The 'Assyrians' (also called 'Syriacs'; see
names of Syriac Christians) are an
ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today
Iraq,
Iran,
Turkey and
Syria, but many of whom have migrated to the
Caucasus,
North America and
Western Europe during the past century. Hundreds of thousands more live in
Assyrian diaspora and
Iraqi refugee communities in
Europe, the former
Soviet Union,
the United States,
Australia,
New Zealand,
Syria,
Jordan, and
Lebanon.
As a result of
persecution in the wake of the First World War, there is now a significant
Assyrian diaspora. Major events included the
Islamic revolution in Iran, the
Simele massacre, and the
Assyrian genocide that occurred under Ottoman Turkish rule in the early 1900s. The latest event to hit the Assyrian community is the
war in Iraq; of the one million or more Iraqis reported by the
United Nations to have fled, forty percent are Assyrian, despite Assyrians comprising only three to five percent of the Iraqi population.
[4][5]
History
The Assyrian people are descended from the population of the ancient
Assyrian Empire, which itself emerged from the
Akkadian Empire founded by
Sargon of Akkad.
[6][7] Eventually, Assyrian kings conquered
Aramaean tribes and assimilated them into the Assyrian empire,
[8][9] and their language,
Aramaic, supplanted the native Akkadian language,
due in part to the mass relocations enforced by Assyrian kings of the
Neo-Assyrian period.
[12] The modern Assyrian identity is therefore believed to be a
miscegenation, or
ethnogenesis, of the major ethnic groups which inhabited
Assyria-proper, which were, for the most part, Assyrian, and to some extent, Aramaean.
[13] By the 5th century BC, "Imperial Aramaic" had become lingua franca in the
Achaemenid Empire.
The Assyrian people are believed to have descended from the ancient Assyrians of
Mesopotamia (
Aramaic: ''Bet-Nahrain'', "''the land of the rivers''"), who, in the
7th century BC, controlled a vast
empire which stretched from
Egypt and
Anatolia, across the ''land between two rivers'', to western
Iran. Tradition maintains that the history of the Assyrian people stretches back nearly 8 000 years, to the dawn of Mesopotamian
civilization.
[14] Culturally and linguistically distinct from, although quite influenced by, their neighbours in the
Middle East - the
Arabs,
Persians,
Kurds,
Turks, and
Armenians - the Assyrians have, throughout their recent history, endured much
hardship as a result of religious and ethnic
persecution.
[15]
Identity
The self-designation of ancient to modern Assyrians, have throughout history, changed due to various languages (from Akkadian to Aramaic)
and differing dialects. However, the various self-designations in use, are derived from the same common name, ''Aššūrāyu''.
[16][17][18]
Assyrians are divided among several churches (see below). They speak and many can read and write modern Assyrian, a dialect of
Neo-Aramaic.
[19]
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, for instance
Chaldean Catholic.
[20]
Assyrians and other ethnic groups feel pressure to identify as "Arabs".
[21][22] Assyrians in
Syria, are disappearing as an ethnic group, due to assimilation.
[23]
Neo-Aramaic ("Modern Assyrian")
[24][25] exhibits is remarkably conservative features compared with
Imperial Aramaic,
[26] 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.
[27][28][29] The Assyrians manifested a remarkable degree of linguistic, religious, and cultural continuity from the time of the ancient Greeks, Persians, and Parthians through periods of medieval Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman rule.
[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][26]
Assyrian nationalism emphatically connects Modern Assyrians to the population of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire. This connection is disputed,
[43] but receives support from
Assyriologists like
H.W.F. Saggs,
Robert D. Biggs and
Simo Parpola,
[44][45][46] and
Iranistics like
Richard Nelson Frye.
They believe that the modern Assyrians truly are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians.
[47]
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 mainstream opinion currently favours that ''Syria'' is indeed ultimately derived from the Assyrian term ''Aššūrāyu''.
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'').
[50] According to Tsereteli, however, a
Georgian equivalent of "Assyrians" appears in ancient Georgian and Armenian documents.
[51]
More recent archaeological findings have added to the debate, attesting to the synonymy between the terms "Assyria" and "Syria". In Çineköy, Turkey, a Hieroglyphic
Luwian and
Phoenician bilingual monumental
inscription was found, belonging to Urikki,
vassal king of
Que (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 Robert Rollinger, settles the problem once and for all.
[52]
Genetics
Modern Assyrians are believed to be mostly descended from the
Bronze Age population of
Mesopotamia (
Ancient Assyria).
DNA analysis that has been conducted "shows that [Assyrians] have a distinct genetic profile that distinguishes their population from any other population."
