Assyrians (Syriac:ܣܘܪ̈ܝܐ,Sūrāyē / Sūrōyē) are anethnic groupindigenous toMesopotamia, a geographical region inWest Asia. Modern Assyriansshare descent directly from the ancientAssyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from other Mesopotamian groups, such as the Babylonians, they share in the broader cultural heritage of the Mesopotamian region.[46][47] Modern Assyrians may culturally self-identify asSyriacs,Chaldeans, orArameans for religious, geographic, and tribal identification.[48]
The ancient Assyrians originally spokeAkkadian, anEast Semitic language, but subsequently switched to theAramaic language and currently speak various dialects ofNeo-Aramaic, specifically those known asSuret andTuroyo, which are among the oldest continuously spoken and written languages in the world. Aramaic (language of theArameans) was thelingua franca of West Asia for centuries and was the language spoken byJesus. It has influenced other languages such as Hebrew and Arabic, and, through cultural and religious exchanges, it has had some influence on Mongolian and Uighur. Aramaic itself is the oldest continuously spoken and written language in the Middle East, with a history stretching back over 3,000 years.[49]
Assyrians are almost exclusively Christian,[50] with most adhering to theEast andWest Syriac liturgical rites of Christianity.[51][52] Both rites useClassical Syriac as their liturgical language. The Assyrians are known to be among some of the earliest converts to Christianity, along with Jews,Arameans,Armenians,Greeks, andArabs.
The ancestral indigenous lands that form theAssyrian homeland are those of ancientMesopotamia and the Zab rivers, a region currently divided between modern-dayIraq, southeastern Turkey, northwesternIran, and northeasternSyria.[53] A majority of modern Assyrians have migrated to other regions of the world, including North America,the Levant, Australia, Europe, Russia and theCaucasus. Emigration was triggered by genocidal events throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, including theAssyrian genocide or Sayfo, as well as religious persecution by Islamic extremists. The most recent reasons for emigration are due to events such as the2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States andits allies, theSyrian civil war, and the emergence of theIslamic State. Of the one million or more Iraqis who have fled Iraq since theoccupation, nearly 40% were indigenous Assyrians, even though Assyrians accounted for only around 3% of the pre-warIraqi population.[54][55]
Assyria is the homeland of the Assyrian people, located in the ancient Near East. The earliestNeolithic sites in Assyria belonged to theJarmo culture c. 7100 BC andTell Hassuna, the centre of theHassuna culture, c. 6000 BC.
The history ofAssyria begins with the formation of the city ofAssur, perhaps as early as the 25th century BC.[57] During the earlyBronze Age period,Sargon of Akkad united all the nativeSemitic-speaking peoples, including the Assyrians, and theSumerians ofMesopotamia under theAkkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC). At this time, the city ofAssur already existed and would later become the heart of the Assyrian Empire.[58]UnderSennacherib,Nineveh became Assyria’s capital and was extensively expanded, covering about 750 hectares — more than twice the size of Calah or Dur-Sharrukin — and emerging as the largest and potentially wealthiest city of the ancient world.[59] Some scholars suggest that the famedHanging Gardens, often attributed to Babylon, may in fact have been located in Nineveh.[60] Prior to Nineveh's ascendancy, the Assyrian city ofNimrud (also known as Kalhu) held the title of the world's largest city during the reign of Ashurnasirpal II in the 9th century BC, serving as the imperial capital and a major center of power and culture.[61]In their early stages, Assyrian cities such as Assur and Nineveh appear to have functioned as administrative centers under Sumerian control rather than as independent political entities. Over time, the Sumerian population was gradually absorbed into the broader Akkadian-speaking (Assyro-Babylonian) populace.[62] An Assyrian identity distinct from other neighboring groups appears to have formed during theOld Assyrian period, in the 21st or 20th century BC.[63]
In the traditions of theAssyrian Church of the East, they are descended fromAbraham's grandson,Dedan son ofJokshan, progenitor of the ancient Assyrians.[64] However, there is no other historical basis for this assertion. TheHebrew Bible does not directly mention it, and there is no mention in Assyrian records, which date as far back as the 25th century BC. What is known is thatAshur-uballit I overthrew theMitanni c. 1365 BC and the Assyrians benefited from this development by taking control of the eastern portion of Mitanni territory and later annexingHittite,Babylonian,Amorite andHurrian territories.[65] The rise and rule of theMiddle Assyrian Empire (14th to 10th century BC) spread Assyrian culture, people and identity acrossnorthern Mesopotamia.[66]
TheNeo-Assyrian Empire (c. 911–609 BC) was the most powerful and expansive phase of Assyrian civilization, ruling the largest empire yet assembled at that time, stretching from Mesopotamia to Egypt and the Levant.[67] At its height, it was the strongest military power in the world, pioneering advanced tactics, siege warfare, and administrative systems that influenced future empires.[68]
However, the empire's decline was gradual, caused by imperial overstretch, internal instability, and resistance from vassal states.[68] TheBabylonians andMedes formed an alliance and capturedNineveh in 612 BC, and after a final defeat at Harran in 609 BC, the empire fell. Despite this, Assyrian culture and administrative practices influenced the subsequent Babylonian and Persian empires.
Despite the influx of foreign elements, the presence of Assyrians is confirmed by the worship of the godAshur. References to the name survive into the 3rd century AD.[71] TheGreeks,Parthians, andRomans had a relatively low level of integration with the local population in Mesopotamia, which allowed their cultures to survive.[72] Semi-independent kingdoms influenced by Assyrian culture (Hatra,Adiabene,Osroene) and perhaps semi-autonomous Assyrian vassal states (Assur) sprung up in the east under Parthian rule, lasting until conquests by theSasanian Empire in the region in the 3rd century AD.[73]
Language
Modern Assyrian derives from ancientAramaic, part of the Northwest Semitic languages.[74] Around 700 BC, Aramaic slowly replaced Akkadian in Assyria, Babylonia and the Levant. Widespread bilingualism among Assyrian nationals was already present before the fall of the Empire.[73] The Aramaic spoken by Assyrians today has an Akkadian substratum, preserving lexical, phonological, and syntactic influences from the ancient Akkadian language.[75][76][77]
TheKültepe texts, which were written in Old Assyrian, preserve some loanwords from theHittite language. Those loanwords are the earliest attestation of anyIndo-European language, dated to the 20th century BC. Most of the archaeological evidence is typical ofAnatolia rather than of Assyria, but using both cuneiform and the dialect is the best indication of Assyrian presence. Over 20,000 cuneiform tablets have been recovered from the site.[78][79]
From the 1st century BC, Assyria was the theatre of the protractedRoman–Persian Wars. Much of the region would become theRoman province ofAssyria from 116 AD to 118 AD following the conquests ofTrajan. Still, after a Parthian-inspired Assyrian rebellion, the new emperorHadrian withdrew from the short-lived province Assyria and its neighboring provinces in 118 AD.[81] Following a successful campaign in 197–198, Severus converted the kingdom ofOsroene, centred onEdessa, into a frontier Roman province.[82]
Osroëne andAdiabene were ancient kingdoms located in northern Mesopotamia, regions historically inhabited by Assyrian peoples. Both kingdoms played significant roles in the cultural and political landscape of the Near East from the Hellenistic period through late antiquity.[83]
Osroëne, centered around its capitalEdessa (modern Urfa, Turkey), was founded around 136 BC by Osroes, likely of Iranian origin, but over time it became predominantly Aramaic-speaking and culturally Assyrian. The kingdom controlled key trade routes and often balanced its alliances between the Roman and Parthian empires.[84][85]
Edessa emerged as a major center of Syriac Christianity and Assyrian cultural identity, developing a rich tradition of Syriac literature and theology. Osroëne retained some autonomy under Roman protection until its final incorporation into the empire in 216 AD.[86][87]
Adiabene, located to the east with its capital atArbela (modern Erbil, Iraq), was similarly an Assyrian kingdom both ethnically and culturally. Its population spoke Aramaic, and the kingdom is famously noted for the royal family's conversion to Judaism in the 1st century AD.[88][89][90]
Adiabene was a significant political entity in Mesopotamia under Parthian suzerainty and later Sāsānid control before its eventual incorporation into Islamic empires.[91]
Both kingdoms are recognized today as key centers of Assyrian heritage, representing continuity of the ancient Assyrian people through language, religion, and culture in northern Mesopotamia during classical antiquity.[92][93][94]
Roman influence in the area came to an end underJovian in 363, who abandoned the region after concluding a hasty peace agreement with the Sassanians.[95]
The Assyrians were Christianized in the first to third centuries inRoman Syria andRoman Assyria. The population of theSasanian province ofAsoristan was a mixed one, composed of Assyrians,Arameans in the far south and the western deserts, andPersians.[96] TheGreek element in the cities, still strong during theParthian Empire, ceased to be ethnically distinct in Sasanian times. Most of the population wereEastern Aramaic speakers. Much of the population of Asoristan was Christian.[97] However, according toIsho'Yahb III, there were perhaps more pagans than Christians in the region. These pagans worshipped Gods such asTammuz and a Babylonian Sea monster along with sacrifice to idols.[98]
WithinSasanianAdiabene an examination ofSyriac source work can infer that the majority of the population of Adiabene wereSyriac speaking and of local Assyrian origin. At the same time, Adiabene's elites were integrated with values of Zoroastrian social life. It can be assumed that many local Semitic cults succumbed to state supportedZoroastrianism during this period. These trends can be seen in the Legend of MarQardagh, where the main protagonist is portrayed as being ofAssyrian royal descent, yet of Zoroastrian creed prior to his conversion to Christianity.[99]
In 410, theCouncil of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of theSasanian Empire,[100] organised the Christians within that Empire into what became known as theChurch of the East. Its head was declared to be the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, who in the acts of the council was referred to as the Grand or Major Metropolitan and who soon afterward was called theCatholicos of the East. Later, the title ofPatriarch was also used. Dioceses were organised intoprovinces, each of which was under the authority of ametropolitan bishop. Six such areas were instituted in 410.
