Assyrian continuity after the fall of the empire:612 BC-1900 AD

Donya

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Assyrian history before and during Christian centuries

For almost two thousands years the Old Testament was the primary source of information about the ancient Assyrians. Those who read the book of Nahum about the destruction of Nineveh had come to believe that the ancient Assyrians were defeated into extinction and Nineveh no longer existed until Layard unearthed it. However they did not notice that Nahum at the end wrote: "O king of Assyria, your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountain with none to gather them."

Being scattered on the mountain or becoming extinct are two different things, in reality Assyrians survived not only on the mountains also in the cities of the plain. For example Harran which became the capital of the Assyrians after the fall of Nineveh was attacked twice but was not seriously damaged. The same can be said about Arbil, Nissibin and other smaller or out of the way towns. Harran was a thriving city way into the Islamic era when it was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century.

The major cities and towns in northern Iraq still bear their ancient names : Arbil; Assyrian Araba-illu, Tikrit; Assyrian Tikriti, Kirkuk; Assyrian 'Kirkha d' beit Suluk' or Arrapha- Nineveh; Assyrian Nineveh, Harran; Assyrian Harranu, Nissibin; Assyrian Nissibini, Alqoush; Assyrian Alquoushtu, Karmalish, Assyrian Kar-Mullissi, Mosul; Mespilla. Not even in Persia so many cities are still known by their ancient names.

The survival of these names indicates the cities were inhabited by the same people from before the fall of Nineveh. If they had been completely destroyed and their Assyrian inhabitants no longer existed the new settlers of foreign origin would have called them by names more compatible with their own culture and language. The majority inhabitants of these cities are now Arabs and Kurds but they arrived after the 9th century A.D. and gradually increased in population while Assyrians continued to live there until now. By the 19th century not one inhabited city or town in southern Iraq was called by its Pre-christian name.

There is no reason to believe that Assyrians were wiped out during a short period of time. It is a known fact that nations have survived despite all attempts to destroy them. Fifty million dead during world war II did not cause the extinction of any nation. The persecution including wholesale massacres of the Jews during more than two thousand years of their history did not wipe them out. The Syriac speaking Christians of Mesopotamia, (Assyrians) of Iraq, Turkey, and Northwest Iran survived 2000 years of persecutions including repeated massacres by the Sassanian Persians, Arabs, Mongoles, Tatars, Kurds and Turks. Two third of the Assyrian population was murdered or forced into Islam between 1914 to 1919 by the combined military forces of the Kurds, Turks, Persians in an all out attempt to wipe them out but they prevailed despite their relatively small number and being concentrated in a small geographic area. The Armenians lost 1.5 million of their population at that time but they are still here.

As Assyrialogists learn more about the history of the Christian Assyrians they become more convinced that they are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians. Robert D. Biggs, Archaeologist and professor of Assyrialogy in the University of Chicago writes: The 'mportance of Christianity in northern Iraq is probably little recognized in Europe or America." Having visited the early Christian monasteries in the region he asserts: "I think there is very likelihood that ancient Assyrians are among the ancestors of the modern Assyrians of the area." (Robert D. Biggs, 'My Career in Assyrialogy and Near Eastern Archaeology', Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, vol. 19 No. 1, 2005 p.14.)

The prominent Assyrialogist , H.W.F. Saggs, does not believe that Assyrians were defeated into extinction. He wrote: "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."
(H.W.F. Saggs, "The Might that Was Assyria" p. 290)?

Simo Parpola believes likewise: "Assyria was a vast and densely populated country, and outside the few urban centers life went on as usual."
(Simo Parpola, "Assyrians after Assyria", Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies, Vol. XIII No. 2, 1999, Chicago Ill.)


From the Fall of Nineveh to the down of christianity ?

The Babylonian king Nabunaid 's (555-539) mother who died at the ripe age of 104, long after the fall of Nineveh, in an inscription mentions the surviving relatives and the officials of the Assyrian kings in Harran whom she accuses of not preforming food offering and libation to the graves of the monarchs who had done so much for them, but she contends that she did.
(James B. Prichard, Ed., "Ancient Near Eastern Text Relating to Old Testament", Princeton University Press 1950 p. 312.) If the relatives and the officials of the Assyrian kings had survived, there is no reason to believe the rest of the population was wiped out.

In describing the Persian invasion of Assyria by the Persian king Cyrus Olmstead writes; after defeating the Medes he marched north into Assyria? in 547 B.C... "Arbela, for so many centuries overshadowed by Ashur and Nineveh, regained its prestige as the new capital of Athura. Cyrus crossed the Tigris below Arbela, and Ashur fell; the gods of Ashur and Nineveh were saved only through refuge behind the walls of Babylon..." (Olmatead, "History of the Persian Empire" Chicago University Press 1959 p. 39)

Other historical and archaeological discoveries attest to the survival of the Assyrians and Assyria during all centuries. Following are samples of such references which have been cited verbaitm so that this writer will not be accused of having misrepresented the intent of the original authors also to allow the readers judge their meaning for themselves. It is interesting that they and thousands of others like them are summarily ignored.

