The
Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people (frequently known as
Assyrians in English, besides
Syrians,
Syriacs,
Syrian Christians,
Syriac Christians,
Suroye/Suryoye and other variants, see
names of Syriac Christians) are an
ethnic group whose origins lie in the
Fertile Crescent, their
homeland today being divided between
Northern Iraq,
Syria, Western
Iran, and
Turkey's
Southeastern Anatolia.
[*] Many have migrated to the
Caucasus,
North America and
Europe during the past century. The major sub-ethnic division is between an
Eastern group ("
Syrian Nestorians" and "
Chaldean Christians") and a
Western one ("
Syrian Jacobites").
There are diaspora and refugee communities in Europe, the former Soviet Union, North America, Australia, New Zealand,
Syria,
Jordan, and
Lebanon. Emigration was triggered by such events as the
Assyrian genocide in the wake of the First World War and the
breakup of the Ottoman Empire, the
Simele massacre in Iraq (1933) and the
Islamic revolution in Iran (1979).
The latest event to affect the Assyrian community is the
war in Iraq; of the one million or more Iraqis reported by the
United Nations to have fled, nearly forty percent (40%) are Assyrian, although Assyrians comprise only three percent of the Iraqi population.
The
Syrian Malabar Nasrani, also known as the
Saint Thomas Christians of
Malabar, are another Syriac Christian group, but are ethnically distinct from the Assyrian people of the Middle East.
History
The Assyrian people trace their origins to the population of the
pre-Islamic Mesopotamia, since the time of the
Akkadian Empire. It was not until the
Neo-Assyrian Empire that the Assyrians began to speak
Aramaic, the language of the
Aramaean tribes who had been assimilated into the Assyrian empire in the 8th century BC. due in part to the mass relocations enforced by Assyrian kings of the
Neo-Assyrian period.
They were Christianized in the 1st to 3rd centuries, in
Roman Syria and
Persian Assyria.
They were divided by the
Nestorian Schism in the 5th century, and from the 8th century, they became a
religious minority following the
Islamic conquest of Mesopotamia.
Culturally and linguistically distinct from, although quite influenced by, their neighbours in the
Middle East - the
Arabs,
Persians,
Kurds,
Turks, and
Armenians - the Assyrians have endured much hardship throughout their recent history as a result of religious and ethnic
persecution.
The most significant recent persecution against the Assyrian population was the
Assyrian genocide, which occurred at the onset of the First World War. This led to a large-scale resettlement of the Assyrian people in countries such as Syria, Iran and Iraq, as well as other neighbouring countries in and around the Middle East.
Iraq War
Since the
Iraq War starting in 2003, there has been a massive persecution of Assyrians in Iraq, mostly by
Islamic extremists. In places like
Dora, an estimated 90% of Iraq's Assyrian population has either fled or been murdered.
Incidents such as the
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and the
Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy have hit the Assyrian communities directly. Since the start of the
Iraq war, at least 46 churches and monasteries have been bombed.
Demographics
Homeland
The Assyrians are considered to be one of the indigenous people in the Middle East. Their homeland was thought to be located in the area around the
Tigris and
Euphrates. There is a significant Assyrian population in Syria where an estimated 877,000 Assyrians live.
In
Tur Abdin, known as the homeland for Syriacs, there are only 3,000 left,
[* He was documenting life in the Tur Abdin, where about 3,000 members of the Aramean minority still live.'] and an estimated 15,000 in all of Turkey.
After the 1915
Assyrian genocide many Assyrians/Syriacs also fled into Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq and into the
Western world.
the Euphrates-Tigris watershed
The Assyrian/Syriac people can be divided along geographic, linguistic, and denominational lines, the three main groups being:
Diaspora
Ever since the
Assyrian Genocide many Assyrians have fled their homelands for a more safe and comfortable life in the west. Since the beginning of the 20th century the Assyrian population in the
Middle East has decreased dramatically. As of today there are more Assyrians in the Western World then there are in their homeland.
A total of 550,000 Assyrians are currently living in Europe. Large Assyrian/Syriac diaspora communities can be found in Germany, Sweden, the
USA, and Australia. The largest Assyrian/syriac diaspora communities are those of
Södertälje,
Chicago, and
Detroit.