Mor Mattai Monastery (Dayro d-Mor Mattai) in,Bartella,Nineveh,Iraq. It is recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence. It is famous for its magnificent library and a considerable collection ofSyriac Christian manuscripts[101]
Another council held in 424 declared that theCatholicos of the East was independent of "Western" ecclesiastical authorities (those of the Roman Empire).
Soon afterward, Christians in the Roman Empire were divided by their attitude regarding theCouncil of Ephesus (431), which condemnedNestorianism, and theCouncil of Chalcedon (451), which condemnedMonophysitism. Those who for any reason refused to accept one or other of these councils were called Nestorians or Monophysites, while those who accepted both councils, held under the auspices of the Roman emperors, were called Melkites (derived from Syriacmalkā, king),[102] meaning royalists.
All three groups existed among the Syriac Christians, the East Syriacs being called Nestorians and the West Syriacs being divided between the Monophysites (today theSyriac Orthodox Church, also known as Jacobites, afterJacob Baradaeus) and those who accepted both councils, primarily today'sEastern Orthodox Church, which has adopted theByzantine Rite inGreek, but also theMaronite Church, which kept itsWest Syriac Rite and was not as closely aligned with Constantinople.[103]
Roman/Byzantine and Persian spheres of influence divided Syriac-speaking Christians into two groups: those who adhered to the Miaphysite Syriac Orthodox Church (the so-called Jacobite Church), or West Syrians, and those who adhered to the Church of the East, the so-called Nestorian Church. Following the split, they developed distinct dialects, mainly based on the pronunciation and written symbolization of vowels.[103] With the rise ofSyriac Christianity, eastern Aramaic enjoyed a renaissance as a classical language in the 2nd to 8th centuries, and varieties of that form of Aramaic (Neo-Aramaic languages) are still spoken by a few small groups of Jacobite and Nestorian Christians in the Middle East.[104]
Theodora, who lived from April 1, 527 A.D. to June 28, 548 A.D., was a notable empress of theByzantine Empire and the wife of EmperorJustinian I. Although her exact ethnic background is not definitively established, some sources suggest she was of Assyrian origin. She played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and social reforms. Theodora is particularly remembered for her efforts to improve the status of women, including legislation against forced prostitution and support for widows and orphans. She was a key supporter of her husband's efforts to restore and expand the Byzantine Empire from their capital,Constantinople. Additionally, Theodora worked towards alleviating the persecution ofMiaphysites, although full reconciliation with this Christian sect was not achieved during her lifetime.[105][106]
Indigenous Assyrians became second-class citizens (dhimmi) in a greater Arab Islamic state. Those who resistedArabization and conversion to Islam were subject to severe religious, ethnic, and cultural discrimination and had certain restrictions imposed upon them.[112] Assyrians were excluded from specific duties and occupations reserved for Muslims. They did not enjoy the same political rights as Muslims, and their word was not equal to that of a Muslim in legal and civil matters. As Christians, they were subject to payment of a special tax, thejizya.[113]
They were banned from spreading their religion further or building new churches in Muslim-ruled lands, but were expected to adhere to the same laws of property, contract, and obligation as the Muslim Arabs.[113] They could not seek the conversion of a Muslim, a non-Muslim man could not marry a Muslim woman, and the child of such a marriage would be considered a Muslim. They could not own an enslaved Muslim and had to wear different clothing from Muslims to be distinguishable. In addition to the jizya tax, they were required to pay thekharaj tax on their land, which was heavier than the jizya. However, they were protected, given religious freedom, and to govern themselves according to their own laws.[114]
From the 7th century AD onwards, Mesopotamia saw a steady influx of Arabs,Kurds and otherIranian peoples,[116] and laterTurkic peoples. Assyrians were increasingly marginalized, persecuted and gradually became a minority in their homeland. Conversion to Islam was a result of heavy taxation, which also resulted in decreased revenue from their rulers. As a result, the new converts migrated to Muslim garrison towns nearby.
Despite the influx of other peoples into the region, under the leadership ofMar Timothy I (780-823), the Church of the East reached a high point and Christians presumably constituted 40 percent of Mesopotamia's population.[117] During the early Islamic period, the majority of the population of countries under Arab Islamic rule remained Christian.[118] Prior to 850 AD, Muslims only made up 20 percent of the population of theAbbasid Caliphate, shifting to a majority after 950 AD.[119] The rise of a solidMuslim majority inSyria andMesopotamia can be dated to the late 10th or 11th centuries. Large Christian minorities persisted into the 13th century, which saw a decisive move toward Muslim hegemony.[120]
Assyrians remained dominant in Upper Mesopotamia as late as the 14th century, with Syriac being the primary language centuries after the Arab invasions.[121][122][123] and the city of Assur was still occupied by Assyrians during the Islamic period until the mid-14th century when the Muslim Turco-Mongol rulerTimur conducted a religiously motivated massacre against Assyrians. After, no records of Assyrians remained in Assur according to the archaeological and numismatic record. From this point, the Assyrian population was dramatically reduced in their homeland.[124]
From the 19th century, after the rise of nationalism in theBalkans, the Ottomans started viewing Assyrians and other Christians on their eastern front as a potential threat. The Kurdish Emirs sought to consolidate their power by attacking Assyrian communities, which were already well-established there. Scholars estimate that tens of thousands of Assyrians in theHakkari region weremassacred in 1843 whenBedr Khan Beg, the emir ofBohtan, invaded their region.[125] After a later massacre in 1846, western powers forced the Ottomans into intervening in the region, and the ensuing conflict destroyed the Kurdish emirates and reasserted the Ottoman power in the area. The Assyrians were subject to themassacres of Diyarbakır soon after.[126]
Being culturally, ethnically, and linguistically distinct from their Muslim neighbors in the Middle East—the Arabs,Persians, Kurds,Turks—the Assyrians have endured much hardship throughout their recent history as a result of religious and ethnic persecution by these groups.[127]
A map of the Aramaic language andSyriac Christianity in the Middle East and Central Asia until being largely annihilated byTamerlane in the 14th century
After initially coming under the control of theSeljuk Empire and theBuyid dynasty, the region eventually came under the control of theMongol Empire after thefall of Baghdad in 1258. The Mongol khans were sympathetic with Christians and did not harm them. The most prominent among them was probablyIsa Kelemechi, a diplomat, astrologer, and head of the Christian affairs inYuan China. He spent some time in Persia under theIlkhanate.