[53] Genetic analysis of the Assyrians of Persia demonstrated that they were "closed" with little "intermixture" with the Muslim Persian population.
[54]
Culture
Alqosh, located in the midst of Assyrian contemporary civilization.
Assyrian culture is dictated by religion. The language is also 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
Akitu (the Assyrian New Year).
[55]
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.
There are Assyrians that are not very religious yet they may be very nationalistic. Assyrians are proud of their heritage, their Christianity, and of speaking the language of Christ. Children are often given Christian or Assyrian names such as Ashur, Sargon, Shamiram, Nineveh, Ninos, Nimrod, etc. Baptism and First Communion are heavily celebrated events similar to how a
Bris and a
B'nai Mitzvah are in Judaism. When an Assyrian person dies, three days after they are buried they gather to celebrate them rising to heaven (as did Jesus), after seven days they again gather to commomerate their passing. A close family member wears only black clothes for forty days or one year as a sign of respect.
Language
Main articles: Neo-Aramaic languages
The ancient Assyrian tongue was referred to as the
Akkadian language (also called 'Assyro-Babylonian'),
[56] an
East Semitic language written in
cuneiform script. After the Assyrian empire expanded westward,
Aramaic gradually became the dominant tongue.
Aramaic was declared an
auxiliary language by King
Ashur-nirari V in 752 BC and became a
lingua franca under
Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia. By the
first century AD, Akkadian was extinct. Modern
Syriac, however, shares some of its vocabulary, as both are
Semitic languages,
[57] and a result of vocabulary remnants from the Akkadian language still being preserved in the modern Syriac language.
[58]
Most Assyrians speak a modern form of
Syriac,
[59] 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 ''Suryoyo''. 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,
Persian or
Turkish. In northern Iraq and western Iran,
Kurdish is widely spoken.
Recent archaeological evidence includes a statue from
Syria with
Assyrian and
Aramaic inscriptions.
[60] It is the oldest known Aramaic text.
Religion
Main articles: Syriac Christianity
Assyrians became Christians during the first century AD,
though not until during the third century had they all become Christians.
Some Assyrians also claim that their ancestors became Christians during the lifetime of Jesus.
[61] The
Bible seems to support this assertion; Jesus spoke of "Men of Nineveh", repenting from their old sins; this, most likely, refers to Assyrians:
Many members of the following churches consider themselves Assyrian. Ethnic and national identities are deeply intertwined with religion, a legacy of the Ottoman
Millet system.
:''Main Churches''
★
Ancient Church of the East
★
Assyrian Church of the East
★
Assyrian Evangelical Church
★
Chaldean Church of Babylon
★
Syriac Orthodox Church
★
Syriac Catholic Church
A small minority of Assyrians 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.
Based on the following
Bible passage, many Assyrians hold
apocalyptic beliefs as regards the future of their nation:
[62]
Music
Main articles: Assyrian music
Assyrian music is divided into three main periods: ancient music written in
Ur,
Babylon and
Nineveh; a middle period of tribal and
folkloric music; and the modern period.
Art
Main articles: Assyrian art
An Assyrian artistic style distinct from that of Babylonian art which was the dominant contemporary art in Mesopotamia, began to emerge c.1500 B.C. and lasted until the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. The characteristic Assyrian art form was the polychrome carved stone relief that decorated imperial monuments.
Cuisine
Main articles: Assyrian cuisine
Assyrian
cuisine is very closely related to other
Middle Eastern cuisines, predating both
Arab and
Turkish cuisine. It is also similar to
Armenian,
Persian,
Jewish and
Greek cuisine. It is believed that Assyrians invented
baklava in the
eighth century BC.
[63]
Institutions
Assyrian child dressed in traditional clothes.
Political parties
★
Assyria Liberation Party
★
Assyrian Democratic Movement
★
Assyrian General Conference
★
Assyrian Patriotic Party
★
Assyrian Socialist Party
★
Assyrian Universal Alliance
★
Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party
★
Chaldean Democratic Union
★
Shuraya
Other institutions
★
Ashur TV
★
Assyriska
★
Ishtar TV
★
AssyriaSat (KBSV)
★
Suroyo TV
★
Suryoyo Sat
Religious divisions
★
Chaldean Assyrians
★
Nestorian Assyrians
★
Syriac Assyrians
See also
The Assyrian flag.