Identity
Chaldean flag proposed in Dec 1999
Assyrians are divided among several churches (see below). They speak, and many can read and write, dialects of
Neo-Aramaic.
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.
Today, Assyrians and other minority ethnic groups in the Middle East, feel pressure to identify as "Arabs", and "Kurds". Assyrians in Syria are disappearing as an ethnic group, due to assimilation.
Neo-Aramaic exhibits remarkably conservative features compared with
Imperial Aramaic, and the earliest European visitors to northern Mesopotamia in modern times encountered a people called "Assyrians" and men with ancient Assyrian names such as Sargon and Sennacherib. The Assyrians manifested a remarkable degree of linguistic, religious, and cultural continuity from the time of the ancient Greeks, Persians, and Parthians through periods of medieval Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman rule.
Assyrian nationalism emphatically connects Modern Assyrians to the population of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire.
A historical basis of this sentiment has been disputed by a few early historians, but receives support from modern
Assyriologists like
H.W.F. Saggs,
Robert D. Biggs and
Simo Parpola,
[Saggs, The Might That Was Assyria, pp. 290, “The destruction of the Assyrian empire did not wipe out its population. They were predominantly peasant farmers, and since Assyria contains some of the best wheat land in the Near East, descendants of the Assyrian peasants would, as opportunity permitted, build new villages over the old cities and carry on with agricultural life, remembering traditions of the former cities. After seven or eight centuries and various vicissitudes, these people became Christians.”] and
Iranologists like
Richard Nelson Frye.
[ pp. 281-285]Self-designation
The various communities of Syriac-speaking people of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey advocate different terms for ethnic self-designation:
The terminological problem goes back to colonial times, but it became more acute in 1946, when with the independence of Syria, the adjective
Syrian referred to an independent state. The controversy isn't restricted to
exonyms like English "Assyrian" vs. "Aramaean", but also applies to self-designation in
Neo-Aramaic, the "Aramaean" faction endorses both
Sūryāyē and
Ārāmayē , while the "Assyrian" faction insists on
Āṯūrāyē but also accepts
Sūryāyē .
Alqosh, located in the midst of Assyrian contemporary civilization.
The question of ethnic identity and self-designation is sometimes connected to the scholarly debate on the
etymology of "Syria". The question has a long history of academic controversy, but mainstream opinion currently favours that
Syria is indeed ultimately derived from the Assyrian term
Aššūrāyu.
Meanwhile, some scholars has disclaimed the theory of Syrian being derived from Assyrian as "simply naive", and detracted its importance to the naming conflict.
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). According to Tsereteli, however, a
Georgian equivalent of "Assyrians" appears in ancient Georgian and Armenian documents. 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.
Culture
Assyrian child dressed in traditional clothes.
Assyrian culture is largely influenced by religion. The language is 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
Kha b-Nisan (vernal equinox).
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.
Children are often given Biblical names, and, by Assyrianist patriots, Assyrian names such as Ashur, Sargon, Shamiram, Nineveh, Ninos, Nimrod, etc. And to the contrary by the Aramaean/Syriac nationalists, Aramaean/Syriac names such as Abgar, Aram, Afrem, Aryu, etc.
Baptism and First Communion are extensively celebrated events similar to how a
Bris and a
Bar Mitzvah are in Judaism. In the event of a death, three days after burial there is a gathering to celebrate them rising to heaven (as did Jesus), after seven days another gathering commemorates their passing. A close family member wears only black clothes for forty days and forty nights, or sometimes one year, as a sign of respect.
Language
The
Neo-Aramaic languages are ultimately descended from
Old Aramaic, the lingua franca in the later phase of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire, displacing the
East Semitic Assyrian dialect of Akkadian. Aramaic was the language of commerce, trade and communication and became the vernacular language of Assyria in classical antiquity.
By the
first century AD, Akkadian was extinct, although some loaned vocabulary survives in Neo-Aramaic.
[Kaufman, Stephen A. (1974),The Akkadian influences on Aramaic. University of Chicago Press]Most Assyrians speak an
Eastern Aramaic language whose
dialects include
Chaldean and
Turoyo as well as
Assyrian.
All are classified as
Neo-Aramaic languages and are written using
Syriac script, a derivative of the ancient
Aramaic script. Assyrians also may speak one or more languages of their country of residence.
