assyriologists like H.W.F. Saggs, Robert D. Biggs, Giorgi Tsereteli and Simo Parpola, and Iranologists like Richard Nelson Frye. Nineteenth century orientalists such as Austen Henry Layard and Hormuzd Rassam also support this view. This controversy does not appear to exist in parts of the region however, as Armenian, Georgian, Russian, Persian and some Arab records have always referred to Assyrians as Assyrians.

Self-designation

The various communities of indigenous Pre Arab Neo-Aramaic-speaking people of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Turkey and Lebanon and the surrounding areas advocate different terms for ethnic self-designation. It may be the case that the "Assyrian/Chaldo-Assyrian/Eastern Syriac" group and the "Aramean"/"Western Syriac" and "Phoenician" groups are merely closely related and not in fact exactly the same people.

"Assyrians", after the ancient Assyria, advocated by followers of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, most followers of the Chaldean Catholic Church and Assyrian Protestants. ("Eastern Assyrians"), and some communities of the Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic ("Western Assyrians"). Those identifying with Assyria, and with Mesopotamia in general, tend to be from Iraq, north eastern Syria, south eastern Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, southern Russia and Azerbaijan. It is likely that those from this region are indeed of Assyrian/Mesopotamian heritage as they are clearly of Pre Arab and pre Islamic stock and furthermore, there is no historical evidence, let alone proof to suggest the indigenous Mesopotamians were wiped out, and of course Assyria did exist as a specifically named region until the second half of the 7th century AD. Most speak various Mesopotamian dialects of neo Aramaic.

"Chaldo-Assyrians", is a term used by the Iraqi government to designate the indigenous Aramaic speaking Christians of Iraq. It intrinsically acknowledges that both the term Assyrian and Chaldean refer to the same ethnic group. Some Assyrians also use this term in order to defuse arguments over naming along denominational lines.

"Chaldeans", after ancient Chaldea, advocated by a minority of followers of the Chaldean Catholic Church who are mainly based in the United States. This is mainly a denominational rather than ethnic term, though a few Chaldean Catholics espouse a distinct Chaldean ethnic identity. However it is likely that these are exactly the same people as the Assyrians, both having the same culture and originating from the same lands.

"Syriacs", advocated by some followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Catholic Church and to a much lesser degree Maronite Church. Those self identifying as Syriacs tend to be from western, northwestern,southern and central Syria as well as south central Turkey. The term Syriac is the subject of some controversy, as it is generally accepted by most scholars that it is a Luwian and Greek corruption of Assyrian. The discovery of the Çineköy inscription seems to settle conclusively in favour of Assyria being the origin of the terms Syria and Syriac. For this reason, some Assyrians also accept the term Syriac as well as Assyrian as it is taken to mean the same thing. It is likely that Syriacs from these regions are in fact Arameans rather than Assyrians, as geographically they are not from Mesopotamia or the immediate areas surrounding it. Only a minority of those identifying as Syriacs now speak Aramaic, and most are now Arabic speaking.

''Other groups of "Syriac Christians" are geographically, linguistically and ethnically separate from the "Assyrian/Chaldo-Assyrian/Syriac" people.'' There include;

"Arameans" advocated by a number of indigenous Christians in western, northwestern,southern and central Syria as well as south central Turkey. They reject the term Syriac because of its probable Assyrian origin, and because they are not in fact geographically from Assyria or Mesopotamia in general, but rather are pre Arab inhabitants of lands that encompass the traditional Aramean homeland, which is in effect most of modern Syria. Few of those identifying as Aramean now speak Aramaic, and most are now Arabic speaking.

"Phoenicians" Many Maronites identify with a Phoenician origin however and do not see themselves as Syriac or Aramean. These tend to be from Lebanon and the Mediterranean coast of Syria, an area roughly corresponding to ancient Phoenicia. They are of pre Arab and pre Islamic origin, and thus identify with the ancient pre Arab and pre Islamic population of that region.

In addition Western Media often makes no mention whatsoever of any ethnic identity of the Christian people of the region, and simply call them Christians or Iraqi Christians, Iranian Christians, Syrian Christians, Turkish Christians etc. This label is rejected by all Assyrian/Syriac Christians as well as Aramean, Phoenician and Coptic Christians, as it wrongly implies no difference other than theological with the Muslim Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Iranians and Azeris of the region.