External links
★
Assyrian people, Britannica Online
References
1. Controversially also ܐܪܡܝܐ '', see Assyrian naming dispute.
2. adherents.com; 3.3 million: Gamming, Jenny. They have a flag-but no country " in Swedish Expressen, 17 Aug. 1997. (Viewed 16 Aug. 1999). Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organisation web site. Translated by SSF/Goran Hansson.[1]
3. http://www.assyrianfoundation.org/genetics.htm
4. Assyrian Christians 'Most Vulnerable Population' in Iraq
5. Iraq's Christian community, fights for its survival
6. Early History of Assyria, By Sidney Smith, University of Michigan, 1928
7. http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=AE_Chart
8. see e.g. Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. ''Aram''.
9. Assyria and Syria: Synonyms
10. The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
11. Assyrians after Assyria
12. Mesopotamia, the Assyrians, 1170-612, The Assyrian Period
13. Assyria and Syria: Synonyms Frye, Richard N.
14. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110693/Mesopotamian-religion
15. Assyrians
16. Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today Simo Parpola
17. Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today Simo Parpola
18. Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today
19. Florian Coulmas, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems 23 (1996)
20. Note on the Modern Assyrians
21. Iraqi Assyrians: A Barometer of Pluralism
22. http://www.aina.org/releases/20070416140021.htm
23. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-29952/Syria#404105.hook
24. Assyrians
25. Eden Naby & Michael E. Hopper eds., The Assyrian Experience: Sources for the study of the 19th and 20th centuries: from the holdings of the Harvard University Libraries (with a selected bibliography) (Cambridge, MA: Harvard College Library, 1999)
26. J.G. Browne, ‘‘The Assyrians,’’ Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 85 (1937)
27. George Percy Badger, The Christians of Assyria Commonly Called Nestorians (London: W.H. Bartlett, 1869)
28. J.F. Coakley, The Church of the East and the Church of England (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), pp. 5, 89, 99, 149, 366–67, 382, 411
29. Michael D. Coogan, ed., The Oxford History of the Biblical World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 279
30. Fred Aprim, Assyrians: The Continuous Saga (Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2004)
31. ‘‘Parthia,’’ in The Cambridge Ancient History: The Roman Republic, 2nd ed., vol. 3, pt. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 597–98
32. Patricia Crone and Michael Cook, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980), 55–60
33. ‘‘Ashurbanipal and the Fall of Assyria,’’ in The Cambridge Ancient History: The Assyrian Empire, vol. 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954), 130–31
34. A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948), 168
35. Albert Hourani, Minorities in the Arab World (London: Oxford University Press, 1947), 99
36. Aubrey Vine, The Nestorian Churches (London: Independent Press, 1937)
37. Flavius Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, trans. William Whiston (1737), bk. 13, ch. 6, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-13.htm
38. Simo Parpola, ‘‘National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in the Post-Empire Times,’’ Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies 18, 2 (2004): 16–17
39. Simo Parpola, ‘‘Assyrians after Assyria,’’ Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies 12, 2 (2000): 1–13
40. R.N. Frye, ‘‘A Postscript to My Article [Assyria and Syria: Synonyms],’’
Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies 11 (1997): 35–36; R.N. Frye, ‘‘Assyria and Syria: Synonyms,’’ Journal of the Near East Society 51 (1992): 281–85
41. Michael G. Morony, Iraq after the Muslim Conquest (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984), 336, 345
42. J.G. Browne, ‘‘The Assyrians,’’ Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 85 (1937)
43. Assyrians after Assyria
44. The Might That Was Assyria H.W.F. Saggs
45. 'My Career in Assyrialogy and Near Eastern Archaeology'
46. Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today
47. Assyrians after Assyria
48.
49. Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today Simo Parpola
50. Rudolf Macuch, ''Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur'', New York: de Gruyter, 1976.
51. Tsereteli, ''Sovremennyj assirijskij jazyk'', Moscow: Nauka, 1964.
52. The terms “Assyria” and “Syria” again
53. Assyrians Highlighted by Genetics Study, Radio Free Europe, vol. 3, Dec. 8, 2000 David Nissman
54. M.T. Akbari, Sunder S. Papiha, D.F. Roberts, and Daryoush D. Farhud, ‘‘Genetic Differentiation among Iranian Christian Communities,’’ American Journal of Human Genetics 38 (1986): 84–98
55. The Assyrian New Year
56. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005290/Akkadian-language#62711.hook
57. Akkadian Words in Modern Assyrian
58. Assyria
59. The British Survey, By British Society for International Understanding, 1968, page 3
60. A Statue from Syria with Assyrian and Aramaic Inscriptions
61. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2007/1937124.htm
62. Assyria in Prophecy
63. History of Baklava, Turkish Culture: Baklava, Baklava War Intesifies, Baklava
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