Assyrianism
Encyclopedia
The term Assyrianism refers to Assyrian nationalism which increased in popularity in the late 19th century in a climate of increasing ethnic and religious persecution of the indigenous Assyrians
of the Middle East
.
Assyrian nationalism is the ideology of a united Assyrian people
. Assyrianism is to a great degree geographically as well as ethnically and linguistically based. It is espoused by almost all Mesopotamian Aramaic
speaking Assyrians
(Also known as Chaldo-Assyrians) from Iraq
, Iran
, south eastern Turkey
, north eastern Syria
(in effect a region corresponding with ancient Assyria
and Mesopotamia
), diaspora communities that left these areas for Armenia
, Georgia
, southern Russia
, Lebanon
, Jordan
and Azerbaijan
and migrant Assyrians from all these lands now residing in Europe
, North America
and Australia
.
, and is based on the political and national unification of ethnic Assyrian followers of a number of Syriac Christian Churches (mainly those originating in, or based in and around Mesopotamia) with classical Syriac
as its cultural language. Its main proponents in the beginning of the 20th century were Naum Faiq
, Freydun Atturaya
and Farid Nazha
.
Within the Syriac Christian population in the near east as a whole, Assyrianism meets a degree of resistance as the result of geographic, ethnic, linguistic and confessional boundaries. Theologically in particular, the christological
division between the Syriac Orthodox Church
("West Syriac") on one hand and the Mesopotamian Aramaic speaking adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East
, Ancient Church of the East
, Chaldean Catholic Church
and Assyrian
Protestants ("East Syriac")on the other. The first two churches are not divided by a formally declared schism, but their doctrine has moved so far apart for mutual accusations of heresy. However, a number of adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church do espouse an Assyrian identity. In a geographic and linguistic context, the predominantly Arabic
speaking Semitic Christians from Syria
(excluding the Assyrian north east of the country), south central Turkey
and Lebanon
tend not to identify as Assyrians. In the bulk of Syria an Aramean
identity is often espoused, and in Lebanon a Phoenicia
n heritage is claimed. This is in part due to the term Syriac being generally accepted by the majority of scholars to be a derivation of Assyrian, and in part because the majority of the Christian population of these areas are not geographically from what was Assyria or Mesopotamia, and thus do not identify with an Assyrian heritage in the way that the pre Arab, pre Islamic Mesopotamian Assyrians from Iraq
, north east Syria
, south east Turkey
, Iran
and the Caucasus
naturally do.
According to Raif Toma, Assyrianism goes beyond mere Syriac patriotism, and ultimately aims at the unification of all "Mesopotamians", properly qualifying as "Pan-Mesopotamianism". This variant of Assyrianism is independent of Christian, ethno-religious identity and qualifies as a purely ethnic nationalism
, in that it identifies the Assyrian people
as the heirs of the Assyrian Empire, and as the indigenous population of Mesopotamia, as opposed to Arabism
, which is identified as a chronologically later, non indigenous, and foreign intrusive element, due to the non indigenous Arab
Muslim conquests
. This is expressed e.g. in the Assyrian calendar
introduced in the 1950, which chooses as its era
4750 BC, the estimated date of construction of the first (pre-historical, pre-Semitic) temple at Assur
.
Organisations advocating Assyrianism are the Assyrian Democratic Party, Assyrian National Congress, Assyrian Universal Alliance
(since 1968) and Shuraya (since 1978). The Assyrian flag
was designed by the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1968.
of Assyrian independence is a political movement
that supports the creation of nation state corresponding to part of the original Assyrian homeland
, in the Nineveh plains
of Northern Iraq
. The issue of Assyrian independence has been brought up many times throughout the course of history from before World War I
to the present-day Iraq War. The Assyrian-inhabited area of Iraq is located primarily but not exclusively in the Ninawa
-Mosul
region in Northern Iraq where the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh
was located. This area is known as the "Assyrian Triangle." Assyrians are generally found all over northern Iraq, including in and around the cities of Mosul
, Erbil
, Kirkuk
, Dohuk, Amadia and Rawanduz, and there are a fair number of exclusively Assyrian towns, villages, hamlets and agricultural communities in the north, together with others that have significant Assyrian populations. Other communities exist over the borders in south eastern Turkey, north eastern Syria and north western Iran, there are a number of Assyrian villages and towns in Syria and a few remaining in Turkey also.
In post-Ba'thist Iraq, the Assyrian Democratic Movement
(or ADM) was one of the smaller political parties that emerged in the social chaos of the occupation. Its officials say that while Assyrian members of the ADM also took a full and active part in the liberation of the key oil cities of Kirkuk and Mosul in the north, the Assyrians were not invited to join the steering committee that was charged with defining Iraq's future.
