250,000-400,000
(1.4 million - 2 million Pre-
Iraq

Iraq War)[7][8][5]
Iran
20,000-50,000[9][10]
Turkey
15,000–65,000[9][11][8]
Diaspora:
Numbers can vary
Sweden
120,000[12]
Germany
70,000-100,000[13][14]
United States
80,000-400,000[15] [16]
Australia
46,217[17]
Jordan
44,000-60,000[18][5]
Lebanon
39,000-200,000[19][20][5]
Netherlands
20,000[21]
France
16,000[22]
Belgium
15,000[21]
Russia
15,000[23]
Canada
10,810[24]
Denmark
10,000[21]
Brazil
10,000[21]
Switzerland
10,000[21]
Greece
6,000[25]
Georgia
3,299[26]
Ukraine
3,143[27]
Italy
3,000[21]
Armenia
2,769[28]
Mexico
2,000[29]
New Zealand
1,497[30]
Azerbaijan
1,500[citation needed]
Israel
1,000[31]
Kazakhstan
350[32]
Finland
300[33]
Languages
Neo-Aramaic
(Assyrian, Chaldean, Turoyo)
Religion
Mainly Christianity
(majority: Syriac Christianity; minority: Protestantism)
Assyrian people

Assyrian people (Syriac: ܐܫܘܪܝܐ), or Syriacs[34] (see terms
for Syriac Christians), are an ethnic group indigenous to the Middle
East.[35][36] Some of them self-identify as Arameans,[37] or as
Chaldeans.[38] They speak East Aramaic languages as well as the
dominant languages in their countries of residence.[39] The Assyrians
are typically Syriac Christians who claim descent from Assyria, one of
the oldest civilizations in the world, dating back to 2500 BC in
ancient Mesopotamia.[40]
The areas that form the
Assyrian homeland

Assyrian homeland are parts of present-day
northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern
Iran

Iran and, more
recently, northeastern Syria.[41][42] The majority have migrated to
other regions of the world, including North America, the Levant,
Australia, Europe,
Russia

Russia and the
Caucasus

Caucasus during the past century.
Emigration

Emigration was triggered by events such as the Massacres of
Diyarbakır, the
Assyrian Genocide

Assyrian Genocide (concurrent with the Armenian &
Greek Genocide) during
World War I

World War I by the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire and allied
Kurdish tribes, the
Simele Massacre

Simele Massacre in
Iraq

Iraq in 1933, the Iranian
Revolution of 1979,
Arab

Arab Nationalist Ba'athist policies in
Iraq

Iraq and
Syria, the rise of Islamic State of
Iraq

Iraq and the
Levant
.png/500px-Levant_(orthographic_projection).png)
Levant (ISIS) and its
takeover of most of the
Nineveh

Nineveh plains.[43][44]
Assyrians are predominantly Christian, mostly adhering to the East and
West Syrian liturgical rites of Christianity.[45] The churches that
constitute the East Syrian rite include the Assyrian Church of the
East, Ancient Church of the East, and
Chaldean Catholic

Chaldean Catholic Church,
whereas the churches of the West Syrian rite are the Syriac Orthodox
Church and Syriac Catholic Church. Both rites use Classical Syriac as
their liturgical language.
Most recently, the 2003
Iraq

Iraq War and the Syrian Civil War, which began
in 2011, have displaced much of the remaining Assyrian community from
their homeland as a result of ethnic and religious persecution at the
hands of Islamic extremists. Of the one million or more Iraqis
reported by the
United Nations

United Nations to have fled
Iraq

Iraq since the occupation,
nearly 40% were Assyrians even though Assyrians comprised only around
3% of the pre-war Iraqi demography.[46][47][48] According to a 2013
report by a
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council

Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council official, it is
estimated that only 300,000 Assyrians remain in Iraq.[49]
Because of the emergence of
ISIS

ISIS and the taking over of much of the
Assyrian homeland

Assyrian homeland by the terror group, another major wave of Assyrian
displacement has taken place.
ISIS

ISIS was driven out from the Assyrian
villages in the Khabour River Valley and the areas surrounding the
city of
Al-Hasakah

Al-Hasakah in
Syria

Syria by 2015, and from the
Nineveh

Nineveh Plains in
Iraq

Iraq by 2017. Since the expulsion of ISIS, the
Nineveh

Nineveh Plains have
been divided into Iraqi and Kurdish-controlled zones, with Assyrian
militias on both sides. In Gozarto/Northern Syria, Assyrian groups
have been taking part both politically and militarily in the
Kurdish-dominated but multiethnic Democratic Federation of Northern
Syria

Syria project.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Pre-Christian history
1.2 Early Christian period
1.3
Arab

Arab conquest
1.4 Mongolian and Turkic rule
1.5 From Iranian Safavid to confirmed Ottoman rule
1.5.1
World War I

World War I and aftermath
1.6 Modern history
1.6.1 21st century
2 Demographics
2.1 Homeland
2.2 Assyrian subgroups
2.3 Persecution
2.4 Diaspora
3 Identity and subdivisions
3.1 Self-designation
3.2 Assyrian vs. Syrian naming controversy
4 Culture
4.1 Language
4.1.1 Script
4.2 Religion
4.3 Music
4.4 Dance
4.5 Festivals
4.6 Traditional clothing
4.7 Cuisine
5 Genetics
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
8.1 Cited works
9 Further reading
10 External links
History
Main article: History of the Assyrian people
Pre-Christian history
Main articles: Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Assyria, and Neo-Assyrian
Empire
Part of the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal, c. 645-635 BC
In prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria
(and Subartu) was home to Neanderthals such as the remains of those
which have been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic
sites in
Assyria

Assyria belonged to the
Jarmo

Jarmo culture c. 7100 BC and Tell
Hassuna, the centre of the Hassuna culture, c. 6000 BC.
The history of
Assyria

Assyria begins with the formation of the city of Assur
perhaps as early as the 25th century BC.[50] The Assyrian king list
records kings dating from the 25th century BC onwards, the earliest
being Tudiya, who was a contemporary of
Ibrium of Ebla. However, many
of these early kings would have been local rulers, and from the late
24th century BC to the early 22nd century BC, they were usually
subjects of the Akkadian Empire.
During the early
Bronze Age

Bronze Age period,
Sargon of Akkad

Sargon of Akkad united all the
native Semitic-speaking peoples and the Sumerians of Mesopotamia
(including the Assyrians) under the
Akkadian Empire

Akkadian Empire (2335-2154 BC).
The cities of
Assur
.jpg/440px-Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_www.Army.mil_(218).jpg)
Assur and Nineveh, together with a number of other towns
and cities, existed as early as the 25th century BC, although they
appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centres at this
time, rather than independent states. The Sumerians were eventually
absorbed into the Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population.[51] From
1700 BC and onward, the
Sumerian language

Sumerian language was preserved by ancient
Babylonians and Assyrians only as a liturgical and classical language
for religious, artistic and scholarly purposes.[52]
In the traditions of the Assyrian Church of the East, they are
descended from Abraham's grandson (Dedan son of Jokshan), progenitor
of the ancient Assyrians.[53] However, there is no historical basis
for the biblical assertion whatsoever; there is no mention in Assyrian
records (which date as far back as the 24th century BC). The Assyrian
people, after the fall of their empire, fell under foreign domination
ever since. The
Persian Empire

Persian Empire was founded, which consumed the entire
Neo-Babylonian or "Chaldean" Empire in 539 BC. Assyrians became front
line soldiers for the
Persian Empire

Persian Empire under Xerxes I, playing a major
role in the
Battle of Marathon

Battle of Marathon under
Darius I

Darius I in 490 BC.[54]
The Assyrian army accounted for three legions of the Roman army,
defending the Parthian border. In the 1st century, it was the Assyrian
army that enabled Vespasian's coup. From the later 2nd century, the
Roman Senate

Roman Senate included several notable Assyrians, including Tiberius
Claudius Pompeianus and Avidius Cassius.
From the 1st century BC,
Assyria

Assyria was the theatre of the protracted
Roman–Persian Wars. It would become a Roman province (Assyria
Provincia) from 116 to 363 AD. Despite the influx of foreign elements,
the presence of Assyrians is confirmed by the worship of the god
Ashur, all proof of the continuity of the Assyrians.[55] The Greeks,
Parthians, and Romans had a rather low-level of integration with the
local population in Mesopotamia, which allowed their cultures to
survive.[56]
Early Christian period
Map of
Asōristān

Asōristān (226 AD-637 AD).
Further information: Syriac Christianity, History of Eastern
Christianity, and Asōristān
The Assyrians were Christianized in the first to third centuries in
Roman
Syria

Syria and Roman Assyria. The population of the Sasanian province
of
Asōristān

Asōristān was a mixed one, composed of Assyrians,
Arameans

Arameans in the
far south and the western deserts, and Persians.[57] The Greek element
in the cities, still strong during the Parthian Empire, ceased to be
ethnically distinct in Sasanian times. The majority of the population
were Eastern Aramaic speakers.
Along with the Arameans, Armenians, Greeks, and Nabataeans, the
Assyrians were among the first people to convert to
Christianity

Christianity and
spread Eastern
Christianity

Christianity to the Far East. The Council of Seleucia
of ca. 325 dealt with jurisdictional conflicts among the leading
bishops. They were divided by the
Nestorian Schism

Nestorian Schism in the 5th century,
and from the 8th century, they became a minority religion following
the
Muslim

Muslim conquest of Persia.
At the subsequent
Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon of 410, the Christian
communities of
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia renounced all subjection to Antioch and the
"Western" bishops and the Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (modern
al-Mada'in) assumed the rank of Catholicos. Whereas Latin and Greek
Christian cultures became protected by the Roman and Byzantine
Empires, respectively, Assyrian
Christianity

Christianity often found itself
marginalized and persecuted.
The Nestorian schism and Monophysite schisms of the 5th century
divided the church into separate denominations. With the rise of
Syriac Christianity, eastern Aramaic enjoyed a renaissance as a
classical language in the 2nd to 8th centuries, and the modern
Assyrian people

Assyrian people continue to speak eastern Neo-Aramaic languages.
Assyria

Assyria continued to exist as a geopolitical entity until the
Arab-Islamic conquest in the mid-7th century.
Arab

Arab conquest
Further information:
Muslim

Muslim conquest of Persia
The Assyrians initially experienced some periods of religious and
cultural freedom interspersed with periods of severe religious and
ethnic persecution after the 7th century
Muslim

Muslim conquest of Persia.
Assyrians contributed to Islamic civilizations during the Umayyad and
Abbasid Caliphates by translating works of Greek philosophers to
Syriac and afterwards to Arabic. They also excelled in philosophy,
science (Qusta ibn Luqa, Masawaiyh,[58] Eutychius of Alexandria, and
Jabril ibn Bukhtishu[59]) and theology (such as Tatian, Bardaisan,
Babai the Great, Nestorius, and Thomas of Marga) and the personal
physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrians, such as the
long-serving
Bukhtishu dynasty.[60] Many scholars of the House of
Wisdom were of Assyrian Christian background.[61]
Indigenous Assyrians became second-class citizens (dhimmi) in a
greater
Arab