The mid 19th century translation of the Persian inscriptions attest to the existence of Assyria and Assyrians as part of the Persian empire.

The Nagshe Rostam inscription by Darius (512-48) which lists the national types of the Persian Empire includes the Assyrians . A reference to them reads as: "Iyam Asuryah", "this is an Assyrian" which is very similar to the term "Suryah" a name christian Assyrians have identified themselves by.
(Sukumar Sen, "Old Persian Inscriptions of the Achamenian Emperors," University of Calcutta 1941 p. 107)

The Behistun inscription of Darius in the beginning of his rule lists 23 countries as part of his empire including: "Persis, Huza (Elam), Babiru (Babylon), Athura (Assyria)...."(Josef Wiesehofer, Azizeh Azodi Trans., "Ancient Persia From 550 BC to 650 AD, I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1969.)?

In another inscription in Susa Darius writes; "The cedar timber, this -- a mountain named Lebanon -- from there was brought. The Assyrian people, it brought it to Babylon; from Babylon the Carians and the Ionians brought it to Susa. The yak?-timber was brought from Gandara and from Carmania."? Old Persian Texts:? ?http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm?

"Proclaims Xerexes, the king: "By the favor of Ahura Meazda; these are the people/countries of which I was king of....Persia, Media, Elam, Armenia, Drangiana, parhia, Aria, Bactri a, Sogdia, Choresmia, Babylonia, ASSYRIA, Stagydia, Lydia, Egypt......" (Josef Wiesehofer, Azizeh Azodi Trans., "Ancient Persia From 550 BC to 650 AD, I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1969.)

In a Trilingual Persepolis inscription ARTAXERXES II (c. 436 - 358 BC) OR III ( BC. to 338 BC.). among the twenty throne-bearers of various nationalities Assyrian representative is identified as; '17. This is the Assyrian'. http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm?

Those who question the identity of the contemporary Assyrians justify it by saying "they have been known primarily as Syrians and Suraye during most of the christian Era." They seem not to known that the region west of Euphrates was Called Syria becuase it did not have a known national identity and was part of the Assyrian empire.

The fifth century B.C. Herodotus describes the Assyrian troops as part of the Persian empire's army of king xerexes (486-465/4): "The Assyrians went to war with helmets upon their head, made of brass, and plated in strange fashion, which is not easy to describe. .... These people, whom Greeks call Syrian, are called Assyrian by the barbarians. Herodotus Barbarians meant the Persians, the Armenians and other none Greek." Assyrians and babylonians together formed the fifth infantry and were led by Otaspes son of Artchaies. Andrew Robert Burn, Persia and the Greeks, the Defnse of the west 546-478 B.C., Minerva Press 1962 p. 336.

The presence of the Assyrian military in the Persian army is attested to by [a] bronze [conical shaped] Assyrian helmet from the 490 B.C. Battle of Marathon" presently at the Onassis Cultural Center in Greece. (Associated Press Writer, 'Artifacts show rivals Athens and Sparta' Yahoo News, December 5, 2006)

The first century B.C. Strabo attests to the fact that Syria meant Assyria. He writes:" When those who have written histories about? the Syrian empire say that the Medes were overthrown by the Persians and the Syrians by the Medes, they mean by the Syrian no other people than those who built the royal palaces in Babylon and Ninus; and of these Syrians, Ninus was the man who founded Ninus [Nineveh], in Aturia..[Assyria]. (H.L. Jones Translation of "Geography of Strabo", New York 1916, Vol. VIII p.195)

While one has to admit that inhabitants west of Euphrates were not Assyrians, there is no reason to doubt the Assyrian identity of those living in the Assyria proper. According to Strabo the country of the Assyrians at his time included babylon and Aturia [Assyria]. Later he writes the name 'Syrians' extends from Babylon to the Gulf of Issus [the Mediterranean Sea]. (Strabo p.193) This was the extent of the Assyrian empire before its fall.

The third century Roman historian Justinus also attests to this fact. He wrote: "The? Assyrians, who were afterwards called Syrians, held their empire for thirteen hundred years." (Marcus Junianus Justinus Epitome of the Philippic, "History of Pompeius Trogus", translated by Rev. John Selby Watson. (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853)

The above refences clearly prove that the term Syrians and Suraye applied to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia denoted Assyrians who later became Christians.

Archaeological discoveries also indicate that the Assyrian community in Ashur "[c]ontinued to worship it's national god and his consort, on the same spot as their ancestors had done before the disasters of 612 B.C., although in a new temple. As late as AD 200-28, they were using such grand old personal names as Sin/ahe/erba, even Esarhaddon...." (Malcom A.R. Colledge, "The Parthians",? Praegr, New York 1967, p.46.)

Iraqi Department of Antiquities between 1951 and 1955, discovered nine temples in the city of Hatra dedicated to the Assyrian deities such as Shamash, Sin, Nebo, Nergal and one to the Assyrian God, "Ashur Bel " The head of the Ashur Bel's statue found in Hatra is broken, but the remaining curled square beard? is characteristically similar to the imperial Assyrian kings. (Edward Bacon, "Digging for History", Archaeological Discoveries Throughout the World, 1945 to 1959", New York 1960, p. 205.)