. H. W. F. Saggs
in his The Might That Was Assyria
clearly supports cultural continuity
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Assyrian nationalism is the ideology of a united Assyrian people
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
. Assyrianism is to a great degree geographically as well as ethnically and linguistically based. It is espoused by almost all Mesopotamian Aramaic
Neo-Aramaic languages
Neo-Aramaic, or Modern Aramaic, languages are varieties of Aramaic that are spoken vernaculars in the medieval to modern era, evolving out of Middle Aramaic dialects around AD 1200 ....
speaking Assyrians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
(Also known as Chaldo-Assyrians) from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, south eastern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, north eastern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
(in effect a region corresponding with ancient Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
and Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
), diaspora communities that left these areas for Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, southern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and migrant Assyrians from all these lands now residing in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Ideology
The ideology of Assyrian nationalism advocates Assyrian independenceAssyrian independence
The Assyrian independence is a political movement and ideology that supports the creation of an Assyrian state or an autonomy for the Syriac-speaking Christian Assyrian people in northern Iraq....
, and is based on the political and national unification of ethnic Assyrian followers of a number of Syriac Christian Churches (mainly those originating in, or based in and around Mesopotamia) with classical Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
as its cultural language. Its main proponents in the beginning of the 20th century were Naum Faiq
Naum Faiq
Naum Elias Yaqub Palakh , better known as Naum Faiq was one of the founding fathers of modern Assyrian nationalism during the early 20th century. He was a teacher and writer throughout his life...
, Freydun Atturaya
Freydun Atturaya
Freydun Bet-Abram Atturaya was an Assyrian physician born in the town of Charbash in the district of Urmia in Iran. He was sent by his father to live with an uncle in Tbilisi, then in the Russian Empire, and studied medicine there. He worked as a medical doctor for the Russian Army as soon as he...
and Farid Nazha
Farid Nazha
Farid Elias Nazha was an Assyrian Nationalist and a journalist. He was known for his criticism to Syriac Christian Clergy which led to his excommunication by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Afram I Barsoum...
.
Within the Syriac Christian population in the near east as a whole, Assyrianism meets a degree of resistance as the result of geographic, ethnic, linguistic and confessional boundaries. Theologically in particular, the christological
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
division between the Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
("West Syriac") on one hand and the Mesopotamian Aramaic speaking adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
, Ancient Church of the East
Ancient Church of the East
The Ancient Church of the East was established in 1968. It follows the traditions of one of the oldest Christian churches, the Church of the East, whose origins trace back to the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in central Mesopotamia...
, Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church
The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...
and Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
Protestants ("East Syriac")on the other. The first two churches are not divided by a formally declared schism, but their doctrine has moved so far apart for mutual accusations of heresy. However, a number of adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church do espouse an Assyrian identity. In a geographic and linguistic context, the predominantly Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
speaking Semitic Christians from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
(excluding the Assyrian north east of the country), south central Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
tend not to identify as Assyrians. In the bulk of Syria an Aramean
Aramaeans
The Aramaeans, also Arameans , were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated in what is now modern Syria during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age...
identity is often espoused, and in Lebanon a Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n heritage is claimed. This is in part due to the term Syriac being generally accepted by the majority of scholars to be a derivation of Assyrian, and in part because the majority of the Christian population of these areas are not geographically from what was Assyria or Mesopotamia, and thus do not identify with an Assyrian heritage in the way that the pre Arab, pre Islamic Mesopotamian Assyrians from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, north east Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, south east Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
naturally do.
According to Raif Toma, Assyrianism goes beyond mere Syriac patriotism, and ultimately aims at the unification of all "Mesopotamians", properly qualifying as "Pan-Mesopotamianism". This variant of Assyrianism is independent of Christian, ethno-religious identity and qualifies as a purely ethnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism is a form of nationalism wherein the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity. Whatever specific ethnicity is involved, ethnic nationalism always includes some element of descent from previous generations and the implied claim of ethnic essentialism, i.e...
, in that it identifies the Assyrian people
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
as the heirs of the Assyrian Empire, and as the indigenous population of Mesopotamia, as opposed to Arabism
Arabism
Arabism, the Arabness, of a people, of culture.For movements in the Arab world, please see: Arab nationalism, pan-Arabism, Ba'athism. It can refer to both, race or/and culture...
, which is identified as a chronologically later, non indigenous, and foreign intrusive element, due to the non indigenous Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
. This is expressed e.g. in the Assyrian calendar
Assyrian calendar
The Assyrian calendar is a lunar-based calendar that begins in the year 4750 BC, inspired by an estimate of the date of the first temple at Ashur, notably based on a series of articles published in the Assyrian magazine Gilgamesh, edited by the brothers Addi and Jean Alkhas and Nimrod Simono. The...
introduced in the 1950, which chooses as its era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
4750 BC, the estimated date of construction of the first (pre-historical, pre-Semitic) temple at Assur
Assur
Assur , was one of the capitals of ancient Assyria. The remains of the city are situated on the western bank of river Tigris, north of the confluence with the tributary Little Zab river, in modern day Iraq, more precisely in the Al-Shirqat District .Assur is also...
