Assyrian people#Persecution

{{Main|History of the Assyrian people}}

{{Main|Mesopotamia|Assyria|Neo-Assyrian Empire}}

File:Sculpted reliefs depicting Ashurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king, hunting lions, gypsum hall relief from the North Palace of Nineveh (Irak), c. 645-635 BC, British Museum (16722368932).jpg, c. 645–635 BC]]

Assyria is the homeland of the Assyrian people, located in the ancient Near East. The earliest Neolithic sites in Assyria belonged to the Jarmo culture c. 7100 BC and Tell Hassuna, the centre of the Hassuna culture, c. 6000 BC.

The history of Assyria begins with the formation of the city of Assur, perhaps as early as the 25th century BC.Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq, p. 187 During the early Bronze Age period, Sargon of Akkad united all the native Semitic-speaking peoples, including the Assyrians, and the Sumerians of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC). At this time, the city of Assur already existed and would later become the heart of the Assyrian Empire.Frahm, Eckart (2017). "The Neo-Assyrian Period (ca. 1000–609 BCE)". Nineveh, although settled earlier, became the largest and most important city of the Assyrian Empire, particularly during the Neo-Assyrian period in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. At its height, Nineveh was considered the largest city in the world, surpassing even Babylon in size and influence,Kuhrt, Amélie (1995). The Ancient Near East: c. 3000–330 BC. Routledge. and some scholars suggest that the famed Hanging Gardens, often associated with Babylon, might have actually been located in Nineveh.Dalley, Stephanie. The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon: An Elusive World Wonder Traced. Oxford University Press, 2013. Prior to Nineveh's ascendancy, the Assyrian city of Nimrud (also known as Kalhu) held the title of the world's largest city during the reign of Ashurnasirpal II in the 9th century BC, serving as the imperial capital and a major center of power and culture.{{cite web |title=The 19 greatest cities in history |website = Business Insider|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/the-19-greatest-cities-in-history-2016-6?r=UK&IR=T#thebes-took-the-lead-with-75000-people-by-1500-bc-6}}{{cite web |title=Largest Ancient Cities|website = artoftravel.tips/|url=https://artoftravel.tips/largest-ancient-cities/}} 800 BC: Nimrud (Calah), Iraq: Haojing, China: Thebes, Egypt: Estimated population: 50,000 – 125,000 In their early stages, Assyrian cities such as Assur and Nineveh appear to have functioned as administrative centers under Sumerian control rather than as independent political entities. Over time, the Sumerian population was gradually absorbed into the broader Akkadian-speaking (Assyro-Babylonian) populace.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFwUxmCdG94C|title=Syntactic Change in Akkadian: The Evolution of Sentential Complementation|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=2007|isbn=978-0-19-953222-3|pages=20–21|author=Deutscher, Guy|author-link=Guy Deutscher (linguist)|access-date=26 August 2020|archive-date=18 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418050423/https://books.google.com/books?id=XFwUxmCdG94C|url-status=live}} An Assyrian identity distinct from other neighboring groups appears to have formed during the Old Assyrian period, in the 21st or 20th century BC.{{cite book |last=Michel |first=Cécile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhsmDwAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Assyria |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-118-32524-7 |editor=E. Frahm |location=Hoboken |chapter=Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Old Assyrian Period}} p. 81

File:Map of Assyria.png under Shalmaneser III (dark green) and Esarhaddon (light green)]]

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.Genesis 25:3 However, there is no other historical basis for this assertion. The Hebrew Bible does not directly mention it, and there is no mention in Assyrian records, which date as far back as the 25th century BC. What is known is that Ashur-uballit I overthrew the Mitanni c. 1365 BC and the Assyrians benefited from this development by taking control of the eastern portion of Mitanni territory and later annexing Hittite, Babylonian, Amorite and Hurrian territories.{{cite news| title= Ashur| url= https://www.worldhistory.org/ashur/| work= World History Encyclopedia| access-date= 29 May 2016| archive-date= 16 April 2021| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210416200312/https://www.worldhistory.org/ashur/| url-status= live}} The rise and rule of the Middle Assyrian Empire (14th to 10th century BC) spread Assyrian culture, people and identity across northern Mesopotamia.{{cite book |last=Düring |first=Bleda S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NLKDwAAQBAJ |title=The Imperialisation of Assyria: An Archaeological Approach |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-108-47874-8 |location=Cambridge}} p. 145

The Neo-Assyrian Empire (c. 911–609 BC) was the most powerful and expansive phase of Assyrian civilization, ruling the largest empire yet assembled at that time, stretching from Mesopotamia to Egypt and the Levant.Frahm, Eckart (2017), "The Neo-Assyrian Period (ca. 1000–609 BCE)". At its height, it was the strongest military power in the world, pioneering advanced tactics, siege warfare, and administrative systems that influenced future empires.Düring, Bleda S. (2020). The Imperialisation of Assyria: An Archaeological Approach, Cambridge University Press.

However, the empire's decline was gradual, caused by imperial overstretch, internal instability, and resistance from vassal states. The Babylonians and Medes formed an alliance and captured Nineveh in 612 BC, and after a final defeat at Harran in 609 BC, the empire fell. Despite this, Assyrian culture and administrative practices influenced the subsequent Babylonian and Persian empires.

The Assyrian people, after the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 609 BC, were under the control of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and later, the Persian Empire, which consumed the entire Neo-Babylonian or "Chaldean" Empire in 539 BC. Assyrians became front line soldiers for the Persian Empire under Xerxes I, playing a significant role in the Battle of Marathon under Darius I in 490 BC."Artifacts show rivals Athens and Sparta," Yahoo News, December 5, 2006. However, Herodotus, whose Histories are the primary source of information about that battle, makes no mention of Assyrians in connection with it.{{Cite web| url= http://www.parstimes.com/history/herodotus/persian_wars/erato.html| title= The Persian Wars by Herodotus: Book 6 – ERATO| website= parstimes.com| access-date= 9 December 2018| archive-date= 13 April 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180413103808/http://www.parstimes.com/history/herodotus/persian_wars/erato.html| url-status= live}}

Despite the influx of foreign elements, the presence of Assyrians is confirmed by the worship of the god Ashur. References to the name survive into the 3rd century AD.{{sfn|Yana|2008|p=30}} The Greeks, Parthians, and Romans had a relatively low level of integration with the local population in Mesopotamia, which allowed their cultures to survive.Olmatead, History of the Persian Empire, Chicago University Press, 1959, p.39 Semi-independent kingdoms influenced by Assyrian culture (Hatra, Adiabene, Osroene) and perhaps semi-autonomous Assyrian vassal states (Assur) sprung up in the east under Parthian rule, lasting until conquests by the Sasanian Empire in the region in the 3rd century AD.{{cite web |url=http://media.hujada.nu/2019/03/Parpola-identity_Article_-Final1.pdf |title=National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post-Empire Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119042653/http://media.hujada.nu/2019/03/Parpola-identity_Article_-Final1.pdf |archive-date=2020-11-19}}

Modern Assyrian derives from ancient Aramaic, part of the Northwest Semitic languages.{{Cite web |title=The Assyrians and Aramaic: Speaking the Oldest Living Language of the Middle East |url=http://www.aina.org/news/20191001180841.htm |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=www.aina.org |archive-date=18 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418042312/http://www.aina.org/news/20191001180841.htm |url-status=live }} Around 700 BC, Aramaic slowly replaced Akkadian in Assyria, Babylonia and the Levant. Widespread bilingualism among Assyrian nationals was already present before the fall of the Empire. The Aramaic spoken by Assyrians today has an Akkadian substratum, preserving lexical, phonological, and syntactic influences from the ancient Akkadian language.Khan, Geoffrey (2019). The Neo-Aramaic Dialects and Their Historical Background.Khan, Geoffrey. (2002). The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Qaraqosh. Brill.Khan, Geoffrey. (2008). The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Barwar. Brill.

The Kültepe texts, which were written in Old Assyrian, preserve some loanwords from the Hittite language. Those loanwords are the earliest attestation of any Indo-European language, dated to the 20th century BC. Most of the archaeological evidence is typical of Anatolia rather than of Assyria, but using both cuneiform and the dialect is the best indication of Assyrian presence. Over 20,000 cuneiform tablets have been recovered from the site.E. Bilgic and S Bayram, Ankara Kultepe Tabletleri II, Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1995, {{ISBN|975-16-0246-7}}K. R. Veenhof, Ankara Kultepe Tabletleri V, Turk Tarih Kurumu, 2010, {{ISBN|978-975-16-2235-8}}

From 1700 BC and onward, the Sumerian language was preserved by the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians only as a liturgical and classical language for religious, artistic, and scholarly purposes.{{Cite web| url= http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/OIS2.pdf| title= 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| access-date= October 12, 2019| archive-date= April 29, 2013| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130429121058/http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/OIS2.pdf}}

The Akkadian language, with its main dialects of Assyrian and Babylonian, once the lingua franca of the Ancient Near East, began to decline during the Neo-Assyrian Empire around the 8th century BC, being marginalized by Old Aramaic during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III. By the Hellenistic period, the language was largely confined to scholars and priests working in temples in Assyria and Babylonia.

File:Southwestern part of the Sasanian Empire.jpg (226–637 AD)]]

{{Further|Syriac Christianity|History of Eastern Christianity|Asōristān}}

From the 1st century BC, Assyria was the theatre of the protracted Roman–Persian Wars. Much of the region would become the Roman province of Assyria from 116 AD to 118 AD following the conquests of Trajan. Still, after a Parthian-inspired Assyrian rebellion, the new emperor Hadrian withdrew from the short-lived province Assyria and its neighboring provinces in 118 AD.{{cite web |title=Hadrian |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hadrian |publisher=G. W. Bowersock |access-date=29 September 2018 |archive-date=29 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929200715/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hadrian |url-status=live }} Following a successful campaign in 197–198, Severus converted the kingdom of Osroene, centred on Edessa, into a frontier Roman province.{{sfn|Millar|1967|p=211}}

Osroëne and Adiabene were ancient kingdoms located in northern Mesopotamia, regions historically inhabited by Assyrian peoples. Both kingdoms played significant roles in the cultural and political landscape of the Near East from the Hellenistic period through late antiquity.Millar, Fergus, The Roman Near East, 31 BC – AD 337; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Osroëne”; “Adiabene”

Osroëne, centered around its capital Edessa (modern Urfa, Turkey), was founded around 136 BC by Osroes, likely of Iranian origin, but over time it became predominantly Aramaic-speaking and culturally Assyrian. The kingdom controlled key trade routes and often balanced its alliances between the Roman and Parthian empires.Millar, Fergus, 1993; Segal, J. B., Edessa: The Blessed City

Edessa emerged as a major center of Syriac Christianity and Assyrian cultural identity, developing a rich tradition of Syriac literature and theology. Osroëne retained some autonomy under Roman protection until its final incorporation into the empire in 216 AD.Segal, J. B., 1970; Parpola, Simo, “Assyrians after Assyria”

Adiabene, located to the east with its capital at Arbela (modern Erbil, Iraq), was similarly an Assyrian kingdom both ethnically and culturally. Its population spoke Aramaic, and the kingdom is famously noted for the royal family's conversion to Judaism in the 1st century AD.Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Adiabene”; Millar, Fergus, 1993

Adiabene was a significant political entity in Mesopotamia under Parthian suzerainty and later Sāsānid control before its eventual incorporation into Islamic empires.Millar, Fergus, 1993.Crone, Patricia, and Michael Cook. 1977. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Both kingdoms are recognized today as key centers of Assyrian heritage, representing continuity of the ancient Assyrian people through language, religion, and culture in northern Mesopotamia during classical antiquity.Parpola, Simo, 1991.Crone, Patricia, and Michael Cook. 1977. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Roman influence in the area came to an end under Jovian in 363, who abandoned the region after concluding a hasty peace agreement with the Sassanians.Ammianus Marcellinus The Later Roman Empire (354–378) A shameful peace concluded by Jovian 6.7 p. 303, Penguin Classics, Translated by Walter Hamilton 1986

The Assyrians were Christianized in the first to third centuries in Roman Syria and Roman Assyria. The population of the Sasanian province of Asoristan was a mixed one, composed of Assyrians, Arameans in the far south and the western deserts, and Persians.{{cite book| last= Etheredge| first= Laura|title=Iraq|year=2011|publisher=Rosen Publishing |isbn= 978-1-61530-304-5| page=72}} The Greek element in the cities, still strong during the Parthian Empire, ceased to be ethnically distinct in Sasanian times. Most of the population were Eastern Aramaic speakers. Much of the population of Asoristan was Christian.{{Cite book |last=Nicholson |first=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |isbn=9780198662778 |pages=165}} However, according to Isho'Yahb III, there were perhaps more pagans than Christians in the region. These pagans worshipped Gods such as Tammuz and a Babylonian Sea monster along with sacrifice to idols.{{Cite book |last=Morony |first=Michael G. |url=https://archive.org/details/iraqaftermuslimc0000moro/page/n5/mode/2up |title=Iraq after the Muslim conquest |date=1984 |publisher=Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-691-05395-0 |pages=397}}

Within Sasanian Adiabene an examination of Syriac source work can infer that the majority of the population of Adiabene were Syriac speaking and of local Assyrian origin. At the same time, Adiabene's elites were integrated with values of Zoroastrian social life. It can be assumed that many local Semitic cults succumbed to state supported Zoroastrianism during this period. These trends can be seen in the Legend of Mar Qardagh, where the main protagonist is portrayed as being of Assyrian royal descent, yet of Zoroastrian creed prior to his conversion to Christianity.{{Cite book |last=Marciak |first=Michał |title=Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West |date=August 3, 2017 |isbn=978-90-04-35070-0 |pages=291, 336}}

Along with the Arameans, Armenians, Greeks, and Nabataeans, the Assyrians were among the first people to convert to Christianity and spread Eastern Christianity to the Far East despite becoming, from the 8th century, a minority religion in their homeland following the Muslim conquest of Persia.