According to some Arab historians, Assyrians persisted in the regions ofHakkari andAssyria (Mosul), though during the Seljuk and subsequentTimurid invasions of Assyrian regions, Kurds joined Turco-Mongol forces in advancing on Mesopotamian cities such asDiyarbakir,Mosul andBaghdad. Population destruction transpired in the region such as the attacks led byTimur in the late 1300s.[128]
The 14th century massacres of Timur 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, the noted Assyrian scholar and hierarch, found "much quietness" in his diocese in Mesopotamia. Syria's diocese, he wrote, was "wasted."[129]
The region was later controlled by the in Iran-based Turkic confederations of theAq Qoyunlu andKara Koyunlu. Subsequently, all Assyrians, like with the rest of the ethnicities living in the former Aq Qoyunlu territories, fell intoSafavid hands from 1501 and on.[citation needed]
Mar Elias (Eliya), theNestorian bishop of theUrmia plain village of Geogtapa, c. 1831
The Ottomans secured their control over Mesopotamia and Syria in the first half of the 17th century following theOttoman–Safavid War (1623–39) and the resultingTreaty of Zuhab. Non-Muslims were organised intomillets. 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.[130]
The Aramaic-speaking Mesopotamian Christians had long been divided between followers of theChurch of the East, commonly referred to as "Nestorians", and followers of theSyriac Orthodox Church, commonly calledJacobites. The latter were organised byMarutha of Tikrit (565–649) as 17 dioceses under a "Metropolitan of the East" or "Maphrian", holding the highest rank in the Syriac Orthodox Church after that of theSyriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. The Maphrian resided atTikrit until 1089, when he moved to the city ofMosul for half a century, before settling in the nearbyMonastery of Mar Mattai (still belonging to the Syriac Orthodox Church) and thus not far from the residence of the Eliya line of Patriarchs of the Church of the East. From 1533, the holder of the office was known as the Maphrian of Mosul, to distinguish him from the Maphrian of thePatriarch of Tur Abdin.[131]
In 1552, a group of bishops of the Church of the East from the northern regions ofAmid andSalmas, who were dissatisfied with reservation of patriarchal succession to members of a single family, even if the designated successor was little more than a child, elected as a rival patriarch the abbot of theRabban Hormizd Monastery,Yohannan Sulaqa. This was by no means the first schism in the Church of the East. An example is the attempt to replace Timothy I (779–823) with Ephrem of Gandīsābur.[132]
By tradition, a patriarch could be ordained only by someone of archiepiscopal (metropolitan) rank, a rank to which only members of that one family were promoted. For that reason, Sulaqa travelled to Rome, where, presented as the new Patriarch elect, he entered communion with the Catholic Church and was ordained by the Pope and recognized as Patriarch. The title or description under which he was recognized as Patriarch is given variously as "Patriarch ofMosul in Eastern Syria";[133] "Patriarch of the Church of the Chaldeans of Mosul";[134] "Patriarch of the Chaldeans";[135][136][137] "Patriarch of Mosul";[138][139][140] or "Patriarch of the Eastern Assyrians", this last being the version given by Pietro Strozzi on the second-last unnumbered page before page 1 of hisDe Dogmatibus Chaldaeorum,[141] of which an English translation is given in Adrian Fortescue'sLesser Eastern Churches.[142][143]
Mar Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa returned to northernMesopotamia in the same year and fixed his seat in Amid. Before being imprisoned for four months and then in January 1555 put to death by the governor ofAmadiya at the instigation of the rival Patriarch ofAlqosh, of theEliya line,[144] he ordained two metropolitans and three other bishops,[145] thus beginning a new ecclesiastical hierarchy: the patriarchal line known as theShimun line. The area of influence of this patriarchate soon moved from Amid east, fixing the see, after many changes, in the isolated village ofQochanis.
TheShimun line eventually drifted away from Rome and in 1662 adopted a profession of faith incompatible with that of Rome. Leadership of those who wished communion with Rome passed to the Archbishop of AmidJoseph I, recognized first by the Turkish civil authorities (1677) and then by Rome itself (1681). A century and a half later, in 1830, headship of the Catholics (theChaldean Catholic Church) was conferred onYohannan Hormizd, a member of the family that for centuries had provided the patriarchs of the legitimist "Eliya line", who had won over most of the followers of that line. Thus the patriarchal line of those who in 1553 entered communion with Rome are now patriarchs of the "traditionalist" wing of the Church of the East, that which in 1976 officially adopted the name "Assyrian Church of the East".[146][147][148][149]
In the 1840s many of the Assyrians living in the mountains ofHakkari in the south eastern corner of the Ottoman Empire were massacred by the Kurdish emirs of Hakkari and Bohtan.[150]
Another major massacre of Assyrians (and Armenians) in theOttoman Empire occurred between 1894 and 1897 by Turkish troops and their Kurdish allies during the rule of SultanAbdul Hamid II. The motives for these massacres were an attempt to reassertPan-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 inDiyarbakir,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.[153][154]
The Assyrians suffered a number of religiously and ethnically motivated massacres throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries,[150] culminating in the large-scaleHamidian massacres of unarmed men, women and children by Muslim Turks and Kurds in the late 19th century at the hands of the Ottoman Empire and its associated (largely Kurdish and Arab) militias, which further greatly reduced numbers, particularly in southeastern Turkey.
The most significant recent persecution against the Assyrian population was theAssyrian genocide which occurred during the First World War.[157] Between 500,000 and 750,000 Anatolian Assyrians[158] were estimated to have been slaughtered by the armies of the Ottoman Empire and their Kurdish allies between 1895-1919, totalling up to two-thirds of the entire Assyrian population of Turkey.
This led to a large-scale migration of Turkish-based Assyrian people into countries such as Syria,Iran, and Iraq (where they were to suffer further violent assaults at the hands of the Arabs and Kurds), as well as other neighbouring countries in and around the Middle East such asArmenia,Georgia andRussia.[159][160][161][162]
During World War I, the Assyrians suffered heavy losses due to deportations and mass killings organized by the Ottoman Turks. Several representatives of the Assyrian people participated in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, after the war had ended. These representatives aimed to establish an independent nation and sought to persuade the victorious powers to place it under a single mandatory authority. Although many sympathized with the Assyrians, none of their demands were implemented. Their efforts failed due to geographical and denominational divisions among themselves, as well as the fact that the major powers—Britain and France—had their own plans for the territories where the Assyrians lived.[163]
Assyrian troops led by Agha Petros (saluting) with a captured Turkish banner in the foreground, 1918
In reaction to theAssyrian Genocide and lured by British and Russian promises of an independent nation, the Assyrians led byAgha Petros andMalik Khoshaba of the Bit-Tyari tribe, fought alongside the Allies against Ottoman forces known as theAssyrian volunteers orOur Smallest Ally. Despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned the Assyrians fought successfully, scoring a number of victories over the Turks and Kurds. This situation continued until their Russian allies left the war, and Armenian resistance broke, leaving the Assyrians surrounded, isolated and cut off from lines of supply. The sizable Assyrian presence in south eastern Anatolia which had endured for over four millennia was thus reduced significantly by the end of World War I.[164][165]
TheAssyrian rebellion was an uprising by the Assyrians inHakkari that began on 3 September 1924 and ended on 28 September. The Assyrians ofTyari andTkhuma returned to their ancestral land in Hakkari in 1922, shortly after World War I without permission from the Turkish government. This led to clashes between the Assyrians and the Turkish army with their Kurdish allies that grew into a rebellion in 1924, it ended with the Assyrians being forced to retreat to Iraq.
In nearby Tur Abdin, Assyrians in ofAzakh andIwardo held defenses against Ottoman and Kurdish soldiers and succeeded in fending off the attacks. Ottoman authorities labeled these defenses as part of the larger Midyat rebellion, which they used to justify the planned sieges against them. Additionally, they knew that they were acting against populations who were not Armenian, as the Assyrians had up to then been divided by the millet system based on religious differences. The defenses lasted for several months up to the end of 1915. For Assyrians who originate from Tur Abdin, the stories of the defenses remain integral to their identity and collective memory of Sayfo.