Assyrian vs Syrian naming controversy

As early as the 8th century BC Luwian and Cilician subject rulers referred to their Assyrian overlords as ''Syrian'', a western Indo-European bastardisation of the true term ''Assyrian''. This corruption of the name took hold in the Hellenic lands to the west of the old Assyrian Empire, thus during Greek Seleucid rule from 323 BC the name ''Assyria'' was altered to ''Syria'', and this term was also applied to Aramea to the west which had been an Assyrian colony. When the Seleucids lost control of Assyria to the Parthians they retained the corrupted term (Syria), applying it to ancient Aramea, while the Parthians called Assyria Assuristan, a Parthian form of the original name. It is from this period that the Syrian vs Assyrian controversy arises. Today it is accepted by the majority of scholars that the Medieval, Renaissance and Victorian term ''Syriac'' when used to describe the indigenous Christians of Mesopotamia and its immediate surrounds in effect means Assyrian.

The modern terminological problem goes back to colonial times, but it became more acute in 1946, when with the independence of Syria, the adjective ''Syrian'' referred to an independent state. The controversy isn't restricted to exonyms like English "Assyrian" vs. "Aramaean", but also applies to self-designation in Neo-Aramaic, the minority "Aramaean" faction endorses both ''Sūryāyē'' and ''Ārāmayē'' , while the majority "Assyrian" faction insists on ''Āṯūrāyē'' but also accepts ''Sūryāyē'' .

The question of ethnic identity and self-designation is sometimes connected to the scholarly debate on the etymology of "Syria". The question has a long history of academic controversy, but majority mainstream opinion currently strongly favours that ''Syria'' is indeed ultimately derived from the Assyrian term 𒀸𒋗𒁺 𐎹 ''Aššūrāyu''. Meanwhile, some scholars has disclaimed the theory of Syrian being derived from Assyrian as "simply naive", and detracted its importance to the naming conflict.

Rudolf Macuch points out that the Eastern Neo-Aramaic press initially used the term "Syrian" (''suryêta'') and only much later, with the rise of nationalism, switched to "Assyrian" (''atorêta''). According to Tsereteli, however, a Georgian equivalent of "Assyrians" appears in ancient Georgian, Armenian and Russian documents. This correlates with the theory of the nations to the East of Mesopotamia knew the group as Assyrians, while to the West, beginning with Greek influence, the group was known as Syrians. Syria being a Greek corruption of Assyria.

The debate appears to have been settled by the discovery of the Çineköy inscription in favour of Syria being derived from Assyria.

The ''Çineköy inscription'' is a Hieroglyphic Luwian-Phoenician bilingual, uncovered from Çineköy, Adana Province, Turkey (ancient Cilicia), dating to the 8th century BC. Originally published by Tekoglu and Lemaire (2000), it was more recently the subject of a 2006 paper published in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, in which the author, Robert Rollinger, lends support to the age-old debate of the name "Syria" being derived from "Assyria" (see Etymology of Syria).

The object on which the inscription is found is a monument belonging to Urikki, vassal king of Hiyawa (i.e. Cilicia), dating to the eighth century BC. In this monumental inscription, Urikki made reference to the relationship between his kingdom and his Assyrian overlords. The Luwian inscription reads "Sura/i" whereas the Phoenician translation reads ''’ŠR'' or "Ashur" which, according to Rollinger (2006), "settles the problem once and for all".

Culture

Assyrian culture is largely influenced by religion. The language is tied to the church as well for it uses the Syriac language in liturgy. Festivals occur during religious holidays such as Easter and Christmas. There are also secular holidays such as Kha b-Nisan (vernal equinox).

People often greet and bid relatives farewell with a kiss on each cheek and by saying "Peace be upon you." Others are greeted with a handshake with the right hand only; according to Middle Eastern customs, the left hand is associated with evil. Similarly, shoes may not be left facing up, one may not have their feet facing anyone directly, whistling at night is thought to waken evil spirits, etc.

There are many Assyrian customs that are common in other Middle Eastern cultures. A parent will often place an eye pendant on their baby to prevent "an evil eye being cast upon it". Spitting on anyone or their belongings is seen as a grave insult.

Language

The Neo-Aramaic languages are ultimately descended from Old Aramaic, the lingua franca in the later phase of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, displacing the East Semitic Assyrian dialect of Akkadian. Aramaic was the language of commerce, trade and communication and became the vernacular language of Assyria in classical antiquity.

By the 1st century AD, Akkadian was extinct, although some loaned vocabulary still survives in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic to this day.

Most Assyrians speak an Eastern Aramaic language whose dialects include Chaldean and Turoyo as well as Assyrian. All are classified as Neo-Aramaic languages and are written using Syriac script, a derivative of the ancient Aramaic script. Assyrians also may speak one or more languages of their country of residence.