In 410, the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanian Empire,Seleucia-Ctesiphon is not to be confused with Seleucia Isauria (now Silifke, Turkey) within the Roman Empire, where, at the request of the Roman emperor, the Council of Seleucia was held in 359. organised the Christians within that Empire into what became known as the Church of the East. Its head was declared to be the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, who in the acts of the council was referred to as the Grand or Major Metropolitan and who soon afterward was called the Catholicos of the East. Later, the title of Patriarch was also used. Dioceses were organised into provinces, each of which was under the authority of a metropolitan bishop. Six such areas were instituted in 410.

File:Mar Matti Monastery.jpg (Dayro d-Mor Mattai) in, Bartella, Nineveh, Iraq. It is recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence. It is famous for its magnificent library and a considerable collection of Syriac Christian manuscriptsMichael Goldfarb, Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005).]]

Another council held in 424 declared that the Catholicos of the East was independent of "Western" ecclesiastical authorities (those of the Roman Empire).

Soon afterward, Christians in the Roman Empire were divided by their attitude regarding the Council of Ephesus (431), which condemned Nestorianism, and the Council of Chalcedon (451), which condemned Monophysitism. Those who for any reason refused to accept one or other of these councils were called Nestorians or Monophysites, while those who accepted both councils, held under the auspices of the Roman emperors, were called Melkites (derived from Syriac malkā, king),{{Cite web| url= https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melkite| title= Definition of melkite| website= Dictionary.com| publisher= | access-date= 6 December 2018| archive-date= 7 December 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181207102814/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/melkite| url-status= live}} meaning royalists.

All three groups existed among the Syriac Christians, the East Syriacs being called Nestorians and the West Syriacs being divided between the Monophysites (today the Syriac Orthodox Church, also known as Jacobites, after Jacob Baradaeus) and those who accepted both councils, primarily today's Eastern Orthodox Church, which has adopted the Byzantine Rite in Greek, but also the Maronite Church, which kept its West Syriac Rite and was not as closely aligned with Constantinople.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Syriac language |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Syriac-language |encyclopedia= Encyclopaedia Britannica|date= 29 January 2024 }}

Roman/Byzantine and Persian spheres of influence divided Syriac-speaking Christians into two groups: those who adhered to the Miaphysite Syriac Orthodox Church (the so-called Jacobite Church), or West Syrians, and those who adhered to the Church of the East, the so-called Nestorian Church. Following the split, they developed distinct dialects, mainly based on the pronunciation and written symbolization of vowels. With the rise of Syriac Christianity, eastern Aramaic enjoyed a renaissance as a classical language in the 2nd to 8th centuries, and varieties of that form of Aramaic (Neo-Aramaic languages) are still spoken by a few small groups of Jacobite and Nestorian Christians in the Middle East.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Aramaic language |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aramaic-language | encyclopedia= Encyclopaedia Britannica}}

Theodora, who lived from April 1, 527 A.D. to June 28, 548 A.D., was a notable empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. Although her exact ethnic background is not definitively established, some sources suggest she was of Assyrian origin. She played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and social reforms. Theodora is particularly remembered for her efforts to improve the status of women, including legislation against forced prostitution and support for widows and orphans. She was a key supporter of her husband's efforts to restore and expand the Byzantine Empire from their capital, Constantinople. Additionally, Theodora worked towards alleviating the persecution of Miaphysites, although full reconciliation with this Christian sect was not achieved during her lifetime.Theodora the "Believing Queen:" A Study in Syriac Historiographical Tradition, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, p. 216, 217, 218.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodora-Byzantine-empress-died-548|title=Theodora | Empress, Biography, Accomplishments, Justinian, & Facts | Britannica|website=www.britannica.com|access-date=11 May 2023|archive-date=15 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415173948/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodora-Byzantine-empress-died-548|url-status=live}}

{{Further|Fall of Babylon|Muslim conquest of Persia}}

File:Mar Toma church urmia.jpg near Urmia, Iran.]]

The Assyrians initially experienced periods of religious and cultural freedom interspersed with periods of severe religious and ethnic persecution after the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia. Assyrians contributed to Islamic civilizations during the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterward to Arabic. They also excelled in philosophy, science (Masawaiyh,{{cite book| last= Beeston|first=Alfred Felix Landon| title= Arabic literature to the end of the Umayyad period| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0QkhaK4kBUC&pg=PA501|access-date=20 January 2011| date=1983| publisher= Cambridge University Press| isbn=978-0-521-24015-4|page=501}} Eutychius of Alexandria, and Jabril ibn Bukhtishu{{cite journal| last1=Contadini| first1=Anna| title=A Bestiary Tale: Text and Image of the Unicorn in the Kitāb naʿt al-hayawān (British Library, or. 2784)| journal=Muqarnas| date=2003| volume=20| pages=17–33| jstor=1523325| doi=10.1163/22118993-90000037| url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/434/1/UnicornMuqarnas2003.pdf| access-date=6 November 2019| archive-date=24 November 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124004948/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/434/1/UnicornMuqarnas2003.pdf| url-status=live}}) 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.{{cite web| first= Rémi | last= Brague | website= christiansofiraq.com | url= http://www.christiansofiraq.com/assyriancontributionstotheislamiccivilization.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130927015958/http://www.christiansofiraq.com/assyriancontributionstotheislamiccivilization.htm | title=Assyrians Contributions To The Islamic Civilization | date= | archive-date= 27 September 2013 }} Many scholars of the House of Wisdom were of Assyrian Christian background.Hyman and Walsh 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.{{cite book|title=The Legend of the Middle Ages: Philosophical Explorations of Medieval Christianity, Judaism, and Islam|first=Rémi |last=Brague|year= 2009| isbn=978-0-226-07080-3| page =164|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}

Indigenous Assyrians became second-class citizens (dhimmi) in a greater Arab Islamic state. Those who resisted Arabization and conversion to Islam were subject to severe religious, ethnic, and cultural discrimination and had certain restrictions imposed upon them.{{cite book| first= Clinton | last= Bennett | year= 2005 | title= Muslims and Modernity: An Introduction to the Issues and Debates | publisher= Continuum International Publishing Group | pages= 162, 163 | isbn=0-8264-5481-X | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NY7RzLXR79wC |access-date= 2012-07-07}} Assyrians were excluded from specific duties and occupations reserved for Muslims. They did not enjoy the same political rights as Muslims, and their word was not equal to that of a Muslim in legal and civil matters. As Christians, they were subject to payment of a special tax, the jizya.{{cite book| first= H. Patrick | last= Glenn | title= Legal Traditions of the World | publisher= Oxford University Press| year= 2007 | page= 219| isbn=}}

They were banned from spreading their religion further or building new churches in Muslim-ruled lands, but were expected to adhere to the same laws of property, contract, and obligation as the Muslim Arabs. They could not seek the conversion of a Muslim, a non-Muslim man could not marry a Muslim woman, and the child of such a marriage would be considered a Muslim. They could not own an enslaved Muslim and had to wear different clothing from Muslims to be distinguishable. In addition to the jizya tax, they were required to pay the kharaj tax on their land, which was heavier than the jizya. However, they were protected, given religious freedom, and to govern themselves according to their own laws.{{sfn|Joseph|2000|p=48-49}}

File:Church of our virgin lady in Baghdad.jpg.]]

As non-Islamic proselytising was punishable by death under Sharia, the Assyrians were forced into preaching in Transoxiana, Central Asia, India, Mongolia and China where they established numerous churches. The Church of the East was considered to be one of the major Christian powerhouses in the world, alongside Latin Christianity in Europe and the Byzantine Empire (Greek Orthodoxy).{{cite book| last= Winkler |first=Dietmar|title=Hidden Treasures And Intercultural Encounters: Studies On East Syriac Christianity In China And Central Asia|year=2009|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7f9gS40A_3IC&pg=PA321| isbn= 978-3-643-50045-8}}

From the 7th century AD onwards, Mesopotamia saw a steady influx of Arabs, Kurds and other Iranian peoples,{{sfn|Aboona|2008|p=XI}} and later Turkic peoples. Assyrians were increasingly marginalized, persecuted and gradually became a minority in their homeland. Conversion to Islam was 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.

Despite the influx of other peoples into the region, under the leadership of Mar Timothy I (780-823), the Church of the East reached a high point and Christians presumably constituted 40 percent of Mesopotamia's population.{{sfn|Baumer|2006|p=153}} During the early Islamic period, the majority of the population of countries under Arab Islamic rule remained Christian.{{Cite journal |last=Shbuol |first=Ahmad |date=1996 |title=Christians and Muslims in Syria and Upper Mesopotamia in the Early Arab Islamic Period: Cultural Change and Continuity |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229433082.pdf |journal=Religious Change, Conversion and Culture |volume=74-92}} Prior to 850 AD, Muslims only made up 20 percent of the population of the Abbasid Caliphate, shifting to a majority after 950 AD.{{Cite book |last1=Briquel-Chatonnet |first1=Françoise |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1346946460 |title=The Syriac World: in search of a forgotten Christianity |last2=Debié |first2=Muriel |last3=Haines |first3=Jeffrey |date=2023 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-25353-5 |location=New Haven |pages=193 |oclc=on1346946460}} The rise of a solid Muslim majority in Syria and Mesopotamia can be dated to the late 10th or 11th centuries. Large Christian minorities persisted into the 13th century when we finally see a decisive move toward Muslim hegemony.{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Philip |title=The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died |date=November 3, 2009 |publisher=HarperOne |isbn=978-0061472817 |pages=114}}

Assyrians remained dominant in Upper Mesopotamia as late as the 14th century, with Syriac being the primary language centuries after the Arab invasions.{{sfn|Aboona|2008|p=97}}{{Cite book |title=The last pagans of Iraq: Ibn Waḥshiyya and his Nabatean agriculture |date=2010 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-474-0908-3 |editor-last=Hämeen-Anttila |editor-first=Jaakko |series=Islamic history and civilization. Studies and texts 0929-2403 |location=Leiden Boston |pages=14 |editor-last2=Ibn-Waḥšīya |editor-first2=Aḥmad Ibn-ʿAlī}}{{Cite journal |last=Dinno |first=Khalid |date=2017 |title=The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium: An Overview |url=https://csss.nmc.utoronto.ca/?page_id=286 |journal=The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=23}} and the city of Assur was still occupied by Assyrians during the Islamic period until the mid-14th century when the Muslim Turco-Mongol ruler Timur conducted a religiously motivated massacre against Assyrians. After, no records of Assyrians remained in Assur according to the archaeological and numismatic record. From this point, the Assyrian population was dramatically reduced in their homeland.{{cite web | url= http://www.assur.de/Themen/Stadtgeschichte_Engl/body_stadtgeschichte_engl.html | title= History of Ashur | work= Assur.de | access-date= 12 June 2012 | archive-date= 10 October 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171010103424/http://www.assur.de/Themen/Stadtgeschichte_Engl/body_stadtgeschichte_engl.html | url-status= live }}

From the 19th century, after the rise of nationalism in the Balkans, the Ottomans started viewing Assyrians and other Christians on 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 Assyrians in the Hakkari region were massacred in 1843 when Bedr Khan Beg, the emir of Bohtan, invaded their region.{{sfn|Gaunt|Beṯ-Şawoce|Donef|2006|p=32}} After a later massacre in 1846, western powers forced the Ottomans 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 soon after.{{sfn|Aboona|2008|p=105}}

Being culturally, ethnically, and linguistically distinct from their 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.{{cite book| last= Khanbaghi |first=Aptin|title=The fire, the star, and the cross: minority religions in medieval and early modern Iran| year= 2006| publisher= I.B.Tauris| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7iAbUEaXnfEC&pg=PA87|isbn=978-1-84511-056-7}}

{{Further|Timurid Empire|Aq Qoyunlu|Kara Koyunlu}}

File:Syriac Christianity.svg in the Middle East and Central Asia until being largely annihilated by Tamerlane in the 14th century]]

After initially coming under the control of the Seljuk Empire and the Buyid dynasty, the region eventually came under the control of the Mongol Empire after the fall of 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.