Modern history
Assyrian refugees on a wagon moving to a newly constructed village on theKhabur River in Syria
The majority of Assyrians living in what is today modern Turkey were forced to flee to either Syria or Iraq after the Turkish victory during theTurkish War of Independence. In 1932, Assyrians refused to become part of the newly formed state ofIraq and instead demanded their recognition as a nation within a nation. The Assyrian leaderShimun XXI Eshai asked theLeague of Nations to recognize the right of the Assyrians to govern the area known as the "Assyrian triangle" in northern Iraq. During theFrench mandate period, some Assyrians, fleeingethnic cleansings inIraq during theSimele massacre, established numerous villages along theKhabur River during the 1930s.
TheAssyrian Levies were founded by the British in 1928, with ancient Assyrian military rankings such asRab-shakeh, Rab-talia andTartan, being revived for the first time in millennia for this force. The Assyrians were prized by the British rulers for their fighting qualities, loyalty, bravery and discipline,[166] and were used to help the British put down insurrections among the Arabs and Kurds. DuringWorld War II, eleven Assyrian companies saw action inPalestine and another four served inCyprus. The Parachute Company was attached to theRoyal Marine Commando and were involved in fighting inAlbania,Italy andGreece. The Assyrian Levies played a major role in subduing the pro-Nazi Iraqi forces at the battle ofHabbaniya in 1941.
Three AssyrianIraq Levies, who volunteered in 1946 for service as ground crew with the Royal Air Force, look over the side of the ORBITA as it pulls into the docks at Liverpool. Left to right, they are: Sergeant Macko Shmos, Lance Corporal Adoniyo Odisho and Corporal Yoseph Odisho.
However, this cooperation with the British was viewed with suspicion by some leaders of the newly formedKingdom of Iraq. The tension reached its peak shortly after the formal declaration of independence when hundreds of Assyrian civilians were slaughtered during the Simele massacre by theIraqi Army in August 1933. The events lead to the expulsion ofShimun XXI Eshai the Catholicos Patriarch of theAssyrian Church of the East to the United States where he resided until his death in 1975.[167][168]
The period from the 1940s through to 1963 saw a period of respite for the Assyrians. The regime of PresidentAbd al-Karim Qasim in particular saw the Assyrians accepted into mainstream society. Many urban Assyrians became successful businessmen, others were well represented in politics and the military, their towns and villages flourished undisturbed, and Assyrians came to excel, and be over represented in sports.
TheBa'ath Party seized power inIraq andSyria in 1963, introducing laws aimed at suppressing the Assyrian national identity via arabization policies.[169] The giving of traditional Assyrian names was banned and Assyrian schools, political parties, churches and literature were repressed.[169] Assyrians were heavily pressured into identifying asIraqi Christians orSyrian Christians.[169] Assyrians were not recognized as an ethnic group by the governments and they fostered divisions among Assyrians along religious lines (e.g. Assyrian Church of the East vs. Chaldean Catholic Church vs Syriac Orthodox Church).[169]
Celebration at a Syriac Orthodox monastery inMosul, early 20th century
In response to Baathist persecution, the Assyrians of theZowaa movement within theAssyrian Democratic Movement took up armed struggle against the Iraqi government in 1982 under the leadership ofYonadam Kanna,[170] and then joined up with the Iraqi-Kurdistan Front in the early 1990s.[170] Yonadam Kanna in particular was a target of theSaddam Hussein Ba'ath government for many years.[170]
TheAnfal campaign of 1986–1989 in Iraq, which was intended to target Kurdish opposition, resulted in 2,000 Assyrians being murdered through its gas campaigns. Over 31 towns and villages, 25 Assyrian monasteries and churches were razed to the ground. Some Assyrians were murdered, others were deported to large cities, and their lands and homes then being appropriated by Arabs and Kurds.[171][172]
However, comparing to Syria, the Ba'athist government in Iraq was not as repressive as Syria. Saddam Hussein had an Assyrian Deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister, who wasTariq Aziz. There were also many Assyrians, who were offered high positions in the government.
After the2003 Invasion of Iraq byUS and itsallies, theCoalition Provisional Authority disbanded theIraqi military, security, and intelligence infrastructure of former PresidentSaddam Hussein and began a process of "de-Baathification".[173] This process became an object of controversy, cited by some critics as the biggest American mistake made in the immediate aftermath of the Invasion of Iraq, and as one of the main causes in the deteriorating security situation throughout Iraq.[174][175]
Social unrest and chaos resulted in the unprovoked persecution of Assyrians in Iraq mostly byIslamic extremists (bothShia andSunni) andKurdish nationalists (ex.Dohuk Riots of 2011 aimed at Assyrians &Yazidis). In places such asDora, a neighborhood in southwesternBaghdad, the majority of its Assyrian population has either fled abroad or to northern Iraq, or has been murdered.[176] Islamic resentment over the United States' occupation of Iraq, and incidents such as theJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and thePope Benedict XVI Islam controversy, have resulted in Muslims attacking Assyrian communities. Since the start of the Iraq war, at least 46 churches and monasteries have been bombed.[177]
In recent years, the Assyrians in northern Iraq and northeast Syria have become the target of extreme unprovokedIslamic terrorism. As a result, Assyrians have taken up arms alongside other groups, such as the Kurds, Turcomans and Armenians, in response to unprovoked attacks byAl Qaeda, theIslamic State (ISIL),Nusra Front and otherterroristIslamic Fundamentalist groups. In 2014 Islamic terrorists of ISIL attacked Assyrian towns and villages in theAssyrian Homeland of northern Iraq, together with cities such asMosul andKirkuk which have large Assyrian populations. There have been reports of atrocities committed by ISIL terrorists since, including; beheadings, crucifixions, child murders, rape, forced conversions,ethnic cleansing, robbery, and extortion in the form of illegal taxes levied upon non-Muslims. Assyrians in Iraq have responded by forming armed militias to defend their territories.
In Syria, theDawronoye modernization movement has influenced Assyrian identityin the region.[186] The largest proponent of the movement, theSyriac Union Party (SUP) has become a major political actor in theDemocratic Federation of Northern Syria. In August 2016, theOurhi Centre in the city ofZalin was started by the Assyrian community, to educate teachers in order to make Syriac an optional language of instruction in public schools,[187][188] which then started with the 2016/17 academic year.[189] With that academic year, states the Rojava Education Committee, "three curriculums have replaced the old one, to include teaching in three languages: Kurdish, Arabic and Assyrian."[190] Associated with the SUP is theSyriac Military Council, an Assyrian militia operating in Syria, established in January 2013 to protect and stand up for the national rights of Assyrians in Syria as well as working together with the other communities in Syria to change the current government ofBashar al-Assad.[191] However, many Assyrians and the organizations that represent them, particularly those outside of Syria, are critical of the Dawronoye movement.[192][193]
A 2018 report stated that Kurdish authorities in Syria, in conjunction with Dawronoye officials, had shut down several Assyrian schools in Northern Syria and fired their administration. This was said to be because these schooled failed to register for a license and for rejecting the new curriculum approved by the Education Authority. Closure methods ranged from officially shutting down schools to having armed men enter the schools and shut them down forcefully. An Assyrian educator named Isa Rashid was later badly beaten outside of his home for rejecting the Kurdish self-administration's curriculum.[193][192]The Assyrian Policy Institute claimed that an Assyrian reporter named Souleman Yusph was arrested by Kurdish forces for his reports on the Dawronoye-related school closures in Syria. Specifically, he had shared numerous photographs on Facebook detailing the closures.[193]
Demographics
Maunsell's map, a Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of the Middle East showing "Chaldeans", "Jacobites", and "Nestorians"The Assyro-Chaldean Delegation's map of an independent Assyria, presented at the Paris Peace Conference 1919
Sizable Assyrian populations only remain inSyria, where an estimated 400,000 Assyrians live,[200] andin Iraq, where an estimated 300,000 Assyrians live.[201] This is a decline from an estimate of 1,100,000 Assyrians in the 1980s, following instability caused by the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.[202] In Iran and Turkey, only small populations remain, with only 20,000Assyrians in Iran,[203][204] and a small but growingAssyrian population in Turkey, where 25,000 Assyrians live, mostly in the cities and not the ancient settlements.[14]
Worldwide population changes of the Assyrian population, showing a steep decline in areas where Assyrians lived historically, however a sharp increase in the overall population of the Assyrian diaspora.