Excavations by a team of British archaeologist from Edinburgh University at the Eski Mosul Dam Basin in 1983 unearthed solid evidences of Assyrian survival after their defeat. A heavy Assyrian presence was detected in the area only 40 km to the north-east of Nineveh.(Associated Press report reprinted in Nineveh Magazine, Vol 7 No. 3& 4, 1984)


The Christian Era

According to The Teaching of Addaeus the Apostle "people of the East, in the guise of merchants, passed over into the territory of the Romans, that they might see the signs which Addaeus did. And such as became disciples received from him ordination to the priesthood, and in their own country of the Assyrians they instructed the people of their nation, and erected houses of prayer there in secret, by reason of the danger from those who worshiped fire and paid reverence to water. "http://www.biblefacts.org/ecf/vol8/anf08-143.htm

The second century Tatian identified himself as Assyrian. He wrote, "I was born in the land of the Assyrians.."
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-02/anf02-36.htm
His contemporary Lucian of Samostosa, in his "Goddess of Syria" wrote : "I that write [this] am "Assourious" [Assyrian]".
(Lucian, Translated by A.M. Harmon, Vol. IV, "The godesse of Surrye", London 1925 p.339.)

Prepon, the Assyrian, who was a student of Marcion is said to have introduced a new theological philosophy based on a work by Bardaisan who claimed that world is managed by good and evil.
http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/library/hyp_refut7.htm

According to Tacitius in the winter of 50 A.D. the forces of Carenes crossed the river Tigris and entered Adiabene and "captured the city of Ninos, the most ancient capital of Assyria" prior to waging war against the Parthian king Gotarzes on behalf of Meherdates the contender to the throne. (Cornelius Tacitius, Edi. Ronert Maynard Hutchis"The Annals and The Histories"; , Copyright? Encyclopedia Britanica, Inc. 1952 p.112.)?

The Assyrialogist Joan Oates writes: "The site of Nineveh, a city which survives in modern Mosul, was never in fact forgotten ..."Joan Oates babylon (P. 143) She further adds : Nineveh which was considered by them [classical writers ] to have been in ruin after 612 B.C. we know to have been the site of a considerable city during both the Seleucid and Parthian periods [330 B.C. -224 AD]." ( Joan Oates, "Babylon", Thames and Hudson, London 1971 p. 142)

In describing Trajan's 116 AD invasion o f Mesopotamia Roman Historian Dio Cassius wrote: "And the Romans crossed over and gained possession of the whole of Adiabene. This is a district of Assyria in the vicinity of Ninus [Nineveh] and Arabela and Gaugamela (Goomla) near which places Alexander conquered Darius, are also in the same country.Adiabene accordingly , has been called Atyria [Attur] in the language of the barbarians, the double S being changed to T."(Dio Cassinus, Earnest Cary trans."Dio's Roman History", Book LXVIII, William Heinemann London 1955 p. 411)

Even during the Sassanian dynasty of Persia (224-639 A.D.) the southern part of Mesopotamia was known as Asuristan while central Assyria was renamed Nod-Ardakhshiragan [Perhaps belonging to Ardakhshir]. It is interesting to note that while the conquerors of central Assyria Changed its name first to Adiabene and later to Nodshiragan and then to Iraq, Christian inhabitants of the region continued to call it Assyria and identified themselves as Assyrian [Aturaye] side by side with Syrian [Suraye].

In an inscription; lands ruled by Shapur I, (241-276 A.D.) are listed as "Fars [Persia], Pahlav [Parthia], Kuzistan, Meshan, Asuristan [southern Mesopotamia} and Nod-Ardakhshiragan [Assyria Ruled by Ardashir] ........." (Josef Wiesehofer, Azizeh Azodi Trans., "Ancient Persia From 550 BC to 650 AD, I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1969.)

The medieval writer Tabari indicates that Mesopotamia was called Asuristan during the Sassanian period before Arab conquest of the region: "Ardashir's further advanced from Media described a large curve through Adurbadagan/Atropatene, Nodshiragan/Adiabene to Asuristan/Assyria (Iraq), where he conquered the capital of the Parthian Empire, Seleucia-Ctesiphon, probably in 226/227 AD."
(http://www.britac.ac.uk/events/programmes/2004/abstracts/asia-alram.html)

That inhabitants of Mesopotamia were known as Assyrians by the Persians is evident in their religious book of 'Zand-i Vohuman Yasht' in the Pahlavi language. In one section it accuses the Greeks (Yunan) who ruled in Asuristan (330-145 B.C.) were slaying the [Asori] Assyrian people and destroying their abode.
(http://www.avesta.org/pahlavi/vohuman3.html)

The Armenians who have lived side by side with the Assyrians have always called them Assori, i.e Assyrian as have other nationalities.? Following is an early century Armenian document "perhaps the earliest original writing in Classical Armenian. This reading is taken from Books V and VI." which describes how an Assyrian bishop was instrumental in inventing the Armenian alphabet in 420 AD.