According to some Arab historians, Assyrians persisted in the regions of Hakkari and Assyria (Mosul), though during the Seljuk and subsequent Timurid invasions of Assyrian regions, Kurds joined Turco-Mongol forces in advancing on Mesopotamian cities such as Diyarbakir, Mosul and Baghdad. Population destruction transpired in the region such as the attacks led by Timur in the late 1300s.{{Cite journal |last=Travis |first=Hannibal |date=2019 |title=The Long Genocide in Upper Mesopotamia: Minority Population Destruction amidst Nation-Building and "International Security" |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/741236 |journal=Florida International University College of Law |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=92–131}}

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|date=April 2015}}

The region was later controlled by the in Iran-based Turkic confederations of the Aq Qoyunlu and Kara Koyunlu. Subsequently, all Assyrians, like with the rest of the ethnicities living in the former Aq Qoyunlu territories, fell into Safavid hands from 1501 and on.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

{{See also|Massacres of Badr Khan |Massacres of Diyarbakir (1895)}}

File:Assyrianmareliasnestorianbishop.jpg bishop of the Urmia plain village of Geogtapa, c. 1831]]

The Ottomans secured their control over Mesopotamia and 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 until the 19th century, when Nestorian, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldeans gained that right as well.{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fHtSuvaVAAoC&pg=PA255 | title= The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity | first= Kenneth | last= Parry | date= 15 April 2008 | page= 255| publisher= John Wiley & Sons| isbn= 978-0-470-76639-2| via= Google Books}}

The Aramaic-speaking Mesopotamian Christians had long been divided between followers of the Church of the East, commonly referred to as "Nestorians", and followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church, commonly called Jacobites. The latter were organised by Marutha of Tikrit (565–649) as 17 dioceses under a "Metropolitan of the East" or "Maphrian", holding the highest rank in the Syriac Orthodox Church after that of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. The Maphrian resided at Tikrit until 1089, when he moved to the city of Mosul for half a century, before settling in the nearby Monastery of Mar Mattai (still belonging to the Syriac Orthodox Church) and thus not far from the residence of the Eliya line of Patriarchs of the Church of the East. From 1533, the holder of the office was known as the Maphrian of Mosul, to distinguish him from the Maphrian of the Patriarch of Tur Abdin.[https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Maphrian]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022054401/https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Maphrian|date=22 October 2020}} "Maphrian Catholicos Syr. Orth." in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage

In 1552, a group of bishops of the Church of the East from the northern regions of Amid and Salmas, who were dissatisfied with reservation of patriarchal succession to members of a single family, even if the designated successor was little more than a child, elected as a rival patriarch the abbot of the Rabban Hormizd Monastery, Yohannan Sulaqa. This was by no means the first schism in the Church of the East. An example is the attempt to replace Timothy I (779–823) with Ephrem of Gandīsābur.{{Cite book|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Lesser_Eastern_Churches/Chapter_4|title=The Lesser Eastern Churches|first=Adrian Henry Timothy Knottesford|last=Fortescue|chapter=4. The Nestorian Church in the Past |access-date=11 May 2023|via=Wikisource|archive-date=21 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421152829/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Lesser_Eastern_Churches/Chapter_4|url-status=live}}

By tradition, a patriarch could be ordained only by someone of archiepiscopal (metropolitan) rank, a rank to which only members of that one family were promoted. For that reason, Sulaqa travelled to Rome, where, presented as the new Patriarch elect, he entered communion with the Catholic Church and was ordained by the Pope and recognized as Patriarch. The title or description under which he was recognized as Patriarch is given variously as "Patriarch of Mosul in Eastern Syria";{{cite book| chapter= Patriarcha de Mozal in Syria orientali | url= https://archive.org/details/orienschristian04grgoog | editor-first= Anton | editor-last= Baumstark | title= Oriens Christianus| volume= IV:1| place= Rome and Leipzig | year= 2004 | page=277| publisher= O. Harrassowitz }} "Patriarch of the Church of the Chaldeans of Mosul";Chaldaeorum ecclesiae Musal Patriarcha ([http://digitale-sammlungen.ulb.uni-bonn.de/content/pageview/33998 Giuseppe Simone Assemani (editor), Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana (Rome 1725), vol. 3, part 1, p. 661)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219054858/http://digitale-sammlungen.ulb.uni-bonn.de/content/pageview/33998 |date=19 December 2019 }} "Patriarch of the Chaldeans";{{sfn|Tisserant|1931|p=228}}{{sfn|Baumer|2006|p=248}}{{sfn|Healey|2010|p=45}} "Patriarch of Mosul";{{sfn|Mooken|2003|p=33}}{{sfn|Frazee|2006|p=57}}{{sfn|Winkler|2019|p=127}} or "Patriarch of the Eastern Assyrians", this last being the version given by Pietro Strozzi on the second-last unnumbered page before page 1 of his De Dogmatibus Chaldaeorum,{{cite book|author=Pietro Strozzi|title=De dogmatibus chaldaeorum disputatio ad Patrem ... Adam Camerae Patriarchalis Babylonis ...| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2u2hpp2f3G0C| year= 1617| publisher= ex typographia Bartholomaei Zannetti}} of which an English translation is given in Adrian Fortescue's Lesser Eastern Churches.{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.173539|title=A Chronicle Of The Carmelites In Persia (vol I)|date=11 May 1939|access-date=11 May 2023|via=Internet Archive}}In his contribution [http://jaas.org/edocs/v14n1/e3.pdf "Myth vs. Reality" to JAA Studies, Vol. XIV, No. 1, 2000 p. 80] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713130009/http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v14n1/e3.pdf |date=2020-07-13 }}, George V. Yana (Bebla) presented as a "correction" of Strozzi's statement a quotation from an unrelated source (cf. p. xxiv) that Sulaqa was called "Patriarch of the Chaldeans".

Mar Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa returned to northern Mesopotamia in the same year and fixed his seat in Amid. Before being imprisoned for four months and then in January 1555 put to death by the governor of Amadiya at the instigation of the rival Patriarch of Alqosh, of the Eliya line,{{sfn|Frazee|2006|p=56}} he ordained two metropolitans and three other bishops,{{sfn|Winkler|2019|p=126-127}} 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 changes, in the isolated village of Qochanis.

File:Adana massacre in Le Petit Journal (1909).jpg in the city of Adana, Ottoman Empire, April 1909]]

The Shimun line eventually drifted away from Rome and in 1662 adopted a profession of faith incompatible with that of Rome. Leadership of those who wished communion with Rome passed to the Archbishop of Amid Joseph I, recognized first by the Turkish civil authorities (1677) and then by Rome itself (1681). A century and a half later, in 1830, headship of the Catholics (the Chaldean Catholic Church) was conferred on Yohannan Hormizd, a member of the family that for centuries had provided the patriarchs of the legitimist "Eliya line", who had won over most of the followers of that line. Thus the patriarchal line of those who in 1553 entered communion with Rome are now patriarchs of the "traditionalist" wing of the Church of the East, that which in 1976 officially adopted the name "Assyrian Church of the East".{{sfn|Joseph|2000|p=1}}{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=4}}{{sfn|Butts|2017|p=604}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.fredaprim.com/pdfs/2008/20080307a.pdf|title=Fred Aprim, "Assyria and Assyrians Since the 2003 US Occupation of Iraq"|access-date=October 12, 2019|archive-date=7 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807153159/http://www.fredaprim.com/pdfs/2008/20080307a.pdf|url-status=live}}

In the 1840s many of the Assyrians living in the mountains of Hakkari in the south eastern corner of the Ottoman Empire were massacred by the Kurdish emirs of Hakkari and Bohtan.{{sfn|Aboona|2008|p=218-219}}

Another major massacre of Assyrians (and Armenians) in the Ottoman Empire occurred between 1894 and 1897 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 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 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.{{sfn|Courtois|2004|p=105-107}}{{sfn|Atman|2018|p=215-232}}

File:Old Assyrian Flag.svg, c. 1920{{cite web |title=The Old Assyrian Flag |url= http://www.chaldeansonline.net/photo/oldflag.html |website=Chaldeans On Line |access-date=21 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060105110929/http://www.chaldeansonline.net/photo/oldflag.html |archive-date=5 January 2006}}{{cite web |author1=AANF |title=HISTORY |url=http://aanf.org/history.html |website= AANF.org | publisher= Assyrian American National Federation |access-date=21 June 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050207234713/http://aanf.org/history.html |archive-date=7 February 2005}}

]]

File:Burning of Assyrians.jpg

{{Main|Sayfo|1915 genocide in Diyarbekir|Assyrian struggle for independence}}

The Assyrians suffered a number of religiously and ethnically motivated massacres throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries,{{sfn|Aboona|2008|p=218-219}} culminating in the large-scale Hamidian massacres of unarmed men, women and children by Muslim Turks and Kurds in the late 19th century at the hands of the 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 which occurred during the First World War.{{sfn|Yacoub|2016|p=}} Between 275,000 and 300,000 Assyrians were estimated to have been slaughtered by the armies of the 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 (where they were to suffer further violent assaults at the hands of the Arabs and Kurds), as well as other neighbouring countries in and around the Middle East such as Armenia, Georgia and Russia.The Plight of Religious Minorities: Can Religious Pluralism Survive? – Page 51 by United States Congress{{cite book | title= The Armenian Genocide: Wartime Radicalization Or Premeditated Continuum | page= 272 |editor-first= Richard | editor-last= Hovannisian | year= | publisher= | isbn=}}{{cite book| title= Not Even My Name: A True Story | page= 131 | first= Thea | last=Halo | author-link = Thea Halo | year= | publisher= | isbn=}}{{cite book| title= The Political Dictionary of Modern Middle East | first= Agnes G. | last= Korbani | year= | publisher= | isbn=}}

During World War I, the Assyrians suffered heavy losses due to deportations and mass killings organized by the Ottoman Turks. Several representatives of the Assyrian people participated in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, after the war had ended. These representatives aimed to establish an independent nation and sought to persuade the victorious powers to place it under a single mandatory authority. Although many sympathized with the Assyrians, none of their demands were implemented. Their efforts failed due to geographical and denominational divisions among themselves, as well as the fact that the major powers—Britain and France—had their own plans for the territories where the Assyrians lived.Lundgren, Svante (2020), THE FAILURE OF THE ASSYRIAN LOBBIES AT

THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE IN 1919.

{{Main|Assyrian volunteers}}

File:Assyrian_volunteers_capture_Turkish_banner_1918.jpg

In reaction to the 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 tribe, fought alongside the Allies against Ottoman forces known as the Assyrian volunteers or Our Smallest Ally. 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 which had endured for over four millennia was thus reduced significantly by the end of World War I.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LsaJPgAACAAJ|title=Our Smallest Ally; Wigram, W[illiam] A[inger]; A Brief Account of the Assyrian Nation in the Great War. Introd. by General H.H. Austin|last=Wigram|first=William Ainger|date=1920|publisher=Soc. for Promoting Christian Knowledge|language=en}}Naayem, Shall This Nation Die?, p. 281

{{Main|Assyrian rebellion}}{{See also|Defense of Azakh|Defence of Iwardo}}

The Assyrian rebellion was an uprising by the Assyrians in Hakkari that began on 3 September 1924 and ended on 28 September. The Assyrians of Tyari and Tkhuma returned to their ancestral land in Hakkari in 1922, shortly after World War I without permission from the Turkish government. This led to clashes between the Assyrians and the Turkish army with their Kurdish allies that grew into a rebellion in 1924, it ended with the Assyrians being forced to retreat to Iraq.

In nearby Tur Abdin, Assyrians in of Azakh and Iwardo held defenses against Ottoman and Kurdish soldiers and succeeded in fending off the attacks. Ottoman authorities labeled these defenses as part of the larger Midyat rebellion, which they used to justify the planned sieges against them. Additionally, they knew that they were acting against populations who were not Armenian, as the Assyrians had up to then been divided by the millet system based on religious differences. The defenses lasted for several months up to the end of 1915. For Assyrians who originate from Tur Abdin, the stories of the defenses remain integral to their identity and collective memory of Sayfo.

File:Assyrian refugees on wagon.jpg in Syria]]

The majority of Assyrians living in what is today modern Turkey were forced to flee to either Syria or 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 and instead demanded their recognition as a nation within a nation. The Assyrian leader Shimun XXI Eshai asked the League of Nations to recognize the right of the Assyrians to govern the area known as the "Assyrian triangle" in northern Iraq. During the French mandate period, some Assyrians, fleeing ethnic cleansings in Iraq during the Simele massacre, established numerous villages along the Khabur River during the 1930s.

The 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,Len Dieghton, Blood Sweat and Tears and were used to help the British put down insurrections among the 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 and were involved in fighting in Albania, Italy and Greece. The Assyrian Levies played a major role in subduing the pro-Nazi Iraqi forces at the battle of Habbaniya in 1941.

File:Contingent Arrives in England For Victory Parade, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK, 1946 D27674.jpg Levies, who volunteered in 1946 for service as ground crew with the Royal Air Force, look over the side of the ORBITA as it pulls into the docks at Liverpool. Left to right, they are: Sergeant Macko Shmos, Lance Corporal Adoniyo Odisho and Corporal Yoseph Odisho.]]

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 in August 1933. The events lead to the expulsion of Shimun XXI Eshai the Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East to the United States where resided until his death in 1975.{{cite journal| last= Zubaida| first= S| title= Contested nations: Iraq and the Assyrians| journal= Nations and Nationalism| date= July 2000| volume= 6| issue= 3| pages= 363–82| doi= 10.1111/j.1354-5078.2000.00363.x| url= http://www.aina.org/articles/contestednations.pdf| access-date= 23 September 2011| archive-date= 19 February 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180219233946/http://www.aina.org/articles/contestednations.pdf| url-status= live}}{{cite web| title=Biography of His Holiness, The Assyrian Martyr, The Late Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII| url=http://www.peshitta.org/initial/mareshai.html| publisher=Committee of the 50th Anniversary of the Patriarchate of Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII| work=peshitta.org| access-date=23 September 2011| archive-date=27 September 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927100353/http://www.peshitta.org/initial/mareshai.html| url-status=live}}

The period from the 1940s through to 1963 saw a period of respite for the Assyrians. The regime of President 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 seized power in Iraq and 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 Christians or 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 vs Syriac Orthodox Church).{{cite web| url= http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,USCIS,,IRQ,,3f520de14,0.html |title= Iraq: Information on treatment of Assyrian and Chaldean Christians |publisher= United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |work= Refworld |access-date=18 February 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121019062353/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country%2C%2CUSCIS%2C%2CIRQ%2C%2C3f520de14%2C0.html |archive-date=19 October 2012 }}File:SyriacChurch-Mosul.jpg, early 20th century]]

In response to Baathist persecution, the Assyrians of the Zowaa movement within the Assyrian Democratic Movement took up armed struggle against the Iraqi government in 1982 under the leadership of Yonadam Kanna,{{cite web| url=http://www.zowaa.org/| title=زوعا| work=zowaa.org| language=| access-date=18 February 2015| archive-date=3 September 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903153813/http://www.zowaa.org/| url-status=live}} and then joined up with the Iraqi-Kurdistan Front in the early 1990s. Yonadam Kanna in particular was a target of the Saddam Hussein Ba'ath government for many years.

