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Assyrian people

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Assyrians
Āšūrāyē
ܐܬܘܖ̈ܝܐ
Ashur-nasir-pal II · Saint Ephrem
Agha Petros · Ammo Baba
Total population
1,600,000
Regions with significant populations
 Iraq800,000+[1]
 Syria500,000[1]
 Iran10,000[2]
 Turkey5,000[2]
 United States83,000[3]
 Jordan77,000[4][5]
 Sweden35,000[6]
 Australia24,000[7][8]
 Germany23,000[6]
 France15,000[9]
 Russia14,000[10]
 Greece8,000[9]
 Belgium8,000[9]
 Canada7,000[11]
 Lebanon5,000[2]
 Netherlands5,000[6]
 United Kingdom5,000[6]
 Armenia3,500[12]
 Egypt3,500[13]
 Georgia3,300[14]
 Ukraine3,200[15]
 New Zealand1,700[16]
Languages
Assyrian, Chaldean, Turoyo
Religion
Christianity
(various Eastern sects)
Related ethnic groups
other Semitic peoples

Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria, but who have migrated to the Caucasus, North America and Western Europe during the past century.

They are believed to descend from the ancient Akkadians, who, starting with Sargon of Akkad, emerged as the ruling class of Assyria. Babylonia (formerly Sumer and Akkad) was a colony of Assyria. The title of "King of Babylon" was "King of Sumer and Akkad" as transliterated from the Akkadian Šār Mat Šūmerī ū Akkadī. Eventually Aramaean tribes assimilated into the Assyrian empire and their language became dominant, while the different cultures merged to form the ancient Assyrian culture.[17] Today, 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.[18]

Most Assyrians speak a modern form of Syriac, 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.

As a result of persecution, mostly during the last century, 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 1900's. 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.[19]

History

The oldest neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture. The first inscriptions of Assyrian rulers appear after 2000 BC. Assyria then consisted of a number of city states and small Semitic kingdoms. The foundation of the Assyrian monarchy was traditionally ascribed to Zulilu, who is said to have lived after Bel-kap-kapu (Bel-kapkapi or Belkabi, circa 1900 BC), the ancestor of Shalmaneser I. The Assyrian kings controlled a large kingdom at three different times in history. These are called the Old, Middle, and Neo-Assyrian kingdoms, or periods. The most powerful and best-known nation of these periods is the Neo-Assyrian kingdom (911-612 BC).

After the fall of the empire in 612 BC, Assyria became a province of different empires, first with the invasion of the Persian king Cyrus in 547 BC.[20] King Cyrus changed Assyria's capital from Nineveh to Arbela. Assyrians became frontline soldiers for the Persian empire under King Xerxes, because of their strategic locations, playing a big role in the Battle of Marathon under King Darius I in 490 BC.[21] Assyria would eventually become a Roman province between 161 and 363 AD.

Along with the Armenians and Ethiopians, the Assyrians were one of the first groups to convert to Christianity and spread Nestorian Christianity to the Far East. During the era of the Islamic Empire, Assyria maintained its autonomy; in a fatwa, Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, demanded the "protection of the Assyrian people of Mesopotamia".[22] The Assyrians eventually lost their autonomy when the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and the written fatwa destroyed, in 1847. Thirty thousand Assyrians were massacred. [23]

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire was disintegrating. World War I and its aftermath saw its end, during which time Assyrians – like Armenians – claim a genocide occurred (1914 to 1922), where an estimated two-thirds of Assyrians disappeared. In 1932, Assyrians refused to become part of the newly-formed state of Iraq and instead demanded their recognition as a nation within a nation. The Assyrian leader Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII asked the League of Nations to recognize the right of Assyrians to govern the area known as the "Assyrian triangle" in northern Iraq. Eventually this led to the Iraqi government to commit its first of many to come massacres against its people (see Simele massacre). [24]

Identity

Some scholars, such as Richard Nelson Frye, believe that "Syria" has always meant "Assyria",[25] pointing, for example, to the Greek historians such as Herodotus and Strabo statements that Greeks referred to Assyrians as "Syrians", dropping the initial "A".[25] Encyclopedia Americana states "It is now certain that the name Syrian is derived from the older name Assyrian." [26] This could explain why Assyrians called themselves Syrian throughout much of the time after Anno Domini. Other scholars argue about which came first, "Syrian" or "Assyrian". 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).[27] According to Tsereteli, however, a Georgian equivalent of "Assyrians" appears in ancient Georgian and Armenian documents.[28] In linguistics, the name "Assyrian" is reserved for the ancient Assyrian language that is now extinct, not the present-day "Assyrian" that is an Aramaic dialect.[29]

Assyrians are divided among several churches (see below). They read and write various dialects of neo-Aramaic, a Semitic language, which, in the form of Syriac, is used in their religious observances.

Modern Assyrians assert their connection to the Assyrian empire that began under Sargon I and encompassed the area that is now Syria, Iraq (Mesopotamia), southeastern Turkey, western Iran, Palestine and the Armenian highlands. Evidence of genetic and cultural continuity, however, is tenuous. Many ancient graves from different sites need to be found and their contents exhumed, examined, carbon-dated and DNA remains compared with contemporary samples. At present, the DNA analyses that have been conducted indicate a common genealogy amongst northern Mesopotamian people,[30] but this alone is insufficient to indicate a reliable link to ancient Assyria.