"..having devoted themselves to a great examination of experiment and investigation, and having endured great labors, they then made an announcement of their own searching to the king of the Armenians, whose name was called Vramshapuh. Then the king told them about a certain man called Daniel by name, an Assyrian bishop of noble origin, who had elsewhere devised letters of the alphabet for the Armenian language. And when this was related to them by the king about the writing from Daniel, they prompted the king to take care according to their needs. And by decree he sent someone, Vahrich by name, to an elderly man whose name they called Habel, who was an acquaintance of the Assyrian bishop Daniel."

(A. Richard Diebold Center for Indo-European Language and Culture (http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/armol-4-R.html)

According to the 19th century Badger "In many Syriac [Assyrian] manuscripts, Mosul is styled as Athur [Assyria] and it is not uncommon practice with ecclesiastical writers of the present day to use the same phraseology". (Henry Burgess, The Repentance of Nineveh, Sampso n Low: Son and Co., London 1853, p. 36n.) Gesenius writes, "In Syriac Church literature 'Athur' [Assyria] is the name of Mosul, on the bank of the Tigris opposite to Nineveh; but it also designates a metropolitan see, including Mosul, Nineveh and other towns." (Stephanie Dalley, Nineveh after 612 B.C. , Alt-Orientanlishce Forshchungen #20, 1993, p .134)?

While the rest of the world believed that Nineveh had been destroyed and forgotten and Assyrians no longer existed Christians of Mesopotamia knew such was not the case. For the last 2000 years Assyrians of the Church of the East, the Syrian Orthodox Church, later the Chaldean Church have observed the fast of Ninevites which is testimony to the survival of the Assyrians and their belief that they were descendants of the ancient Assyrians.

Nineveh became an important center of the Assyrian Christianity. It was presided by a long list of bishops from 554 to the late ninth century. Later its bishopry was transferred to Mosul. Mar Emmeh, the Bishop of Nineveh was elected Patriarch of the Church of the East and served in that position between A.D. 644 to 647. Ishu-Yahav was the bishop of Nineveh (627-637) when the byzantine forces under the command of Herculius defeated the Persians near that city in 627. He fled to his estate in the mountain during the war fearing that he might be taken prisoner by the Byzantine. ((William G. Young, "Patriarch, Shah and Caliph", Christian Study Center, Rawalpindi, Pakistan 1974, p. 87)

In a letter between (650-52) he invited a certain Shimoun to come and see him in nineveh. ("William young' patriarch, Shah) During his term the country was torn by wars between the Arab invaders and the Persians. Another famous bishop of Nineveh was Ishag (Isaac) Ninevaya, who served in that position for only six months in 660 A.D. Maran-Zakah served as bishop of Nineveh between 795-798. Other prominent citizens of Nineveh were Ehu-Bar-Noon, patriarch (820-824), Yohanan Bokht-Eshu Metropolitan of Nineveh (850 - A.D.), Annush d' Beith Garmee, Patriarch (873-884). (J.M. Fiey, O.P., Assyrie Chretienne, Imprimerie Catholique, Beyrouth, 159, pp.488-493.)


The Islamic Period ?

Those who have expressed doubt about the identity of the Assyrians have done so primarily as a matter of opinion and confusion of historical facts. While they can undrestandt the term Indian when applied to the native Americans has a different meaning than when it refers to the people of India they seem to be unable to realize that Syrian in reference to the Christians of Mesopotamia means Assyrian.

This is evident in the writings by writers whose knowledge of the Christian Assyrian history is limited. Gavin Menzies in his "1421 The Year China Discovered America" rightly credits the Church of the East, otherwise known as Nestorian, for having taken Christianity to China, but he claims that the church thrived in Syria during the sixth century. (Kevin Menzies, "1421 The Year China Discovered America", Harper Collins 2003 p.115) In fact the Church of the East was outlawed in the Byzantine empire including Syria. It prospered in Mesopotamia under the Persian rule and it was from Assyria that missionaries went to China, India and Japan, among other places.

Thimithy I (770-823), patriarch of the Church of the East in a letter to the monks of Mar Marun declares that Babylonia, Persia and Assyria, all the countries of the East, such as India and China were under his jurisdiction. (William G. Young, "Patriarch, Shah and Caliph", Christian Study Center, Rawalpindi, Pakistan 1974, p.152)? ?

When Arab Geographer Al Mas-udi visited Nineveh in 943 A.D. He described it as a complex of ruins in the middle of which there are several villages and farms, " It was to these settlements that god sent Jonah" he wrote. (Brian M. Fagan, Return to babylon, Little, Brown & Co., Canada p.18.) This statement echoed the sentiments of the Christian Assyrians. Some of the better known Assyrian villages of Nineveh at that time were: 'Takshur', mentioned by Bar Awraya, 'Tarrut D' Nineveh ' [Gate of Nineveh], 'Ba Gabbari' [ the Braves], the birth place of Patriarch Ishu Barnon located between the walls of Nineveh and Mosul, , mentioned by Yagut in 1220 . 'Bori', where a beautiful church was built in the 7th century, consecrated by Mar Yokhanan Metropolitan of Adiabene, and 'Gorba' , a Jacobite Assyrian village. (J.M. Fiey, O.P., Assyrie Chretienne, Imprimerie Catholique, Beyrouth, 159, pp.488-493.) Assyrian towns north of Ninveh at that time which still exist today were, Algosh, Tel Ke, Baghdeda, Baqofa, Bartella, Karmales, Egra, Zakhoo, Amedia.