The Anfal campaign of 1986–1989 in Iraq, which was intended to target Kurdish opposition, 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 and Kurds.{{cite web | url= http://www.indict.org.uk/crimedetails.php?crime=Anfal | title= The Anfal Offensives |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110928232815/http://www.indict.org.uk/crimedetails.php?crime=Anfal |archive-date= September 28, 2011 | website= indict.org.uk | publisher=| date=}}{{cite book| last1=Certrez |last2=Donabed |last3=Makko |title=The Assyrian Heritage: Threads of Continuity and Influence |pages=288–289|year=2012|publisher=Uppsala University|isbn=978-91-554-8303-6}}

However, comparing to Syria, the Ba'athist government in Iraq was not as repressive as Syria. Saddam Hussein had an Assyrian Deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister, who was Tariq Aziz. There were also many Assyrians, who were offered high positions in the government.

{{Main|Assyrian exodus from Iraq|2008 attacks on Christians in Mosul}}

File:Assyrian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia.JPG, Armenia]]

After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq by US and its allies, the Coalition Provisional Authority disbanded the Iraqi military, security, and intelligence infrastructure of former President Saddam Hussein and began a process of "de-Baathification".{{Cite web |title={{as written|Coa|liton [sic]}} Provisional Authority Order Number 1 – De-Ba'Athification Of Iraqi Society

|url=http://www.cpa-iraq.org/regulations/20030516_CPAORD_1_De-Ba_athification_of_Iraqi_Society_.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509145453/http://www.cpa-iraq.org/regulations/20030516_CPAORD_1_De-Ba_athification_of_Iraqi_Society_.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2008 |access-date=2022-02-10 }} This process became an object of controversy, cited by some critics as the biggest American mistake made in the immediate aftermath of the Invasion of Iraq, and as one of the main causes in the deteriorating security situation throughout Iraq.{{cite news |date=1 August 2007 |title=Mullen's Plain Talk About U.S. Mistakes in Iraq |newspaper=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2007/08/mullens_plain_talk_about_us_mi_1.html |access-date=24 September 2010 |archive-date=8 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108170101/http://www.npr.org/blogs/news/2007/08/mullens_plain_talk_about_us_mi_1.html |url-status=live }}Henderson & Tucker, p. 19.

Social unrest and chaos resulted in the unprovoked persecution of Assyrians in Iraq mostly by Islamic extremists (both 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.{{cite web| url= http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/07/05/exodus_of_christians_hits_baghdad_district/| title= Exodus of Christians hits Baghdad district| work= The Boston Globe| access-date= 18 February 2015| archive-date= 24 September 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154643/http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/07/05/exodus_of_christians_hits_baghdad_district/| url-status= live}} Islamic resentment over the United States' occupation of Iraq, and incidents such as the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and the Pope Benedict XVI 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.{{cite web | url= http://www.aina.org/news/20080107163014.htm | title= Church Bombings in Iraq Since 2004 | website= Aina.org | access-date= 2008-11-16 | archive-date= 16 January 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080116141427/http://www.aina.org/news/20080107163014.htm | url-status= live }}

In recent years, the Assyrians in northern 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, the Islamic State (ISIL), Nusra Front and other terrorist Islamic Fundamentalist groups. In 2014 Islamic terrorists of ISIL attacked Assyrian towns and villages in the Assyrian Homeland of northern Iraq, together with cities such as Mosul and Kirkuk which have large Assyrian populations. There have been reports of atrocities committed by ISIL 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 have responded by forming armed militias to defend their territories.

In response to the Islamic State's invasion of the Assyrian homeland in 2014, many Assyrian organizations also formed their own independent fighting forces to combat ISIL and potentially retake their "ancestral lands." These include the Nineveh Plain Protection Units,{{cite web | url = http://catholicphilly.com/2016/04/news/world-news/militias-of-iraqi-christians-resist-islamic-state-amid-sectarian-strife/ | title = Militias of Iraqi Christians resist Islamic State amid sectarian strife | last = Jeffrey | first = Paul | date = April 29, 2016 | website = CatholicPhilly.com | access-date = August 2, 2020 | archive-date = 10 August 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200810030407/https://catholicphilly.com/2016/04/news/world-news/militias-of-iraqi-christians-resist-islamic-state-amid-sectarian-strife/ | url-status = live }}{{cite web| first= John| last= Burger| website= Aletia.org| date= December 4, 2014| url= http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/article/christians-in-iraq-forming-militia-to-defend-and-possibly-retake-ancestral-lands-5337839336161280| title= Christians in Iraq Forming Militia to Defend, and Possibly Retake, Ancestral Lands| publisher= | access-date= 3 August 2020| archive-date= 1 April 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150401150800/http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/article/christians-in-iraq-forming-militia-to-defend-and-possibly-retake-ancestral-lands-5337839336161280| url-status= live}}{{cite news | first= Steven | last= Nelson | work= U.S. News & World Report | date= February 6, 2015 | url= https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/06/iraqi-christians-form-anti-isis-militia-and-you-can-legally-fund-them | title= Iraqi Assyrian Christians Form Anti-ISIS Militia, and You Can Legally Chip In | publisher= | access-date= 3 August 2020 | archive-date= 24 July 2022 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220724184032/https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/06/iraqi-christians-form-anti-isis-militia-and-you-can-legally-fund-them | url-status= live }} Dwekh Nawsha,{{cite news | url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/iraq-christian-paramilitary-forces-nineveh.html | title=Iraq's Christian paramilitaries split in IS fight | date=30 October 2014 | agency=Al-Monitor | access-date=10 March 2015 | last=Henderson | first=Peter | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304202804/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/iraq-christian-paramilitary-forces-nineveh.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Westerners join Iraqi Christian militia to 'crusade' |url=https://www.worldbulletin.net/world/westerners-join-iraqi-christian-militia-to-crusade-h155284.html |publisher=World Bulletin |access-date=14 April 2019 |date=18 February 2015 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414221121/https://www.worldbulletin.net/world/westerners-join-iraqi-christian-militia-to-crusade-h155284.html |url-status=usurped }} and the Nineveh Plain Forces.{{cite web|url=https://warisboring.com/inside-the-christian-militias-defending-the-nineveh-plains-fe4a10babeed#.e83w8o5am|title=Inside the Christian Militias Defending the Nineveh Plains |website= Warisboring.com |date=7 March 2015| access-date=8 January 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160907184807/https://warisboring.com/inside-the-christian-militias-defending-the-nineveh-plains-fe4a10babeed#.e83w8o5am |archive-date=7 September 2016| df= dmy-all}}{{cite web| url= http://www.syriacsnews.com/establishment-nineveh-plain-forces-npf/ |title=The establishment of Nineveh Plain Forces – NPF|publisher=Syriac International News Agency|date=7 January 2015|access-date=5 January 2017| url-status= usurped |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180816051210/http://www.syriacsnews.com/establishment-nineveh-plain-forces-npf/|archive-date=16 August 2018}} The latter two of these militias were eventually disbanded.{{citation| last= Hanna| first= Reine| date=June 1, 2020|title=Contested Control: The Future of Security in Iraq's Nineveh Plain| publisher=Assyrian Policy Institute|page = 38 & 39}}

In Syria, the Dawronoye modernization movement has influenced Assyrian identity in the region.{{cite web | first= Carl | last= Drott | url= http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin | title= The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin | website= Warscapes.com | date= 25 May 2015 | access-date= 18 September 2016 | archive-date= 10 July 2019 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190710040436/http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin | url-status= live }} The largest proponent of the movement, 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,{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/syriac-christians-revive-ancient-language-despite-war-2/|title=Syriac Christians revive ancient language despite war|publisher=ARA News|date=2016-08-19|access-date=2016-08-19|archive-date=18 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818211634/http://aranews.net/2016/08/syriac-christians-revive-ancient-language-despite-war-2/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://en.hawarnews.com/the-syriacs-are-taught-their-language-for-the-first-time/|title=The Syriacs are taught their language for the first time|publisher=Hawar News Agency|date=2016-09-24|access-date=2016-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924094715/http://en.hawarnews.com/the-syriacs-are-taught-their-language-for-the-first-time/|archive-date=2016-09-24}} which then started with the 2016/17 academic year.{{cite web|url=http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/31729/Hassakeh_Syriac_Language_Be_Taught_PYD_controlled_Schools/|title=Hassakeh: Syriac Language to Be Taught in PYD-controlled Schools|publisher=The Syrian Observer|date=3 October 2016|access-date=2016-10-05|archive-date=14 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514082443/https://syrianobserver.com/news/25299/hassakeh_syriac_language_be_taught_pyd_controlled_schools.html|url-status=live}} With that academic year, states the Rojava Education Committee, "three curriculums have replaced the old one, to include teaching in three languages: Kurdish, Arabic and Assyrian."{{cite web|url=http://aranews.net/2016/10/rojava-administration-launches-new-education-system-kurdish-arabic-assyrian-2/|title=Rojava administration launches new curriculum in Kurdish, Arabic and Assyrian|publisher=ARA News|date=7 October 2016|access-date=2016-10-07|archive-date=7 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007194102/http://aranews.net/2016/10/rojava-administration-launches-new-education-system-kurdish-arabic-assyrian-2/|url-status=dead}} 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 as well as working together with the other communities in Syria to change the current government of Bashar al-Assad.[http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syriacs-establish-military-council-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nid=40329 Syriacs establish military council in Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006125944/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syriacs-establish-military-council-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nid=40329 |date=6 October 2014 }}, Hürriyet Daily News, 2 February 2013 However, many Assyrians and the organizations that represent them, particularly those outside of Syria, are critical of the Dawronoye movement.

A 2018 report stated that Kurdish authorities in Syria, in conjunction with Dawronoye officials, had shut down several Assyrian schools in Northern Syria and fired their administration. This was said to be because these schooled failed to register for a license and for rejecting the new curriculum approved by the Education Authority. Closure methods ranged from officially shutting down schools to having armed men enter the schools and shut them down forcefully. An Assyrian educator named Isa Rashid was later badly beaten outside of his home for rejecting the Kurdish self-administration's curriculum.{{cite web| url = https://www.assyrianpolicy.org/post/kurdish-self-administration-in-syria-release-assyrian-journalist-souleman-yusph| title = Kurdish Self-Administration in Syria: Release Assyrian Journalist Souleman Yusph| date = September 30, 2018| website = Assyrian Policy Institute| access-date = August 2, 2020| archive-date = 14 August 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200814195454/https://www.assyrianpolicy.org/post/kurdish-self-administration-in-syria-release-assyrian-journalist-souleman-yusph| url-status = live}}{{cite web | url = https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/assyrian-christians-face-persecution-kurdish-nationalists/ | title = Closure of Syrian Schools: Another Bleak Sign for Christians in Syria | last = Safi | first = Marlo | date = September 25, 2018 | website = National Review | access-date = August 2, 2020 | archive-date = 29 October 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191029205739/https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/assyrian-christians-face-persecution-kurdish-nationalists/ | url-status = live }}

The Assyrian Policy Institute claimed that an Assyrian reporter named Souleman Yusph was arrested by Kurdish forces for his reports on the Dawronoye-related school closures in Syria. Specifically, he had shared numerous photographs on Facebook detailing the closures.

File:Maunsell's map, Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of eastern Turkey in Asia, Syria and western Persia 01.jpg

File:Map of Assyria Paris Peace Conference 1919.jpg

{{Main|Assyrian homeland|List of Assyrian tribes|Proposals for Assyrian autonomy in Iraq}}

The Assyrian homeland includes the ancient cities of Nineveh (Mosul), Nuhadra (Dohuk), Arrapha/Beth Garmai (Kirkuk), Al Qosh, Tesqopa and Arbela (Erbil) in Iraq, Urmia in Iran, and Hakkari (a large region which comprises the modern towns of Yüksekova, Hakkâri, Çukurca, Şemdinli and Uludere), Edessa/Urhoy (Urfa), Harran, Amida (Diyarbakır) and Tur Abdin (Midyat and Kafro) in Turkey, among others.Wigram, W.A., "The Ashiret Highlands of Hakkari (Mesopotamia)," Royal Central Asian Society Journal, 1916, Vol. III, pg. 40. – The Assyrians and their Neighbors (London, 1929) Some of the cities are presently under Kurdish control and some still have an Assyrian presence, namely those in Iraq, as the Assyrian population in southeastern Turkey (such as those in Hakkari) was ethnically cleansed during the Assyrian genocide of the First World War.{{sfn|Laing-Marshall|2005|p=149-150}} Those who survived fled to unaffected areas of Assyrian settlement in northern Iraq, with others settling in Iraqi cities to the south. Though many also immigrated to neighbouring countries in and around the Caucasus and Middle East like Armenia, Syria, Georgia, southern Russia, Lebanon and Jordan.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXJ6CgAAQBAJ&q=assyrian+homeland&pg=PA31|title=The West in the World|last=Sherman|date=2013-09-13|publisher=McGraw-Hill Higher Education|isbn=978-1-259-15705-9|language=en}}

In ancient times, Akkadian-speaking Assyrians have existed in what is now Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Lebanon, among other modern countries, due to the sprawl of the Neo-Assyrian empire in the region.{{sfn|Bryce|2009|p=439}} Though recent settlement of Christian Assyrians in Nisabina, Qamishli, Al-Hasakah, Al-Qahtaniyah, Al Darbasiyah, Al-Malikiyah, Amuda, Tel Tamer and a few other small towns in Al-Hasakah Governorate in Syria, occurred in the early 1930s,Betts, Robert Brenton, Christians in the Arab East (Atlanta, 1978) when they fled from northern Iraq after they were targeted and slaughtered during the Simele massacre.Dodge, Bayard, "The Settlement of the Assyrians on the Khabur," Royal Central Asian Society Journal, July 1940, pp. 301–320. The Assyrians in Syria did not have Syrian citizenship and title to their established land until late the 1940s.Rowlands, J., "The Khabur Valley," Royal Central Asian Society Journal, 1947, pp. 144–149.

