Syriac Culture

Syriac Culture

The Assyrian people, most commonly known as Assyrians and other later names, such as Ashuriyun, Atorayeh and Syriacs (see names of Syriac Christians), are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia. They are Semitic people, who speak and write distinct dialects of Eastern Aramaic exclusive to Mesopotamia and its immediate surroundings.

Assyrians trace their ancestry back to the Sumero-Akkadian civilisation that emerged in Mesopotamia circa 4000–3500 BC, and in particular to the northern region of the Akkadian lands, which would become known as Assyria by the 24th century BC. The Assyrian nation existed as an independent state, and often a powerful empire, from the 24th century BC until the end of the 7th century BC. Assyria remained a Geo-political entity after its fall, and was ruled as an occupied province under the rule of various empires from the late 7th century BC until the mid-7th century AD when it was dissolved, and the Assyrian people have gradually become a minority in their homelands since that time.

Today that ancient territory is part of several nations; the north of Iraq, part of southeast Turkey and northeast Syria. They are indigenous to, and have traditionally lived all over what is now Iraq, northeast Syria, northwest Iran, and southeastern Turkey. They are a Christian people, with most following various Eastern Rite Churches, although many are non-religious.

Although culturally similar, Assyrians are distinct linguistically, genetically and for the most part geographically from the Syrian Christians of Syria (except the northeast) and Lebanon.

Many have migrated to the Caucasus, North America, Australia and Europe during the past century or so. Diaspora and refugee communities are based in Europe (particularly Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, and France), North America, New Zealand, Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia, southern Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan and Jordan.

Emigration was triggered by such events as the Assyrian Genocide by the Turkish Ottoman Empire during First World War, the Simele massacre in Iraq (1933), the Islamic revolution in Iran (1979), Arab Nationalist Baathist policies in Iraq and Syria, the Al-Anfal Campaign of Saddam Hussein, and to some degree Kurdish nationalist policies in northern Iraq.

The major sub-ethnic division is religious, between the Eastern group ("Assyrian Church of the East", "Ancient Church of the East" and "Chaldean Catholic") indigenous to northern Iraq, northwest Iran, northeast Syria and southeast Turkey, and a Western one ("Syrian Orthodox", and Syrian Catholic") found mainly in south central Turkey and Syria, this latter group, being culturally and ethnically the same as the other Assyrian groups, often prefer the designation Aramean.

Most recently, the Iraq War has displaced the regional Assyrian community, as its people have faced ethnic and religious persecution at the hands of Islamic extremists and Arab and Kurdish nationalists. Of the one million or more Iraqis reported by the United Nations to have fled Iraq since the American occupation, nearly forty percent (40%) are Assyrian, although Assyrians comprised around 3% of the pre-war Iraqi population.

Read more about Syriac Culture:  History

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