Coordinates: 35°27′24″N 43°15′45″E / 35.45667°N 43.2625°E / 35.45667; 43.2625

Assur (also spelled Ashur, from Assyrian 𒀸𒋩 Aššur; Aramaic: ܐܬܘܪ‎ Aṯur; Hebrew: אַשּׁוּר‎ Aššûr; Arabic: آشور‎ Ašur), was one of the capitals of ancient Assyria. The remains of the city are situated on the western bank of river Tigris, north of the confluence with the tributary Little Zab river, in modern day Iraq, more precisely in the Al-Shirqat District (a small panhandle of the Salah al-Din Governorate).

The city was occupied from the mid 3rd millennium BC (Circa 2600-2500 BC) through to the 14th Century AD when Tamurlane conducted a massacre of Assyrian Christians.

Assur is also the name of the chief deity of the city. He was considered the highest god in the Assyrian pantheon and the protector of the Assyrian state. In the Mesopotamian mythology he was the equivalent of Babylonian Marduk.

The site of Assur is a United Nations World Heritage Site, but was placed on the list of World Heritage Sites in danger in 2003, in part due to the conflict in that area, and also due to a proposed dam, that would flood part of the site.

Archaeology[link]

Exploration of the site of Assur began in 1898 by German archaeologists. Excavations began in 1900 by Friedrich Delitzsch, and were continued in 1903-1913 by a team from the German Oriental Society led initially by Robert Koldewey and later by Walter Andrae.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} More than 16,000 tablets with cuneiform texts were discovered. Many of the objects found made their way to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

More recently, Ashur was excavated by B. Hrouda for the University of Munich and the Bavarian Ministry of Culture in 1990.^[6] During the same period, in 1988 and 1989, the site was being worked by R. Dittmann on behalf of the German Research Foundation.^[7]

Name[link]

Aššur is the name of the city, of the land ruled by the city, and of its tutelary deity. At a late date it appears in Assyrian literature in the forms An-sar, An-sar (ki), which form was presumably read Assur. The name of the deity is written A-šur or Aš-sùr, and in Neo-assyrian often shortened to Aš.

In the Creation tablet, the heavens personified collectively were indicated by this term An-sar, "host of heaven," in contradistinction to the earth, Ki-sar, "host of earth."^{[citation needed]}

In view of this fact, it seems highly probable that the late writing An-sar for Assur was a more or less conscious attempt on the part of the Assyrian scribes to identify the peculiarly Assyrian deity Asur with the Creation deity An-sar. On the other hand, there is an epithet Asir or Ashir ("overseer") applied to several gods and particularly to the deity Asur, a fact which introduced a third element of confusion into the discussion of the name Assur. It is probable then that there is a triple popular etymology in the various forms of writing the name Assur; viz. A-usar, An-sar and the stem asdru.^{[citation needed]}

Early Bronze Age[link]

Archaeology reveals the site of the city was occupied by the middle of the third millennium BC. This was still the Sumerian period, before the Assyrian kingdom emerged in the 23rd to 21st century BC. The oldest remains of the city were discovered in the foundations of the Ishtar temple, as well as at the Old Palace. In the following Old Akkadian period, the city was ruled by kings from Akkad. During the "Sumerian Renaissance", the city was ruled by a Sumerian governor.

Old and Middle Assyria[link]

Mesopotamia in 2nd millennium BC

By the time the Neo-Sumerian Ur-III dynasty collapsed at the hands of the Elamites in ca. the 21st century BC, the local Akkadian kings, including those in Assur, had shaken off the Sumerian yoke. An Assyrian king named Ushpia who reigned in ca. the 21st century BC is credited with dedicating the first temple of the god Assur in his home city. In around 2000 BC, Puzur-Ashur I founded a new dynasty, and his successors such as Ilushuma, Erishum I and Sargon I left inscriptions regarding the building of temples to Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in the city. Assur developed rapidly into a centre for trade, and trade routes led from the city to Anatolia, where merchants from Assur established trading colonies. These Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor were called kârum, and traded mostly with tin and wool (see Kültepe). In the city of Assur, the first great temples to the city god Assur and the weather god Adad were erected. The first fortifications were also began in this period.