To the native speaker, "Syriac" is usually called ''Soureth or ''Suret''. A wide variety of dialects exist, including Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, and Turoyo. Being stateless, Assyrians also learn the language or languages of their adopted country, usually Arabic, Armenian, Persian or Turkish. In northern Iraq and western Iran, Turkish and Kurdish is widely spoken.

Recent archaeological evidence includes a statue from Syria with Assyrian and Aramaic inscriptions. It is the oldest known Aramaic text.

Religion

Assyrians were originally Pagans, who where followers of Ashurism, an Assyro-Babylonian religion, which is the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, and some adopted Judaism, Gnosticism and Manicheanism; however most now belong to various Christian denominations such as the Church of the East, with an estimated 300,000–400,000 members, the Chaldean Catholic Church, with about 900,000 members, and the Syriac Orthodox Church '''', which has between 1,000,000 and 4,000,000 members around the world (only some of whom are Assyrians), and various Protestant churches. While Assyrians are predominantly Christians, a number are generally irreligious.

Mar Dinkha IV, resident in Chicago Illinois, was Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Addai II, with headquarters in Baghdad, was Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, and Ignatius Zakka I Iwas was Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, with headquarters in Damascus. Mar Emmanuel III Delly, the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, was the first Patriarch to be elevated to Cardinal, joining the college of cardinals in November 2007.

Many members of the following churches consider themselves Assyrian. Ethnic identities are often deeply intertwined with religion, a legacy of the Ottoman Millet system. The group is traditionally characterized as adhering to various churches of Syriac Christianity and speaking neo-Aramaic languages. It is subdivided into:

adherents of the East Syrian Rite, always called Assyrians but in the past sometimes erroneously called Nestorians

*adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East & Ancient Church of the East, always called Assyrians.

*adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church, usually called Assyrians or more rarely Chaldeans or Chaldo-Assyrians.

adherents of the West Syrian Rite, called Syriacs, and formerly also Jacobites.

*adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church, also called West Syrians or Assyrians-Syriacs

*adherents of the Syriac Catholic Church, also called West Syrians or Syriacs

*adherents of the Syriac Maronite Church, also called Maronites, Phoenicians or Syriac-Maronites

A small minority of Assyrians of the above denominations accepted the Protestant Reformation in the 20th century, possibly due to British influences, and is now organized in the Assyrian Evangelical Church, the Assyrian Pentecostal Church and other Protestant Assyrian groups. These are always called Assyrians

Baptism and First Communion are celebrated extensively, similar to a Bris or Bar Mitzvah in Jewish communities. After a death, a gathering is held three days after burial to celebrate the ascension to heaven of the dead person, as of Jesus; after seven days another gathering commemorates their passing. A close family member wears only black clothes for forty days and nights, or sometimes a year, as a sign of mourning.

Music

The ''abooba'' ܐܒܘܒܐ (basic flute) and ''ṭavla'' ܛܒ݂ܠܐ (large two-sided drum) became the most common musical instruments for tribal music. Some well known Assyrian/Syriac singers in modern times are Ashur Bet Sargis, Sargon Gabriel, Michael Dayan, Habib Mousa, Josef Özer, Janan Sawa, Klodia Hanna, Juliana Jendo, and Linda George.

The first International Aramaic Music Festival was held in Lebanon from 1 August until 4 August 2008 for Assyrian people internationally. Assyrians are also involved in western contemporary music, such as Rock/Metal (Melechesh), Rap (Timz) and Techno/Dance (Aril Brikha).

Dance

Assyrians have numerous traditional dances which are performed mostly for special occasions such as weddings. Assyrian dance is a blend of both ancient indigenous and general near eastern elements.

Festivals

Assyrian/Syriac festivals tend to be closely associated with their Christian faith, of which Easter is the most prominent of the celebrations. Assyrian/Syriac members of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church and Syriac Catholic Church follow the Gregorian calendar and as a result celebrate Easter on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusively. While Assyrian/Syriac members of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Ancient Church of the East celebrate Easter on a Sunday between April 4 and May 8 inclusively on the Gregorian calendar (March 22 and April 25 on the Julian calendar). During Lent Assyrian/Syriacs are encouraged to fast for 50 days from meat and any other foods which are animal based.

Assyrians celebrate a number of festivals unique to their culture and traditions as well as religious ones:

Kha b-Nisan, the Assyrian new year, traditionally on April 1, though usually celebrated on Jaunuary 1. Assyrians usually wear traditional costumes and hold social events including parades and parties, dancing, and listening to poets telling the story of creation.

Som Baoutha, the Nineveh fest. It is a three-day period of fasting and prayer.

Somikka, the Assyrian version of Halloween, traditionally meant to scare children into fasting during Lent.