.
Organisations advocating Assyrianism are the Assyrian Democratic Party, Assyrian National Congress, Assyrian Universal Alliance
Assyrian Universal Alliance
Assyrian Universal Alliance is an ethnic Assyrian umbrella organization in the Middle East. The Assyrian Universal Alliance is an international alliance made up of different sectors of the Assyrian federations and organisations throughout the world. Mr...
(since 1968) and Shuraya (since 1978). The Assyrian flag
Assyrian flag
The Assyrian flag is the flag chosen by the Assyrian people to represent the Assyrian nation in the homeland and in the diaspora.George Bit Atanus first designed the flag in 1968...
was designed by the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1968.
Irredentism
The ideologyIdeology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
of Assyrian independence is a political movement
Political movement
A political movement is a social movement in the area of politics. A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group...
that supports the creation of nation state corresponding to part of the original Assyrian homeland
Assyrian homeland
Assyrian homeland refers to a geographic and cultural region inhabited traditionally by the Assyrian people; who call it Assyria . It is largely coterminous with the Kurdish homeland, including parts of what is now northeast Syria, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey.The area...
, in the Nineveh plains
Nineveh plains
Nineveh plains is a region in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq to the north and west of the city Mosul. The area generally consists of three districts; Tel Keppe, Al-Hamdaniya, and Al-Shikhan...
of Northern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The issue of Assyrian independence has been brought up many times throughout the course of history from before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to the present-day Iraq War. The Assyrian-inhabited area of Iraq is located primarily but not exclusively in the Ninawa
Ninawa Governorate
Ninawa is a governorate in northern Iraq, and the Arabic name for the biblical city of Nineveh in Assyria. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people in 2003. Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient...
-Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
region in Northern Iraq where the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh
Nineveh
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
was located. This area is known as the "Assyrian Triangle." Assyrians are generally found all over northern Iraq, including in and around the cities of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
, Erbil
Arbil
Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...
, Kirkuk
Kirkuk
Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...
, Dohuk, Amadia and Rawanduz, and there are a fair number of exclusively Assyrian towns, villages, hamlets and agricultural communities in the north, together with others that have significant Assyrian populations. Other communities exist over the borders in south eastern Turkey, north eastern Syria and north western Iran, there are a number of Assyrian villages and towns in Syria and a few remaining in Turkey also.
In post-Ba'thist Iraq, the Assyrian Democratic Movement
Assyrian Democratic Movement
The Assyrian Democratic Movement also known as Zowaa is an ethnic Assyrian political party in Iraq, and is currently the only Assyrian-based political party to be voting in the Iraqi parliament....
(or ADM) was one of the smaller political parties that emerged in the social chaos of the occupation. Its officials say that while Assyrian members of the ADM also took a full and active part in the liberation of the key oil cities of Kirkuk and Mosul in the north, the Assyrians were not invited to join the steering committee that was charged with defining Iraq's future.
Continuity claims
Assyrian nationalism, the fact that Assyrian identity endured is endorsed emphatically. This view is supported by many non Assyrian modern Assyriologists, Iranologists, Orientalists and Historians. It is certain that there had been some Assyrian resistance to Persian rule in Achaemenid AssyriaAchaemenid Assyria
Athura was a geographical area within the Persian Achaemenid Empire during the period of 539 BC to 330 BC. Although sometimes regarded as a satrapy, Achaemenid royal inscriptions list it as a dahyu, a concept generally interpreted as meaning either a group of people or both a country and its...
. H. W. F. Saggs
H. W. F. Saggs
Henry William Frederick Saggs was an English classicist and orientalist.-Biography:He was born in East Anglia in 1920. He studied theology at King's College London, graduating in 1942 and receiving a major injury in the Second World War. His brother, Arthur Roy Saggs, a sergeant in the RAF, known...
in his The Might That Was Assyria
The Might That Was Assyria
The Might That Was Assyria is written by Assyriologist H. W. F. Saggs. It illustrates the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Saggs spent half of his life, studying the ancient Assyrians, before he wrote this book....
clearly supports cultural continuity
See also
External links
- Assyrian Nationalism: A Mechanism For Survival
- The Origins and Development of Assyrian Nationalism, by Robert DeKelaita
- Neo-Assyrianism & the End of the Confounded Identity
- http://www.bethnahrin.nl/nationsmen.php?id=index&menu=menu
- Nationalism