Arab Islamic state, and those who resisted Arabisation and
conversion to
Islam

Islam were subject to severe religious, ethnic and
cultural discrimination, and had certain restrictions imposed upon
them.[62] Assyrians were excluded from specific duties and occupations
reserved for Muslims, they did not enjoy the same political rights as
Muslims, their word was not equal to that of a
Muslim

Muslim in legal and
civil matters, as Christians they were subject to payment of a special
tax (jizya), they were banned from spreading their religion further or
building new churches in Muslim-ruled lands, but were also expected to
adhere to the same laws of property, contract and obligation as the
Muslim

Muslim Arabs.[63] They couldn't seek conversion of a Muslim, a
non-
Muslim

Muslim man couldn't marry a
Muslim

Muslim woman and the child of such a
marriage would be considered Muslim. They couldn't own a
Muslim

Muslim slave
and had to wear different clothing from Muslims in order to be
distinguishable. In addition to the jizya tax, they were also required
to pay the kharaj tax on their land which was heavier than the jizya.
However they were ensured protection, given religious freedom and to
govern themselves in accordance to their own laws.[64]
As non-Islamic proselytising was punishable by death under Sharia, the
Assyrians were forced into preaching in Transoxiana, Central Asia,
India,
Mongolia

Mongolia and
China

China where they established numerous churches.
The
Church of the East
.jpg/400px-Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_www.Army.mil_(218).jpg)
Church of the East was considered to be one of the major Christian
powerhouses in the world, alongside Latin
Christianity

Christianity in
Europe

Europe and
the Byzantine Empire.[65]
From the 7th century AD onwards
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia saw a steady influx of
Arabs,
Kurds

Kurds and other Iranian peoples,[66] and later Turkic peoples.
Assyrians were increasingly marginalized, persecuted, and gradually
became a minority in their own homeland. Conversion to
Islam

Islam as 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.
Assyrians remained dominant in Upper
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia as late as the 14th
century[67] and the city of Ashur was still occupied by Assyrians
during the Islamic period until the mid-14th century when the Muslim
Turco-Mongol ruler
Timur

Timur conducted a religiously motivated massacre
against Assyrians. After, there were no records of Assyrians remaining
in Ashur according to the archaeological and numismatic record. From
this point, the Assyrian population was dramatically reduced in their
homeland.[68]
From the 19th century, after the rise of nationalism in the Balkans,
the Ottomans started viewing Assyrians and other Christians in 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 Assyrian in the
Hakkari

Hakkari region were massacred in 1843
when Bedr Khan Beg, the emir of Bohtan, invaded their region.[69]
After a later massacre in 1846, the Ottomans were forced by the
western powers 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 the massacres of
Diyarbakır

Diyarbakır soon after.[70]
Being culturally, ethnically, and linguistically distinct from their
Muslim

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.[71]
Mongolian and Turkic rule
Further information: Timurid Empire, Aq Qoyunlu, and Kara Koyunlu
After initially coming under the control of the
Seljuk Empire

Seljuk Empire and the
Buyid dynasty, the region eventually came under the control of the
Mongol Empire

Mongol Empire after the fall of
Baghdad

Baghdad in 1258. The Mongol khans were
sympathetic with Christians and did not harm them. The most prominent
among them was probably Isa Kelemechi, a diplomat, astrologer, and
head of the Christian affairs in Yuan China. He spent some time in
Persia under the Ilkhanate. 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."[citation needed]
The region was later controlled by the in Iran-based Turkic
confederations of the
Aq Qoyunlu

Aq Qoyunlu and Kara Koyunlu. Subsequently, all
Assyrians, like with the rest of the ethnicities living in the former
Aq Qoyunlu

Aq Qoyunlu territories, fell into Safavid hands from 1501 and on.
From Iranian Safavid to confirmed Ottoman rule
See also:
Massacres of Badr Khan

Massacres of Badr Khan and Massacres of
Diyarbakir

Diyarbakir (1895)
Further information: Safavid Empire, Afsharid Empire, Zand dynasty,
Qajar dynasty, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman-Persian Wars, and Treaty of
Zuhab
The Ottomans secured their control over
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia and
Syria

Syria in the
first half of the 17th century following the Ottoman–Safavid War
(1623–39) and the resulting Treaty of Zuhab. Non-Muslims were
organised into millets. Syriac Christians, however, were often
considered one millet alongside
Armenians

Armenians until the 19th century, when
Nestorian,
Syriac Orthodox

Syriac Orthodox and Chaldeans gained that right as
well.[72]
A religious schism amongs the Assyrians took place in the mid to late
16th century. Dissent over the hereditary succession within the
Assyrian Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East grew until 1552, when a group of Assyrian
bishops, from the northern regions of
Amid

Amid and Salmas, elected a
priest, Mar Yohannan Sulaqa, as a rival patriarch. To look for a
bishop of metropolitan rank to consecrate him patriarch, Sulaqa
traveled to the pope in Rome and entered into communion with the
Catholic Church. In 1553 he was consecrated bishop and elevated to the
rank of patriarch taking the name of Mar Shimun VIII. He was granted
the title of "Patriarch of the Chaldeans," and his church was named
the Church of Athura and Mosul.[73]
Mar
Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa returned to northern
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia in
the same year and fixed his seat in Amid. Before being put to death by
the partisans of the
Assyrian Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East patriarch of
Alqosh,[74]:57 he ordained five metropolitan bishops thus beginning a
new ecclesiastical hierarchy: the patriarchal line known as the Shimun
line. The area of influence of this patriarchate soon moved from Amid
east, fixing the See, after many places, in the isolated Assyrian
village of Qochanis. Although this new church eventually drifted away
from Rome by 1600 AD and reentered communion with the Assyrian Church,
the archbishop of
Amid

Amid reinstated relations with Rome in 1672 AD,
giving birth to the modern
Chaldean Catholic

Chaldean Catholic Church.
In the 1840s many of the Assyrians living in the mountains of Hakkari
in the south eastern corner of the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire were massacred by
the Kurdish emirs of
Hakkari

Hakkari and Bohtan.[75]
Another major massacre of Assyrians (and Armenians) in the Ottoman
Empire occurred between 1894 and 1897 AD by Turkish troops and their
Kurdish allies during the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The motives
for these massacres were an attempt to reassert
Pan-Islamism

Pan-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
in Diyarbakir, Hasankeyef,
Sivas

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.[76]
World War I

World War I and aftermath
The
Assyrian flag

Assyrian flag prior to the first World War.
The burning of bodies of Assyrian women
Main articles:
Assyrian Genocide

Assyrian Genocide and Assyrian struggle for
independence
The Assyrians suffered a number of religiously and ethnically
motivated massacres throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries
AD,[77] culminating in the large scale
Hamidian massacres

Hamidian massacres of unarmed
men, women and children by
Muslim

Muslim Turks and
Kurds

Kurds in the late 19th
century at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire

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 the
Assyrian genocide

Assyrian genocide which occurred during the First
World War. Between 275,000 and 300,000 Assyrians were estimated to
have been slaughtered by the armies of the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire and their
Kurdish allies, totalling up to two-thirds of the entire Assyrian
population.
This led to a large-scale migration of Turkish-based Assyrian people
into countries such as Syria, Iran, and
Iraq

Iraq (where they were to
suffer further violent assaults at the hands of the
Arabs

Arabs and Kurds),
as well as other neighbouring countries in and around the Middle East
such as Armenia, Georgia and Russia.[78][79][80][81]
In reaction to the
Assyrian Genocide

Assyrian Genocide and lured by British and Russian
promises of an independent nation, the Assyrians led by Agha Petros
and
Malik Khoshaba of the Bit-
Tyari

Tyari tribe, fought alongside the Allies
against Ottoman forces in an Assyrian war of independence. 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

Anatolia which had endured for over four millennia was
thus reduced to no more than 15,000 by the end of World War I.
Modern history
Assyrian refugees on a wagon moving to a newly constructed village on
the Khabur river in Syria.
The majority of Assyrians living in what is today modern
Turkey

Turkey were
forced to flee to either
Syria

Syria or
Iraq

Iraq after the Turkish victory
during the Turkish War of Independence. In 1932, Assyrians refused to
become part of the newly formed state of
Iraq

Iraq and instead demanded
their recognition as a nation within a nation. The Assyrian leader Mar
Eshai Shimun XXIII asked the
League of Nations

League of Nations to recognize the right
of the Assyrians to govern the area known as the "Assyrian triangle"
in northern Iraq.
The
Assyrian Levies

Assyrian Levies were founded by the British in 1928, with ancient
Assyrian military rankings such as Rab-shakeh, Rab-talia and Tartan,
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,[82] and were used to help
the British put down insurrections among the
Arabs

Arabs and Kurds. During
World War II, eleven Assyrian companies saw action in Palestine and
another four served in Cyprus. The Parachute Company was attached to
the
Royal Marine Commando

Royal Marine Commando and were involved in fighting in Albania,
Italy

Italy and Greece. The
Assyrian Levies

Assyrian Levies played a major role in subduing
the pro-
Nazi

Nazi Iraqi forces at the battle of Habbaniya in 1941.
However, this cooperation with the British was viewed with suspicion
by some leaders of the newly formed Kingdom 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 the
Iraqi Army

Iraqi Army in August 1933. The events lead to the
expulsion of
Shimun XXIII Eshai

Shimun XXIII Eshai the
Catholicos Patriarch of the
Assyrian Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East to the
United States

United States where resided until
his death in 1975.[83][84]
Celebration at a
Syriac Orthodox

Syriac Orthodox monastery in Mosul, Ottoman Syria,
early 20th century.
The period from the 1940s through to 1963 saw a period of respite for
the Assyrians. The regime of President
Abd al-Karim Qasim

Abd 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.
The
Ba'ath Party

Ba'ath Party seized power in
Iraq

Iraq and
Syria

Syria in 1963, introducing
laws aimed at suppressing the Assyrian national identity via
arabization policies. The giving of traditional Assyrian names was
banned and Assyrian schools, political parties, churches and
literature were repressed. Assyrians were heavily pressured into
identifying as Iraqi/Syrian Christians. 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

Chaldean Catholic Church vs
Syriac Orthodox

Syriac Orthodox Church).[85]
In response to Baathist persecution, the Assyrians of the Zowaa
movement within the
Assyrian Democratic Movement
.png/460px-Assyrian_Democratic_Movement_Brand_Identity_(Logo).png)
Assyrian Democratic Movement took up armed
struggle against the Iraqi government in 1982 under the leadership of
Yonadam Kanna,[86] and then joined up with the Iraqi-Kurdistan Front
in the early 1990s.
Yonadam Kanna