In order to assimilate them, the ancient Assyrian empire relocated people to urban areas. Today, Assyrians and other ethnic groups feel pressure to identify as "Arabs".[31]

Culture

Alqosh, located in the midst of Assyrian contemporary civilization.
Assyrian culture
Music
Language
Cuisine
Folk Dance
Religion
Settlements
Tribes
Main article: Assyrian culture

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).[32]

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 article: Neo-Aramaic languages
Syriac alphabet
(200 BCE–present)
ܐ    ܒ    ܓ    ܕ    ܗ    ܘ
ܙ    ܚ    ܛ    ܝ    ܟܟ    ܠ
ܡܡ    ܢܢ    ܣ    ܥ    ܦ
ܨ    ܩ    ܪ    ܫ    ܬ

The ancient Assyrian tongue was referred to as the Akkadian language, an East Semitic language written in cuneiform script. After the Assyrian empire expanded westward, Aramaic gradually became the dominant tongue: it 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 its vocabulary, as both are Semitic languages.[33]

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.

Religion

File:Chaldean.jpg
File:Assyrian Church of the East Symbol.JPG
Main article: Syriac Christianity

Most (although not all) the members of the following churches consider themselves Assyrian. Ethnic and national identities are deeply intertwined with religion, a legacy of the Ottoman Millet system.

There are no (known) Assyrian Muslims, but Arabic-speaking Muslims known as Mhalmoye or Mhallami from the Tur Abdin region may originally have been converted from Syriac Orthodoxy to Islam during the sixteenth century.[34] (cf. Hamshenis, Greek Muslims, Pomaks, Torbesh, Gorani). Culture from their pre-Islamic period survived, such as the appearance of the cross otherwise considered to be a decoration based on a flower.[35] A Swedish Assyrian website names four other ethnic groups whom it considers as "Assyrian Muslims": Barzanoye (the Barzani Kurdish clan), Tagritoye, Taye (the Tay tribal confederation), and Shammor (the Shammar tribal confederation).[36][37]

Based on the following Bible passage, many Assyrians hold apocalyptic beliefs as regards the future of their nation: [38]

In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrian shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptian to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrian. In that day shall Israel be the third to the Egyptian and the Assyrian: a blessing in the midst of the land, Which the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying: "Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands to the Assyrian: but Israel is my inheritance."

— Isaiah 19:23-25

Music

Main article: 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 article: 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 article: 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 BCE. [39]

Institutions

Assyrian children in Iraq.

Political parties

Other institutions

See also

The Assyrian flag.

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References

  1. ^ a b CIA World Factbook
  2. ^ a b c Encyclopedia of the Orient: Assyrians
  3. ^ 2000 United States census
  4. ^ Immigration of Iraqi Chaldeans Abroad Passes through Jordan
  5. ^ http://i-cias.com/e.o/jordan_4.htm
  6. ^ a b c d Ethnologue Reports
  7. ^ 2001 Australian census
  8. ^ Facts on Middle Eastern Australians
  9. ^ a b c US Citizenship and Immigration Services
  10. ^ 2002 Russian census
  11. ^ List of Canadians by ethnicity
  12. ^ 2001 Armenian census
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ 2002 Georgian census
  15. ^ 2001 Ukrainian census
  16. ^ 2006 New Zealand census
  17. ^ When Every Church Becomes a Nation
  18. ^ Note on the Modern Assyrians
  19. ^ Qais al-Bashir, Associated Press (2006-12-25). "Iraqi Christians celebrate Christmas". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
  20. ^ Olmatead, History of the Persian Empire, Chicago University Press, 1959, p.39
  21. ^ Artifacts show rivals Athens and Sparta, Yahoo News, December 5, 2006.
  22. ^ http://www.christianitytoday.com.au/ct/2004/131/52.0.html
  23. ^ New-York Weekly Tribune. January 2, 1847
  24. ^ Iraq Between the Two World Wars: The Militarist Origins of Tyranny, by Reeva Spector Simon
  25. ^ a b Richard N. Frye Ph.D., Harvard University (1992), "Assyria and Syria: Synonyms", Journal of Near Eastern Studies
  26. ^ http://www.assyrians-homeland.org/Assyria_and_Assyrians.html
  27. ^ Rudolf Macuch, Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur, New York: de Gruyter, 1976.
  28. ^ Tsereteli, Sovremennyj assirijskij jazyk, Moscow: Nauka, 1964.
  29. ^ Edward Odisho, The sound system of Modern Assyrian, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1988. Odisho also argues that ancient Assyrians may have been ancestors of modern-day Iraqi Arameans.
  30. ^ Genetics of Modern Assyrians
  31. ^ Iraqi Assyrians: A Barometer of Pluralism
  32. ^ The Assyrian New Year
  33. ^ Akkadian Words in Modern Assyrian
  34. ^ http://www.kalan.com/scripts/Dergi/Dergi.asp?t=3&yid=9392
  35. ^ A Fourth Visit to Tur Abdin and SE Turkey Tur Abdin - A Report of a Visit to SE Turkey in May 2001
  36. ^ VERKSAMHETSBERÄTTELSE 1997
  37. ^ Denho Özmen, Shaikh fathullah. The Assyrian "modern" identity, Hujådå, autumn 1997.
  38. ^ Assyria in Prophecy
  39. ^ History of Baklava, Turkish Culture: Baklava, Baklava War Intesifies, Baklava
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