In Tur Abdin, a traditional centre ofAssyrian culture, there are only 2,500 Assyrians left.[205] Down from 50,000 in the 1960 census, but up from 1,000 in 1992. This sharp decline is due to an intense conflict betweenTurkey and the PKK in the 1980s. However, there are an estimated 25,000 Assyrians in all of Turkey, with most living inIstanbul.[14] Most Assyrians currently reside inthe West due to the centuries of persecution by the neighboring Muslims.[206] Prior to theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in a 2013 report by aChaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council official, it was estimated that 300,000 Assyrians remained in Iraq.[201]
Assyrian subgroups
There are three main Assyrian subgroups: Eastern, Western, Chaldean. These subdivisions are only partially overlapping linguistically, historically, culturally, and religiously.
With its many historic churches & monasteries, Tur Abdin is considered the spiritual centre of the Syriac Orthodox Assyrians.A map depicting Assyrian relocation after Seyfo in 1914
Persecution
Due to their Christian faith and ethnicity, the Assyrians have been persecuted since their adoption of Christianity. During the reign ofYazdegerd I, Christians in Persia were viewed with suspicion as potential Roman subversives, resulting in persecutions while at the same time promotingNestorian Christianity as a buffer between the Churches of Rome and Persia. Persecutions and attempts to imposeZoroastrianism continued during the reign ofYazdegerd II.[218][219]
During the eras of Mongol rule underGenghis Khan andTimur, there was indiscriminate slaughter of tens of thousands of Assyrians and destruction of the Assyrian population of northwestern Iran and central and northern Iran.[220]
Since theAssyrian genocide, many Assyrians have left the Middle East entirely for a more safe and comfortable life in the countries of theWestern world. As a result of this, the Assyrian population in the Middle East has decreased dramatically. As of today there are more Assyrians in the diaspora than in their homeland. The largest Assyrian diaspora communities are found in:
To note, the Assyrians residing inCalifornia and Russia tend to be fromIran, whilst those in Chicago and Sydney are predominantlyIraqi Assyrians. More recently,Syrian Assyrians are growing in size in Sydney after a huge influx of new arrivals in 2016, who were grantedasylum under thefederal government's specialhumanitarian intake.[240][241] The Assyrians inDetroit are primarilyChaldean speakers, who also originate from Iraq.[242] Assyrians in such European countries as Sweden and Germany would usually beTuroyo-speakers or Western Assyrians,[243] and tend to be originally fromTurkey.[233]
Since the 20th century, modern Assyrians (and in some cases, other Syriac Christian groups) employ different terms for self-identification based on conflicting beliefs in the origin and identity of their respective communities.[247] During the 19th century, English archaeologistAusten Henry Layard believed that the native Christian communities in the historical region of Assyria were descended from the ancient Assyrians,[248][249] a view that was also shared byWilliam Ainger Wigram.[250][251]
Today, Assyrians and other minority ethnic groups in West Asia, feel pressure to identify as "Arabs",[252][253] "Turks" and "Kurds".[254] In addition,Western media often makes no mention of any ethnic identity of the Christians in the region, and simply call refer to them as Christians,[200]Iraqi Christians,Iranian Christians,Christians in Syria, andTurkish Christians, labels which are typically rejected by Assyrians.
Below are terms commonly used by Assyrians to self-identify:
Assyrian, named after their ethnicity as the descendants of the ancient Assyrian people,[255] is advocated by followers from within all Middle Eastern basedEast andWest Syriac Rite Churches. (seeSyriac Christianity)[247][256]
Chaldean is a term that was used for centuries by western writers and scholars as designation for theAramaic language. It was so used byJerome,[257] and was still the normal terminology in the nineteenth century.[258][259][260] Only in 1445 did it begin to be used to designate Aramaic speakers who had enteredcommunion with theCatholic Church. This happened at theCouncil of Florence,[261] which accepted the profession of faith that Timothy,metropolitan of the Aramaic speakers inCyprus, made in Aramaic, and which decreed that "nobody shall in future dare to call [...] Chaldeans, Nestorians".[262][263][264] Previously, when there were as yet no Catholic Aramaic speakers of Mesopotamian origin, the term "Chaldean" was applied with explicit reference to their "Nestorian" religion. Thus Jacques de Vitry wrote of them in 1220/1 that "they denied that Mary was the Mother of God and claimed that Christ existed in two persons. They consecrated leavened bread and used the 'Chaldean' (Syriac) language".[265] Until the second half of the 19th century, the term "Chaldean" continued in general use for East Syriac Christians, whether "Nestorian" or Catholic.[266][267][268][269] In 1840, upon visiting Mesopotamia,Horatio Southgate reported that localChaldeans consider themselves to be descended from ancientAssyrians,[270] and in some later works also noted the same origin of localJacobites.[271][272]
Aramean, also known asSyriac-Aramean,[273][274] named after the ancientAramean people, is advocated by some followers from within Middle Eastern basedWest Syriac Rite Churches.[275][276] Furthermore, Assyrians identifying as Aramean have obtained recognition from theIsraeli government.[277][278] To note, ancient Arameans were a separate ethnic group that lived concurrently with the Assyrian empire in what is nowSyria and parts ofLebanon,Israel theWest Bank andGaza,Jordan,Iraq andTurkey.[279][280][281][282] In the Assyrian community, the label is most prominent within the Syriac Orthodox Church.
As early as the 8th century BCLuwian andCilician subject rulers referred to their Assyrian overlords asSyrian, a westernIndo-European corruption of the original termAssyrian. The Greeks used the terms "Syrian" and "Assyrian" interchangeably to indicate the indigenousArameans, Assyrians and other inhabitants of theNear East.Herodotus considered "Syria" west of the Euphrates. Starting from the 2nd century BC onwards, ancient writers referred to theSeleucid ruler as theKing of Syria or King of the Syrians.[283] The Seleucids designated the districts ofSeleucis andCoele-Syria explicitly as Syria, and ruled the Syrians as indigenous populations residing west of theEuphrates, in contrast to Assyrians who had their nativehomeland inMesopotamia east of the Euphrates.[284][285]
This version of the name took hold in the Hellenic lands to the west of the old Assyrian Empire, thus duringGreekSeleucid rule from 323 BC the nameAssyria was altered toSyria, and this term was also applied to areas west of Euphrates which had been an Assyrian colony, and from this point the Greeks applied the term without distinction between the Assyrians of Mesopotamia andArameans of the Levant.[286][287]
The question of ethnic identity and self-designation is sometimes connected to the scholarly debate on theetymology of "Syria". The question has a long history of academic controversy, but majority mainstream opinion currently strongly favours thatSyria is indeed ultimately derived from the Assyrian termAššūrāyu.[288][289][290][291] Meanwhile, some scholars has disclaimed the theory of Syrian being derived from Assyrian as "simply naive", and detracted its importance to the naming conflict.[292]
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).[293] According to Tsereteli, however, aGeorgian equivalent of "Assyrians" appears in ancient Georgian, Armenian and Russian documents.[294] 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 theÇineköy inscription in favour of Syria being derived from Assyria.
TheÇineköy inscription is aHieroglyphic Luwian-Phoenicianbilingual, uncovered from Çineköy,Adana Province, Turkey (ancientCilicia), dating to the 8th century BC. Originally published by Tekoglu and Lemaire (2000),[295] it was more recently the subject of a 2006 paper published in theJournal 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" (seeEtymology of Syria).