Yonadam Kanna in particular was a target of the
Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Ba'ath government for many years.
The Anfal campaign of 1986–1989 in
Iraq

Iraq 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

Arabs and
Kurds.[87][88]
21st century
Assyrian Genocide

Assyrian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia
Main articles: Assyrian exodus from
Iraq

Iraq and 2008 attacks on
Christians in Mosul
Since the 2003
Iraq

Iraq War social unrest and chaos have resulted in the
unprovoked persecution of Assyrians in Iraq, mostly by Islamic
extremists, (both
Shia

Shia and Sunni) and Kurdish nationalists (ex. Dohuk
Riots of 2011 aimed at Assyrians & Yazidis). In places such as
Dora, a neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, the majority of its
Assyrian population has either fled abroad or to northern Iraq, or has
been murdered.[89] Islamic resentment over the United States'
occupation of Iraq, and incidents such as the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad
cartoons and the
Pope

Pope Benedict XVI
Islam

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.[90]
In recent years, the Assyrians in northern
Iraq

Iraq and northeast Syria
have become the target of extreme unprovoked Islamic terrorism. As a
result, Assyrians have taken up arms alongside other groups (such as
the Kurds, Turcomans and Armenians) in response to unprovoked attacks
by Al Qaeda, ISIS/ISIL,
Nusra Front

Nusra Front and other terrorist Islamic
Fundamentalist groups. In 2014 Islamic terrorists of
ISIS

ISIS attacked
Assyrian towns and villages in the
Assyrian Homeland

Assyrian Homeland of northern Iraq,
together with cities such as
Mosul

Mosul and
Kirkuk

Kirkuk which have large
Assyrian populations. There have been reports of atrocities committed
by
ISIS

ISIS 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

Iraq have responded by forming armed militias to defend
their territories.
The
Dawronoye modernization movement has a growing influence on
Assyrian identity in the 21st century.[91] It is particularly
influential in Syria, where the Syriac Union Party (SUP) has become a
major political actor in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.
In August 2016, the Ourhi Centre in the city of Zalin was started by
the Assyrian community, to educate teachers in order to make Syriac an
optional language of instruction in public schools,[92][93] which then
started with the 2016/17 academic year.[94] With that academic year,
states the Rojava Education Committee, "three curriculums have
replaced the old one, to include teaching in three languages: Kurdish,
Arabic

Arabic and Assyrian."[95] Associated with the SUP is the Syriac
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

Syria as well as working together with the other
communities in
Syria

Syria to change the current government of Bashar
al-Assad.[96] Since 2015 it is a component of the Syrian Democratic
Forces.
Demographics
Homeland
Main articles: Assyrian homeland, List of Assyrian tribes, and
Proposals for Assyrian autonomy in Iraq
The Assyrian Triangle is the area with the greatest concentration of
Assyrians in the
Assyrian homeland

Assyrian homeland and where they seek autonomy today.
The
Assyrian homeland

Assyrian homeland constitutes northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey,
northwestern
Iran

Iran and northeastern Syria.[97][42] This includes the
ancient cities of
Nineveh

Nineveh (Mosul), Nuhadra (Dohuk), Arrapha/Beth
Garmai (Kirkuk), Amida (Diyarbakir), Edessa/Urhoy (Urfa), Harran,
Nisabina/Zalin (Nusaybin/Qamishli), Arbela (Erbil), and also the
Christianized settlements from the 5th century AD after the spread of
Islam, such as
Urmia

Urmia in Iran,
Hakkari

Hakkari (Yuksekova,
Çukurca

Çukurca and
Semdinli),
Uludere

Uludere and
Tur Abdin

Tur Abdin (
Midyat

Midyat and Kafro) in Turkey, among
others.[98]
Assyrians have existed in what is now
Syria

Syria since ancient times[99],
but more recent settlement in Qamishli, Al-Hasakah, Al-Qahtaniyah, Al
Darbasiyah, Al-Malikiyah, Amuda,
Tel Tamer

Tel Tamer and a few other small towns
in
Al-Hasakah

Al-Hasakah Governorate were populated by Assyrians in the early
20th century, after the
Assyrian genocide

Assyrian genocide in 1914, when they were
displaced from other areas of their homeland by the Ottoman Turks and
Kurdish tribes.[100] During the 1930s and 1940s, an influx of
Assyrians, mainly those from northern
Iraq

Iraq who were targeted during
the Simele massacre, resettled in northeastern Syrian villages, mainly
in
Tel Tamer

Tel Tamer and smaller villages along the Khabour River Valley.[101]
The Assyrians in
Syria

Syria did not have
Syrian citizenship

Syrian citizenship and title to
their land until late 1940s.[102] Sizable Assyrian populations only
remain in Syria, where an estimated 400,000 Assyrians live,[4] and in
Iraq, where an estimated 300,000 Assyrians live.[49] In
Iran

Iran and
Turkey, only small populations remain, with only 20,000 Assyrians in
Iran,[9][10] and a small but growing Assyrian population in Turkey,
where 25,000 Assyrians live.
The Assyro-Chaldean Delegation's map of an independent Assyria,
presented at the
Paris

Paris Peace Conference 1919.
In Tur Abdin, a traditional center of Assyrian culture, there are only
2,500 Assyrians left.[103] Down from 50,000 in the 1960 census, but up
from 1,000 in 1992. This sharp decline is due to an intense conflict
between
Turkey

Turkey and the PKK in the 1980s. However, There are an
estimated 25,000 Assyrians in all of Turkey, with most living in
Istanbul.[104]
Hakkari's Assyrian population was ethnically cleansed during the
Assyrian Genocide

Assyrian Genocide of the First World War. Those who survived fled to
unaffected areas of Assyrian settlement in Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Many
went to neighboring countries in and around the
Caucasus

Caucasus and Middle
East like Armenia, Georgia, southern Russia, Lebanon, Jordan. Most
Assyrians currently reside in the West due to the centuries of
persecution by the neighboring Muslims.
Assyrian subgroups
There are three main Assyrian subgroups: Eastern, Western, Chaldean.
These subdivisions range from fully or semi-overlapping linguistic,
historical, cultural, and religious similarities between each
grouping.
The Eastern subgroup historically inhabited the northern Zagros
Mountains, the Nahla and Sapna valleys in Nuhadra, and the
Nineveh

Nineveh and
Urmia

Urmia plains speaking
Northeastern Neo-Aramaic languages. They are
religiously diverse, adhering to the East Syriac churches,
Protestantism, Judaism, or are irreligious.
The Chaldean subgroup is a subset of the Eastern one, as they are
traditionally speakers of
Northeastern Neo-Aramaic and belong to the
East Syriac Rite. While some today consider themselves as having a
distinct Chaldean identity or belonging to a distinct Chaldean
culture, many
Chaldean Catholics

Chaldean Catholics identify as Assyrian or
Chaldo-Assyrian.[105]
The Western subgroup historically inhabited
Tur Abdin

Tur Abdin and Upper
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia speaking
Central Neo-Aramaic languages. Most adhere to the
West Syriac churches, but a number are irreligious.
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 of
Yazdegerd I, Christians in Persia were viewed with suspicion as
potential Roman subversives, resulting in persecutions while at the
same time promoting Nestorian
Christianity

Christianity as a buffer between the
Churches of Rome and Persia. Persecutions and attempts to impose
Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism continued during the reign of Yazdegerd II.[106][107]
During the eras of Mongol rule under
Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan and Timur, there was
indiscriminate slaughter of tens of thousands of Assyrians and
destruction of the Assyrian population of northwestern
Iran

Iran and
central and northern Iran.[108]
More recent persecutions since the 19th century include the Massacres
of Badr Khan, the Massacres of
Diyarbakır

Diyarbakır (1895), the Adana massacre,
the Assyrian genocide, the Simele Massacre, and the al-Anfal campaign.
Diaspora
Main article: Assyrian Diaspora
See also: List of Assyrian settlements
Assyrian world population.
more than 500,000
100,000–500,000
50,000–100,000
10,000–50,000
less than 10,000
Since the Assyrian Genocide, many Assyrians have left the Middle East
entirely for a more safe and comfortable life in the countries of the
Western world. As a result of this, the Assyrian population in the
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
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
Sweden

Sweden (100,000),[109] Germany
(100,000),[110] the
United States

United States (80,000),[111] and in Australia
(46,000).[112]
By ethnic percentage, the largest
Assyrian diaspora

Assyrian diaspora communities are
located in
Södertälje

Södertälje in Stockholm County, Sweden, and in Fairfield
City in Sydney, Australia, where they are the leading ethnic group in
the suburbs of Fairfield,
Fairfield Heights

Fairfield Heights and Greenfield
Park.[113][114][115] There is also a sizable Assyrian community in
Melbourne,
Australia

Australia (Broadmeadows,
Meadow Heights

Meadow Heights and
Craigieburn)[116] In the United States, Assyrians are mostly found in
Chicago

Chicago (Niles and Skokie),
Detroit

Detroit (Sterling Heights, and West
Bloomfield Township), Phoenix, Modesto (Stanislaus County) and
Turlock.[117]
Furthermore, small Assyrian communities are found in San Diego,
Sacramento

Sacramento and
Fresno

Fresno in the United States,
Toronto

Toronto in
Canada
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Canada_(Pantone).svg.png)
Canada and also
in London, UK (
London

London Borough of Ealing). In Germany, pocket-sized
Assyrian communities are scattered throughout Munich, Frankfurt,
Stuttgart,
Berlin

Berlin and Wiesbaden. In Paris, France, the commune of
Sarcelles

Sarcelles has a small number of Assyrians. Assyrians in the
Netherlands

Netherlands mainly live in the east of the country, in the province of
Overijssel. In Russia, small groups of Assyrians mostly reside in
Krasnodar Kray

Krasnodar Kray and Moscow.[29]
To note, the Assyrians residing in
California

California and
Russia

Russia tend to be
from Iran, whilst those in
Chicago

Chicago and
Sydney

Sydney are predominantly Iraqi
Assyrians. The Assyrians in
Detroit

Detroit are primarily Chaldean speakers,
who also originate from Iraq. Assyrians in such European countries as
Sweden

Sweden and
Germany

Germany would usually be Turoyo-speakers or Western
Assyrians.[118]
Identity and subdivisions
Further information: Assyrian nationalism, Arabization, Turkification,
and Kurdification
Assyrian flag

Assyrian flag (adopted in 1968).[119]
Syriac-
Aramean

Aramean flag[120]
Assyrians of the
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Middle East and diaspora employ different terms for
self-identification based on conflicting beliefs in the origin and
identity of their respective communities.[121] 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 rather than their ethnic commonality, for instance
Chaldean Catholics