The translator of the "Latin history of Paulus Orosius", into Arabic about 961-976 AD, more than a thousand years ago correctly equated the Latin "Assyri" [Assyrian] with the Arabic word "al-Suryaniyyun" i.e. the Christians of Mesopotamia, Suraye and Suryoye. (Abdel Rahman Badawi Ed. "Orosius, Tarikh Al 'Alam", Al Muassasa al Ararabiyya lil Dirasat wal Nashr, Beirut, First Edition, 1982.)?

The Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Michael the great (1126-99) wrote:
In the first half of the 9th century "the Greeks were offending the Jacobites by saying: 'Your Syrian sect has no importance neither honor, and you did never have a kingdom, neither an honorable king'. the Jacobites answered them by Saying that even if their name is "Syrian", but they are originally "Assyrians" and they have had many honorable kings.... Syria is in the west of Euphrates, and its inhabitants who are talking our Aramaic language, and who are so-called 'Syrians', are only a part of the 'all', while the other part which was in the east of Euphrates, going to Persia, had many kings from Assyria and Babylon and Urhay. (History of Mikhael The Great" Chabot Edition (French) P: 750) as quoted by Addai Scher, Hestorie De La Chaldee Et De "Assyrie")

The 13th century Gewargis Warda Arbillaya [from Arbil] asserts that the syriac speaking people of Mesopotamia are Assyrian and Babylonians. On the occasion of the Fast of the Ninevites he wrote:
"Our lord heed the rogation (Ba-oota): of the Babylonians and Assyrians [Athouraye]
Now that Church leadership is distressed and confused.?
"Our lord heed the request (Ba-oota) of our destitute country,
I glorify your Godliness and ask for your forgiveness.? (Odisho Malko Gewargis, trans. Yuel A Baaba, "We are Assyrians", JAAS, Vol. XVI, Np. 1, 2002 p.84.)

For Gewargis Warda Assyrians were not just the inhabitants of the Mosul and Nineveh as it is some times claimed. He was from Arbil and considered the Christians living in northern and southern Mesopotamia as Assyrians and babylonians. While the name of the country was changed to Iraq by the Arabs since the 7th century AD Assyrians continued to refer to it as Assyria.

The Barber geographer Ibn-Battuta, who traveled to northern Mesopotamia in the 14th century acknowledged the existence of Nineveh and wrote:"There too is the hill of Nabi Yunus, (prophet Jonah), (upon whom be peace) and about a mile from it, the spring called by his name. It is said that he commanded his followers to purify themselves in it. .... In it's vicinity is a large village, near which is a ruined site said to be the site of the city known as Nineveh, the city of 'yunus' . The remains of the encircling walls are still visible, and the position of the gates that were in it are clearly seen.". (Brian M. Fagan, Return to Babylon", Kuttke, Brown & Com., Canada, 1979, p.17)?

Ibn-Battuta also noted that the Nabi Yunus mosque of Nineveh was once a Christian church before being confiscated by the Arabs. This edifice still stands, according to Wigram it was once the cathedral of the independent patriarch of Nineveh or See of Nineveh. Moslems believe that the prophet Jonah is buried at that site but such is not the case.

Assyrian writer Bar Saliba a decade or two before Ibn-Battuta identified the person buried in the site as patriarch Hannan Yeshua of the church of the East who was elected to that office during the caliphate of Abd 'ool-Melek ibn Merwan, cir. AD 686. He wrote: "Hanan-Yeshua resided in the convent of the prophet Jonah, which is situated on the western side of the wall of Nineveh facing the eastern gates of Mosul, and the river Tigris separates the cities. When he died, he was buried here, in a coffin made of ebony,.." "George Percy Badger, "Nestorians and their Rituals", notes to page 87 DD)

The fact that Christians of Mesopotamia considered Nineveh the capital of Assyria as an important part of their christianity despite all the hateful Old Testament references to it and they commemorated a yearly fast called 'The Fast of the Ninevites' as a tribute to the survival of their forefathers indicates their strong dedication to their Assyrian identity.

The Vatican documents indicate that when the Chaldean Church was established by Sulaga in 1553, Pope Julius III proclaimed him patriarch of "Mosul and Athur" on Feb. 20, 1553. (Catholic Encyclopedia, "Chaldean Rite ", 1967, Vol. III, pp.427-428) Roman? documents originally refer to Sulaga as the elected patriarch of "the Assyrian Nation". (Xavier Koodapuzha, "Faith and Communion in the Indian Church of Saint Thomas Christians, Oriental Institute of Religious Studies, Kerala, India, p.59)

According to the Chronicle of the Carmelites Sulaga was proclaimed "Patriarch of the Eastern Assyrians" but on 19, 4, 1553 he was redefined as the "Patriarch of the Chaldeans". Perhaps the change of mind was intended to distinguish between those who joined the Catholic Church verses those who did not or may be it was a matter of associating these new Catholics with the Nestorians of Cyprus who were labeled Chaldeans by Pope Eugene IV on August 7, 1445 after they joined the Roman Catholic church. (George V. Yana (Bebla), "Myth vs. Reality" JAAStudies, Vol. XIV, No. 1, 2000 p. 80)? ?

