The Assyrian people, most commonly known as Assyrians and other later names, such as: Chaldeans, Syrians, Syriacs (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 4000- 3500 BC, and in particular to the northern region of the Akkadian lands, which would become known as Assyria by the 24th Century BC. The Assyrian nation existed as an independent state, and often a powerful empire, from the 24th century BC until the end of the 7th century BC.

Today that ancient territory is part of several nations; Assyria remained a Geo-political entity after its fall, and 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 what is now Iraq, north east Syria, north west Iran, and Southeastern Turkey. They are predominantly Christian.

The following is a list of notable Assyrian people (also sometimes known as Chaldo-Assyrians or Syriacs), it includes persons who are from (or whose ancesty is from) the Mesopotamian Syriac-Aramaic speaking Assyrian Christian populations originating in Iraq, Iran, north eastern Syria and south eastern Turkey. It also included Chaldeans from the Chaldean Catholic Church.

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.[1]

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.

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. [2]

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).

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.

Assyrians in Armenia (Armenian: Ասորիներ, Asoriner) make up the country's third largest ethnic minority, after Yazidis and Russians. According to the 2001 census, there are 3,409 Assyrians living in Armenia, and Armenia is home to some of the last surviving Assyrian communities in the Caucasus. There were 6,000 Assyrians in Armenia before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but because of Armenia's struggling economy during the 1990s, the population has been cut by half, as many have emigrated.

Assyrians and Armenians have had contacts since ancient times, as the Kingdom of Urartu was the regional rival of the Assyrian empire from 825 BC to 608 BC. Today's Assyrian population in Armenia are mostly descendants of settlers who came starting in the early nineteenth century during the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828), when thousands refugees fled their homeland in the areas around Urmia in Persia. In the beginning of the 20th century, many came from what is today Southeastern Turkey, specifically the Hakkari region, where it was common to have Assyrians and Armenians living in the same villages. Assyrians, like their Armenian neighbors, suffered during a genocide by the Ottoman Turks, in which an estimated 275,000 Assyrians perished. As many Armenians fled Anatolia for what is today Armenia, many Assyrians followed as well, citing it as the only "Christian haven" in the region,although many also fled to Georgia (see Assyrians in Georgia). Throughout history, relations between the Assyrians and Armenian majority have tended to be very friendly, as both groups have practiced Christianity since ancient times and have suffered through Islamic persecution.