Chaldean Catholics preferring to be called Chaldeans instead of
Assyrians, or a
Syriac Orthodox

Syriac Orthodox Christian preferring to be called a
Syriac.[122]
During the 19th century English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard
believed that the
Syriac Christian

Syriac Christian communities were descended from the
ancient Assyrians, a view that was also shared by William Ainger
Wigram.[123] Today, Assyrians and other minority ethnic groups in the
Middle East, feel pressure to identify as "Arabs",[124][125] "Turks"
and "Kurds".[126]
In addition,
Western Media

Western Media often makes no mention of any ethnic
identity of the Christian people of the region and simply call them
Christians,[127] Iraqi Christians, Iranian Christians, Syrian
Christians, and Turkish Christians, a label rejected by Assyrians.
Self-designation
Main article: Names of Syriac Christians
Below are terms commonly used by Assyrians to self-identify:
Assyrian, named after the ancient Assyrian people, is advocated by
followers from within all Middle Eastern based East and West Syrian
Rite Churches as a catch all term. (see Syriac Christianity)[121][128]
Chaldean, named after the ancient Chaldean people, is advocated by
some followers of the
Chaldean Catholic

Chaldean Catholic Church[127]
Syriac, named after the
Syriac language

Syriac language and as a corruption of
"Syrian", can be found advocated by followers of the Western Rite
Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church and Syriac Catholic Church.[127]
Aramean, also known as West Assyrian or Syriac-Aramean,[129] named
after the ancient
Aramean

Aramean people, is advocated by followers of the
Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church in Syria[130][131] and some followers of Syriac
Catholic Church

Catholic Church in Israel.[132] Some scholars argue that the Aramean
identity has become predominant amongst followers of West Syrian
churches, and has been partially merged with the Syriac
identification.[129]
Assyrian vs. Syrian naming controversy
As early as the 8th century BC
Luwian

Luwian and
Cilician

Cilician subject rulers
referred to their Assyrian overlords as Syrian, a western
Indo-European corruption of the original term Assyrian. This version
of the name took hold in the Hellenic lands to the west of the old
Assyrian Empire, thus during Greek
Seleucid

Seleucid rule from 323 BC the name
Assyria

Assyria was altered to Syria, and this term was also applied to Aramea
to the west which had been an Assyrian colony. When the Seleucids lost
control of
Assyria

Assyria to the Parthians they retained the corrupted term
(Syria), applying it to ancient Aramea, while the Parthians called
Assyria

Assyria "Assuristan," a Parthian form of the original name. It is from
this period that the Syrian vs Assyrian controversy arises. Today it
is accepted by the majority of scholars that the Medieval, Renaissance
and Victorian term Syriac when used to describe the indigenous
Christians of
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia and its immediate surrounds in effect means
Aramean.[133]
The modern 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 minority
"Aramaean" faction endorses both Sūryāyē ܣܘܪܝܝܐ and
Ārāmayē ܐܪܡܝܐ, while the majority "Assyrian" faction insists
on Āṯūrāyē ܐܬܘܪܝܐ but also accepts Sūryāyē. However, an
increasing number of scholars as well as "Syriacs" have begun to use
Aramean

Aramean to refer to this distinct ethnicity (as opposed to ethic
Assyrians) since this is historically, culturally and linguistically a
more accurate term.
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 majority
mainstream opinion currently strongly favours that
Syria

Syria is indeed
ultimately derived from the Assyrian term Aššūrāyu.[134] [135]
Meanwhile, some scholars has disclaimed the theory of Syrian being
derived from Assyrian as "simply naive", and detracted its importance
to the naming conflict.[136]
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).[137] According to
Tsereteli, however, a Georgian equivalent of "Assyrians" appears in
ancient Georgian, Armenian and Russian documents.[138] This correlates
with the theory of the nations to the East of
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia knew the
group as Assyrians, while to the West, beginning with Greek influence,
the group was known as Syrians.
Syria

Syria being a Greek corruption of
Assyria.
The debate appears to have been settled by the discovery of the
Çineköy inscription

Çineköy inscription in favour of
Syria

Syria being derived from Assyria.
The
Çineköy inscription

Çineköy inscription is a Hieroglyphic Luwian-Phoenician
bilingual, uncovered from Çineköy, Adana Province,
Turkey

Turkey (ancient
Cilicia), dating to the 8th century BC. Originally published by
Tekoglu and Lemaire (2000),[139] it was more recently the subject of a
2006 paper published in the Journal 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" (see Etymology of
Syria).
The object on which the inscription is found is a monument belonging
to Urikki, vassal king of Hiyawa (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

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".[140]
Culture
Main article: Assyrian culture
Assyrian child dressed in traditional clothes.
The Assyrian dialects.
Assyrian culture

Assyrian culture is largely influenced by Christianity.[141] Main
festivals occur during religious holidays such as
Easter
.jpg)
Easter and
Christmas. There are also secular holidays such as
Kha b-Nisan

Kha b-Nisan (vernal
equinox).[142]
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.[143]
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".[144]
Spitting

Spitting on
anyone or their belongings is seen as a grave insult. Assyrians are
endogamous, meaning they generally marry within their own ethnic
group, although exogamous marriages are not perceived as a taboo, not
unless if the foreigner is of a different religious background,
especially a Muslim.[145]
Language
Main article: Neo-Aramaic languages
The
Neo-Aramaic languages ultimately descend from Late Old Eastern
Aramaic, the lingua franca in the later phase of the Neo-Assyrian
Empire, which displaced the
East Semitic Assyrian dialect of Akkadian
and Sumerian. Aramaic was the language of commerce, trade and
communication and became the vernacular language of
Assyria

Assyria in
classical antiquity.[146][147][148] By the 1st century AD, Akkadian
was extinct, although its influence on Modern Eastern Neo-Aramaic
languages is significant and some loaned vocabulary still survives in
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic to this day.[149][150]
To the native speaker, "Syriac" is usually called Surayt, Soureth,
Suret or a similar regional variant. A wide variety of languages and
dialects exist, including Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic,
and Turoyo. Minority dialects include
Senaya and
Bohtan

Bohtan Neo-Aramaic,
which are both near extinction. All are classified as Neo-Aramaic
languages and are written using Syriac script, a derivative of the
ancient Aramaic script. Jewish varieties such as Lishanid Noshan,
Lishán Didán and Lishana Deni, written in the Hebrew script, are
spoken by Assyrian Jews.[151][152][153]
There is a considerable amount of mutual intelligibility between
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Senaya,
Lishana Deni and
Bohtan

Bohtan Neo-Aramaic. Therefore, these "languages" would generally be
considered to be dialects of
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic rather than separate
languages. The
Jewish Aramaic

Jewish Aramaic languages of Lishan Didan and Lishanid
Noshan share a partial intelligibility with these varieties. The
mutual intelligibility between the aforementioned languages and Turoyo
is, depending on the dialect, limited to partial, and may be
asymmetrical.[151][154][155]
Being stateless, 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[156][157], a substantial number still reside in
Arabic-speaking countries speaking
Arabic

Arabic alongside the Neo-Aramaic
languages[5][158] and is also spoken by many Assyrians in the
diaspora. The most commonly spoken languages by Assyrians in the
diaspora are English, German and Swedish. Historically many Assyrians
also spoke Turkish, Armenian, Azeri, Kurdish, and Persian and a
smaller number of Assyrians that remain in Iran,
Turkey

Turkey (
Istanbul

Istanbul and
Tur Abdin) and
Armenia

Armenia still do today. Many loanwords from the
aforementioned languages also exist in the Neo-Aramaic languages, with
the
Iranian languages

Iranian languages and Turkish being the greatest influences
overall. Only
Turkey

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

Syria and a smaller number of Assyrians returning from the diaspora in
Europe.[159]
Script
Main article: Syriac alphabet
Assyrians predominantly use the Syriac script, which is written from
right to left. It is one of the Semitic abjads directly descending
from the
Aramaic alphabet

Aramaic alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician,
Hebrew and the
Arabic

Arabic alphabets.[160] It has 22 letters representing
consonants, three of which can be also used to indicate vowels. The
vowel sounds are supplied either by the reader's memory or by optional
diacritic marks. Syriac is a cursive script where some, but not all,
letters connect within a word. It was used to write the Syriac
language from the 1st century AD.[161]
The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is the ʾEsṭrangēlā
script.[162] 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 the
Unicode

Unicode Standard in September,
1999. The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the Maḏnḥāyā
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 the Serṭā form of the alphabet. Most
of the letters are clearly derived from ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are
simplified, flowing lines.[163]
Furthermore, for practical reasons,
Assyrian people

Assyrian people would also use the
Latin alphabet, especially in social media.
Religion
Historical divisions within
Syriac Christian

Syriac Christian Churches in the Middle
East.
Main article: Syriac Christianity
Assyrians belong to various
Christian denominations

Christian denominations such as the
Assyrian Church of the East, with an estimated 400,000 members,[164]
the
Chaldean Catholic

Chaldean Catholic Church, with about 600,000 members,[165] and the
Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church (ʿIdto Suryoyto Triṣaṯ Šuḇḥo), which
has between 1,000,000 and 4,000,000 members around the world (only
some of whom are Assyrians),[166] the
Ancient Church of the East

Ancient Church of the East with
some 100,000 members. A small minority of Assyrians accepted the
Protestant Reformation

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.
While Assyrians are predominantly Christians, a number are
irreligious.
Many members of the following churches consider themselves Assyrian.
Ethnic identities are often deeply intertwined with religion, a legacy
of the Ottoman Millet system. The group is traditionally characterized
as adhering to various churches of Syriac
Christianity

Christianity and speaking
Neo-Aramaic languages. It is subdivided into:
adherents of the
Assyrian Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East and Ancient Church of the
East following the
East Syrian Rite

East Syrian Rite also known as Nestorians
adherents of the
Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church following the West Syrian Rite
also known as Jacobites
adherents of the
Syriac Catholic Church

Syriac Catholic Church following the West Syrian Rite
For obvious reasons the
Chaldean Catholics

Chaldean Catholics who follow the East Syrian
Rite and were originally members of the historical Church of the East
are not Nestorian in theology, a designation which the Church of the
East itself denied.
Baptism and First Communion are celebrated extensively, similar to a
Brit Milah

Brit Milah or Bar 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 of Jesus; 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.
Music
Main articles:
Assyrian/Syriac folk music

Assyrian/Syriac folk music and Syriac sacral music
Traditional clothing

Traditional clothing may be worn in the Assyrian folk dance.
Assyrian music is a combination of traditional folk music and western
contemporary music genres, namely pop, but also rap and recently, EDM.
Instruments traditionally used by Assyrians include the zurna and
davula, but has expanded to include guitars, pianos, violins,
synthesizers (keyboards and electronic drums), and other instruments.
Some well known Assyrian singers in modern times are Ashur Bet Sargis,
Sargon Gabriel, Evin Agassi, Janan Sawa, Juliana Jendo, and Linda
George. Assyrian artists that traditionally sing in other languages
include Melechesh,
Timz and Aril Brikha.
The first International
Aramaic Music Festival was held in
Lebanon