Sizable Assyrian populations only remain in Syria, where an estimated 400,000 Assyrians live,{{Cite web |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/iraq-assyrians-ethnic-rights-ignored.html |title=Al-Monitor: Ethnic dimension of Iraqi Assyrians often ignored |access-date=2014-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017200046/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/iraq-assyrians-ethnic-rights-ignored.html |archive-date=2015-10-17 |date=2014-10-10 }} and in Iraq, where an estimated 300,000 Assyrians live.{{cite web|url=http://www.ishtartv.com/viewarticle,48856.html|title=مسؤول مسيحي: عدد المسيحيين في العراق تراجع الى ثلاثمائة الف|access-date=18 February 2015|archive-date=8 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208111600/https://www.ishtartv.com/viewarticle,48856.html|url-status=live}} This is a decline from an estimate of 1,100,000 Assyrians in the 1980s, following instability caused by the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.{{Cite web |last=McBride |first=Julian |date=February 4, 2023 |title=Assyrians Continue to Struggle to Survive Post-U.S. Invasion of Iraq |url=https://thegeopolitics.com/assyrians-continue-to-struggle-to-survive-post-u-s-invasion-of-iraq/ |access-date=March 4, 2024 |website=Geopolitics.com}} In Iran and Turkey, only small populations remain, with only 20,000 Assyrians in Iran,{{cite web|url=http://www.aina.org/articles/dtcitaic.htm|title=Ishtar: Documenting The Crisis In The Assyrian Iranian Community|work=aina.org|access-date=3 October 2007|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221173054/http://www.aina.org/articles/dtcitaic.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web |author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/4cb826c3c.html |title=Iran: Last of the Assyrians |publisher=Refworld |date=2010-10-13 |access-date=2013-09-18 |archive-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221135447/https://www.refworld.org/docid/4cb826c3c.html |url-status=live }} and a small but growing Assyrian population in Turkey, where 25,000 Assyrians live, mostly in the cities and not the ancient settlements.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-06 |title=Cumhuriyetin ilk kilisesi açılıyor… Süryani Ruhani Lideri'nin ilk röportajı CNN Türk'te |url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/cumhuriyetin-ilk-kilisesi-aciliyor-suryani-ruhani-liderinin-ilk-roportaji-cnn-turkte-42341964 |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=www.hurriyet.com.tr |language=tr}}

File:Project assyria (updated).png

In Tur Abdin, a traditional centre of Assyrian culture, there are only 2,500 Assyrians left.{{sfn|Atto|2011|p=83}} 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 and the PKK in the 1980s. However, there are an estimated 25,000 Assyrians in all of Turkey, with most living in Istanbul. Most Assyrians currently reside in the West due to the centuries of persecution by the neighboring Muslims.{{Cite web|url=http://sor.cua.edu/SOCNews/2002/20021201EUPStmt.html|title=Statement on Assyrians/Syriacs in Turkey/Iraq|website=sor.cua.edu|access-date=2008-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120131038/http://sor.cua.edu/SOCNews/2002/20021201EUPStmt.html|archive-date=2008-11-20}} Prior to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in a 2013 report by a Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council official, it was estimated that 300,000 Assyrians remained in Iraq.

There are three main Assyrian subgroups: Eastern, Western, Chaldean. These subdivisions are only partially overlapping linguistically, historically, culturally, and religiously.

• The Eastern subgroup historically inhabited Hakkari in the northern Zagros Mountains, the Simele and Sapna valleys in Nuhadra, and parts of the Nineveh and Urmia Plains. They speak Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialects and are religiously diverse, adhering to the East Syriac churchesMinahan 2002, p. 209 and Protestantism.{{cite book|last=Vander Werff|first=Lyle L. |title=Christian mission to Muslims: the record: Anglican and Reformed approaches in India and the Near East, 1800–1938|publisher=William Carey Library|year=1977|series=The William Carey Library series on Islamic studies|pages=[https://archive.org/details/christianmission0000vand/page/366 366]|isbn=978-0-87808-320-6|url=https://archive.org/details/christianmission0000vand|url-access=registration}}
• The Western subgroup, historically inhabited Tur Abdin.The Middle East, abstracts and index, Part 1. Library Information and Research Service. Northumberland Press, 2002. Page 491.Central Asia and the Caucasus: transnationalism and diaspora. Touraj Atabaki, Sanjyot Mehendale. Routledge, 2005. Page 228. They mainly speak the Central Neo-Aramaic language Surayt (also known as Turoyo).{{Cite web |title=Šlomo Surayt |url=https://textbook.surayt.com/en/Online%20Course/0 |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=textbook.surayt.com |archive-date=20 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120011643/https://textbook.surayt.com/en/Online%20Course/0 |url-status=live }} Most adhere to the West Syriac churches, such as the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Syriac Catholic Church. Today there are also evangelical groups that have founded their own churches in the diaspora. Historically, Syriac Orthodox culture was centred in two monasteries near Mardin (west of Tur Abdin), Mor Gabriel and Deyrulzafaran.{{sfn|Üngör|2011|p=15}} Historic Assyrian villages, some of which are still inhabited by Assyrians in Turabdin, include the following: Aynwardo, Anhil, Kafro, Miden, Arnas, Beth Debe, Beth Kustan, Beth Sbirino, Dayro da-Slibo, Hrabemishka, Qartmin, Arkah, Arbo, Mizizah, Kfraze, Hah, Marbobo, Salah, Sare and Hapsis. In addition, the cities of Midyat and Beth Zabday (Azech) were historically Assyrian cities with an Assyrian majority, this is no longer the case today. Outside of the area of core Assyrian settlement in Tur Abdin, there were also sizable populations in the towns of Diyarbakır, Urfa, Harput, and Adiyaman{{sfn|Gaunt et al.|2017| p=19}} as well as some other villages.
• The Chaldean subgroup is a subgroup of the Eastern one. The group is often equated with the adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church,{{cite news |date=March 13, 2008 |title=Who are the Chaldean Christians? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7271828.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128025509/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7271828.stm |archive-date=28 November 2020 |access-date=March 26, 2010 |work=BBC News}} however not all Chaldean Catholics identify as strictly Chaldean.{{sfn|Nisan|2002|p=x}}{{sfn|Travis|2010|p=238}} They are traditionally speakers of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialects, however there are some Turoyo speakers. In Iraq, Chaldean Catholics inhabit the western Nineveh Plains villages of Alqosh, Batnaya, Tel Keppe and Tesqopa, as well as the Nahla valley and Aqra. In Syria they live in Aleppo and the Al-Hasakah Governorate. In Turkey, they live scattered in Istanbul, Diyarbakir, Sirnak Province and Mardin Province.{{Cite web |date=22 January 2009 |title=FACTBOX: Christians in Turkey |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-turkey-christians-factbox-idUSTRE50L08O20090122 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511063603/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-turkey-christians-factbox-idUSTRE50L08O20090122 |archive-date=11 May 2023 |access-date=11 May 2023 |via=www.reuters.com}}

File:Tur Abdin.svg

File:Assyrian genocide map-pt.svg

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 as a buffer between the Churches of Rome and Persia. Persecutions and attempts to impose Zoroastrianism continued during the reign of Yazdegerd II.[https://books.google.com/books?id=1u2oP2RihIgC&pg=PA85 This History of the Medieval World] by Susan Wise Bauer, pg. 85–87[https://books.google.com/books?id=2nWP0_6gkiYC&pg=PA83 A Short World History of Christianity] by Robert Bruce Mullin, pp. 82–85

During the eras of Mongol rule under Genghis Khan and Timur, there was indiscriminate slaughter of tens of thousands of Assyrians and destruction of the Assyrian population of northwestern Iran and central and northern Iran.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/409819/Nestorian |title=Nestorian (Christian sect) |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=2013-09-18}}

More recent persecutions since the 19th century include the massacres of Badr Khan, the massacres of Diyarbakır (1895), the Adana massacre, the Assyrian genocide, the Simele massacre, and the al-Anfal campaign.{{cite book |last1=Wozniak |first1=Marta |title=Border Terrains: World Diasporas in the 21st Century |date=2012 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-1-84888-117-4 |pages=73–83 |language=en |chapter=Far from Aram-Nahrin: The Suryoye Diaspora Experience}}

{{main|Assyrian Diaspora}} {{see also|List of Assyrian settlements|Assyrian population by country}}

[[File:Assyrian world population.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Assyrian world population

{{legend|#440055|more than 500,000}}

{{legend|#aa00d4|100,000–500,000}}

{{legend|#dd55ff|50,000–100,000}}

{{legend|#eeaaff|10,000–50,000}}

{{legend|#F9D6FE|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 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:

• United States (119,402-600,000){{Cite web |publisher=United States Census Bureau |title=Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census |url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/detailed-race-ethnicities-2020-census.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Census.gov |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Assyrian Genocide Resolution Read in Arizona Assembly |url=http://www.aina.org/news/20200303173214.htm |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=www.aina.org}}
• Germany (100,000-180,000){{cite web |title=Erzdiözese |url=http://www.sokad.de/index.php/erzdioezese |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150305015143/http://sokad.de/index.php/erzdioezese |archive-date=5 March 2015 |access-date=18 February 2015}}{{Cite web |title=Aramäisch: Die Sprache Jesu in Deutschland – DW – 29.03.2024 |url=https://www.dw.com/de/aram%C3%A4isch-die-sprache-jesu-in-deutschland/a-68668752 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=dw.com |language=de}}{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2019-11-03 |title=Assyrian Genocide Monument Unveiled in Germany |url=https://seyfocenter.com/english/assyrian-genocide-monument-unveiled-in-germany/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=SEYFO CENTER |language=en-US}}
• Sweden (100,000-150,000)[http://www.eurfedling.org/Sweden.htm Demographics of Sweden] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502175529/http://www.eurfedling.org/Sweden.htm |date=2 May 2019 }}, Swedish Language Council "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."{{Cite web |last=Nyheter |first=S. V. T. |date=2018-05-09 |title=Statministerns folkmordsbesked kan avgöra kommunvalet: "Underskatta inte frågan" |url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/sodertalje/statministerns-folkmordsbesked-kan-avgora-kommunvalet-underskatta-inte-fragan |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=SVT Nyheter |language=sv}}
• Australia (60,000){{Cite web |title=Assyrian/Chaldean community populations in Australia hit 60,000, Census shows |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/assyrian/en/podcast-episode/assyrian-chaldean-community-populations-in-australia-hit-60-000-census-shows/zi6gxkzkt |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=SBS Language |language=en-au}}Assyrian Australian Association & Ettinger House 1997, Settlement Issues of the Assyrian Community, AAA, Sydney.
• Canada (31,800){{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=2022-02-09 |title=Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Canada [Country] |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=canada&GENDERlist=1&STATISTIClist=1&DGUIDlist=2021A000011124 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca}}
• Netherlands (25,000-35,000){{Cite web |date=2022-12-14 |title=Chaldeans in Europe Part V |work=Chaldean News |url=https://www.chaldeannews.com/chaldeans-around-the-world/2021/1/27/chaldeans-in-europe-part-v |access-date=2025-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214025802/https://www.chaldeannews.com/chaldeans-around-the-world/2021/1/27/chaldeans-in-europe-part-v |archive-date=2022-12-14}}

By ethnic percentage, the largest Assyrian diaspora communities are located in Södertälje in Stockholm County,{{cite book |last1=Lundgren |first1=Svante |title=The Assyrians: Fifty Years in Swedenq |date=15 May 2019 |publisher=Nineveh Press |isbn=978-91-984101-7-4 |page=14}} Sweden, and in Fairfield City in Sydney, Australia, where they are the leading ethnic group in the suburbs of Fairfield, Fairfield Heights, Prairiewood and Greenfield Park.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/news/fairfields-assyrian-resource-centre-has-secured-40000-to-fund-its-renovations/story-fngr8gwi-1226813905924|title=Fairfield's Assyrian Resource Centre has secured $40,000 to fund its renovations|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=January 31, 2014}}Fairfield City Council 2003, State of the Community Report, Fairfield City Council, Wakeley.Kinarah: Twentieth Anniversary of Assyrian Australian Association 1989, Assyrian Australian Association, Edensor Park. There is also a sizable Assyrian community in Melbourne, Australia (Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights and Craigieburn)Deniz, F. 2000, 'Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnic Identity: the Assyrian Case', The Assyrian Australian Academic Journal In the United States, Assyrians are mostly found in Chicago (Niles and Skokie), Detroit (Sterling Heights, and West Bloomfield Township), Phoenix, Modesto (Stanislaus County) and Turlock.[http://spectator.org/archives/2007/07/02/thrown-to-the-lions Thrown to the Lions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808095832/http://spectator.org/archives/2007/07/02/thrown-to-the-lions |date=2013-08-08 }}, Doug Bandow, The America Spectator

Small Assyrian communities are found in San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno in the United States, Toronto in Canada and also in London, UK (London Borough of Ealing). In Germany, pocket-sized Assyrian communities are scattered throughout Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin and Wiesbaden. In Paris, France, the commune of Sarcelles has a small number of Assyrians. Assyrians in the 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 and Moscow.{{cite web |author1=Peter BetBasoo |title=Brief History of Assyrians |url=http://www.aina.org/brief.html |website=www.aina.org |access-date=7 April 2012 |archive-date=17 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017014421/http://www.aina.org/brief.html |url-status=live }}

To note, the Assyrians residing in California and Russia tend to be from Iran, whilst those in Chicago and Sydney are predominantly Iraqi Assyrians. More recently, Syrian Assyrians are growing in size in Sydney after a huge influx of new arrivals in 2016, who were granted asylum under the federal government's special humanitarian intake.[https://www.ssi.org.au/news/ssi-news-blog/938-the-facts-about-syrian-refugees-and-fairfield The facts about Syrian refugees and Fairfield] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721073241/https://www.ssi.org.au/news/ssi-news-blog/938-the-facts-about-syrian-refugees-and-fairfield |date=21 July 2018 }} by SSI News Blog, 23 February 2017[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-02/fairfield-struggles-to-cope-after-increase-in-refugee-arrivals/8145250 Fairfield struggles to cope after threefold increase in refugee arrivals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806111928/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-02/fairfield-struggles-to-cope-after-increase-in-refugee-arrivals/8145250 |date=6 August 2018 }} by Penny Timms from ABC News, 3 January 2017 The Assyrians in Detroit are primarily Chaldean speakers, who also originate from Iraq."[http://www.cus.wayne.edu/content/publications/Arab_Factsheet1.pdf Arab, Chaldean, and Middle Eastern Children and Families in the Tri-County Area]." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20131109050605/http://www.cus.wayne.edu/content/publications/Arab_Factsheet1.pdf Archive]) From a Child's Perspective: Detroit Metropolitan Census 2000 Fact Sheets Series. Wayne State University. Volume 4, Issue 2, February 2004. p. 2/32. Retrieved on November 8, 2013. Assyrians in such European countries as Sweden and Germany would usually be Turoyo-speakers or Western Assyrians,B. Furze, P. Savy, R. Brym, J. Lie, Sociology in Today's World, 2008, p. 349 and tend to be originally from Turkey.