The object on which the inscription is found is a monument belonging to Urikki,vassal king ofHiyawa (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".[296]
The modern terminological problem goes back to colonial times, but it became more acute in 1946, when with the independence of Syria, the adjectiveSyrian referred to an independent state. The controversy is not restricted toexonyms like English "Assyrian" vs. "Aramaean", but also applies to self-designation in Neo-Aramaic, the minority "Aramaean" faction endorses bothSūryāyēܣܘܪܝܝܐ andĀrāmayēܐܪܡܝܐ, while the majority "Assyrian" faction endorsesĀṯūrāyēܐܬܘܪܝܐ orSūryāyē.[citation needed]
An Assyrian child dressed in traditional clothesAssyrians wearing traditional clothing ofAlqosh
Assyrian culture is largely influenced by Christianity.[297] There are many Assyrian customs that are common in other Middle Eastern cultures. Main festivals occur during religious holidays such asEaster andChristmas. There are also secular holidays such asKha b'Nissan (vernal equinox).[298]
People often greet and bid relatives farewell with a kiss on each cheek and by saying "ܫܠܡܐ ܥܠܝܟ"Shlama/Shlomo lokh, which means: "Peace be upon you" in Neo-Aramaic. 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.[299] A parent will often place an eye pendant on their baby to prevent "an evil eye being cast upon it".[300]Spitting on anyone or their belongings is seen as a grave insult.[citation needed]
Assyrians areendogamous, meaning they generally marry within their own ethnic group, althoughexogamous marriages are not perceived as a taboo, unless the foreigner is of a different religious background, especially a Muslim.[301] Throughout history,relations between the Assyrians and Armenians have tended to bevery friendly, as both groups have practised Christianity since ancient times and have suffered through persecution under Muslim rulers. Therefore,mixed marriage between Assyrians andArmenians is quite common, most notably inIraq,Iran, and as well as in the diaspora with adjacent Armenian and Assyrian communities.[302]
Following their conquest by the Assyrians, numerous populations, including the Arameans, were forcibly relocated to the Assyrian heartland and other territories within the empire. The substantial presence of Aramaic-speaking communities facilitated the gradual Aramaization of Assyrian society. Over time, interactions between the Arameans and Assyrians intensified, with Aramean scribes collaborating alongside Assyrian counterparts in administrative and literary activities.[303]
By around 700 BCE, the Aramaic script began replacing cuneiform in the Assyrian Empire for administrative and diplomatic purposes, though cuneiform continued for royal and religious texts.[304]Aramaic was the language of commerce, trade, and communication and became the vernacular language of Assyria in classical antiquity.[280][305][282]
By the 1st century AD, Akkadian was extinct, although its influence on contemporary Eastern Neo-Aramaic languages spoken by Assyrians is significant and some loaned vocabulary still survives in these languages to this day.[306][307]
There is a considerable amount ofmutual intelligibility between Suret dialects. Therefore, these "languages" would generally be considered to be dialects rather than separate languages. TheJewish Aramaic languages of Lishan Didan and Lishanid Noshan share a partial intelligibility with these varieties. The mutual intelligibility between Suret and Surayt/Turoyo is, depending on the dialect, limited to partial, and may be asymmetrical.[308][311][312]
Beingstateless, Assyrians are typically multilingual, speaking both their native language and learning those of the societies they reside in. While many Assyrians have fled from their traditional homeland recently,[313][314] a substantial number still reside in Arabic-speaking countries speakingArabic alongside the Neo-Aramaic languages[315][2][316] and is also spoken by many Assyrians in the diaspora. The most commonly spoken languages by Assyrians in the diaspora areEnglish,German andSwedish. Historically many Assyrians also spokeTurkish,Armenian,Azeri,Kurdish, andPersian and a smaller number of Assyrians that remain in Iran, Turkey (Istanbul andTur Abdin) and Armenia still do today.[317]
Manyloanwords from the aforementioned languages exist in the Neo-Aramaic languages, with theIranian languages and Turkish being the greatest influences overall. Only Turkey is reported to be experiencing a population increase of Assyrians in the four countries constituting their historical homeland, largely consisting of Assyrian refugees from Syria and a smaller number of Assyrians returning from the diaspora in Europe.[317]
Assyrians predominantly use the Syriac script, which is written from right to left. It is one of theSemiticabjads directly descending from theAramaic alphabet and shares similarities with thePhoenician,Hebrew and theArabic alphabets.[318] It has 22 letters representing consonants, three of which can bealso used to indicate vowels. The vowel sounds are supplied either by the reader's memory or by optionaldiacritic marks. Syriac is acursive script where some, but not all, letters connect within a word. It was used to write theSyriac language from the 1st century AD.[319]
The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is theʾEsṭrangēlā script.[320] Although ʾEsṭrangēlā is no longer used as the main script for writing Syriac, it has received some revival since the 10th century, and it has been added to theUnicode Standard in September, 1999. The East Syriac dialect is usually written in theMaḏnḥāyā form of the alphabet, which is often translated as "contemporary", reflecting its use in writing modern Neo-Aramaic. The West Syriac dialect is usually written in theSerṭā form of the alphabet. Most of the letters are clearly derived from ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are simplified, flowing lines.[321]
Furthermore, for practical reasons, Assyrian people sometimes use theLatin alphabet, especially insocial media.
A small minority of Assyrians accepted theProtestant Reformation and becameReform Orthodox in the 20th century, possibly due to British influences, and are now organised in theAssyrian Evangelical Church, theAssyrian Pentecostal Church and other Protestant/Reform Orthodox Assyrian groups. While there are some atheist Assyrians, they tend to still associate with some denomination.[324]
Many members of the following churches consider themselves Assyrian. Ethnic identities are often deeply intertwined with religion, a legacy of the OttomanMillet system. The group is traditionally characterized as adhering to various churches of Syriac Christianity and speaking Neo-Aramaic languages. It is subdivided into:
Baptism and First Communion are celebrated extensively, similar to aBrit Milah orBar 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 ofJesus; after seven days another gathering commemorates their death. A close family member wears only black clothes for forty days and nights, or sometimes a year, as a sign of mourning.
During the "Seyfo" genocide,[325] there were a number of Assyrians who were forced to convert to Islam.[326][327][328] They reside in Turkey, and practice Islam but still retain their identity.[329][330] A small number ofAssyrian Jews exist as well.[331]
Assyrian music is a combination of traditionalfolk music and western contemporary music genres, namelypop andsoft rock, but alsoelectronic dance music. Instruments traditionally used by Assyrians include thezurna anddavula, but has expanded to include guitars, pianos, violins, synthesizers (keyboards andelectronic drums), and other instruments.
Assyrians have numerous traditional dances which are performed mostly for special occasions such as weddings. Assyrian dance is a blend of ancient indigenous and general Near Eastern elements. Assyrian folk dances are mainly made up ofcircle dances that are performed in a line, which may be straight, curved, or both. The most common form of Assyrian folk dance iskhigga, which is routinely danced as the bride and groom are welcomed into the wedding reception. Most of the circle dances allow unlimited number of participants, with the exception of theSabre Dance, which require three at most. Assyrian dances would vary from weak to strong, depending on the mood andtempo of a song.
Festivals
Assyrian festivals tend to be closely associated with their Christian faith, of whichEaster is the most prominent of the celebrations. Members of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church and Syriac Catholic Church follow theGregorian calendar and as a result celebrate Easter on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusively.[335]
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 theJulian calendar. DuringLent, Assyrians 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 (Syriac:ܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ, "First of April"), the Assyrian New Year, traditionally on April 1. Assyrians usually wear traditional costumes and hold social events including parades and parties, dancing, and listening to poets telling the story of creation.[336]
Sauma d-Ba'utha (Classical Syriac:ܒܥܘܬܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܝ̈ܐBā'ūṯā ḏ-Ninwāyē, literally "Petition of the Ninevites"), the Nineveh fast, is a three-day period of fasting and prayer and commemorates the repentance of the Ninevites at the hands ofJonah.[337][338]
Somikka (Syriac:ܣܘܿܡܝܟܵܐ), All Saints Day, is celebrated to motivate children to fast during Lent through use of frightening costumes. Men in costumes would knock on the doors of family's houses and scare the children into fasting for Lent until the parents would hand them money. The celebration was intended to help poor families afford the expenses incurred for Easter.[339]
Kalu d'Sulaqa (Syriac:ܟܵܠܘܿ ܕܣܘܼܠܵܩܵܐ), feast of the Bride of the Ascension, celebrates Assyrian resistance to the invasion of Assyria by Tamerlane. The feast commemorates the women who died in battle helping the Assyrian soldiers. In the villages, the girls would be dressed as brides and would parade around the village asking for goods and gifts.[339]
Hano Qritho, a tradition that is celebrated by Assyrians from Tur Abdin and its surrounding area, typically on the last Sunday beforeGreat Lent. Rooted in local legend, it commemorates a girl named Hano, who was promised as a sacrifice by her father, a king, after his victorious battle. Children create a doll representing Hano, singing traditional songs, while visiting homes to collect food like bulgur, eggs and roasted meat.[340]
Nusardil (Syriac:ܢܘܼܣܲܪܕܝܠ), commemorating the baptism of the Assyrians of Urmia by St. Thomas.[341] Before Christianity, an ancient folk story told of Ishtar and Tammuz led to the religious celebration "Taklimtu", where every July the citizens would be blessed with holy water. It occurs after the seventh day of the Pentecost, marking the first day of summer. Assyrians celebrate by pouring water on each other to denote baptism.[339][338]
Sharra d'Mart Maryam, usually on August 15, a festival and feast celebrating St. Mary with games, food, and celebration.[341]TheAssyrian New Year,Akitu festival (2019) inDuhok (Nohaadra) Other Sharras (special festivals) include: Sharra d'Mart Shmuni, Sharra d'Mar Shimon Bar-Sabbaye, Sharra d'Mar Mari, and Shara d'Mar Zaia, Mar Bishu, Mar Sawa, Mar Sliwa, Mar Odisho, and many more. Each town or city also have their own Sharras based on the patron saints of the churches, monasteries, or other holy sites in the settlement or nearby.