Lebanon in
August 2008 for
Assyrian people

Assyrian people internationally.
Dance
Main article: Assyrian folk dance
Assyrians have numerous traditional dances which are performed mostly
for special occasions such as weddings. Assyrian dance is a blend of
both ancient indigenous and general near eastern elements. Assyrian
folk dances are mainly made up of circle dances that are performed in
a line, which may be straight, curved, or both. Most of the dances
allow unlimited number of participants, with the exception of the
Sabre Dance, which require three at most. Assyrian dances would vary
from weak to strong, depending on the mood and tempo of a song.
Festivals
Assyrian festivals tend to be closely associated with their Christian
faith, of which
Easter
.jpg)
Easter is the most prominent of the celebrations.
Members of the Assyrian Church of the East,
Chaldean Catholic

Chaldean Catholic Church
and
Syriac Catholic Church

Syriac Catholic Church follow the
Gregorian calendar

Gregorian calendar and as a
result celebrate
Easter
.jpg)
Easter on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25
inclusively.[167] However, members of the
Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church and
Ancient Church of the East

Ancient Church of the East celebrate
Easter
.jpg)
Easter on a Sunday between April
4 and May 8 inclusively on the
Gregorian calendar

Gregorian calendar (March 22 and April
25 on the Julian calendar). During Lent, 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

Kha b-Nisan ܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ, the Assyrian New Year, traditionally
on April 1, though usually celebrated on January 1. Assyrians usually
wear traditional costumes and hold social events including parades and
parties, dancing, and listening to poets telling the story of
creation.[168]
Sauma d-Ba'utha

Sauma d-Ba'utha ܒܥܘܬܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܝܐ, the
Nineveh

Nineveh fast, is a
three-day period of fasting and prayer.[169]
Somikka, All Saints Day, is celebrated to motivate children to fast
during
Lent

Lent through use of frightening costumes
Kalu d'Sulaqa, feast of the Bride of the Ascension, celebrates
Assyrian resistance to the invasion of
Assyria

Assyria by Tamerlane
Nusardyl, commemorating the baptism of the Assyrians of
Urmia

Urmia by St.
Thomas.[170]
Sharra d'Mart Maryam, usually on August 15, a festival and feast
celebrating St. Mary with games, food, and celebration.[170]
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, and Mar Odisho
Yoma d'Sah'deh (Day of Martyrs), commemorating the thousands massacred
in the
Simele Massacre

Simele Massacre and the hundreds of thousands massacred in the
Assyrian Genocide.
Assyrians also 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

Assyrian homeland usually last 2–3
days; in the
Assyrian diaspora

Assyrian diaspora they last 1–2 days.
Traditional clothing
Main article: Assyrian clothing
Assyrian clothing

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.
Cuisine
Main article: Assyrian cuisine
Assyrian cuisine

Assyrian cuisine is similar to other Middle Eastern cuisines. It is
rich in grain, meat, potato, cheese, bread and tomato. Typically, rice
is served with every meal, with a stew poured over it.
Tea

Tea is a
popular drink, and there are several dishes of desserts, snacks, and
beverages. Alcoholic drinks such as wine and wheat beer are
organically produced and drank.
Genetics
Further information: Genetic history of the Near East
Late
20th century

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."[171] Genetic analysis of the Assyrians of Persia
demonstrated that they were "closed" with little "intermixture" with
the
Muslim

Muslim Persian population and that an individual Assyrian's
genetic makeup is relatively close to that of the Assyrian population
as a whole.[172][173] "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".[171]
In a 2006 study of the Y chromosome DNA of six regional Armenian
populations, including, for comparison, Assyrians and Syrians,
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." [174]
A 2008 study on the genetics of "old ethnic groups in Mesopotamia,"
including 340 subjects from seven ethnic communities ("Assyrian,
Jewish, Zoroastrian, Armenian, Turkmen, the
Arab

Arab peoples in Iran,
Iraq, and Kuwait") found that Assyrians were homogeneous with respect
to all other ethnic groups sampled in the study, regardless of
religious affiliation.[175]
In a 2011 study focusing on the genetics of
Marsh Arabs

Marsh Arabs of Iraq,
researchers identified Y chromosome haplotypes shared by Marsh Arabs,
Iraqis, and Assyrians, "supporting a common local background." [176]
In a 2017 study focusing on the genetics of Northern Iraqi
populations, it was found that
Iraqi Assyrians

Iraqi Assyrians and Iraqi Yazidis
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

Yazidis from Northern
Iraq

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".[177]
See also
Assyrians portal
Syriac
Christianity

Christianity portal
Assyria
Assyrian diaspora
Assyrian genocide
Assyrian homeland
Assyrian Universal Alliance
Neo-Aramaic languages
Syriac Christianity
Syriac Language
Syriac Universal Alliance
The Last Assyrians
List of Assyrians
World Council of
Arameans

Arameans (Syriacs)
Assyrian independence movement
Proposals for Assyrian autonomy in Iraq
Notes
References
^ "Assyria". Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. unpo.org.
^ http://www.nineveh.com/whoarewe.htm
^
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/assyrians-return-to-turkey-from-europe-to-save-their-culture-10131
^ a b "Syria's Assyrians threatened by extremists – Al-Monitor: the
Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 18 February
2015.
^ a b c d e http://www.aina.org/reports/utrmcfsi.pdf
^ http://www.aina.org/faq.html
^
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/dec/24/iraq-minorities-assyrians
^ a b http://www.aina.org/reports/frankwolfiraqreport.pdf
^ a b c "Ishtar: Documenting The Crisis In The Assyrian Iranian
Community". aina.org.
^ a b
United Nations

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2010-10-13).
"Iran: Last of the Assyrians". Refworld. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
^
United Nations

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld - World
Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Turkey :
Assyrians". Refworld.
^
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=6102914
^ "Diskussion zum Thema 'Aaramäische Christen' im Kapitelshaus"
Borkener Zeitung (in German) (archived link, 8 October 2011)
^ 70,000 Syriac Christians according to REMID (of which 55,000 Syriac
Orthodox).
^
https://web.archive.org/web/20111109061931/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G2000_B04003&-CONTEXT=dt&-redoLog=true&-currentselections=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B04001&-geo_id=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en%7C%7D%7D
^ http://www.aina.org/brief.html
^ "CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA, 2016". Australian Bureau of
Statistics. 27 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017.
Retrieved 27 June 2017.
^
Jordan

Jordan Should Legally Recognize Displaced
Iraqis

Iraqis As Refugees,
AINA.org. Assyrian and
Chaldean Christians

Chaldean Christians Flee
Iraq

Iraq to Neighboring
Jordan, ASSIST News Service
^ Tore Kjeilen. "
Lebanon

Lebanon / Religions – LookLex Encyclopaedia".
Looklex.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
^ http://www.aina.org/brief.html
^ a b c d e f "CNN Under-Estimates Iraqi Assyrian Population".
Aina.org. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
^ Wieviorka & Bataille 2007, pp. 166
^ "Google Translate". Translate.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved
2013-09-18.
^ Statistics Canada. "2011 National Household Survey: Data tables".
Retrieved 11 February 2014. CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter
(link)
^ Tzilivakis, Kathy (10 May 2003). "Iraq's Forgotten Christians Face
Exclusion in Greece". Athens News. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
^ "Georgia – ecoi.net – European Country of Origin Information
Network". Retrieved 18 February 2015.
^ State statistics committee of
Ukraine

Ukraine – National composition of
population, 2001 census (Ukrainian)
^ 2011 Armenian Census
^ a b "Brief History of Assyrians". Retrieved 18 February 2015.
^ "2013 Census ethnic group profiles: Assyrian". Statistics New
Zealand. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
^ [1][permanent dead link]
^ "Assyrian Community in
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan Survived Dark Times, Now Focuses
on Education". The Astana Times. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
^ "Assyrian Association Founded in Finland". aina.org. Retrieved 18
February 2015.
^ For use of the term Syriac, see:
John A. Shoup, Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An
Encyclopedia, p. 30
Nicholas Aljeloo, Who Are The Assyrians?
UNPO Assyria
Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of
Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues, p. 517
James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, pp. 205-206
^ For Assyrians as indigenous to the Middle East, see
Mordechai Nisan, Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle
and Self-Expression, p. 180
James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, p. 206
Carl Skutsch, Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, p. 149
Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of
Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues, p. 517
UNPO Assyria
Richard T. Schaefer, Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society, p.
107
^ James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, pp.
205-209
^ For use of the term Aramean, see
Donabed & Mako, Identity of Syrian Orthodox Christians, p. 72
Nicholas Aljeloo, Who Are The Assyrians?
John A. Shoup, Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An
Encyclopedia, p. 30
^ For use of the term Chaldean, see:
John A. Shoup, Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An
Encyclopedia, p. 30 [2]
Nicholas Aljeloo, Who Are The Assyrians? [3]
Mordechai Nisan, Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle
and Self-Expression, p. 180 [4]
UNPO
Assyria

Assyria [5]
Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of
Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues, p. 517 [6]
^ Carl Skutsch, Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, p. 149
^ A. Leo Oppenheim (1964). Ancient
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia (PDF). The University
of
Chicago

Chicago Press.
^ Donabed, Sargon (2015). Reforging a Forgotten History:
Iraq

Iraq and the
Assyrians in the Twentieth Century. Edinburgh University Press.
ISBN 978-0-7486-8605-6.
^ a b Carl Skutsch (2013). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities.
Routledge. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-135-19388-1.
^ http://www.aina.org/news/20160721201009.htm
^ Eden Naby. "Documenting The Crisis In The Assyrian Iranian
Community".
^ For Assyrians as a Christian people, see
Joel J. Elias, The Genetics of Modern Assyrians and their Relationship
to Other People of the
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Middle East [7]
Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of
Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues, p. 517
UNPO Assyria
James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, p. 209
^ "Assyrian Christians 'Most Vulnerable Population' in Iraq". The
Christian Post. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006.
Retrieved 2006-12-05.
^ "Iraq's Christian community, fights for its survival". Christian
World News.
^ "U.S. Gov't Watchdog Urges Protection for Iraq's Assyrian
Christians". The Christian Post. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
^ a b "مسؤول مسيحي : عدد المسيحيين في
العراق تراجع الى ثلاثمائة الف". Retrieved 18
February 2015.
^ Georges Roux - Ancient Iraq, p. 187
^ Deutscher, Guy (2007). Syntactic Change in Akkadian: The Evolution
of Sentential Complementation.
Oxford University Press