{{Further|Assyrian nationalism|3=Arabization|4=Turkification|5=Kurdification}}

File:Flag of the Assyrians (gold and blue Assur).svg, adopted in 1968{{cite web|url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/assyria.html |title=Assyria |publisher=Crwflags.com |access-date=2008-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012054550/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/assyria.html |archive-date=12 October 2008 }}]]

File:Flag of the Syriac-Aramaic People.svg{{cite web|url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/sy%7Darama.html |title=Syriac-Aramaic People (Syria) |publisher=Crwflags.com |access-date=2008-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011110172504/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/sy%7Darama.html |archive-date=10 November 2001 |url-status=live }}]]

File:Chaldean flag.svg, published in 1999{{cite web |title=CHALDEAN FLAG ... from A to Z |url=http://chaldeanflag.com/flag.html |website=Chaldean Flag |access-date=27 March 2020 |archive-date=29 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729203245/http://chaldeanflag.com/flag.html |url-status=live }}]]

Since the 20th century, modern Assyrians (and in some cases, other Syriac Christian groups) employ different terms for self-identification based on conflicting beliefs in the origin and identity of their respective communities.{{sfn|Murre van den Berg|2015|p=127}} During the 19th century, English archaeologist Austen Henry Layard believed that the native Christian communities in the historical region of Assyria were descended from the ancient Assyrians,{{sfn|Layard|1849a|p=IX-X, 38, 241}}{{sfn|Layard|1849b|p= 237}} a view that was also shared by William Ainger Wigram.{{cite book |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |last= Cross |first= Frank Leslie |year= 2005 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280290-3 |quote= In the 19th cent. A. H. Layard, the excavator of Nineveh, first suggested that the local *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 (1895–1915).|page=119 }}{{sfn|Coakley|2011a|p=45}}

Today, Assyrians and other minority ethnic groups in West Asia, feel pressure to identify as "Arabs",{{cite journal|url=http://www.meforum.org/article/558|title=Iraqi Assyrians: Barometer of Pluralism|author=Jonathan Eric Lewis|journal=Middle East Forum|date=June 2003|access-date=18 February 2015|archive-date=4 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704192409/http://www.meforum.org/article/558|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aina.org/releases/20070416140021.htm |title=Arab American Institute Still Deliberately Claiming Assyrians Are Arabs |publisher=Aina.org |access-date=2008-11-16 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126055125/http://www.aina.org/releases/20070416140021.htm |url-status=live }} "Turks" and "Kurds".{{cite web |url=http://www.aina.org/news/20061120133220.htm |title=In Court, Saddam Criticizes Kurdish Treatment of Assyrians |publisher=Aina.org |access-date=2008-11-16 |archive-date=14 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014180706/http://aina.org/news/20061120133220.htm |url-status=live }} In addition, Western media often makes no mention of any ethnic identity of the Christians in the region, and simply call refer to them as Christians, Iraqi Christians, Iranian Christians, Christians in Syria, and Turkish Christians, labels which are typically rejected by Assyrians.

{{Main|Names of Syriac Christians|Assyrian continuity}}

Below are terms commonly used by Assyrians to self-identify:

• Assyrian, named after their ethnicity as the descendants of the ancient Assyrian people,{{Cite book |title=A companion to Assyria |date=2017 |first=Eckart |last=Frahm |isbn=978-1-118-32524-7 |location=Hoboken, NJ |oclc=962025766}} is advocated by followers from within all Middle Eastern based East and West Syriac Rite Churches. (see Syriac Christianity){{sfn|Murre van den Berg|2015|p=127}}[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05230a.htm "Eastern Churches"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717065130/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05230a.htm |date=17 July 2018 }}, 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 rather than Assyrian.
• Chaldean is a term that was used for centuries by western writers and scholars as designation for the Aramaic language. It was so used by Jerome,{{sfn|Gallagher|2012|p=123-141}} and was still the normal terminology in the nineteenth century.{{sfn|Gesenius|Prideaux-Tregelles|1859|p=}}{{sfn|Fürst|1867|p=}}{{sfn|Davies|1872|p=}} Only in 1445 did it begin to be used to designate Aramaic speakers who had entered communion with the Catholic Church. This happened at the Council of Florence,{{sfn|Coakley|2011b|p=93}} which accepted the profession of faith that Timothy, metropolitan of the Aramaic speakers in Cyprus, made in Aramaic, and which decreed that "nobody shall in future dare to call [...] Chaldeans, Nestorians".{{Cite web|url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum17.htm|title=Council of Basel 1431–45 A.D. Council Fathers|first=Council|last=Fathers|date=14 December 1431|access-date=11 May 2023|archive-date=17 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117000637/https://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=112}}{{sfn|O'Mahony|2006|p=526-527}} Previously, when there were as yet no Catholic Aramaic speakers of Mesopotamian origin, the term "Chaldean" was applied with explicit reference to their "Nestorian" religion. Thus Jacques de Vitry wrote of them in 1220/1 that "they denied that Mary was the Mother of God and claimed that Christ existed in two persons. They consecrated leavened bread and used the 'Chaldean' (Syriac) language".{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=63}} Until the second half of the 19th century, the term "Chaldean" continued in general use for East Syriac Christians, whether "Nestorian" or Catholic.{{sfn|Ainsworth|1841|p=36}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|1842b|p=272}}{{sfn|Layard|1849a|p=260}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppAOAAAAQAAJ&q=levant+chald%C3%A9ens+nestoriens&pg=PA83|title=Histoire critique de la creance et des coûtumes des nations du Levant|first=Richard|last=Simon (oratorien)|date=July 3, 1684|publisher=Chez Frederic Arnaud|via=Google Books|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=17 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117150843/https://books.google.com/books?id=ppAOAAAAQAAJ&q=levant+chald%C3%A9ens+nestoriens&pg=PA83|url-status=live}} In 1840, upon visiting Mesopotamia, Horatio Southgate reported that local Chaldeans consider themselves to be descended from ancient Assyrians,{{sfn|Southgate|1840|p=179}} and in some later works also noted the same origin of local Jacobites.{{sfn|Southgate|1842|p=249}}{{sfn|Southgate|1844|p=80}}
• Aramean, also known as Syriac-Aramean,{{Cite book|chapter-url = https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463238933-014/html|doi = 10.31826/9781463238933-014|chapter = 11. Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites|title = Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies|year = 2017|pages = 217–222|isbn = 978-1-4632-3893-3|last1 = Akopian|first1 = Arman|access-date = 10 May 2021|archive-date = 23 April 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210423164655/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463238933-014/html|url-status = live}}{{Cite CiteSeerX |citeseerx = 10.1.1.694.4099|title = Syriac Universal Alliance|year = 2003}} named after the ancient Aramean people, is advocated by some followers from within Middle Eastern based West Syriac Rite Churches.{{sfn|Donabed|Mako|2009|p=75}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5mRxprCL9MC&q=Suryanis&pg=PA109|title=Minority Rights in the Middle East|first1=Joshua|last1=Castellino|first2=Kathleen A.|last2=Cavanaugh|date=April 25, 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|access-date=October 12, 2019|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-19-967949-2}} Furthermore, Assyrians identifying as Aramean have obtained recognition from the Israeli government.{{cite web|script-title=he:אנחנו לא ערבים - אנחנו ארמים|url=http://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/107811|publisher=Israel HaYom|language=he|date=9 August 2013|access-date=3 October 2015|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019153849/https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/107811|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-neither-arab-nor-jew-israel-s-unheard-minorities-speak-up-1.6464684|title=Neither Arab nor Jew: Israel's Unheard Minorities Speak Up After the Nation-state Law|first=Ofer|last=Aderet|date=September 9, 2018|access-date=October 12, 2019|newspaper=Haaretz|archive-date=18 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018190343/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-neither-arab-nor-jew-israel-s-unheard-minorities-speak-up-1.6464684|url-status=live}} To note, ancient Arameans were a separate ethnic group that lived concurrently with the Assyrian empire in what is now Syria and parts of Lebanon, Israel the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.{{sfn|Fiey|1965|p=141–160}}{{sfn|Lipiński|2000|p=}}{{sfn|Schniedewind|2002|p=276-287}}{{sfn|Gzella|2015|p=}} In the Assyrian community, the label is most prominent within the Syriac Orthodox Church.

File:Map of ancient Syria, Description de L'Universe (Alain Manesson Mallet, 1683).jpg and Mesopotamia in the 1st century AD, Alain Manesson Mallet, 1683]]

As early as the 8th century BC Luwian and Cilician subject rulers referred to their Assyrian overlords as Syrian, a western Indo-European corruption of the original term Assyrian. The Greeks used the terms "Syrian" and "Assyrian" interchangeably to indicate the indigenous Arameans, Assyrians and other inhabitants of the Near East. Herodotus considered "Syria" west of the Euphrates. Starting from the 2nd century BC onwards, ancient writers referred to the Seleucid ruler as the King of Syria or King of the Syrians.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pXhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA652|title= Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece|author= Nigel Wilson|page= 652|isbn= 978-1-136-78800-0|date= 2013-10-31|publisher= Routledge}} The Seleucids designated the districts of Seleucis and Coele-Syria explicitly as Syria, and ruled the Syrians as indigenous populations residing west of the Euphrates, in contrast to Assyrians who had their native homeland in Mesopotamia east of the Euphrates.{{sfn|Andrade|2013|p=28}}{{sfn|Andrade|2014|p=299–317}}

This version of the name took hold in the Hellenic lands to the west of the old Assyrian Empire, thus during Greek Seleucid rule from 323 BC the name Assyria was altered to Syria, and this term was also applied to areas west of Euphrates which had been an Assyrian colony, and from this point the Greeks applied the term without distinction between the Assyrians of Mesopotamia and Arameans of the Levant.Herodotus, The Histories, VII.63, s:History of Herodotus/Book 7.{{sfn|Joseph|1997|p=37-43}}

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 is indeed ultimately derived from the Assyrian term Aššūrāyu.{{sfn|Frye|1992|p=281–285}}{{sfn|Frye|1997|p=30–36}}{{sfn|Rollinger|2006a|p=72-82}}{{sfn|Rollinger|2006b|p=283-287}} Meanwhile, some scholars has disclaimed the theory of Syrian being derived from Assyrian as "simply naive", and detracted its importance to the naming conflict.{{sfn|Heinrichs|1993|p=106–107}}

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).{{sfn|Macuch|1976|p=89, 206, 233}} According to Tsereteli, however, a Georgian equivalent of "Assyrians" appears in ancient Georgian, Armenian and Russian documents.Tsereteli, Sovremennyj assirijskij jazyk, Moscow: Nauka, 1964. This correlates with the theory of the nations to the East of Mesopotamia knew the group as Assyrians, while to the West, beginning with Greek influence, the group was known as Syrians. Syria being a Greek corruption of Assyria. The debate appears to have been settled by the discovery of the Çineköy inscription in favour of Syria being derived from Assyria.

The Çineköy inscription is a Hieroglyphic Luwian-Phoenician bilingual, uncovered from Çineköy, Adana Province, Turkey (ancient Cilicia), dating to the 8th century BC. Originally published by Tekoglu and Lemaire (2000),{{sfn|Tekoğlu|Lemaire|İpek|Tosun|2000|p=961-1007}} 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 inscription reads "Sura/i" whereas the Phoenician translation reads {{`}}ŠR or "Ashur" which, according to Rollinger (2006), "settles the problem once and for all".{{sfn|Rollinger|2006b|p=283–287}}

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 is not restricted to exonyms like English "Assyrian" vs. "Aramaean", but also applies to self-designation in Neo-Aramaic, the minority "Aramaean" faction endorses both Sūryāyē {{lang|syr|ܣܘܪܝܝܐ}} and Ārāmayē {{lang|syr|ܐܪܡܝܐ}}, while the majority "Assyrian" faction endorses Āṯūrāyē {{lang|syr|ܐܬܘܪܝܐ}} or Sūryāyē.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

{{Main|Assyrian culture}}

File:Assyrianclothes23.jpg

Assyrian culture is largely influenced by Christianity.{{cite web |last1=ASSYRIANS OF CHICAGO |title=The Assyrian Academic Society |url=http://www.aina.org/articles/chicago.pdf |website=www.aina.org |access-date=16 November 2008 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010105120/http://www.aina.org/articles/chicago.pdf |url-status=live }} There are many Assyrian customs that are common in other Middle Eastern cultures. Main festivals occur during religious holidays such as Easter and Christmas. There are also secular holidays such as Kha b'Nissan (vernal equinox).{{Cite web|url=http://www.assyrianconference.com/ashur/002.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502081740/http://www.assyrianconference.com/ashur/002.htm|title=The Assyrian New Year|archive-date=May 2, 2006}}

People often greet and bid relatives farewell with a kiss on each cheek and by saying "{{lang|syr|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.Chamberlain, AF. "Notes on Some Aspects of the Folk-Psychology of Night". American Journal of Psychology, 1908 – JSTOR. A parent will often place an eye pendant on their baby to prevent "an evil eye being cast upon it".Gansell, AR. FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO MODERN SYRIA: ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON FEMALE ADORNMENT DURING RITES. Ancient Near Eastern Art in Context. 2007 – Brill Academic Publishers. Spitting on anyone or their belongings is seen as a grave insult.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Assyrians are endogamous, meaning they generally marry within their own ethnic group, although exogamous marriages are not perceived as a taboo, unless the foreigner is of a different religious background, especially a Muslim.{{cite book|author=Dr. Joseph Adebayo Awoyemi|title=Pre-marital Counselling In a Multicultural Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nm1LCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT75|date=14 September 2014|isbn=978-1-291-83577-9|pages=75–|publisher=Lulu.com}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Throughout history, relations between the Assyrians and Armenians have tended to be very friendly, as both groups have practised Christianity since ancient times and have suffered through persecution under Muslim rulers. Therefore, mixed marriage between Assyrians and Armenians is quite common, most notably in Iraq, Iran, and as well as in the diaspora with adjacent Armenian and Assyrian communities.The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia, Garnik Asatryan, Victoria Arakelova.