Kalu d'Sulaqa, celebration of the legend of Malik Shalita.

Assyrians also practice unique marriage ceremonies. The rituals performed during weddings are derived from many different elements from the past 3,000 years. An Assyrian wedding traditionally lasted a week. Today, weddings in the Assyrian homeland usually last 2–3 days; in the Assyrian diaspora they last 1–2 days.

Traditional clothing

Assyrian clothing varies from village to village. Clothing is usually blue, red, green, yellow, and purple; these colors are also used as embroidery on a white piece of clothing. Decoration is lavish in Assyrian costumes, and sometimes involves jewellery. The conical hats of traditional Assyrian dress have changed little over millennia from those worn in ancient Mesopotamia, and until the 19th and early 20th centuries the ancient Mesopotamian tradition of braiding or platting of hair, beards and moustaches was still commonplace.

Cuisine

Assyrian cuisine is similar to other Middle Eastern cuisines. It is rich in grain, meat, potato, cheese, bread and tomato. Typically rice is served with every meal, with a stew poured over it. Tea is a popular drink, and there are several dishes of desserts, snacks, and beverages. Alcoholic drinks such as wine and wheat beer are organically produced and drunk.

Names

Distinctively Akkadian language names are attested into the Sassanid period (224 AD to 651 AD), before they were generally but not wholly replaced by Christian names. Biblical names in English/Arabic/Syriac variants are a Syriac tradition. Names such as Daniyyel/Daniel, Dawid, Gabriel, Michael/Mikhail, Gorges/Gewargis (George), Yaqo/Yako (Jacob), Yausep/Yosef (Joseph), Toma (Thomas), Peṭros (Peter), Yoḥannan/Ewan/Yonan/Younan, Yaunan (John/Jonathan), Iliya, Eshu/Esho (Jesus), Ishai (Jesse) and Meriam (Mary) are of clear religious origin, although many are of Aramaic origin.

Children are often given Biblical names, and, by Assyrian/Syriac patriots and traditionalists, Assyrian, Aramean and Akkadian names are given such as ''Ashur'', ''Aram'', ''Sinharib''/''Senacherib'', ''Sargon'', ''Shammiram'', ''Ninus'', ''Nimrod'', ''Abgar'', ''Aram'', ''Afrem'', and ''Aryu'', etc... Akkadian last names are still common, such as; Ashur, Shamash, Akkad, Hadad, Dayan, Obelit etc.

French and English names are also given: Jean, Pierre, James. Names of Turkish and Arab origin are also prominent, for instance, Assyrians in south-eastern Turkey (Tur Abdin, Midyat) have predominantly Turkish surnames as a result of the Turkish law that forbids Assyrians to give their children Assyrian names.

Tribal and Clan names are often still used, normally with the Akkadian prefix ''Bit'' or neo-Aramaic prefix ''Bet'' (meaning house of, or people of), such as ''Bit Kasri'', ''Bit Tiyari'', ''Bit Eshtazin'', ''Bit Bazi'', ''Bit Shamasha'' etc.

Physical Appearance

Assyrians are of Caucasoid appearance, more specifically of a Near Eastern/Mediterranean type. In general, they tend to be olive skinned, with black or dark brown hair and dark eyes. Aquiline noses are common among many Assyrians. However, a number of Assyrians also have fair hair, fairer or browner skin and lighter eyes.

Genetics

Late 20th century DNA analysis conducted by Cavalli-Sforza, Paolo Menozzi and Alberto Piazza, "shows that Assyrians have a distinct genetic profile that distinguishes their population from any other population." Genetic analysis of the Assyrians of Persia demonstrated that they were "closed" with little "intermixture" with the Muslim Persian population and that an individual Assyrian's genetic makeup is relatively close to that of the Assyrian population as a whole. Cavalli-Sforza et al. state in addition, "[T]he Assyrians are a fairly homogeneous group of people, believed to originate from the land of old Assyria in northern Iraq", and "they are Christians and are possibly bona fide descendants of their namesakes." "The genetic data are compatible with historical data that religion played a major role in maintaining the Assyrian population's separate identity during the Christian era". A 2008 study on the genetics of "old ethnic groups in Mesopotamia," including 340 subjects from seven ethnic communities ("Assyrian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Armenian, Turkmen, and Arab peoples of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait") found that Assyrians were homogeneous with respect to all other ethnic groups sampled in the study, regardless of religious affiliation. In a 2006 study of the Y chromosome DNA of six regional Armenian populations, including, for comparison, Assyrians and Syrians, researchers found that, ‎"the Semitic populations (Assyrians and Syrians) are very distinct from each other according to both [comparative] axes. This difference supported also by other methods of comparison points out the weak genetic affinity between the two populations with different historical destinies." It must be pointed out that genetic studies purporting to either prove or disprove any modern population's ancient ancestry are the subject of a degree of controversy, and it is notoriously difficult to conclusively prove either way with DNA studies.