To the native speaker, "Syriac" is usually called
Soureth or Suret
. 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, Armenian, Persian or Turkish. In northern Iraq and western Iran, Turkish and Kurdish is widely spoken.
Recent archaeological evidence includes a statue from Syria with Assyrian and Aramaic inscriptions. It is the oldest known Aramaic text.Religion
Assyrians belong to various Christian denominations, some of which are the Church of the East, with an estimated 300,000 members, the Chaldean Catholic Church, with about 900,000 members, and the Syriac Orthodox Church which has 100,000 to 4,000,000 members around the world, and various Protestant churches.
Mar Dinkha IV, who resides in Chicago Illinois, and Mar Addai II, whose headquarters are in Baghdad, are Patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East respectively. Mar Emmanuel III Cardinal Delly, the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, has become the first Patriarch to have been elevated to Cardinal when he joined the college of cardinals in November 2007. The current Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church is Ignatius Zakka I Iwas. The Syriac Orthodox Church's headquarters are located in Damascus.
Many members of the following churches consider themselves Assyrian. Ethnic identities are deeply intertwined with religion, a legacy of the Ottoman Millet system.
The group is traditionally characterized as adhering to various churches of Syriac Christianity and speaking Neo-Aramaic languages. It is subdivided into:
- adherents of the West Syrian Rite, also called Syriacs, and formerly also Jacobites.
'
A small minority of Assyrians accepted the
Protestant Reformation in the 20th century, possibly due to British influences, and is now organized in the
Assyrian Evangelical Church, the
Assyrian Pentecostal Church and other Protestant Assyrian groups.
Music
Assyrian/Syriacs playing Zoorna and Dahola
(basic flute) and
dahola (large two-sided drum) became the most common musical instruments for tribal music. Some well known Assyrian/Syriac singers in modern times are
Habib Mousa,
Josef Özer,
Janan Sawa and
Linda George.
The first International
Aramaic Music Festival was held in Lebanon from
1 August until
4 August, 2008 for Assyrian people internationally.
Festivals
Assyrian/Syriac festivals tend to be closely associated with their Christian faith, of which
Easter is the most prominent of the celebrations. Assyrian/Syriac members of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church and Syriac Catholic Church follow the
Gregorian calendar and as a result celebrate Easter on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusively. While Assyrian/Syriac 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 the
Julian calendar). During
Lent Assyrian/Syriacs are encouraged to fast for 50 days from meat and any other foods which are animal based.
Names
Distinctively
Assyrian language names are attested into the
Sassanid period before they are replaced by Christian names.
in
English/
Arabic/
Syriac variants are Syriac tradition. Names like
Daniel,
David,
Gabriel,
George,
Jacob,
Josef,
Thomas,
Peter,
James,
John,
Elias and
Maria are of clear religious origin, although many of the mentioned names are in Aramaic.
French and Italian names are also given;
Jean,
Pierre,
Lawrence. Names of Turkish and Arab origin are also prominent, for instance, in Turkey (ex.
Tur Abdin,
Midyat) have predominantly Turkish surnames as a result of the Turkish law that forbids Assyrians to baptize Assyrian names to their childen.
The usage of names dating back to Assyrian and Akkadian Empire such as
Sargon,
Ashur, Ramsen,
Ninos,
Sanharib,
Ninurta are also used by Assyrian/Syriacs.
Genetics
Late 20th century DNA analysis conducted by
Cavalli-Sforza,
Paolo Menozzi and
Alberto Piazza, "shows that Assyrians have a distinct genetic profile that distinguishes their population from any other population."
Genetic analysis of the Assyrians of Persia demonstrated that they were "closed" with little "intermixture" with the Muslim Persian population and that an individual Assyrian's genetic makeup is relatively close to that of the Assyrian population as a whole. Cavalli-Sforza
et al. state in addition, "[T]he Assyrians are a fairly homogeneous group of people, believed to originate from the land of old Assyria in northern Iraq", and "they are Christians and are possibly
bona fide descendants of their namesakes." Regarding the homogeneity of the Assyrian people, according to a recent study by
Kevin MacDonald, the Assyrians tend to encourage
endogamy.
"The genetic data are compatible with historical data that religion played a major role in maintaining the Assyrian population's separate identity during the Christian era".
See also