Assur was the capital of the empire of Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1781 BC). He expanded the city's power and influence beyond the Tigris river valley, creating what some regard as the first Assyrian Empire. In this period, the Great Royal Palace was built, and the temple of Assur was expanded and enlarged with a ziggurat. This empire came to end when Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon incorporated the city into his short lived empire following the death of Ishme-Dagan I circa 1756 BC, and the next three Assyrian kings were regarded as vassals. A native king named Adasi drove the Babylonians and Amorites from Assur and Assyria as a whole circa 1720 BC, however little is known of his successors. Renewed building activity is known a few centuries later, during the reign of a native king Puzur-Ashur III, when the city was refortified and the southern quarters incorporated into the main city defenses. Temples to the moon god Sin (Nanna) and the sun god Shamash were erected in the 15th century BC. The city was then subjugated by the king of Mitanni, Shaushtatar in the mid 15th Century, who removed the gold and silver doors of the temple to his capital, Washukani, as plunder.

Ashur-uballit I overthrew the Mitanni empire in 1365 BC, and the Assyrians benefited from this development by taking control of the eastern portion of the Mitanni Empire, and later also annexing Hittite, Babylonian, Amorite and Hurrian territory. In the following centuries the old temples and palaces of Assur were restored, and the city once more became the seat of a powerful empire from 1365 BC to 1076 BC. Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208 BC) also started a new temple to the goddess Ishtar. The Anu-Adad temple was constructed during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1075 BC). The walled area of the city in the Middle Assyrian period made up some 1.2 square kilometres (300 acres).

Neo-Assyrian Empire[link]

Parthian temple in Assur.

In the Neo-Assyrian Empire (912-608 BC), the royal residence was transferred to other Assyrian cities. Ashur-nasir-pal II (884-859 BC) moved the capital from Assur to Kalhu (Calah/Nimrud). Yet the city of Assur remained the religious center of the empire, due to its temple of the national god Ashur. In the reign of Sennacherib (705-682 BC), the House of the New Year, akitu, was built, and the festivities celebrated in the city. Several Assyrian rulers were also buried beneath the Old Palace. The city was sacked and largely destroyed during the conquest of Assyria by the Medes, Babylonians and Scythians in 612 BC.

Persian Empire[link]

The city was fully reoccupied by Assyrians some centuries later. In the Parthian period, between 100 BC and 270 AD, the city becomes an important administrative centre of Parthian ruled Assyria (Assuristan), and some Assyriologists such as Simo Parpola have suggested it may have had some degree of autonomy or outright independence. New administrative buildings were erected to the north of the old city, and a palace to the south. The old temple dedicated to the national god of the Assyrians Assur (Ashur) was also rebuilt, indicating the continued occupation by ethnic Assyrians[1]. However, the city was largely destroyed again by the Sassanid king Shapur I (241-272 AD). However, the city remained occupied, and some settlement at the site is known right up to the 14th century.

Assur seems to have been reoccupied by Assyrians once again, and remained so well into the Parthian and Sassanid periods. It was occupied during the Islamic period until the 14th century when Tamurlane conducted a massacre of indigenous Assyrian Christians. After that there are no traces of a settlement in the archaeological and numismatic record. [2].

Threats to Assur[link]

The site was put on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger in 2003, at which time the site was threatened by a looming large-scale dam project that would have submerged the ancient archaeological site.^[8] The dam project was put on hold shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• Ashurism
• Ashur (god)
• Assyria
• Kings of Assyria
• Chronology of the ancient Near East
• Short chronology timeline
• Cities of the ancient Near East
• Assyrian People

References[link]

• Walter Andrae: Babylon. Die versunkene Weltstadt und ihr Ausgräber Robert Koldewey. de Gruyter, Berlin 1952.
• Stefan Heidemann: Al-'Aqr, das islamische Assur. Ein Beitrag zur historischen Topographie Nordmesopotamiens. In: Karin Bartl and Stefan hauser et al. (eds.): Berliner Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient. Seminar fur Altorientalische Philologie und Seminar für Vorderasiatische Altertumskunde der Freien Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Altertumswissenschaften. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1996, pp. 259–285
• Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum: Die Assyrer. Geschichte, Gesellschaft, Kultur. C.H.Beck Wissen, München 2003. ISBN 3-406-50828-6
• Olaf Matthes: Zur Vorgeschichte der Ausgrabungen in Assur 1898-1903/05. MDOG Berlin 129, 1997, 9-27. ISSN 0342-118X
• P. A. Miglus: Das Wohngebiet von Assur, Stratigraphie und Architektur. Berlin 1996. ISBN 3-7861-1731-4
• Susan L. Marchand: Down from Olympus. Archaeology and Philhellenism in Germany 1750-1970. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1996. ISBN 0-691-04393-0
• Conrad Preusser: Die Paläste in Assur. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 1996. ISBN 3-7861-2004-8

v t e World Heritage Sites in Iraq Assur · Hatra · Samarra

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

Samuel Edward Ramey (born March 28, 1942 in Colby, Kansas) is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.^{[1] [2]} At the height of his career, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power enough to handle the more overtly dramatic roles written by Verdi and Puccini.