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Assyrian people, Britannica Online

A virtual Assyria: Cyberland

A virtual Assyria: Christians from the Middle East

Traditional Assyrian Costumes

Assyrian Iraqi Document Projects

Who Are Assyrians?

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Assyrian/Syriac people Category:Semitic peoples Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East Category:Ethnic groups in the Arab League Category:Indigenous peoples of Southwest Asia Category:Fertile Crescent Category:Iraqi people Category:Iranian people Category:Ancient peoples

ar:آشوريون/سريان/كلدان an:Asirians cristians arc:ܥܡܐ ܐܬܘܪܝܐ/ܣܘܪܝܝܐ br:Asirianed bg:Асирийци ca:Assiris cs:Asyřané da:Assyrere de:Assyrer (Gegenwart) et:Assüürlased es:Pueblo asirio eo:Asirianoj fa:مردم آشوری fr:Assyriens fy:Assyrjers ko:아시리아인 hr:Ajsori id:Orang Assyria it:Assiri (gruppo etnico) he:אשורים ka:ასურელები ku:Asûrî lt:Asirai hu:Asszírok mk:Асирци arz:سريان ms:Orang Assyria nl:Assyriërs (volk) nds-nl:Suryoye ja:アッシリア人 no:Assyrere pl:Asyryjczycy (współcześni) pt:Assírios (grupo étnico) ro:Asirieni ru:Ассирийцы simple:Assyrian people sk:Asýrčania sl:Asirci ckb:ئاسوورییەکان sr:Асирци sh:Asirci fi:Assyrialaiskristityt sv:Assyrier/syrianer ta:அசிரிய மக்கள் tr:Süryaniler uk:Ассирійці zh:亚述人

Group	Assyrians in Iran
Pop	50,000
Region1	Tehran, Urmia, Salmas
Languages	Persian, Neo-Aramaic
Religions	Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Protestant }}

Assyrians in Iran (Persian: آشوریان در ایران) was a thriving community, but was diminished from around 200,000 prior to the Islamic Revolution in Iran to a mere 50,000.

In addition to Assyrian communities found in major urban centers such as Tehran, there are also Assyrian villages in the area of Urmia in northern Iran.

Assyrians are a Semitic people who speak Syriac an Aramaic dialect and are Eastern Rite Christians. They are the descendants of the ancient Mesopotamians.

Assyrians are entitled to one reserved seat in the Iranian Parliament, that was procured by George Malek-Yonan. The seat is currently occupied by Yonathan Betkolia (elected in 2000, reelected in 2004).

History

thumb|Assyrians from Sena, Persia, around Lake Urmia. There were about 200,000 Assyrians in Iran at the time of the 1976 census. Many emigrated after the revolution in 1979, but at least 50,000 were estimated still to be living in Iran in 1987.

Assyrians have a long history in Iran. During the Neo Assyrian Empire (911-608 BC), much of western Iran (including Media, Persia, Elam and Gutium) was subject to Assyria. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Assyria was ruled by Persia from 539 BC. Assyrians have possibly existed in north western Iran for many thousands of years.

The traditional home of the Assyrians in Iran is along the western shore of Lake Urmia from the Salamas area to the Urmia plain.. During World War I, Ottoman forces and Kurdish tribes along the Iranian-Turkish border stepped up attacks on the Assyrians both in the mountains and on the rich plains. In 1914 alone they attacked dozens of villages and drove off all the inhabitants of the district of Gawar. The Assyrians armed themselves, and for a time successfully repelled further attacks under the leadership of Agha Petros, and were successful enough to seize control of much of the Urmia region, defeating Ottoman Forces and their Kurdish and Azeri allies. However lack of ammunition and supplies, due mainly to the withdrawal of Russia from the war, and the collapse of allied Armenian forces led to their downfall. Massively outnumbered, surrounded, undersupplied and cut off, the Assyrians suffered terrible massacres. By the summer of 1918 virtually the entire remaining Assyrian population that survived the pillage and murder inflicted on them. fled the area. Local Kurds and Turks (Azari) took the opportunity of the last phases of World War I that had pitted Russian and Ottoman armies against each other, to rob Assyrian homes, carry off young women, and leave those remaining destitute. The critical murder that sowed panic in the Assyrian community came when Kurdish militias, under Agha Ismail Simko, assassinated the Patriarch, Mar Benyamin Shimon, on March 3, 1918 under the pretext of inviting him to negotiations. The Assyrians led a force to avenge this act, however despite defeating a Kurdish force, Simko escaped.