Oxford University Press US.
pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-19-953222-3.
^ Woods C. 2006 "Bilingualism, Scribal Learning, and the Death of
Sumerian". In S. L. Sanders (ed) Margins of Writing, Origins of
Culture: 91–120
Chicago

Chicago [8]
^ Genesis 25:3
^ Artifacts show rivals Athens and Sparta, Yahoo News, December 5,
2006.
^ "Ancient and Modern Assyrians: A Scientific Analysis". Retrieved 16
December 2014.
^ Olmatead, History of the Persian Empire,
Chicago

Chicago University Press,
1959, p.39
^ Etheredge, Laura (2011). Iraq. Rosen Publishing. p. 72.
ISBN 9781615303045.
^ Beeston, Alfred Felix Landon (1983).
Arabic

Arabic literature to the end of
the Umayyad period. Cambridge University Press. p. 501.
ISBN 978-0-521-24015-4. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
^ Contadini, Anna (2003). "A Bestiary Tale: Text and Image of the
Unicorn in the Kitāb naʿt al-hayawān (British Library, or. 2784)".
Muqarnas. 20: 17. doi:10.2307/1523325 (inactive 2017-09-23).
JSTOR 1523325.
^ Rémi Brague, Assyrians Contributions To The Islamic Civilization.
(Archived: 27 September 2013)
^ Hyman and Walsh
Philosophy

Philosophy 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.
^ Clinton Bennett (2005). Muslims and Modernity: An Introduction to
the Issues and Debates. Continuum International Publishing Group. p.
162, 163. ISBN 0-8264-5481-X. Retrieved 2012-07-07
^ H. Patrick Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World. Oxford University
Press, 2007, p. 219.
^ John Joseph (2000). The Modern Assyrians of the Middle East: A
History of Their Encounter with Western Christian Missions,
Archaeologists, and Colonial Powers. Brill Publishers. pp. 48,
49. ISBN 9789004116412.
^ Winkler, Dietmar (2009). Hidden Treasures And Intercultural
Encounters: Studies On East Syriac
Christianity

Christianity In
China

China And Central
Asia. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 9783643500458.
^ Aboona, Hirmis (2008). Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: intercommunal
relations on the periphery of the Ottoman Empire.
ISBN 9781604975833.
^ According to Georges Roux and Simo Parpola
^ "History of Ashur". Assur.de. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
^ David Gaunt, Massacres, resistance, protectors: Muslim-Christian
relations in Eastern, pp. 32
^ Aboona, Hirmis (2008). Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: Intercommunal
Relations on the Periphery of the Ottoman Empire. Cambria Press.
p. 105. ISBN 978-1-60497-583-3.
^ Khanbaghi, Aptin (2006). The fire, the star and the cross: minority
religions in medieval and early modern Iran. I.B.Tauris.
ISBN 9781845110567.
^ The Blackwell companion to Eastern Christianity, Kenneth Parry
^ George V. Yana (Bebla), "Myth vs. Reality," JAA Studies, Vol. XIV,
No. 1, 2000 p. 80
^ Frazee, Charles A. (2006). Catholics and Sultans: The Church and the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire 1453–1923. Cambridge University Press. p. 56.
ISBN 978-0-521-02700-7.
^ Aboona, H (2008). Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans: intercommunal
relations on the periphery of the Ottoman Empire. Cambria Press.
pp. 218–219. ISBN 978-1-60497-583-3.
^ de Courtois, S (2004). The forgotten genocide: eastern Christians,
the last Arameans. Gorgias Press LLC. pp. 105–107.
ISBN 978-1-59333-077-4.
^ Aboona, H (2008). Assyrians and Ottomans: intercommunal relations on
the periphery of the Ottoman Empire. Cambria Press. pp. 218–219.
ISBN 978-1-60497-583-3.
^ The Plight of Religious Minorities: Can Religious Pluralism Survive?
- Page 51 by
United States

United States Congress
^ The Armenian Genocide: Wartime Radicalization Or Premeditated
Continuum – Page 272 edited by Richard Hovannisian
^ Not Even My Name: A True Story – Page 131 by Thea Halo
^ The Political Dictionary of Modern
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Middle East by Agnes G. Korbani
^ Len Dieghton, Blood Sweat and Tears
^ Zubaida, S (July 2000), "Contested nations:
Iraq

Iraq and the Assyrians"
(PDF), Nations and Nationalism, 6 (3): 363–382,
doi:10.1111/j.1354-5078.2000.00363.x, retrieved 23 September
2011
^ "Biography of His Holiness, The Assyrian Martyr, The Late Mar Eshai
Shimun XXIII". Committee of the 50th Anniversary of the Patriarchate
of Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII. peshitta.org. Retrieved 23 September
2011.
^
United Nations

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld – Iraq:
Information on treatment of Assyrian and Chaldean Christians".
Refworld. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 18
February 2015.
^ "زوعا". Retrieved 18 February 2015.
^ The Anfal Offensives Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback
Machine., indict.org.uk
^ Certrez, Donabed, and Makko (2012). The Assyrian Heritage: Threads
of Continuity and Influence. Uppsala University. pp. 288–289.
ISBN 978-91-554-8303-6. CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter
(link)
^ "Exodus of Christians hits
Baghdad

Baghdad district". The Boston Globe.
Retrieved 18 February 2015.
^ "Church Bombings in
Iraq

Iraq Since 2004". Aina.org. Retrieved
2008-11-16.
^ Carl Drott (25 May 2015). "The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin".
Warscapes. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
^ "Syriac Christians revive ancient language despite war". ARA News.
2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
^ "The Syriacs are taught their language for the first time". Hawar
News Agency. 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
^ "Hassakeh: Syriac Language to Be Taught in PYD-controlled Schools".
The Syrian Observer. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
^ "Rojava administration launches new curriculum in Kurdish, Arabic
and Assyrian". ARA News. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
^ Syriacs establish military council in Syria, Hürriyet Daily News, 2
February 2013
^ Sherman (2013-09-13). The West in the World. McGraw-Hill Higher
Education. ISBN 9781259157059.
^ Wigram, W.A., "The Ashiret Highlands of
Hakkari

Hakkari (Mesopotamia),"
Royal Central Asian Society Journal, 1916, Vol. III, pg. 40. -- The
Assyrians and their Neighbors (London, 1929)
^ Bryce, Trevor (2009-09-10). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples
and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early
Bronze Age

Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge.
ISBN 9781134159079.
^ Betts, Robert Brenton, Christians in the
Arab

Arab East (Atlanta, 1978)
^ Dodge, Bayard, "The Settlement of the Assyrians on the Khabur,"
Royal Central Asian Society Journal, July 1940, pp. 301-320.
^ Rowlands, J., "The Khabur Valley," Royal Central Asian Society
Journal, 1947, pp. 144-149.
^ Atto, N. (2011). Hostages in the homeland, orphans in the diaspora.
Leiden University. p. 83
^ Statement on Assyrians/Syriacs in Turkey/Iraq
^ Rashidvash, Vahid (August 2013). "Iranian People: Iranian Ethnic
Groups" (PDF). International Journal of Humanities and Social Science.
3: 11.
^ This History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer, pg. 85-87
^ A Short World History of
Christianity

Christianity by Robert Bruce Mullin, pp.
82-85
^ "Nestorian (Christian sect)". Britannica.com. Retrieved
2013-09-18.
^ Demographics of Sweden,
Swedish Language Council "
Sweden

Sweden has also
one of the largest exile communities of Assyrian and Syriac Christians
(also known as Chaldeans) with a population of around 100,000."
^ "Erzdiözese". Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved
18 February 2015.
^ Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). "American FactFinder
– Results". Retrieved 18 February 2015. CS1 maint: Uses authors
parameter (link)
^
Assyrian Australian

Assyrian Australian Association & Ettinger House 1997,
Settlement Issues of the Assyrian Community, AAA, Sydney.
^ "Fairfield's Assyrian Resource Centre has secured $40,000 to fund
its renovations". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 31,
2014.
^
Fairfield City

Fairfield City Council 2003, State of the Community Report,
Fairfield City

Fairfield City Council, Wakeley.
^ Kinarah: Twentieth Anniversary of
Assyrian Australian

Assyrian Australian Association
1989,
Assyrian Australian

Assyrian Australian Association, Edensor Park.
^ Deniz, F. 2000, ‘Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnic
Identity: the Assyrian Case’, The
Assyrian Australian

Assyrian Australian Academic
Journal
^ Thrown to the Lions Archived 2013-08-08 at the Wayback Machine.,
Doug Bandow, The America Spectator
^ B. Furze, P. Savy, R. Brym, J. Lie, Sociology in Today's World,
2008, p. 349
^ "Assyria". Crwflags.com. Archived from the original on 12 October
2008. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
^ "Syriac-Aramaic People (Syria)". Crwflags.com. Archived from the
original on 10 November 2001. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
^ a b Classical Syriac and the Syriac Churches: A Twentieth-Century
History, Heleen Murre-van den Berg, p. 127
^ "Note on the Modern Assyrians, & Other Nationalistic Issues".
friesian.com.
^ Cross, Frank Leslie (2005). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian
Church. Oxford University Press. p. 119. ISBN 9780192802903.
In the 19th cent. A. H. Layard, the excavator of Nineveh, first
suggested that the local *
Syriac Christian

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
.jpg/400px-Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_www.Army.mil_(218).jpg)
Church of the East (1895-1915).
^ Jonathan Eric Lewis. "Iraqi Assyrians: Barometer of Pluralism".
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Middle East Forum. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
^ "
Arab

Arab American Institute Still Deliberately Claiming Assyrians Are
Arabs". Aina.org. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
^ "In Court, Saddam Criticizes Kurdish Treatment of Assyrians".
Aina.org. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
^ a b c Al-Monitor: Ethnic dimension of
Iraqi Assyrians

Iraqi Assyrians often ignored
^ "Eastern Churches", 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

Aramean rather than
Assyrian.
^ a b Minahan (2016), p. 36
^ Ethno-Cultural and Religious Identity of Syrian Orthodox Christians,
Sargon Donabed and Shamiran Mako, p. 75 [9]
^ Joshua Castellino, Kathleen A. Cavanaugh, Minority Rights in the
Middle East, p. 109 [10]
^ "אנחנו לא ערבים - אנחנו ארמים" (in Hebrew).
Israel

Israel HaYom. 9 August 2013.
^ "Inscription From 800 BC Shows the Origin of the Name 'Syria'".
Aina.org. 2007-02-18. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
^ Frye, R. N. (October 1992). "
Assyria