Yoma d'Sah'deh (Syriac:ܝܘܡܐ ܕܣܗܕ̈ܐ,lit. 'Day of Martyrs' (Day of Martyrs), commemorating the thousands massacred in theSimele massacre and the hundreds of thousands massacred in theAssyrian genocide. It is commemorated annually on August 7.
Assyrians 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 theAssyrian diaspora they last 1–2 days.
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.[citation needed]
Assyrian cuisine is similar to other Middle Eastern cuisines, and is rich in grains, meat, potato, cheese, bread and tomatoes. 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 andwheat beer are organically produced and drunk. Assyrian cuisine is primarily identical toIraqi/Mesopotamian cuisine, as well as being very similar to otherMiddle Eastern and Caucasian cuisines, as well asGreek cuisine,Levantine cuisine,Turkish cuisine,Iranian cuisine,Israeli cuisine, andArmenian cuisine, with most dishes being similar to the cuisines of the area in which those Assyrians live/originate from.[342] It is rich in grains such as barley, meat, tomato, herbs, spices, cheese, and potato as well as herbs, fermented dairy products, and pickles.[343]
Late-20th-century DNA analysis conducted byCavalli-Sforza, Paolo Menozzi and Alberto Piazza, "shows that Assyrians have a distinct genetic profile that distinguishes their population from any other population."[344] Genetic analyses of the Assyrians ofPersia demonstrated that they were "closed" with little "intermixture" with the MuslimPersian population and that an individual Assyrian's genetic makeup is relatively close to that of the Assyrian population as a whole.[345][346] "The genetic data are compatible with historical data that religion played a major role in maintaining the Assyrian population's separate identity during theChristian era".[344]
In a 2006 study of theY chromosome DNA of six regionalArmenian populations, including, for comparison, Assyrians andSyrians, 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."[347] A 2008 study on the genetics of "old ethnic groups in Mesopotamia", including 340 subjects from seven ethnic communities ("Assyrian, Jewish,Zoroastrian, Armenian,Turkmen, theArab peoples in Iran, Iraq, andKuwait") found that Assyrians were homogeneous with respect to all other ethnic groups sampled in the study, regardless of religious affiliation.[348]
In a 2011 study focusing on the genetics ofMarsh Arabs of Iraq, researchers identified Y chromosomehaplotypes shared by Marsh Arabs, Iraqis, and Assyrians, "supporting a common local background."[349] In a 2017 study focusing on the genetics of Northern Iraqi populations, it was found that Iraqi Assyrians and IraqiYazidis clustered together, but away from the other Northern Iraqi populations analyzed in the study, and largely in between the West Asian and Southeastern European populations. According to the study, "contemporary Assyrians and Yazidis from northern Iraq may in fact have a stronger continuity with the original genetic stock of the Mesopotamian people, which possibly provided the basis for the ethnogenesis of various subsequent Near Eastern populations".[350]
Haplogroups
Y-DNA haplogroupJ-M304 which originated from a geographical zone that includes northeastern Syria, northern Iraq and eastern Turkey from where it expanded to the rest of the Near East and North Africa[350] has been measured at 55% among Assyrians of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and diaspora; while it has been found at 11% among Assyrians of Iran.[351] the same haplogroup also have high prevalence among Iraqi Arabs which is "indicative of their indigenous nature".[350]
Haplogroup T-M184 [reported as K*] has been measured at 15.09% amongAssyrians in Armenia.[352] The haplogroup is frequent inMiddle Eastern Jews,Georgians,Druze andSomalians. According to a 2011 study by Lashgary et al.,R1b [reported as R*(xR1a)] has been measured at 40% amongAssyrians in Iran, making it major haplogroup among Iranian Assyrians.[351] Yet anotherDNA test comprising 48 Assyrian male subjects from Iran, the Y-DNA haplogroupsJ-M304, found in its greatest concentration in theArabian peninsula, and the northernR-M269, were also frequent at 29.2% each.[353] Lashgary et al. explain the presence of haplogroupR in Iranian Assyrians as well as in other Assyrian communities (~23%) as a consequence of mixing withArmenians and assimilation/integration of different peoples carrying haplogroup R, while explain its frequency as a result ofgenetic drift due to small population size and endogamy due to religious barriers.[351]
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^Parpola, Simo (2004). "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo‑Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post‑Empire Times".Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.18 (2):5–22.
^A. Leo Oppenheim (1964).Ancient Mesopotamia(PDF). The University of Chicago Press.Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved8 November 2015.
^Minahan, James (2002).Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 206.ISBN978-0-313-32109-2.The Assyrians, although closely associated with their Christian religion, are divided among a number of Christian sects. The largest denominations are the Chaldean Catholic Church with about 45% of the Assyrian population, the Syriac Orthodox with 26%, the Assyrian Church of the East with 19%, the free Orthodox Church of Antioch or Syriac Catholic Church with 4%, and various Protestant sects with a combined 6%.
^Michel, Cécile (2017). "Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Old Assyrian Period". In E. Frahm (ed.).A Companion to Assyria. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-1-118-32524-7. p. 81
^Millar, Fergus, The Roman Near East, 31 BC – AD 337; Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Osroëne"; "Adiabene"
^Millar, Fergus, 1993; Segal, J. B., Edessa: The Blessed City
^Parpola, Simo (2004). "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo‑Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post‑Empire Times".Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.18 (2): 20.
^Segal, J. B., 1970; Parpola, Simo, "Assyrians after Assyria"
^Parpola, Simo (2004). "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo‑Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post‑Empire Times".Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.18 (2): 20.
^Parpola, Simo (2004). "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo‑Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post‑Empire Times".Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.18 (2): 20.
^Crone, Patricia, and Michael Cook. 1977. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^Crone, Patricia, and Michael Cook. 1977. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
^Parpola, Simo (2004). "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo‑Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post‑Empire Times".Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.18 (2): 20.
^Ammianus Marcellinus The Later Roman Empire (354–378)A shameful peace concluded by Jovian 6.7 p. 303, Penguin Classics, Translated by Walter Hamilton 1986
^Marciak, Michał (3 August 2017).Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West. pp. 291, 336.ISBN978-90-04-35070-0.
^Seleucia-Ctesiphon is not to be confused withSeleucia Isauria (nowSilifke, Turkey) within the Roman Empire, where, at the request of the Roman emperor, theCouncil of Seleucia was held in 359.
^Michael Goldfarb,Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005).
^Hyman and WalshPhilosophy in the Middle Ages Indianapolis, 1973, p. 204' Meri, Josef W. and Jere L. Bacharach, Editors,Medieval Islamic Civilization Vol.1, A-K, Index, 2006, p. 304.
^Brague, Rémi (2009).The Legend of the Middle Ages: Philosophical Explorations of Medieval Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. University of Chicago Press. p. 164.ISBN978-0-226-07080-3.
^Jenkins, Philip (3 November 2009).The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died. HarperOne. p. 114.ISBN978-0-06-147281-7.