{{Main|Neo-Aramaic languages}}

File:Syriac Dialects EN.svg]]

The Neo-Aramaic languages, which are in the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, 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. After being conquered by the Assyrians, many people, including the Arameans, were deported to the Assyrian heartland and elsewhere. Due to the large number of Aramaic-speaking people, the Aramaization of Assyria began. The relationship between the Arameans and Assyrians grew stronger, with Aramean scribes working alongside Assyrian ones.{{sfn|Parpola|2004|p=9}}

By around 700 BCE, the Aramaic script began replacing cuneiform in the Assyrian Empire for administrative and diplomatic purposes, though cuneiform continued for royal and religious texts.{{sfn|Parpola|2004|p=9}} Aramaic was the language of commerce, trade, and communication and became the vernacular language of Assyria in classical antiquity.{{sfn|Lipiński|2000|p=}}{{sfn|Bae|2004|p=1–20}}{{sfn|Gzella|2015|p=}} By the 1st century AD, Akkadian was extinct, although its influence on contemporary Eastern Neo-Aramaic languages spoken by Assyrians is significant and some loaned vocabulary still survives in these languages to this day.{{Cite web|url=http://www.aina.org/articles/akkadianwords.pdf|title=Akkadian Words in Modern Assyrian|access-date=October 12, 2019|archive-date=21 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921085123/http://www.aina.org/articles/akkadianwords.pdf|url-status=live}}Kaufman, Stephen A. (1974), The Akkadian influences on Aramaic. University of Chicago Press

To the native speaker, the language is usually called Surayt, Soureth, Suret or a similar regional variant. A wide variety of dialects exist, mainly Suret, and Surayt. All are classified as Neo-Aramaic languages and are usually 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.Avenery, Iddo, The Aramaic Dialect of the Jews of Zakho. The Israel academy of Science and Humanities 1988.Khan, Geoffrey (1999). A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic: the dialect of the 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 of Azerbaijan and of Zakhu near Mosul. Cambridge University Press, London.

There is a considerable amount of mutual intelligibility between Suret dialects. Therefore, these "languages" would generally be considered to be dialects rather than separate languages. The Jewish Aramaic languages of Lishan Didan and Lishanid Noshan share a partial intelligibility with these varieties. The mutual intelligibility between Suret and Surayt/Turoyo is, depending on the dialect, limited to partial, and may be asymmetrical.{{sfn|Heinrichs|1990|p=}}{{sfn|Tezel|2003|p=}}

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,{{cite web|last1=O'Brien|first1=Abbie|title=Australia's only Assyrian school is giving refugees a fresh start|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-s-only-assyrian-school-is-giving-refugees-a-fresh-start|website=SBS News|access-date=14 March 2018|archive-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220032821/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-s-only-assyrian-school-is-giving-refugees-a-fresh-start|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=The inside story of how 226 Assyrian Christians were freed from ISIS|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/12/06/the-inside-story-of-how-226-assyrian-christians-were-freed-from-isis/|access-date=14 March 2018|newspaper=Catholic Herald|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329085910/https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/12/06/the-inside-story-of-how-226-assyrian-christians-were-freed-from-isis/|archive-date=29 March 2019}} a substantial number still reside in Arabic-speaking countries speaking Arabic alongside the Neo-Aramaic languages{{cite web |title=Understanding recent movements of Christians from Syria and Iraq to other countries across the Middle East and Europe |url=http://www.aina.org/reports/utrmcfsi.pdf |website=www.aina.org |access-date=15 September 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010103419/http://www.aina.org/reports/utrmcfsi.pdf |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Baumer|2006|p=}}{{cite web |author1=Carl Drott |title=The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin |url=http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin |website=Warscapes |language=en |date=25 May 2015 |access-date=25 September 2016 |archive-date=10 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710040436/http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin |url-status=live }} 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 (Istanbul and Tur Abdin) and Armenia still do today.{{Cite web|url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/assyrians-return-to-turkey-from-europe-to-save-their-culture-10131|title=Assyrians return to Turkey from Europe to save their culture|website=Assyrians return to Turkey from Europe to save their culture|language=tr-TR|access-date=2018-03-05|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111212816/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/assyrians-return-to-turkey-from-europe-to-save-their-culture-10131|url-status=live}}

Many loanwords from the aforementioned languages exist in the Neo-Aramaic languages, with the Iranian languages and Turkish being the greatest influences overall. Only 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 and a smaller number of Assyrians returning from the diaspora in Europe.

{{Main|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 and shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew and the Arabic alphabets.{{sfn|Briquel-Chatonnet|2019|p=243–265}} 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.{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/578972/Syriac-alphabet | title=Syriac alphabet | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=June 16, 2012}}

The oldest and classical form of the alphabet is the {{transliteration|sem|ʾEsṭrangēlā}} script.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}}. 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 Standard in September, 1999. The East Syriac dialect is usually written in the {{transliteration|sem|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 {{transliteration|sem|Serṭā}} form of the alphabet. Most of the letters are clearly derived from ʾEsṭrangēlā, but are simplified, flowing lines.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].

Furthermore, for practical reasons, Assyrian people sometimes use the Latin alphabet, especially in social media.

{{Main|Syriac Christianity}}

File:Syriac Christian denominations.svg

Assyrians belong to various Christian denominations, such as the Syriac Orthodox Church, which has over 1 million members around the world, the Chaldean Catholic Church, with about 600,000 members,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. the Assyrian Church of the East, with an estimated 400,000 members,{{cite web |title=Assyrian Church of the East |url=http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_41.html#303 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031001183203/http://adherents.com/Na/Na_41.html#303 |archive-date=October 1, 2003 |access-date=2013-09-18 |url-status=usurped |publisher=Adherents.com}} and the Ancient Church of the East, with some 100,000 members. The churches that constitute the East Syriac rite include the Chaldean Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East, whereas the churches of the West Syriac rite are the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Syriac Catholic Church.

A small minority of Assyrians accepted the Protestant Reformation and became Reform Orthodox in the 20th century, possibly due to British influences, and are now organised in the Assyrian Evangelical Church, the Assyrian Pentecostal Church and other Protestant/Reform Orthodox Assyrian groups. While there are some atheist Assyrians, they tend to still associate with some denomination.{{cite conference| url = https://globalization.osu.cz/publ/beyond_globalisation.pdf#page=71| title = Assyrian Ethnic Identity in a Globalizing World| first = Artur| last = Boháč| year = 2010| editor1-first=Přemysl| editor1-last=Mácha| editor2-first=Vincenc| editor2-last=Kopeček| book-title = Beyond Globalisation: Exploring the Limits of Globalisation in the Regional Context| publisher = University of Ostrava| location = Ostrava| page = 71| isbn = 978-80-7368-717-5| quote = Although there are some atheists among Assyrians, they are usually associated with specific communities based on the adherence to a concrete religious sect. | language = en}}

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 and speaking Neo-Aramaic languages. It is subdivided into:

• adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East and Ancient Church of the East following the East Syriac Rite, also known as Nestorians
• adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church following the East Syriac Rite, also known as Chaldeans
• adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church following the West Syriac Rite, also known as Jacobites
• adherents of the Syriac Catholic Church following the West Syriac Rite

Baptism and First Communion are celebrated extensively, similar to a 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.

During the "Seyfo" genocide,{{sfn|Abdalla|2017|p=92-105}} there were a number of Assyrians who were forced to convert to Islam.{{cite book|title=Genocide in the Ottoman Empire: Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, 1913–1923|first=George |last=N. Shirinian|year= 2017| isbn=978-1-78533-433-7| page =109|publisher=Berghahn Books}}{{cite book|title=Let Them Not Return: Sayfo – The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire|first=Soner|last=O. Barthoma|year= 2017| isbn=978-1-78533-499-3| page =2|publisher=Berghahn Books}}{{cite book|title=The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies|first=Richard |last=G. Hovannisian|year= 2011| isbn=978-1-4128-3592-3| page =268|publisher=Transaction Publishers}} They reside in Turkey, and practice Islam but still retain their identity.{{Cite web|url=http://www.seyfocenter.com/english/muslim-assyrians-who-are-they/|title=Muslim Assyrians? Who are they?|date=November 23, 2016|access-date=3 July 2019|archive-date=1 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801081135/http://www.seyfocenter.com/english/muslim-assyrians-who-are-they/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://armenianweekly.com/2016/11/28/crypto-assyrians-who-are-they/|title=Crypto-Assyrians: Who are they?|date=November 28, 2016|website=The Armenian Weekly|access-date=4 July 2019|archive-date=3 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703162129/https://armenianweekly.com/2016/11/28/crypto-assyrians-who-are-they/|url-status=live}} A small number of Assyrian Jews exist as well.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jokopost.com/thoughts/21609/|title=שואת אחינו האשוריים {{!}} הדרך המהירה שבין תרבות ישראל לתרבות אשור {{!}} יעקב מעוז|date=2019-07-18|website=JOKOPOST {{!}} עיתון המאמרים והבלוגים המוביל בישראל|language=he-IL|access-date=2019-07-22|archive-date=22 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722162725/https://www.jokopost.com/thoughts/21609/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Assyrian/Syriac folk music|Syriac sacral music}}

File:Assyriankhigga.jpg may be worn for Assyrian folk dance.]]

Assyrian music is a combination of traditional folk music and western contemporary music genres, namely pop and soft rock, but also electronic dance music. 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. Assyrian-Australian band Azadoota performs its songs in the Assyrian language whilst using a western style of instrumentation.

The first international Aramaic Music Festival was held in Lebanon in August 2008 for Assyrian people internationally.{{cite web | last=Malko | first=Helen | title=The Assyrians of South West Asia: Modern People, Ancient Past | website=University of Helsinki | date=2023-05-29 | url=https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/ancient-near-eastern-empires/news/the-assyrians-of-south-west-asia-modern-people-ancient-past#:~:text=Modern%20Assyrians%20believe%20they%20are,and%20the%20Middle%20East%20today. }}

{{Main|Assyrian folk dance}}

File:Assyrianfolkdance.jpg in an Assyrian party in Chicago]]

Assyrians have numerous traditional dances which are performed mostly for special occasions such as weddings. Assyrian dance is a blend of 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. The most common form of Assyrian folk dance is khigga, which is routinely danced as the bride and groom are welcomed into the wedding reception. Most of the circle 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.

Assyrian festivals tend to be closely associated with their Christian faith, of which Easter is the most prominent of the celebrations. Members of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church and Syriac Catholic Church follow the Gregorian calendar and as a result celebrate Easter on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusively.[http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.php The Date of Easter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814045718/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.php |date=2011-08-14 }}. Article from United States Naval Observatory (March 27, 2007).