Assyria and Syria: Synonyms" (PDF).
Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 51 (4): 281–285.
doi:10.1086/373570. [permanent dead link] pp. 281–285
^ Rollinger, Robert (2006). "The terms "Assyria" and "Syria" again"
(PDF). Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 65 (4): 283–287.
doi:10.1086/511103.
^ Festschrift Philologica Constantino Tsereteli Dicta, ed. Silvio
Zaorani (Turin, 1993), pp. 106–107
^ Rudolf Macuch, Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur, New
York: de Gruyter, 1976.
^ Tsereteli, Sovremennyj assirijskij jazyk, Moscow: Nauka, 1964.
^ Tekoglu R., Lemaire A. (2000). "La bilingue royale
louvito-phénicienne de Çineköy". Comptes rendus des séances de
l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 2000:
960–1006.
^ Rollinger, Robert (2006). "The terms "Assyria" and "Syria" again"
(PDF). Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 65 (4): 284–287.
doi:10.1086/511103.
^ http://www.aina.org/articles/chicago.pdf
^ The Assyrian New Year Archived May 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
^ 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.
^ Dr. Joseph Adebayo Awoyemi (14 September 2014). Pre-marital
Counselling In a Multicultural Society. pp. 75–.
ISBN 978-1-291-83577-9.
^ "Introduction: A Brief History of the Aramaic Language" (PDF).
Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2008. Retrieved
2008-11-16.
^ Bae C. "Aramaic as a Lingua Franca During the Persian Empire
(538–333 BCE)". Journal of Universal Language. 2004: 1–20.
^ Aramaic Documents of the Fifth Century B. C. by G. R. Driver
^ Akkadian Words in Modern Assyrian
^ Kaufman, Stephen A. (1974), The Akkadian influences on Aramaic.
University of
Chicago

Chicago Press
^ a b Avenery, Iddo, The Aramaic Dialect of the
Jews

Jews of Zakho. The
Israel

Israel academy of
Science

Science and Humanities 1988.
^ Khan, Geoffrey (1999). A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic: the dialect of the
Jews

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

Jews of
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan and of Zakhu near Mosul. Cambridge University
Press, London.
^ Heinrichs, Wolfhart (ed.) (1990). Studies in Neo-Aramaic. Scholars
Press: Atlanta, Georgia. ISBN 1-55540-430-8.
^ Tezel, Aziz (2003). Comparative Etymological Studies in the Western
Neo-Syriac (Ṭūrōyo) Lexicon: with special reference to homonyms,
related words and borrowings with cultural signification. Uppsala
Universitet. ISBN 91-554-5555-7.
^ O'Brien, Abbie. "Australia's only Assyrian school is giving refugees
a fresh start". SBS News. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
^ "The inside story of how 226 Assyrian Christians were freed from
ISIS". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
^ http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin
^ "Assyrians return to
Turkey

Turkey from
Europe

Europe to save their culture".
Assyrians return to
Turkey

Turkey from
Europe

Europe to save their culture (in
Turkish). Retrieved 2018-03-05.
^ Pennacchietti, Fabrizio A. (1997). "On the etymology of the
Neo-Aramaic particle qam/kim; in Hebrew", M. Bar-Aher (ed.): Gideon
Goldenberg Festschrift, Massorot, Stud
^ "Syriac alphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved June
16, 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. ISBN 1-931956-53-7.
^ Nestle, Eberhard (1888). Syrische Grammatik mit Litteratur,
Chrestomathie und Glossar. Berlin: H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung.
[translated to English as Syriac grammar with bibliography,
chrestomathy and glossary, by R. S. Kennedy. London: Williams &
Norgate 1889. p. 5].
^ "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
^ 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.
^ "Adherents.com". adherents.com.
^ The Date of Easter. Article from
United States

United States Naval Observatory
(March 27, 2007).
^ AUA Release March 26, 2006. Archived November 19, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine.
^ "Three Day Fast of Nineveh". syrianorthodoxchurch.org. Archived from
the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
^ a b "Assyrian Festivals and Events in Iran", Encyclopædia Iranica
^ a b Dr. Joel J. Elias, Emeritus, University of California, The
Genetics of Modern Assyrians and their Relationship to Other People of
the
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Middle East Archived August 16, 2000, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Akbari M.T.; Papiha Sunder S.; Roberts D.F.; Farhud Daryoush D.
(1986). "Genetic Differentiation among Iranian Christian Communities".
American Journal of Human Genetics. 38 (1): 84–98.
PMC 1684716 . PMID 3456196.
^ Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca; Menozzi, Paolo; Piazza, Alberto (1994).
The History and Geography of Human Genes. p. 243.
ISBN 0691087504.
^ Yepiskoposian et al.,
Iran

Iran and the Caucasus, Volume 10, Number 2,
2006, pp. 191-208(18), "Genetic Testing of Language Replacement
Hypothesis in Southwest Asia"
^ Banoei, M. M.; Chaleshtori, M. H.; Sanati, M. H.; Shariati, P;
Houshmand, M; Majidizadeh, T; Soltani, N. J.; Golalipour, M (Feb
2008). "Variation of DAT1 VNTR alleles and genotypes among old ethnic
groups in
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia to the Oxus region". Hum Biol. 80 (1): 73–81.
doi:10.3378/1534-6617(2008)80[73:VODVAA]2.0.CO;2. PMID 18505046.
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.
^ Al-Zahery et al., BMC Evolutionary Biology 2011, 11:288, "In search
of the genetic footprints of Sumerians: a survey of Y-chromosome and
mtDNA variation in the
Marsh Arabs

Marsh Arabs of Iraq""In the less frequent
J1-M267* clade, only marginally affected by events of expansion, Marsh
Arabs

Arabs shared haplotypes with other Iraqi and Assyrian samples,
supporting a common local background."
^ Dogan, Serkan (3 November 2017). A glimpse at the intricate mosaic
of ethnicities from Mesopotamia: Paternal lineages of the Northern
Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, Turkmens and Yazidis
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187408.
Retrieved 25 January 2018. Missing or empty title= (help)
Cited works
Danver, Steven L. (2015). Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia
of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues. Routledge.
ISBN 978-1-317-46400-6.
Frazee, Charles A. (2006) [1983]. Catholics and Sultans: The Church
and the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire 1453-1923. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C.
Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32109-2.
Nisan, Mordechai (2002). Minorities in the Middle East: A History of
Struggle and Self-Expression, 2d ed. McFarland.
ISBN 978-0-7864-5133-3.
Shoup, John A. (2011). Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An
Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-362-0.
Further reading
Aphram I Barsoum, Patriarch (1943). The Scattered Pearls.
Benjamin, Yoab. "Assyrians in Middle America: A Historical and
Demographic Study of the
Chicago

Chicago Assyrian Community" (PDF). 10 (2).
Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.
BetGivargis-McDaniel, Maegan (2007). Assyrians of New Britain. Arcadia
Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-5012-4. OCLC 156908771.
Brock, Sebastian (9 September 2002). The Hidden Pearl: The Aramaic
Heritage. Trans World Film. ISBN 1-931956-99-5.
De Courtis, Sėbastien (2004). The Forgotten Genocide: Eastern
Christians, the Last
Arameans

Arameans (1st Gorgias Press ed.). Piscataway, New
Jersey: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-077-4.
Donabed, Sargon; Donabed, Ninos (2006). Assyrians of Eastern
Massachusetts. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4480-9.
OCLC 70184669.
Ephrem I Barsaum, Ignatius (2006). De spridda pärlorna – En
historia om syriansk litteratur och vetenskap (in Swedish). Sweden:
Anastasis Media AB. ISBN 91-975751-4-3.
Gaunt, David; Jan Bet̲-Şawoce; Racho Donef (2006). Massacres,
resistance, protectors: Muslim-Christian relations in Eastern Anatolia
during World War I. Gorgias Press LLC. ISBN 1-59333-301-3.
OCLC 85766950.
Henrich, Joseph; Henrich, Natalie (May 2007). Why Humans Cooperate: A
Cultural and Evolutionary Explanation. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-531423-9.
Hollerweger, Hans (1999). Tur Abdin: A Homeland of Ancient
Syro-Aramaean Culture (in English, German, and Turkish). Österreich.
ISBN 3-9501039-0-2.
Hunter, Erica C. D. (2014). "The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian
Church of the East". In Leustean, Lucian N. Eastern
Christianity

Christianity and
Politics in the Twenty-First Century. London-New York: Routledge.
pp. 601–620. ISBN 9781317818663.
Kitchen, Robert A. (2012). "The Assyrian Church of the East". In
Casiday, Augustine M. The Orthodox Christian World. London-New York:
Routledge. pp. 78–88. ISBN 9780415455169.
MacDonald, Kevin (2004-07-29). "Socialization for Ingroup Identity
among Assyrians in the United States". Archived from the original on
2007-06-10.
Садо, Стефан (1996). "Российская
православная миссия в Урмии (1898-1918)"
(PDF). Христианское чтение. 13: 73–112.
Taylor, David; Brock, Sebastian (9 September 2002). Vol. I: The
Ancient Aramaic Heritage. Trans World Film.
Taylor, David; Brock, Sebastian (9 September 2002). Vol. II: The Heirs
of the Ancient Aramaic Heritage. Trans World Film.
Taylor, David; Brock, Sebastian (9 September 2002). Vol. III: At the
Turn of the Third Millennium; The Syrian Orthodox Witness. Trans World
Film.
Wieviorka, Michel; Bataille, Philippe (2007). The lure of
anti-Semitism: hatred of
Jews

Jews in present-day France. BRILL.
ISBN 9789004163379.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Assyrian people.
Assyrian people, Britannica Online
A virtual Assyria: Cyberland
A virtual Assyria: Christians from the Middle East
Traditional Assyrian Costumes
Assyrian Iraqi Document Projects
Who Are Assyrians?
Assyrian History
Aramean

Aramean History
v
t
e
Assyrian communities around the world
List of settlements
Population by country
Homeland
Iraq
Iran
Syria
Turkey
Diaspora
Armenia
Australia
Canada
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Israel
Jordan
Lebanon
Netherlands
Russia
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
Detroit
Uruguay
v
t
e
Ethnic groups in Iran
Persians 53%
Azerbaijanis 16%
Gilaks

Gilaks 4%
Mazandaranis

Mazandaranis 4%
Kurds

Kurds 10%
Lurs

Lurs 6%
Arabs

Arabs 2%
Balochs 2%
Turkmens and other Turkic people 2%
Others 1%
Talysh
Tats
Armenians
Georgians
Assyrians
Circassians
Jews
Source for percentages is the CIA World Factbook.
v
t
e
Eastern Christianity
Cultural sphere

Cultural sphere of Christian traditions that developed since Early
Christianity

Christianity in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Eastern Africa, Asia
Minor, Southern India, and parts of the Far East.
Communions
Eastern Orthodox Church
Oriental Orthodoxy
Eastern Catholic Churches
Assyrian Church of the East
Ancient Church of the East
History
Eastern Orthodox Church
Byzantine Empire
Ecumenical council
Church of the East
Council of Chalcedon
Iconoclastic controversy
St Thomas Christians
Christianization