He married his third wife, soprano Lindsey Larsen, on June 29, 2002.

Early life[link]

Samuel Ramey is a 1960 graduate of Colby High School in the town of Colby, Kansas. He studied music in high school and in college at Kansas State University, as well as at Wichita State with Arthur Newman. In college at Kansas State, Ramey was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. After further study in Central City (where he was in the chorus of Don Giovanni in 1963, with Norman Treigle in the title role) and as an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera, he went to New York where he worked for an academic publisher before he had his first breakthrough at the New York City Opera, debuting on March 11, 1973 singing the role of Zuniga in the 1875 Bizet opera Carmen, after which, among other roles, he took over the Faustian devils in Gounod's Faust and Boito's Mefistofele left empty by the early death of Treigle.

As his repertoire expanded, he spent more and more time in the theatres of Europe, notably in Berlin, Hamburg, London, Paris, Vienna, and the summer festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne, Pesaro, and Salzburg.

Later career[link]

In January 1984, Ramey made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Handel's Rinaldo. He has since become a fixture at the Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the New York City Opera, and the San Francisco Opera.

In the bel canto repertoire, Ramey has excelled in Mozart's Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro and in Rossini's Semiramide, The Barber of Seville, Il Turco in Italia, L'italiana in Algeri; in Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini's I puritani.

In the dramatic repertoire, Ramey has been acclaimed for his "Three Devils": Boito's Mefistofele, Gounod's Faust, and Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust

Other dramatic roles have included Verdi's Nabucco, Don Carlo, I Lombardi and Jérusalem and Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann (portraying all four villains). A number of previously obscure operas with strong bass/bass-baritone roles have been revived solely for Ramey, such as Verdi's Attila, Rossini's Maometto II and Massenet's Don Quichotte.

Recordings[link]

Ramey has made an exceptionally large number of recordings that feature nearly all of his main operatic roles as well as collections of miscellaneous arias, other classical pieces and crossover discs of popular American music. He has also appeared on television and video productions of the Met's productions of Carmen and Bluebeard's Castle, San Francisco's production of Mefistofele, Glyndebourne's production of The Rake's Progress and Salzburg's production of Don Giovanni.

In 1996, Ramey gave a concert at New York's Avery Fisher Hall titled "A Date with the Devil" in which he sang 14 arias representing the core of this repertoire, and he continues to tour this program throughout the world. In 2000, Ramey presented this concert at Munich's Gasteig Concert Hall. This performance was recorded live and was released on compact disc in the northern summer of 2002. In recent years, however, his singing has been criticized for a wobble.

Current activities[link]

Ramey lives in Glenview, Illinois and has participated in some 70 performances a year. He serves as a member of the faculty at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. He is a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. ^[3]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Ralph Blumenthal, "The Devil? He's a Basso Whose Voice Is Heavenly", The New York Times, February 17, 1998
2. ^ Anthony Tommasini, "An Aw Shucks Manner, but Don't Be Fooled: He's an Absolute Devil", The New York Times, November 5, 1999
3. ^ Delta Omicron

References[link]

• Samuel Ramey's website, samuelramey.com Retrieved 25 January 2010
• Article on Samuel Ramey with Bach cantata recordings, on bach-cantatas.com Retrieved 25 July 2010
• List of "Articles on Samuel Ramey", New York Times Retrieved 25 July 2010

Bibliography[link]

• Samuel Ramey: American Bass, by Jane Scovell, Baskerville Publishers, 2010. ISBN 978-1-880909-76-8

External links[link]

• Samuel Ramey's website

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since June 2010. It may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. Tagged since June 2010. Its tone or style may not reflect the formal tone used on Wikipedia. Tagged since June 2010.

Linda George is an ethnic Assyrian singer who resides in the United States Of America. The vast majority of her songs are sung in her native Assyrian language.^[1][2] George is widely known by the Assyrian community in countries in the USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Georgia and her homeland Iraq.

Early career – 1980s[link]

George's career started in the Assyrian community in Chicago discovered of Assyrian singer Sargon Gabriel. Sargon featured Linda on his track "Dalaleh". The track became a popular record in the Assyrian community and helped land George her own album. George's first album, Hal Eiman, was released in 1983 and was instantly a success. Linda soon became popular and recognizable with the help of songs such as the title track "Hal Eman", "La Khaswit M'Barokh", "Nishra D'Atour and "Marqidly".

It was not until her third album Neqmeh Min Garbiat Atree that George had major success. The album, released in 1986, featured some of George's most popular songs. Songs such as "Asheeta", "Taleeboota", "Mokhibbie Kheesheleh" and "Ktowa Khashana".

