Ashur (Hebrew: אַשּׁוּר‎; often also transliterated as Asshur to reflect the pointing of Hebrew letter 'ש' (Shin) in the Masoretic text, which doubles the 'ש'), was the second son of Shem, the son of Noah. Ashur's brothers were Elam, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

The Hebrew text of Genesis 10:11 is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it was Asshur himself (as the 1611 Authorized Version says), or Nimrod (as in some other English translations) who, according to Biblical tradition, built the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Resen, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, since the name Asshur can refer to both the person and the country.(Genesis 10:8-12 AV, Genesis 10:8-12 ESV)^[1]

The 1st century Judaeo-Roman historian Flavius Josephus further gives the following statement: "Ashur lived at the city of Nineve; and named his subjects Assyrians, who became the most fortunate nation, beyond others” (Antiquities, i, vi, 4).

According to some Judaeo-Christian traditions, the city of Ashur (also spelled Assur or Aššur) was founded by Ashur the son of Shem, who was deified by later generations as the city's patron god. However, no record of this has been found in Mesopotamian annals; Assyrian tradition lists an early Assyrian king named Ushpia as having dedicated the first temple to the god Ashur in the city in ca. the 21st century BC. It is highly likely that the city was named in honour of the Assyrian god of the same name.^[2]

Ashur the father of Tekoa is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4.^[3]

References[link]

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Nick E. Tarabay
Born	(1975-08-28) 28 August 1975 (age 36) Beirut, Lebanon
Occupation	actor
Years active	2007–present

Nick E. Tarabay (born 28 August 1975) is an American actor of Lebanese descent.

Early life[link]

Tarabay was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a large family. His mother and father still reside in Lebanon as does his younger brother and a large extended family of cousins, uncles and aunts.^[1] He moved to New York after high school. As a clothing salesman in the fashion industry, he worked for Hugo Boss and Gucci, while studying acting at the T. Schreiber Studio and appearing in Off-Off-Broadway plays. He moved to Los Angeles in 2004, where he studied under Larry Moss and appeared in their studio's staging of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.

Career[link]

Tarabay made his television debut as an extra in an episode of Sex and the City (2000). He got another minor role in the The Sopranos (2001–2004), where he played the role of Matush, a drug dealer. He played a role in the 2008's television series Crash, in which he played character, Axel Finet, a hot-tempered police lieutenant.^[2][3] He was not brought back for the second season. He played a central supporting role in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Spartacus: Vengeance in the character of Ashur, a former gladiator who was injured and now is used as a bookie and spy.^[4] He also appears in the prequel miniseries Spartacus: Gods of the Arena with the same role prior to his injury, as well as the sequel to Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Vengeance.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nick E. Tarabay at the Internet Movie Database

Ashur Bet Sargis
Background information
Born	(1949-07-02) July 2, 1949 (age 62)
Origin	22x20px Baghdad, Iraq
Genres	Assyrian music
Occupations	Composer, Singer, Songwriter, Political Activist
Years active	1960s–present

Ashur Bet Sargis (Syriac: ܐܫܘܪ ܒܝܬ ܣܪܓܝܤ), (Born in 2 July 1949), is an Assyrian Composer and Singer. He became famous in the Assyrian communities worldwide for his nationalistic songs in the 1970s.

Early career in Iraq[link]

Ashur Bet Sargis was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1949 to an Assyrian family. He started playing organ as a teenager at the local Assyrian church. He later began composing nationalistic songs under the influence of established Assyrian musicians such as Evin Aghassi and King Biba, as well as western artists. As Ashur recalls of his early days in the biography written for his 4-CD set “So far”:^[1]

Music was being redefined out in the rest of the world, and stars like Elvis, Paul Anka, and of course The Beatles were shining all over the place. I wanted to be a part of this transformation, and offer its fruition to my people.