Edward Odisho quotes Konstantin Tseretely that "Assyrians who live in the Soviet Union call themselves and their mother tongue Assyrian, an appellation which occurs in the 18th century Georgian documents." Tseretely further writes; "In correspondences between the Georgian King Irakli II and Mar Shimoun in the years 1769 and 1770 Mar Shimoun refers to himself as the "Assyrian Catholicos" and the King identifies Mar Shimoun's people as "Assyrians."?

According to another source the Georgian king Irakli II in 1770's established contacts with the Yezidies and used the Assyrian Archbishop Ishaya as mediator . Irakli II sent a letter to the Yezidi leader Choban- Agha in which he proposed a none-Muslim coalition of the Yezidies, Armenians and Assyrians against the Ottoman Sultan. (Lamara Pashaeva, "Yezidi Social Life in the ocmmon wealth of Independent States" Kurdishmedia.com, Nov. 2004)

In a letter dated May 26, 1784 adressed to the Russian General Paul S. Potemkin, the Russian Colonel Stephan D. Burnashev writes "There are 100 villages inhabited by Assyrians in the domain of the Khan of Urmiye, in addition , some 20,000 families reside withing the borders of Turkey." (George Bournoutian, "Armenians and Russia (1626-1796): A Documentary Record", Coasta Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. Inc., 2001.)

Even before the archaeologist Austen Henry had published his book about his ancient Assyrian discoveries Horatio Southgate in 1843 visited the Syrian Orthodox communities of Turkey and reported they identified themselves as Assyrians in the form of "Suryoyo, Othoroyee". He writes:?

"I observed that the Armenians did not know them under the name which I used, SYRIANI; but called them ASSOURI, which struck me the more at the moment from its resemblance to our English name ASSYRIANS, from whom they claim their origin, being sons, as they say, of Assour, (Asshur,) who 'out of the land of Shinar went forth, and build Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resin between Nineveh and Calah; the same is a great city..
(Horatio Southgate, "Narrative of a Visit to the Syrian [Jacobites] Church", 1844 P 80)?

The above are examples of hundreds and even thousands references which attest to the survival of the Assryians since the fall of Nineveh which prove that they did not vanish after their defeat. They in fact continued to live in their ancient homeland and have been there since. Some however were forced to flee into the mountains north of Mosul, cities of northwest Persia and southeast Turkey i.e. the Tur-Abedin area which had been part of Assyria before its fall. In one inscriptions the Persian king Darius identifies the region as Assyria. Given such facts and hundreds of others undeniable evidences it is unconscionable to question their Assyrian heritage.

The names Suraya, Suryoyo they have identified themselves with, the terms Syrian and Suryani they have been called by are obvious variations for Asuraya and Assyrian. If the nationality of a people is based on a common descent, shared language, history, culture, easily recognizable homeland, and other aspects of nationality Assyrians clearly fit the description. They have called themselves Assyrians, they have lived in the homeland of the ancient Assyrians since before the fall of Nineveh, have identified their country as Assyria, and have considered the ruins of its ancient capital as their sacred city during the Christian centuries. No one in good conscious can deny this.

In many ways today's Assyrian national identity is far more certain than that of other nations who are a composite of various people. Unlike others Assyrians after their fall did not have a military or political powers to force their identity on others. Their survival for such a long time can be attributed to the fact that they spoke a different language, and worship a different religion than the nations who conquered their land, also because their country was relatively isolated.

By William Warda California
Christians of Iraq staff writer
 
Thank you very much for posting this, it really fascinated me!
Beside that, it is nice to have so many facts to read.


Khaya Janakh :yourock:


Khaya Omta Atoreta
 
Rumtaya said:
Thank you very much for posting this, it really fascinated me!
Beside that, it is nice to have so many facts to read.


Khaya Janakh :yourock:


Khaya Omta Atoreta

You are very welcome khone Rumtaya :bigarmhug:

I'm trying to spread some awareness, since I know many Assyrian don't even bother to read such articles, it is important to spread the truth about our history and origin.

Thank you for reading and replying, I'm glad someone bothers to read it.

You are 100% right, Khaya Omta Atoreta :2hearts:
 
The typical belief of an Aramean is that "all Assyrians, Assyrian culture, along with Assyria itself all burned to the ground in 612 BC with nothing  surviving" is inconsistant of what historians are saying, along with evidence itself. So next time an Aramean troll blows you off like that, simply show him the archaeological evidence that suggests the opposite;

Assyriandelegationperspolis.png

"Assyrian delegation offering booty to the Persians during the Achaemenid Period."