^Hämeen-Anttila, Jaakko; Ibn-Waḥšīya, Aḥmad Ibn-ʿAlī, eds. (2010).The last pagans of Iraq: Ibn Waḥshiyya and his Nabatean agriculture. Islamic history and civilization. Studies and texts 0929-2403. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 14.ISBN978-90-474-0908-3.
^[1]Archived 22 October 2020 at theWayback Machine "Maphrian Catholicos Syr. Orth." inGorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage
^Fortescue, Adrian Henry Timothy Knottesford. "4. The Nestorian Church in the Past".The Lesser Eastern Churches.Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved11 May 2023 – via Wikisource.
^Baumstark, Anton, ed. (2004). "Patriarcha de Mozal in Syria orientali".Oriens Christianus. Vol. IV:1. Rome and Leipzig: O. Harrassowitz. p. 277.
^Wigram, W.A., "The Ashiret Highlands of Hakkari (Mesopotamia)," Royal Central Asian Society Journal, 1916, Vol. III, pg. 40. – The Assyrians and their Neighbors (London, 1929)
^United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (13 October 2010)."Iran: Last of the Assyrians". Refworld.Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved18 September 2013.
^Wozniak, Marta (2012). "Far from Aram-Nahrin: The Suryoye Diaspora Experience".Border Terrains: World Diasporas in the 21st Century.Brill. pp. 73–83.ISBN978-1-84888-117-4.
^Cross, Frank Leslie (2005).The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. p. 119.ISBN978-0-19-280290-3.In the 19th cent. A. H. Layard, the excavator of Nineveh, first suggested that the local *Syriac Christian communities in the region were descended from the ancient Assyrians, and the idea was later popularized by W. A. Wigram, a member of the Abp. Of Canterbury's Mission to the Church of the East (1895–1915).
^"Eastern Churches"Archived 17 July 2018 at theWayback Machine,Catholic Encyclopedia, see "Eastern Syrians" and "Western Syrians" respectively. Modern terminology within the group is Western Assyrians and Eastern Assyrians respectively, while those who reject the Assyrian identity opt for Syriac or Aramean rather than Assyrian.
^Chamberlain, AF. "Notes on Some Aspects of the Folk-Psychology of Night".American Journal of Psychology, 1908 – JSTOR.
^Gansell, AR. FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO MODERN SYRIA: ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON FEMALE ADORNMENT DURING RITES. Ancient Near Eastern Art in Context. 2007 – Brill Academic Publishers.
^The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia, Garnik Asatryan, Victoria Arakelova.
^Parpola, Simo (2004). "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo‑Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post‑Empire Times".Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.18 (2): 9.
^Parpola, Simo (2004). "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo‑Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post‑Empire Times".Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.18 (2): 9.
^Kaufman, Stephen A. (1974), The Akkadian influences on Aramaic. University of Chicago Press
^abAvenery, Iddo,The Aramaic Dialect of the Jews of Zakho. The Israel academy of Science and Humanities 1988.
^Khan, Geoffrey (1999).A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic: the dialect of the Jews of Arbel. Leiden: EJ Brill.
^Maclean, Arthur John (1895).Grammar of the dialects of vernacular Syriac: as spoken by the Eastern Syrians of Kurdistan, north-west Persia, and the Plain of Mosul: with notices of the vernacular of the Jews of Azerbaijan and of Zakhu near Mosul. Cambridge University Press, London.
^"Syriac alphabet".Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved16 June 2012.
^Hatch, William (1946).An album of dated Syriac manuscripts. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reprinted in 2002 by Gorgias Press. p. 24.ISBN1-931956-53-7.
^Nestle, Eberhard (1888).Syrische Grammatik mit Litteratur, Chrestomathie und Glossar. Berlin: H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung. [translated to English asSyriac grammar with bibliography, chrestomathy and glossary, by R. S. Kennedy. London: Williams & Norgate 1889. p. 5].
^J. Martin Bailey, Betty Jane Bailey, Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? p. 163: "more than two thirds" out of "nearly a million" Christians in Iraq.
^"Assyrian Church of the East". Adherents.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2003. Retrieved18 September 2013.
^Boháč, Artur (2010)."Assyrian Ethnic Identity in a Globalizing World"(PDF). In Mácha, Přemysl; Kopeček, Vincenc (eds.).Beyond Globalisation: Exploring the Limits of Globalisation in the Regional Context.Ostrava:University of Ostrava. p. 71.ISBN978-80-7368-717-5.Although there are some atheists among Assyrians, they are usually associated with specific communities based on the adherence to a concrete religious sect.
^N. Shirinian, George (2017).Genocide in the Ottoman Empire: Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, 1913–1923. Berghahn Books. p. 109.ISBN978-1-78533-433-7.
^O. Barthoma, Soner (2017).Let Them Not Return: Sayfo – The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Berghahn Books. p. 2.ISBN978-1-78533-499-3.
^G. Hovannisian, Richard (2011).The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies. Transaction Publishers. p. 268.ISBN978-1-4128-3592-3.
^Banoei, M. M.; Chaleshtori, M. H.; Sanati, M. H.; Shariati, P; Houshmand, M; Majidizadeh, T; Soltani, N. J.; Golalipour, M (February 2008). "Variation of DAT1 VNTR alleles and genotypes among old ethnic groups in Mesopotamia to the Oxus region".Hum Biol.80 (1):73–81.doi:10.3378/1534-6617(2008)80[73:VODVAA]2.0.CO;2.PMID18505046.S2CID10417591.The relationship probability was lowest between Assyrians and other communities.Endogamy was found to be high for this population through determination of the heterogeneity coefficient (+0,6867), Our study supports earlier findings indicating the relatively closed nature of the Assyrian community as a whole, which as a result of their religious and cultural traditions, have had little intermixture with other populations.
^Yepiskoposian L, Khudoyan A, Harutyunian A (2006). "Genetic Testing of Language Replacement Hypothesis in Southwest Asia".Iran and the Caucasus.10 (2):191–208.doi:10.1163/157338406780345899.JSTOR4030922.
^Underhill PA, Shen P, Lin AA, Jin L, Passarino G, Yang WH, Kauffman E, Bonné-Tamir B, Bertranpetit J, Francalacci P, Ibrahim M, Jenkins T, Kidd JR, Mehdi SQ, Seielstad MT, Wells RS, Piazza A, Davis RW, Feldman MW, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Oefner PJ (2000). "Y chromosome sequence variation and the history of human populations".Nature Genetics.26 (3):358–61.doi:10.1038/81685.PMID11062480.S2CID12893406.
^Semino O, Magri C, Benuzzi G, Lin AA, Al-Zahery N, Battaglia V, Maccioni L, Triantaphyllidis C, Shen P, Oefner PJ, Zhivotovsky LA, King R, Torroni A, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Underhill PA, Santachiara-Benerecetti AS:Origin, diffusion, and differentiation of Y-chromosome haplogroups E and J: inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and later migratory events in the Mediterranean area. Am J Hum Genet 2004, 74:1023–1034.
Abramtsov, David (1960). "The Assyrians of Persia and the Russian Orthodox Church".One Church.14:155–169.
Ainsworth, William F. (1841). "An Account of a Visit to the Chaldeans, Inhabiting Central Kurdistán; And of an Ascent of the Peak of Rowándiz (Ṭúr Sheïkhíwá) in Summer in 1840".The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.11:21–76.doi:10.2307/1797632.JSTOR1797632.
Al-Jeloo, Nicholas (1999)."Who are the Assyrians?".The Assyrian Australian Academic Journal.4.Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved19 August 2015.
Andrade, Nathanael J. (2014). "Assyrians, Syrians and the Greek Language in the late Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Periods".Journal of Near Eastern Studies.73 (2):299–317.doi:10.1086/677249.JSTOR10.1086/677249.S2CID163755644.
Coakley, James F. (2011a)."Assyrians".Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. p. 45.Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved28 February 2021.
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![Mar Assia al-Hakim Church: is a Syriac Catholic Church in Al-Jdayde quarter of Aleppo, Syria.[332]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMar_Assia_Syrian_Catholic_Church%2c_Aleppo_(interior).jpg)
![Rabban Hormizd Monastery: is an important monastery of the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Church of the East in Alqosh, Iraq.[333]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRabban_Hormizd_Monastery_-_view_from_below_(1).jpg)
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