Christianization of Bulgaria
Christianization

Christianization of Kievan Rus'
East–West Schism
Scriptures
Books
Canon
Old Testament
New Testament
Theology
Hesychasm
Icon
Apophaticism
Filioque

Filioque clause
Miaphysitism
Dyophysitism
Nestorianism
Theosis
Theoria
Phronema
Philokalia
Praxis
Theotokos
Hypostasis
Ousia
Essence–energies distinction
Metousiosis¨
Worship
Sign of the cross
Divine Liturgy
Iconography
Asceticism
Omophorion
Ethnic
groups
with
significant
adherence
Majorities
Indo-European
Armenians
Aromanians
Belarusians
Bulgarians
Greeks
including Greek Cypriots
Macedonians
Megleno-Romanians
Moldovans
Montenegrins
Ossetians
Romanians
Russians
Serbs
Ukrainians
Afro-Asiatic
Agaw
Amhara
Assyrians
Copts
Chaldean Catholics
Maronites
Tigrayans
Turkic
Chuvash
Dolgans
Gagauz
Khakas
Kryashens
Yakuts
Kartvelian
Georgians
including
Svans

Svans and Mingrelians
Finno-Ugric
Izhorians
Karelians
Khanty
Komi
Mansi
Mari
Mordvins
Setos
Udmurts
Vepsians
Votes
Samoyedic
Enets
Nenets
Nganasans
Selkups
Chukotko-Kamchatkan
Alyutors
Itelmens
Kereks
Koryaks
Dené–Yeniseian
Kets
Tlingits
Eskimo–Aleut
Aleuts
Yupiks
Northwest Caucasian
Abkhazians
Nakh
Batsbi
Minorities
Adyghe
Kabardians
Kists
Albanians
Altai
Arabs
Buryats
Chukchi
Estonians
Setos
Kihnu
Finns
Inuit
Malayali
Oromos
Romani
Rusyns
Saami
Eastern
Christianity

Christianity portal
v
t
e
Iraq articles
History
Ancient
Sumer
Akkadian Empire
Babylonia
Assyria
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Neo-Babylonian Empire
Achaemenid Assyria
Seleucid

Seleucid Babylonia
Parthian Babylonia
Sassanid Asorestan
638–1958
Muslim

Muslim conquest of Persia
Abbasid Caliphate
Buyid dynasty
Kara Koyunlu
Ak Koyunlu
Safavids
Ottoman Iraq (Mamluk dynasty)
Mandatory Iraq
Kingdom of Iraq
Arab

Arab Federation
Republic
1958–68
1968–2003
2003–11
2011–present
Arab

Arab Socialist
Ba'ath Party

Ba'ath Party –
Iraq

Iraq Region (National Command)
Saddam Hussein
Iran–
Iraq

Iraq War
Invasion of Kuwait
Gulf War
Sanctions
Iraq

Iraq War
U.S. invasion
Iraqi insurgency
U.S. troop withdrawal
Insurgency (2011–2013)
Civil War (2014–present)
Mosul

Mosul liberation
Geography
Al-Faw Peninsula
Al-Jazira
Euphrates
Hamrin Mountains
Persian Gulf
Islands
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Marshes
Places
Lakes
Shatt al-Arab
Syrian Desert
Tigris
Umm Qasr
Zagros Mountains
Politics
Administrative divisions
Constitution
Council of Representatives (legislative)
Elections
Foreign aid
Foreign relations
Government
Council of Ministers
Presidency Council
President
Prime Minister
Human rights
in pre-Saddam Iraq
in Saddam Hussein's Iraq
in post-invasion Iraq
in ISIL-controlled territory
LGBT
Freedom of religion
Women
Law
Military
Police
Political parties
Judiciary
Wars and conflicts
Economy
Central Bank
Dinar (currency)
Infrastructure
Oil Industry
Oil reserves
Reconstruction
Stock Exchange
Telecommunications
Transportation
Society
Cuisine
Culture
Education
Health
Media
Music
Smoking
Sports
Demographics
Iraqis
diaspora
refugees
Languages
Arabic
Aramaic
Kurdish
Persian
Iraqi Turkmen

Iraqi Turkmen dialect
Minorities
Armenians
Assyrians
Circassians
Kurds
Mandaeans
Marsh Arabs
Persians
Solluba
Turkmen/Turcoman
Jews
Religion
Islam
Christianity
Mandaeism
Yazidis
Outline
Index
Category
Portal
v
t
e
Turkey articles
History
Pre-Turkish era
Prehistory of Anatolia

Prehistory of Anatolia & Thrace
Classical Anatolia

Classical Anatolia & Thrace
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Byzantine Anatolia
Seljuq era
Sultanate of Rum
Mongol invasions of Anatolia
Ilkhanate
Ottoman era
Osman's Dream
Rise
Interregnum
Conquest of Constantinople
Classical Age
Transformation
Sultanate of Women
Köprülü era
Old Regime
Tulip period
Decline and modernization
Tanzimat
First Constitutional Era
Defeat and dissolution
Second Constitutional Era
Partition
Republican era
War of Independence
One-party period
Multi-party period
By topic
Ancient Anatolians
Constitutional
Economic
Military
Thracians
Timeline of Turkish history
Turkic migration
Geography
Capes
Cities
Districts
Earthquakes
Environmental issues
Gulfs and bays
Islands
Lakes
Metropolitan municipalities
Mountains
Peninsulas
Provinces
Regions
Rivers
Places
Anatolia
Thrace (Eastern)
Turkish Riviera
Çukurova
Politics
Cabinet
Elections
Foreign relations
Military
Parliament
President
Prime Minister
Legal system
Constitution
Constitutional Court
Law enforcement
Official gazette
Controversies
Deep state
Conspiracy theories in Turkey
EU accession
Kemalism
Neo-Ottomanism
Ottomanism
Political parties
Secularism
Northern
Syria

Syria Security Belt
Northern Cyprus
Economy
Banks
central bank
Borsa
Istanbul

Istanbul (stock exchange)
Companies
EU Customs Union
Industries
Lira (currency)
Southeastern
Anatolia

Anatolia Project
Tourism
Transport
aviation
railways
Rankings
Society
Crime
Education
Languages
Turkish
Culture
Architecture
Ottoman architecture
Art
Cinema
Cuisine
wine
Dance
Drama (TV)
Festivals
Folklore
Human rights
LGBT
Literature
Media
newspapers
radio stations
TV
Music
Names
Public holidays
Religion
Islam
Smoking
Sport
Theatre
Demographics
Turkish people
list
Population
diaspora
immigration
Muhacir
Minorities
Arabs
Armenians
Bosniaks
Circassians
Kurds
Symbols
Anthem
Emblem
Flag
Motto
Presidential seal
Outline
Index
Book
Category
Portal
v
t
e
Semitic topics
Peoples
Adnanites
Algerians
Amhara people
Amorites
Arab

Arab diaspora
Arabs
Arabs

Arabs in India
Arabs

Arabs in Turkey
Arameans
Argobba people
Arma people
Assyrian people
Bahrani people
Bedouin
Chaldeans
Chaush
Egyptians
Emiratis
Gurage people
Habesha people
Hadhrami people
Harari people
Hyksos
Iranian Arabs
Iraqis
Ishmaelites
Israelis
Israeli Arabs
Israeli Jews
Israelites
Jewish diaspora
Jews
Jordanians
Lebanese people
Maronites
Libyans
Mandaeans
Marsh Arabs
Mauritanians
Mhallami
Moors
Moroccans
Nabataeans
Omanis
Palestinians
Qahtanite
Qataris
Sabians
Samaritans
Saracen
Soqotri
Sudanese people
Syrian people
Tigrayans
Tigre people
Tigrinyas
Tunisians
Yemenis
Politics
Algerian nationalism
Arab

Arab nationalism
Arab

Arab socialism
Assyrian nationalism
Canaanism
Egyptian nationalism
Iraqi nationalism
Jewish political movements
Bundism
Zionism
Jewish religious movements
Lebanese nationalism
Phoenicianism
Libyan nationalism
Palestinian nationalism
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Islamism
Syrian nationalism
Tunisian nationalism
Origins
Generations of Noah
Genetic studies on Jews
Haplogroup IJ
Haplogroup IJK
Haplogroup J-M172
Haplogroup J-M267
Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)
Shem
Y-chromosomal Aaron
Y-DNA haplogroups in populations of the Near East
History
Abbasid Caliphate
Akkadian Empire
Amorites
Arabization
Aram Rehob
Aram-Damascus
Aram-Naharaim
Assyria
Babylonia
Bit Adini
Canaan
Carthage
Chaldea
Davidic line
Edom
Fatimid Caliphate
Ghassanids
Hasmonean dynasty
Herodian kingdom
Herodian Tetrarchy
Himyarite Kingdom
Judaization
Kindah
Kingdom of Aksum
Kingdom of Awsan
Kingdom of
Israel

Israel (Samaria)
Kingdom of
Israel

Israel (united monarchy)
Kingdom of Judah
Lakhmids
Lihyan
Midian
Minaeans
Moab
Nabataeans
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Neo-Babylonian Empire
Paddan Aram
Palmyrene Empire
Phoenicia
Qataban
Qedarite
Rashidun Caliphate
Sabaeans
Solomonic dynasty
Thamud
Umayyad Caliphate
Zagwe dynasty
ʿĀd
Countries
Algeria
Arab

Arab world
Bahrain
Comoros
Djibouti
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Palestinian territories1
Qatar
Sahrawi
Arab

Arab Democratic Republic1 (Western Sahara)
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United
Arab

Arab Emirates
Yemen
Flags and
coats of arms
Algeria
Arab

Arab flags
Aramean-Syriac flag
Assyria
Bahrain
Cedrus libani
The Coromos
Crescent
Djibouti
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia

Ethiopia (emblem)
Ethiopia

Ethiopia (flag)
Hamsa
Iraq
Israel

Israel (emblem)
Israel

Israel (flag)
Janbiya
Jordan
Khanjar
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Lion of Judah
Mauritania
Menorah (Temple)
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Pan-
Arab

Arab colors
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Scimitar
Shamash
Star of David
Sudan
Syria
Takbir
Tanit
Tunesia
United
Arab

Arab Emirates
Yemen
Zulfiqar
Studies
Arabist
Assyriology
Hebraist
Semitic Museum
Semitic studies
Syriac studies
Religions
Abrahamic religions
Ancient Canaanite religion
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Ancient Semitic religion
Babylonian religion
Christianity
Druze

Druze religion
Islam
Judaism
Mandaeism
pre-Islamic Arabia
Samaritan religion
Semitic neopaganism
Organizations
Arab

Arab European League
Arab

Arab League
Assyrian Universal Alliance
World Council of
Arameans

Arameans (Syriacs)
World Zionist Congress
1 Is a state with limited interna