Religious communities

Assyrian Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East's Holy Synod

Chaldean Church of Babylon

Assyrian Evangelical Church

Assyrian Pentecostal Church

Churches

Holy Mary (Mart Maryam) Church - Urmia - 1st c.

St. Cyriacus (Mar Kuryakus) Church - Urmia - 18th c.

Holy Mary (Mart Maryam) Church - Urmia - CharBakhsh - 5th c.

Holy Gabriel (Mar Gabriel) Church - Urmia - Ordushahi - 19th c.

St. Shalita (Mar Shalita) Church - Urmia - Shirabad - 19th c.

St. Joseph (Mar Yozef) Church - Urmia - Shirabad - 1897

St. Sarkis (Mar Sargiz) Church - 5 km SW of Urmia - Seir - 5th c.

Holy Zion (Mar Sehyon) Church - 8 km E of Urmia - Golpashan

St. George (Mar Gevargiz) Church - 8 km E of Urmia - Golpashan - 1905

Holy Mary (Mart Maryam) Church - 8 km E of Urmia - Golpashan

Sts. Peter-Paul (Mar Petros-Paulos) Church - 10 km E of Urmia - 8th c. - believed to be built by Bukhtishu

Holy Mary (Mart Maryam) Church - 32 km E of Urmia - Mavana

St. Daniel (Mar Danial) Church - 25 km N of Urmia - Nazlu River - 5th c. - destroyed in World War I, rebuilt

St. John (Mar Yokhnah) Church - 45 km N of Urmia - Jamalabad - 5th c.

St. John (Mar Yokhnah) Church - 24 km N of Urmia - Adeh - 1901

St. Sabrisho (Mar Sabrisho) Church - 30 km N of Urmia - Mushiabad - 1880

St. George (Mar Gevargiz) Church - 35 km N of Urmia - Sepurghan - 1830

St. John (Mar Yokhnah) Church - 40 km N of Urmia - Gavilan - 5th c.

St. John (Mar Yokhnah) Church - 40 km N of Urmia - Gavilan - 19th c.

St. Thomas (Mar Toma) Church - 30 km W of Urmia - Balulan - 7th c.

St. Cyriacus (Mar Kuryakus) Church - Salmas - Kohneshahr - 12th c.

St. James (Mar Yakob) Church - Salmas - Kohneshahr - 19th c.

St. Khinah (Mar Khinah) Church - Salmas - Sarna

Holy Mary (Mart Maryam) Church - Salmas - Savera

Vank - 2 km S of Salmas - Khosrowabad - 5th c. - The Holy Cross of Jerusalem was kept here for a while.

St. Sarkis (Mar Sargiz) Church - 2 km S of Salmas - Khosrowabad - 1869

St. George (Mar Gevargiz) Church - 2 km S of Salmas - Khosrowabad - 1845

Church - 12 km SW of Salmas - Akhtekhaneh - 1890

St. Sarkis (Mar Sargiz) Church - 2 km S of Salmas - Khosrowabad - 1869

Holy Mary (Mart Maryam) Church - Sehna

St. George (Mar Gevargiz) Church - Teheran (Bagh-e-Shah) - 1962

Holy Mary (Mart Maryam) Church - Teheran (Sarbaz St.) - 1978

St. Joseph (Mar Yozef) Church - Teheran (Forsat St.) - 1950

Holy Virgin Church - Teheran (Appadana St.)

Chaldean Catholic Chapel - Eslamshahr Catholic Cemetery - 1967

St. Thomas (Mar Toma) Church - Teheran (Amirabad) - 1967

Assyrian Brotherhood Church - Teheran (ShahrAra St.)

Famous Assyrians from Iran

Andre Agassi - Assyrian-Armenian Tennis player

Ramona Amiri, Miss World Canada 2005

Mike Agassi, Olympic boxer and father of Andre Agassi

George Malek-Yonan, procured a seat in the Iranian Parliament for Assyrians

Rosie Malek Yonan, actor, author and activist

Evan Agassi, music artist

Bukhtishu family - Famous physicians in the Middle Ages

:''The following are Assyrians from the Sanaya region ''

Mar Youhannan Semaan Issayi, Archbishop of Assyro-Chaldean Metropolitan Tehran

Dr. Estiphan Panoussi, Professor, Researcher , Linguist

Albert Bavi, General Manager of Power & Water, Tehran Division

Paul Caldani, Composer, Writer, Music Researcher

Dr. Younan Nowzaradan,M.D., F.A.C.S. General and Vascular surgeon,specializing in laparoscopic roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Dr. Philip Nowzaradan, M.D. A Family Doctor, Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine

Fred Khachik, Chemist ,Research scientist,professor .