Ops...did I just say Assyrian people in the 5th, 4th, 3rd century BC? Yup, and this finding in Perspolis, Iran also consists of seven total bearded Assyrian men, two of whom are carrying bowls, one is carrying animal skins, one is carrying a length of cloth and two are leading rams (picture above.) For more information, visit Persian Mesopotamia (article not finished yet.) Also, here is a great paper on the period as well.
 
So they say "Assyrians" completely, 100%, just ceased to exist in exactly 612 B.C.?  And that somehow makes us...Aramaean?

Huh?
 
That is so interesting, I have always been fascinated with Assyrian history starting from 612 BC and up to the 1850 when the British Assyriologist (Austin Henry Layard) gave the world a second look at the forgotten Assyrians.


ASHOOR
 
Yes Ashor me too. It sucks the Western world's historians are mostly interested about Ancient Assyria. Hopefully if I can get enough literature about Assuristan, we can finally have some kind of "complete set" on Assyrian history.
 
david08 said:
Yeah but don't the "Arameans" think that even the Ancient Assyrians and Babylonians were Aramean?

They had Aramean blood, but they also had other mixes in them, they were not only Arameans.
 
HEy thanks for sharring.

while the official religion of the Sassanid empire was Zoroastrians during the third and fourth century, Jews and Christians outnumbered them in the Asuristan province.

that is pretty interesting, but don?t you have a map? lol I love maps  :mrgreen:
 
This subject has long fascinated me: everything about the Assyrian people and empire after their fall in 612 BC. Of course, 612 is just a day on the calendar and not the disappearance of a nation forever. Drawing on this and the little information we have about this lost era, I have decided to make this an area I would like to pursue and find as much as I can about it. Although this is an on-going research and not one with a target end date, I have found a lot so far and will be sharing a lot of it with you here.

Some of what I have found may be new to a lot of us and some of it may already be known.

You can almost divide my research into 4 parts:

1-Assyrians from 612 BC to the time of Christ
2-Assyrians during the Roman Empire and up to the middle ages
3-Assyrians during the middle ages
4-Assyrians in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC (1500 and onward)



The 3rd part in the research is the toughest one of course, thanks to unfortunate circumstances at the time, most importantly of course is the bloody Mongolian invasions of the region and their burning of entire books and literally entire civilizations.  I and many Assyriologists and historians are convinced that alone has cost us centuries worth of information and data about Assyrians, especially from the time of the fall of their empire to the start and spreading of Christianity in the region.


During this research and reading, I have come to a very very important conclusion: when trying to search for material about Assyrians after the fall of their empire, don't just search using the word 'Assyrian' or 'Assyria'. You won't come up with much, because it hasn't always been known as such. I have found literally up to 10 different ways of referring to Assyrians and their empire or state within other empires (Roman, Persian etc.) So you really have to dig deep, because you could come across a passage that mentions Assyrians and you wouldn't know it. Not to mention, don't make the mistake of limiting your research to where the Assyrians were traditionally based (in and around Nineveh). You have to go as far as Russia to the East and Greece to the West. And that is my other challenge, finding what Assyrians have been called in different languages, in the last 2400 years. It is tough enough to navigate through the different evolving words that mean "Assyrian" in English, and now try doing that with other languages where you have thousands of books mentioning "Assyrian"

And this is why it is a work in progress.

One other thing I have also come to realize from all this research, is that if you are able to find all the sources and as much information as possible, you may come to realize that Assyrians' history after the fall, through the time of Jesus, and after that may be just as interesting as their time during the peak of the empire. One word to sum it all: Assyrians have always been very dynamic people, always fighting for survival, embracing something that would put them in danger, going from place to place, helping build entire cities in new empires that adopted them and so on. They were hardly ever sitting by idle, and just living their daily lives (that can probably only apply to our Assyrians today)


Coming up, I will start sharing whatever I have found and continue to find. Sit along for the ride, it will be very interesting and you will have an even more appreciation, pride and admiration in this great nation, which never ceases to exist and survive.



ASHOOR
 
looking forward to it, i also have been wanting to do a research about the assyrians after the fall of the empire and onward... ill be waiting for your articles :D
 
Both "Bel" and "Nebo" were east-semitic names for Gods, which gives more proof as us being Assyrians.
 
One of the various names that Assyria has been known as throughout history, is 'Aturia'

Here is an excerpt from the book (A view of the earth, as far as it was known to the ancients: a system of classical geography ? Richard Turner) which talks about Assyria and Aturia.

Assyrian_Documents.jpg


This book was published in 1779!

ASHOOR



 
The book  "The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire II By Edward Gibbon"  documents an Assyrian rebellion by two different cities against the Roman rule, around 363 A.D.

These site was near Ctesiphon, which is situated south east of Baghdad today.