Rise to fame[link]

Shortly after the Ba'ath led revolution of 1968, Ashur fled the unstable political situation in Iraq in 1969, ending up in Chicago, IL. Two years later he formed his first band, “East Bird Band”, which released its first recording in 1973. In 1976, after relocating to Los Angeles, Ashur became the first Assyrian artist to tour overseas when he and his band played three sold-out shows in Australia. Soon afterwards he would travel to Iran, which at that time had the second largest population of Assyrians in the Middle East, and had long been a large producer of Assyrian music on the record labels that flourished in Tehran in the days before the Islamic revolution such as Irangram and Monogram. After two weeks of performances there, he returned to Los Angeles to record his second album, “Ashur Sargis Sings for Ancient Assyria”, which included re-recordings of hits from the first album like “Tanilee Lay-Lay” (“Sing Me A Lullaby”, with lyrics by Assyrian nationalist leader Freydun Atturaya) and “Bet Nahren Atrewa”, as well as several other songs that have since become staples of his catalogue and concerts.^[1]

Later Years[link]

Ashur is known for his staunch support for Zowaa, and he composed several songs for the movement.^[2] He also returned to Northern Iraq may times where he did many concert during Kha b-Nisan prior to the Iraq war. He is often featured at Zowaa sponsored festivals in Nineveh Plains and Dohuk. Ashur Bet Sargis lives currently in Phoenix, Arizona. Although he often travels on tours in Europe and the Middle East.

Discography[link]

• 1972 - Bet Nahren
• 1975 - Ancient Assyria
• 1979 - Sing Me A Lullaby
• 1984 - Dance of Victory
• 1990 - Winter Wind
• 1992 - The Mighty Assyrians
• 1995 - Mirror of Deception
• 1996 - From A Distant World
• 1998 - Immortal Memories
• 2003 - Everything So Far
• 2008 - Dashta D'Nineveh

Music[link]

	Excerpt from "Brata Shammiram" noicon A music sample of Bet Sargis' voice in 1979.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

To the contrast of most his peers Music, Ashur's music is slow and mellow. He is also known for incorporating Greek musical instruments such as Tambouras to his music.

External links[link]

• Ashur Bet Sargis, Entry at Last.fm
• Lyrics from AssyrianLyrics.com

References[link]

• Music pearls of Beth-Nahrin: an Assyrian/Syriac discography, Abboud Zeitoune
• Ashur Bet-Sargis Finds Solace in Dashta D’Nineveh, Skokie.net
• آشور بت سركيس بين احضان الوطن, Zahrira.net
• تأملات في ألبوم آشور بت سركيس دشتا د نينوى, خابور كوم

v t e Assyrian/Syriac musicians Folk music Gabriel Asaad Evin Agassi Sargon Gabriel Linda George Juliana Jendo Jean Karat Elias Karam Paulus Khofri Habib Mousa Ashur Bet Sargis Janan Sawa Nawfal Shamoun Shamiram Urshan Sacral music Fairuz Nouri Iskandar Hanna Petros Abeer Nehme Wadih El Safi Elias Zazi Western/Assyrian music Aril Brikha Josef Özer

Yonadam Yousef Kanna (Syriac: ܝܘܢܕܡ ܝܘܣܦ ܟܢܢܐ, also known as Yacoub Yousip) is an Iraqi politician and a member of the Iraqi National Assembly. He was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council in 2003-2004 that was created following the Invasion of Iraq by the United States in 2003. An Assyrian Christian from northern Iraq, Kanna served in the Kurdistan administration in Iraq, first in its regional assembly, then as minister for public works. He is the secretary general of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. He was elected to the National Assembly of Iraq as head of the Al Rafideen National List in the January and December 2005 elections.

External links[link]

• Interview with Yonadam Kanna in the Christian Science Monitor, August 2003
• Interview with Kanna in Zinda Magazine, November 2002

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Beth Nahrain (Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ; "land of the rivers") is the Syriac name for the region known as Mesopotamia (Greek "land between the rivers"). It refers to the Euphrates and Tigris rivers of Iraq and Syria. The Aramaic name loosely describes the area of the rivers, not between like the literal Greek term; however both names refer to the same region.

While it may be erroneously thought that the name is derived from the Greek "Mesopotamia", the opposite is more probable as the Aramaic name has been attested since the time of the Aramaicization of the region, in the 10th century BCE,^[1] while the Greek name Mesopotamia was first coined in the 2nd century BCE by the historian Polybius during the Seleucid period.^[2] The name Bayn al-Nahrayn is also found in Arabic (بين النهرين; "between the two rivers").

This area roughly encompasses Iraq, eastern Syria and parts of southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran. The Assyrians consider themselves to be indigenous inhabitants of Beth Nahrain.^[3] "Nahrainean" or "Nahrainian" is the Anglicized name for "Nahraya", which is the Aramaic equivalent of "Mesopotamian".^[4]

See also[link]

• Mesopotamia

References[link]

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