Cyrus Adari , M.D., Researcher.

Villard Salibi, Designer, Artist

Henry Oshana Shirabadi,Teacher of physics.

See also

Armenian-Iranians

Christians in Iran

Ethnic minorities in Iran

List of Assyrian settlements

Religious minorities in Iran

Official Website of the Assyro-Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Iran

Bibliography

Eden Naby, “The Assyrians of Iran: Reunification of a ‘Millat,’ 1906-1914” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 8. (1977) pp. 237–249

Eden Naby, “The Iranian Frontier Nationalities: The Kurds, the Assyrians, the Baluch and the Turkmens,”Soviet Asian Ethnic Frontiers, ed.by McCagg and Silver (New York, Pergamon Press, 1979).

Eden Naby, “Christian Assyrian Architecture of Iran,” News – Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions (Spring 1998) vol. 5, no. 2, p. 7, 10.

Eden Naby, "Ishtar: Documenting the Crisis in the Assyrian Iranian Community," MERIA 10/4 (2006)http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2006/issue4/Naby.pdf

References

Category:Assyrian ethnic groups Category:Ethnic groups in Iran

fa:مردم آشوری#آشوریان ایران fr:Assyriens en Iran

Simo Parpola (born 4 July 1943) is a Finnish archaeologist, currently professor of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki. He specialized in epigraphy of the Akkadian language, and has been working on the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project since 1987. He is also Honorary Member of the American Oriental Society .

Simo Parpola has suggested that the oldest versions of the Sephirot extend from Assyrian theology and mysticism. Noting the general similarity between the Sephirot of the Kabbalah and the tree of life of Assyrian mysticism, he reconstructed what an Assyrian antecedent to the Sephirot would look like. Matching the characteristics of Ein Sof on the nodes of the Sephirot to the gods of Assyria, he found textual parallels between these Assyrian gods and the characteristics of the Jewish God.

The Assyrians assigned specific numbers to their gods, similar to the way the Kabbalah assigns numbers to the nodes of the Sephirot. However, the Assyrians used a sexagesimal number system, whereas the Sephirot use a decimal system. Using the Assyrian numbers, additional layers of meaning and mystical relevance appear in the Sephirot. Normally, floating above the Assyrian tree of life was the god Assur—this corresponds to Ein Sof, which is also, via a series of transformations, supposedly derived from the Assyrian word Assur.

Parpola re-interpreted various Assyrian tablets in the terms of these primitive Sephirot, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, and concluded that the scribes had been writing philosophical-mystical tracts rather than mere adventure stories. Traces of this Assyrian mode of thought and philosophy eventually reappeared in Greek Philosophy and the Kabbalah.

Parpola is also the chairman of ''The Finland Assyria Association (Suomi-Assyria Yhdistys)''.

Parpola's Views on Modern Assyrians

Parpola is a strong advocate of Assyrianism, supporting the link between the modern Assyrians and their ancient ancestors. He is one of many Assyriologists and historians to have made a detailed study of the subject. He argues for a direct link between the ancient Assyrians and those who call themselves and their Aramaic language Assyrian today.

See also

Sefiroth, for Parpola's reconstruction of an Assyrian Kabbalistic Sefiroth

Asko Parpola, his brother, a specialist on the Indus script. pdf

Panbabylonism

Notes

Works

''Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths''

''The Correspondence of Sargon II''

''The Standard Babylonian, Epic of Gilgamesh'' - cited in the article Epic of Gilgamesh

''Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars''

''Assyrian Prophecies''

"The murderer of Sennacherib" in ''Death in Mesopotamia: XXVI Rencontre assyriologique internationale''

''The Mesopotamian Soul of Western Culture''

External links

Curriculum Vitae: Simo Parpola

The Neo-Assyrian Corpus Project

Professor Simo Parpola

Sons of God - The ideology of Assyrian Kingship. In: Archaeology Odissy Archives, December 1999. Article by Simo Parpola