Assyrians-during-Roman-Empire.jpg



ASHOOR



 
An excerpt from the book "An Universal history, from the earliest account of time, Volume 4
By George Sale" (year 1747) talking about the different names given to refer to 'Assyria' and 'Assyrians"

With the transmutation of one letter as Die Cassms observes Aturia or Atyria c D It is divided by Ptolemy into the following provinces or districts Calachene or Calacine Arrapachitis Adiabene Arbelitis Apolloniatist Sittacene and Chalonitis d Calachene was bounded on the north by the mountains of Armenia and Arrapachitis j on the west by the Tigris on the east by the Lycus and on the south by Adiabene It contained the following cities Marde Calajh Bessara Resen Calajh built by Afliur as we read in holy writ e gave name to the whole province Bocbart takes this to be the fame city with Halah where the king of AJsyria placed the captive Israelites f It flood probably upon or near the Tigris for of the two other cities which were built by the fame person and at the same time viz Nineveh and Resen the former we know for certain stood BI The History ef the Assyrians

Adiabene was the chief province of Assyria and sometimes gave its name to the whole country as we have observed above It was so called according to Am mianus as we have already observed from the two rivers Diaba and Adiaba Ptolemy and Ammianus k place Ninus or Nineveh Gaugamela and Arbela in this province and with them Strabo agrees for though he places Ninus and Gaugamela in Aturia and Arbela in a district of its own name yet he makes both Aturia and Arbelis parts of Adiabene Pliny too calls Arbelis part of Adiabene m so that this province had Calachene to the north the Tigris to the west Apolloniatis to the east and Sittacene to the south Stepbanus and Tzetzes confound Adiabene with Mesopotamia In this part of Assyria and near or upon the Tigris stood the famous and so much celebrated city of Ninus as the profane writers call it or Nineveh....


See image of this text for pasting or embedding:
http://books.google.com/books?id=jzFjAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA244&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U39yHaI2oMWhDSa6RH-riI1TTBvsw&ci=161%2C19%2C793%2C565&edge=0


ASHOOR
 
From the book "The Nestorians, the Lost Tribes" by Asahel Grant (year 1841) the following excerpt talks about the name "Adiabene" which is used to refere to Assyria at times during the time of Christ and the Roman empire.


Assyrians-Adiabene-AD.jpg




ASHOOR


 
"A dictionary of ancient geography: explaining the local appellations in"  By Alexander MacBean, Samuel Johnson  (Year 1773)

Note that in some of these old books, the letter S for 'Assyrian' may be written a little differently.

In a different dialect it called Aturia being sometimes called by Strabo and Atyria Dio Cassms It was also called A diabtnt Pliny but in latter ages Amraian which according to and Ptolemy is only a part of Assyria and if it denotes Assyria does so only in a loose and sense and sometimes Aturia seems to be taken for a part than for the whole of Atyria Strabo The different divisions or districts of Assyria Ptolemy assigns follows viz Arrapachitis bordering on Armenia then Adiabene and to the east Arbelitis to north of Adiabene Calacine Calacbene and lower down to south Apolliatis and at length Sit tacene bordering on Susiana of them noble and well known countrie except the first namely Arrapachitis which some suppose to its name from Arphaxad the of Shem

4C Aturia or Atyria Strabo a district of Assyria terminated by the Lycus and the territory round Ni nus Assyria itself is thus called Aturis Ptolemy Aturui Lucan the middle u short but in Autumns long unless it be Aturnut as in some copies a river of Aquita tania now the Adour in Gascony rising in the Pyrenees and falling into the sea of Aquitain first north then west Atyras See Athyras Atyria See Assyria

ASHOOR
 
An Ottoman empire map from the 1500s showing 'Assyria' just north of where Mesopotamia is located on the map.

Assyrians_in_Ottoman_Empire.jpg



ASHOOR
 
Another map from the 1600s that shows 'Assyrians' as one of the groups making up the Ottoman empire at the time:

maps-bible-archeology-exodus-route-kadesh-barnea-john-speed-1626ad.jpg



ASHOOR
 
The ancient depiction of the region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea extending south to include all of Armenia Maior and part of Armenia Minoris, based on Claudius Ptolemy's Geographia from the second century A.D. Shows also... the Euphratis River, the Tigris, Assyriae, and many other place names in the cradle of civilization.

Publisher: RUSCELLI, G.
Title: Tabula Asiae III
Published in: Venice, 1561-1574
 

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From the book "History of the Ottoman Empire: from its establishment, till the ..., Volume 1 By Edward Upham" (Year 1829)

Ishmael had already assumed the surname of Soph, or Sophi, and had established throughout Persia the reforms of the visionary Sehietan. Excited by his councils, he had destroyed, throughout his states, the mosques of the Sunnites?the sect which the Turks esteemed as holding the true doctrine?and had demolished the tombs of their saints; thus, to the incentives of plunder, and attractions of spoil, were now added the bitter edge of religious hate. Selim nourished also a personal cause of suspicion and revenge, as Ishmael had received, with peculiar graciousness,

Solyman, a son of the ill-fated Achmet, who had fled from Amasia to the court of Tauris. The Shah Ishmael was no despicable enemy even for the sovereign of the Ottoman empire; his dominions comprised the provinces of Media, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Further Armenia.

Image from thie except in the book

This excerpt is referring to the years 1500-1550. It is interesting that the author has distinguished between 'Assyria' where real Assyrians actually lived, and 'Mespotamia' where other groups may have lived, includig Assyrians!
 
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