Breakthrough – 1990's[link]

With her next three albums, Alahata D'khooba, Shooprah o Khaila, Wardeh Bil Drananet Khooba and Kooma Khwara, George continued her success into the early 1990s. She became the first Assyrian singer to use contemporary beats and music with traditional Assyrian singing.^{[citation needed]} This was showcased on songs such as the party song "Kooma Khwara" where she also provided a remix version. George was the first Assyrian singer to sing in a different language on her albums. On one of the tracks featured on the album Wardeh bil Drananet Khooba, Linda sings in French. She also sings in English on one of the tracks on the album " Alahta D'Khooba Shoopra O'Khaila"

After dabbling with different beats and contemporary mixes on her three previous albums, George changed the way of Assyrian Music on her seventh Album, "Khamra Teeka" released in 1993. The album, featuring the song "Matlab D'Libba" , featured a first for Assyrian Music.^{[citation needed]} The song featured a rap segment sung in part English, part Assyrian written & performed by Walid Ishak aka M.C. Roc the rapper of Groovetek .

The song, dubbed the "Chapeh Chapeh Song" became successful. Other tracks on the album such as "Khamra Teeka", the title track, showed the direction that George's music was heading. The albums' other standout track however was the heart-wrenching song "Barwar". The song was released after the Gulf War and after the region of Barwar in Northern Iraq was bombed and left in shambles. The song tells the story of the devastation of the war but leaves listeners with a glimpse of hope and strength.

In the Mid to late 1990s, George released two albums. Her last studio album of the decade was 1995's "Khoot Goolpane't Malakha". The album contained a little bit of everything that Linda's previous albums featured, such as traditional music, upbeat contemporary beats, ballads and dance hits. In 1999, Linda released "Colours of my Country", a live album of traditional folk hits performed live in Media TV based in Bruxell, Belgium.

Legacy[link]

2000's[link]

After a year she was sponsored by Froggie record in Australia to release her first album in English, the soon after the record company was legally vanished, Linda was only able to release 3 singles and return to the stated then for the Assyrian New Year celebration on April 2001 she made her historical tour to North of Iraq, where she was welcomed by over 20,000 Assyrian fans.

In 2003, LG influenced by her last trip to North of Iraq she named her new release of "Silence of a Valley". The album featured new music from Linda as well as new music videos. she also reunited with Walid Ishak aka M.C. Roc for a new song called omtho hich lemaytho .Music from the album was used for the Assyrian feature length film "Cost of Happiness", released by Strategic Entertainment. With the release of the new album also came George's website.

In 2005, after Saddam Hussein was de-throned as the leader of Iraq, Linda released "I am Free", a CD sung in Arabic with 4 songs. The lead single, "Ana Hurra" was released world wide as an anthem for the newly liberated Iraq. The songs' video was shot by Strategic Entertainment. The second single off the album, "Hulla Hulla" was subsequently released and a video was shot and premiered on Middle Eastern television stations.

More hits such "Parkhaneeta", " Doushi", "Tlaneeta D'Timmal", from the album titled "Doushi", was released in 2007.

2010s[link]

After being in demand and trvelling 2 million air miles by 2010. and being the most photographed woman in the Assyrian history. LG worked hard on her latest album titled " Mokhneeten Minokh" recording the album musically in Sweden and recording the vocals, final mixing, and mastering in the U.S. As she toured to Australia for the 22nd time Easter Tour of 2010, she was able to finised video taping one of her hit on this album, "Madeleey".... 2 more hits on this album was released as video clips, currently working on " Dakhit Msaya" in the U.S and "Mokhneeten Minokh" in Sweden.

Discography[link]

• 1983 – Hal Eiman
• 1984 – Kursia D'Malkoota
• 1986 – Neqmeh Min Garbiat Atree
• 1988 – Warda b'il Drananeh d'Khooba
• 1988 – Kinara D'Rookha
• 1989 – Alaha't Khooba, Shoopra O Khaila
• 1991 – Kooma O'Khwara
• 1993 – Khamra Teeka
• 1994 – Peace On Earth (Christmas Album)
• 1995 – Khoot Goolpane't Malakha
• 1999 – Colors of my Country
• 2001 – No Quarter (English Single)
• 2003 – Silence Of A Valley
• 2005 – I am Free (Arabic Single)
• 2007 – Doushi
• 2010 – Mokhneeten Minokh

Links[link]

• Official Linda George site

References[link]

1. ^ Linda George assyriancafe.com, Retrieved January 2011
2. ^ http://www.qeenatha.com/viewprofile.php?id=50

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