AUF - Assyrian Youth Federation in Sweden meet Simo Parpola

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:Assyriologists Category:Academics of the University of Helsinki

ar:سيمو بربولا it:Simo Parpola fi:Simo Parpola sv:Simo Parpola

Lina Yakubova (23 December 1976 - 21 March 2011) was a documentary film producer and writer. She was born to an Assyrian father, Albert Yakubov and Armenian mother, Karina Khachaturyan in the Assyrian Village of Dmitrovo (Qoyalasar), Armenia. She eventually moved to Artashat with her family where she lived for the remainder of her life. Yakubova spoke Assyrian, Armenian, Russian and English. She attended the Erevan Institute of Theatre and Cinema. She received her undergraduate degree in Cinematography and in 2006 Yakubova was a PhD candidate. She worked at the Central Radio of Armenia, presenting programs primarily about Assyrians and Armenians. During a visit to Los Angeles, California, Yakubova died unexpectedly at the age of 35. The cause of death was reported as undiagnosed liver cancer. Funeral services were held in Los Angeles on 25 March 2011. Yakubova produced and wrote several documentary films about Assyrians and Armenians specifically for the two communities.Lina Yakubova official website

Documentary filmography

''Gates of the East'' ''A Forgotten Page of a Nation'' ''Second Homeland'' ''Assyrians in Armenia'' ''Assyrian Way'' ''Assyrian Poetry Collection'' ''Paths of Fate'' ''The Power of Faith'' ''Alphabet. Our Assyrian Heritage''

Year	! Title	! Note	Credit/Notes
2006	''Ancestral Home''	Three Part Documentary: I. Syria (Asoriq), II. Khabur, III. Heritage
2006	|		producer, writer
2005	|		producer, writer
2005	|	Two Part Documentary: I. Urmi, II. Community	producer, writer
2003	|	ISBN 9744450-8-8	producer, writer
2009	|	Three Part Documentary: I. To Survive Through..., II. Revival, III. To Itemize the Portrait	producer, writer
????	|		producer, writer
2009	|		producer, writer
2010	|		producer, writer
2010	|		producer, writer

Discography

''Chants from the East''

Year	! Title	! Note	Credit/Notes
2007	''Assyrian Way''	CD
2007	|	3 CD Collection of Liturgical Music of the Assyrian church of the East	producer

Book

Year	! Title	! Note	Credit/Notes
2008	''Chants from the East''	The Liturgical Music of the Assyrian church of the East

References

External Link

Lina Yakubova official website

See also

List of Assyrians

Category:Assyrian people Category:Armenian documentary filmmakers

This is a list of people whose names in English are commonly appended with the phrase "''the Great''", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as ''e Bozorg'' and ''e azam'' in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus) assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "''the Great''".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers

Abbas I of Persia (1571-1629), Shah of Iran

Akbar (1542-1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India

Alain I of Albret (1440-1522), French aristocrat

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia

Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia

Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias

Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex

Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire

Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty

Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),

Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire

Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand

Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland

Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)

Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736-1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)

Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden

Casimir III the Great (1310-1370), King of Poland

Catherine the Great (1729-1796), Empress of Russian

Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India

Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans

Chulalongkorn (1853-1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)

Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks

Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen

Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman Emperor

Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire

Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire

Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent

Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse

Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile

Frederick the Great (1712-1786), King of Prussia

Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594-1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader

Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea

Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC

Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)

Henry IV of France (1553-1610), King of France and King of Navarre

Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea

Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris

Hugh Magnus of France (1007-1025), co-King of France

Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057-1101)

Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat

Ivan III of Russia (1440-1505), Tsar of Russia

John I of Portugal (1358-1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve

John II of Aragon (1398-1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre

Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor

Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i

Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India

Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010-1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia

Kublai Khan (1215-1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty

Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales

Louis I of Hungary (1326-1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland

Mangrai the Great (1238-1317), Lanna, northern Thailand

Emperor Meiji (1852-1912), Emperor of Japan

Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)

Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)

Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom

Mstislav I of Kiev (1076-1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus

Narai (1633-1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)

Naresuan (1555-1605), King of Ayutthaya

Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)

K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque

Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka

Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia

Peter the Great (1672-1725), Tsar of Russia

Peter III of Aragon (1239-1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily

Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar

Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar

Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.

Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014-1044), Tamil King of India

Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt

Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)

Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082-1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties

Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)

Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev

Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent

Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre

Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire

Sejong the Great (1397-1450), Korean king

Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia

Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire

Stephen III of Moldavia (1433-1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)

Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks

Taksin (1734-1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)

Timur (1336-1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty

Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie

Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire

Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor

Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia

Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia

Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire

Valdemar I of Denmark (1131-1182), King of Denmark

Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor

Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus

Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy

William I, Count of Burgundy (1020-1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon

William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou

Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)

Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures

Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East

Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia

Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian

Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt

Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader

Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian

Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)

Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint

Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint

Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)

Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine

Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)

Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit

Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)

Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople

William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other

Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies

Emmy the Great, folk singer

Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III

Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also

Epithet

List of monarchs by nickname

List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I

James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus

Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater

Notes

Category:Monarchs Great, List of people known as The Category:Greatest Nationals Category:Epithets

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