Members of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Ancient Church of the East celebrate Easter on a Sunday between April 4 and May 8 inclusively on the Gregorian calendar, March 22 and April 25 on the Julian calendar. During Lent, 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 ({{langx|syr|ܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ}}, "First of April"), the Assyrian New Year, traditionally on April 1. Assyrians usually wear traditional costumes and hold social events including parades and parties, dancing, and listening to poets telling the story of creation.{{Cite web|url=http://aua.net/News/releases/2006/NewYear2006.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119121049/http://aua.net/News/releases/2006/NewYear2006.pdf|title=AUA Release March 26, 2006.|archive-date=November 19, 2011}}
• Sauma d-Ba'utha ({{langx|syc|ܒܥܘܬܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܝ̈ܐ}} {{transliteration|syc|Bā'ūṯā ḏ-Ninwāyē}}, literally "Petition of the Ninevites"), the Nineveh fast, is a three-day period of fasting and prayer and commemorates the repentance of the Ninevites at the hands of Jonah.{{cite web|title=Three Day Fast of Nineveh |url=http://syrianorthodoxchurch.org/news/2011/02/10/three-day-fast-of-nineveh/ |publisher=syrianorthodoxchurch.org |access-date=1 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025123007/http://syrianorthodoxchurch.org/news/2011/02/10/three-day-fast-of-nineveh/ |archive-date=25 October 2012 }}Malko, Helen (2019). [https://www.academia.edu/39008009/Heritage_Wars_A_Cultural_Genocide_in_Iraq "Heritage Wars: A Cultural Genocide in Iraq"]. In Bachman, Jeffrey (ed.). Cultural Genocide: Law, Politics, and Global Manifestations. Routledge. p. 216. {{ISBN|9781351214087}}.
• Somikka ({{Langx|syr|ܣܘܿܡܝܟܵܐ}}), All Saints Day, is celebrated to motivate children to fast during Lent through use of frightening costumes. Men in costumes would knock on the doors of family's houses and scare the children into fasting for Lent until the parents would hand them money. The celebration was intended to help poor families afford the expenses incurred for Easter.{{Cite web |year=2012 |title=Coming Together in Skokie: A Celebration of the Assyrian People |url=https://www.atour.com/media/files/news/national/usa/2012-USA-Chicago-Skokie-ComingTogetherFestival/CTIS-2012_program.pdf |page=22 |publication-place=Skokie, Illinois}}
• Kalu d'Sulaqa ({{Langx|syr|ܟܵܠܘܿ ܕܣܘܼܠܵܩܵܐ}}), feast of the Bride of the Ascension, celebrates Assyrian resistance to the invasion of Assyria by Tamerlane. The feast commemorates the women who died in battle helping the Assyrian soldiers. In the villages, the girls would be dressed as brides and would parade around the village asking for goods and gifts.
• Hano Kritho, a tradition that is celebrated by Assyrians from Tur Abdin and its surrounding area, typically on the last Sunday before Great Lent. Rooted in local legend, it commemorates a girl named Hano, who was promised as a sacrifice by her father, a king, after his victorious battle. Children create a doll representing Hano, singing traditional songs, while visiting homes to collect food like bulgur, eggs and roasted meat.{{sfn|Begiç|2025|pp=66–67}}
• Nusardil ({{Langx|syr|ܢܘܼܣܲܪܕܝܠ}}), commemorating the baptism of the Assyrians of Urmia by St. Thomas.{{cite encyclopedia | title = FESTIVALS ix. Assyrian | last1 = Piroyan | first1 = William | last2 = Naby | first2 = Eden | author-link2 = Eden Naby | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/festivals-ix-assyrian | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IX, Fasc. 6 | pages = 561–563 | year = 1999 }} Before Christianity, an ancient folk story told of Ishtar and Tammuz led to the religious celebration "Taklimtu", where every July the citizens would be blessed with holy water. It occurs after the seventh day of the Pentecost, marking the first day of summer. Assyrians celebrate by pouring water on each other to denote baptism.
• Sharra d'Mart Maryam, usually on August 15, a festival and feast celebrating St. Mary with games, food, and celebration. File:The Assyrian New Year, Akitu festival (2019) in Duhok (Nohaadra) 49.jpg, Akitu festival (2019) in Duhok (Nohaadra)]] 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, Mar Odisho, and many more. Each town or city also have their own Sharras based on the patron saints of the churches, monasteries, or other holy sites in the settlement or nearby.
• Yoma d'Sah'deh ({{Langx|syr|ܝܘܡܐ ܕܣܗܕ̈ܐ|4=Day of Martyrs}} (Day of Martyrs), commemorating the thousands massacred in the Simele massacre and the hundreds of thousands massacred in the Assyrian genocide. It is commemorated annually on August 7.

Assyrians 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 usually last 2–3 days. In the Assyrian diaspora they last 1–2 days.

{{Main|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.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

{{Main|Assyrian cuisine}}

Image:Assyriancusiene.jpg]]

Assyrian cuisine is similar to other Middle Eastern cuisines, and is rich in grains, meat, potato, cheese, bread and tomatoes. Typically, rice is served with every meal, with a stew poured over it. 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 drunk. Assyrian cuisine is primarily identical to Iraqi/Mesopotamian cuisine, as well as being very similar to other Middle Eastern and Caucasian cuisines, as well as Greek cuisine, Levantine cuisine, Turkish cuisine, Iranian cuisine, Israeli cuisine, and Armenian cuisine, with most dishes being similar to the cuisines of the area in which those Assyrians live/originate from.{{Cite news|url=https://mag.jewishinseattle.org/articles/2017/12/5/an-ancient-empire-gets-new-life-on-a-food-truck|title=An Ancient Empire Gets New Life — on a Food Truck|last=Mandel|first=Pam|date=2017-12-05|work=Jewish in Seattle Magazine|access-date=2018-03-21|archive-date=2019-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603115721/https://mag.jewishinseattle.org/articles/2017/12/5/an-ancient-empire-gets-new-life-on-a-food-truck}} It is rich in grains such as barley, meat, tomato, herbs, spices, cheese, and potato as well as herbs, fermented dairy products, and pickles.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lj0CeaIIETkC |title=Food, Cuisine, and Cultural Competency for Culinary, Hospitality, and Nutrition Professionals |editor-last=Edelstein |editor-first=Sari |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7637-5965-0 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |pages=545–552}}

{{Primary sources section|date=May 2025}}

{{Further|Genetic history of the Middle East}}

Late-20th-century DNA analysis conducted by Cavalli-Sforza, Paolo Menozzi and Alberto Piazza, "shows that Assyrians have a distinct genetic profile that distinguishes their population from any other population."{{Cite web|url=http://www.assyrianfoundation.org/genetics.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816235456/http://www.assyrianfoundation.org/genetics.htm|title=Dr. Joel J. Elias, Emeritus, University of California, The Genetics of Modern Assyrians and their Relationship to Other People of the Middle East|archive-date=August 16, 2000}} Genetic analyses of the Assyrians of Persia demonstrated that they were "closed" with little "intermixture" with the Muslim Persian population and that an individual Assyrian's genetic makeup is relatively close to that of the Assyrian population as a whole.{{cite journal |author1=Akbari M.T. |author2=Papiha Sunder S. |author3=Roberts D.F. |author4=Farhud Daryoush D. | year = 1986 | title = Genetic Differentiation among Iranian Christian Communities | journal = American Journal of Human Genetics | volume = 38 | issue = 1| pages = 84–98 |pmid=3456196 |pmc=1684716 }}{{cite book|first1= Luigi Luca |last1=Cavalli-Sforza|author-link=Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza |first2=Paolo |last2=Menozzi|first3= Alberto |last3=Piazza|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FrwNcwKaUKoC |title=The History and Geography of Human Genes|page= 243|isbn=978-0-691-08750-4|year=1994|publisher=Princeton University Press }} "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".

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."{{Cite web |url=http://www.rau.am/downloads/publ.kafedr/episkoposyan_medbiolog/Yepiskoposian_I%26C_06.pdf |title=Yepiskoposian et al., Iran and the Caucasus, Volume 10, Number 2, 2006, pp. 191–208(18), "Genetic Testing of Language Replacement Hypothesis in Southwest Asia" |access-date=2021-05-10 |archive-date=2015-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017200047/http://www.rau.am/downloads/publ.kafedr/episkoposyan_medbiolog/Yepiskoposian_I%26C_06.pdf }} 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 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.{{cite journal | pmid = 18505046 | doi=10.3378/1534-6617(2008)80[73:VODVAA]2.0.CO;2 | volume=80 | issue=1 | title=Variation of DAT1 VNTR alleles and genotypes among old ethnic groups in Mesopotamia to the Oxus region | date=Feb 2008 | journal=Hum Biol | pages=73–81 | quote = 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. | last1=Banoei | first1=M. M. | last2=Chaleshtori | first2=M. H. | last3=Sanati | first3=M. H. | last4=Shariati | first4=P | last5=Houshmand | first5=M | last6=Majidizadeh | first6=T | last7=Soltani | first7=N. J. | last8=Golalipour | first8=M | s2cid=10417591 }}

In a 2011 study focusing on the genetics of Marsh Arabs of Iraq, researchers identified Y chromosome haplotypes shared by Marsh Arabs, Iraqis, and Assyrians, "supporting a common local background."[http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2148-11-288.pdf 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 of Iraq"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105012321/http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2148-11-288.pdf |date=5 November 2015 }}"In the less frequent J1-M267* clade, only marginally affected by events of expansion, Marsh Arabs shared haplotypes with other Iraqi and Assyrian samples, supporting a common local background." In a 2017 study focusing on the genetics of Northern Iraqi populations, it was found that 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 from northern 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".

Y-DNA haplogroup J-M304 which originated from a geographical zone that includes northeastern Syria, northern Iraq and eastern Turkey from where it expanded to the rest of the Near East and North Africa{{cite journal |last1=Dogan |first1=Serkan |date=3 November 2017 |title=A glimpse at the intricate mosaic of ethnicities from Mesopotamia: Paternal lineages of the northern Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, Turkmens and Yazidis |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=12 |issue=11 |pages=e0187408 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1287408D |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0187408 |pmc=5669434 |pmid=29099847 |doi-access=free}} has been measured at 55% among Assyrians of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and diaspora; while it has been found at 11% among Assyrians of Iran.{{cite journal |vauthors=Lashgary Z, Khodadadi A, Singh Y, Houshmand SM, Mahjoubi F, Sharma P, Singh S, Seyedin M, Srivastava A, Ataee M, Mohammadi ZS, Rezaei N, Bamezai RN, Sanati MH |title=Y chromosome diversity among the Iranian religious groups: a reservoir of genetic variation |journal=Ann. Hum. Biol. |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=364–71 |date=2011 |pmid=21329477 |doi=10.3109/03014460.2010.535562 |s2cid=207460555 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49843898}} the same haplogroup also have high prevalence among Iraqi Arabs which is "indicative of their indigenous nature".

Haplogroup T-M184 [reported as K*] has been measured at 15.09% among Assyrians in Armenia.{{cite journal |vauthors=Yepiskoposian L, Khudoyan A, Harutyunian A |title=Genetic Testing of Language Replacement Hypothesis in Southwest Asia |journal=Iran and the Caucasus |volume=10 |issue=2 |year=2006 |pages=191–208 |jstor=4030922 |doi=10.1163/157338406780345899}} The haplogroup is frequent in Middle Eastern Jews, Georgians, Druze and Somalians. According to a 2011 study by Lashgary et al., R1b [reported as R*(xR1a)] has been measured at 40% among Assyrians in Iran, making it major haplogroup among Iranian Assyrians. Yet another DNA test comprising 48 Assyrian male subjects from Iran, the Y-DNA haplogroups J-M304, found in its greatest concentration in the Arabian peninsula, and the northern R-M269, were also frequent at 29.2% each.{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0041252|pmid = 22815981|pmc = 3399854|title = Ancient Migratory Events in the Middle East: New Clues from the Y-Chromosome Variation of Modern Iranians|journal = PLOS ONE|volume = 7|issue = 7|pages = e41252|year = 2012|last1 = Grugni|first1 = Viola|last2 = Battaglia|first2 = Vincenza|last3 = Hooshiar Kashani|first3 = Baharak|last4 = Parolo|first4 = Silvia|last5 = Al-Zahery|first5 = Nadia|last6 = Achilli|first6 = Alessandro|last7 = Olivieri|first7 = Anna|last8 = Gandini|first8 = Francesca|last9 = Houshmand|first9 = Massoud|last10 = Sanati|first10 = Mohammad Hossein|last11 = Torroni|first11 = Antonio|last12 = Semino|first12 = Ornella|bibcode = 2012PLoSO...741252G|doi-access = free}} Lashgary et al. explain the presence of haplogroup R in Iranian Assyrians as well as in other Assyrian communities (~23%) as a consequence of mixing with Armenians and assimilation/integration of different peoples carrying haplogroup R, while explain its frequency as a result of genetic drift due to small population size and endogamy due to religious barriers.

Haplogroup J2 has been measured at 13.4%, which is commonly found in the Fertile Crescent, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Italy, coastal Mediterranean, and the Iranian plateau.{{cite journal | vauthors = Underhill PA, Shen P, Lin AA, Jin L, Passarino G, Yang WH, Kauffman E, Bonné-Tamir B, Bertranpetit J, Francalacci P, Ibrahim M, Jenkins T, Kidd JR, Mehdi SQ, Seielstad MT, Wells RS, Piazza A, Davis RW, Feldman MW, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Oefner PJ | title = Y chromosome sequence variation and the history of human populations | journal = Nature Genetics | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = 358–61 | year = 2000 | pmid = 11062480 | doi = 10.1038/81685 | s2cid = 12893406 }}Semino O, Magri C, Benuzzi G, Lin AA, Al-Zahery N, Battaglia V, Maccioni L, Triantaphyllidis C, Shen P, Oefner PJ, Zhivotovsky LA, King R, Torroni A, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Underhill PA, Santachiara-Benerecetti AS: Origin, diffusion, and differentiation of Y-chromosome haplogroups E and J: inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and later migratory events in the Mediterranean area. Am J Hum Genet 2004, 74:1023–1034.

{{Portal|Christianity}}

{{Columns-list

|colwidth=20em|

• Assyria
• Assyrian diaspora
• Assyrian genocide
• Assyrian homeland
• Assyrian independence movement
• Assyrian Universal Alliance
• The Last Assyrians
• List of Assyrians
• Mandaeans
• Mhallami
• Neo-Aramaic languages
• Proposals for Assyrian autonomy in Iraq
• Syriac Christianity
• Syriac language

}}

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• {{cite web

|author=MacDonald, Kevin

|date=2004-07-29

|title=Socialization for Ingroup Identity among Assyrians in the United States

|type=Abstract

|url=http://evolution.anthro.univie.ac.at/ishe/conferences/past%20conferences/ghent.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610001135/http://evolution.anthro.univie.ac.at/ishe/conferences/past%20conferences/ghent.html

|archive-date=2007-06-10

|author-link=Kevin B. MacDonald

}}

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{{Refend}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190924013211/http://betnahrain.am/ BetNahrain – Assyrian Center in Armenia]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfwoGQS_ieE YouTube-Video: Associate professor Svante Lundgren elaborates on the history and origin of the Assyrian people]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071116064544/http://www.visarkiv.se/mmm/media/assyrien/cyber-e.htm A virtual Assyria: Cyberland]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043107/http://www.visarkiv.se/mmm/media/assyrien/religi-e.htm A virtual Assyria: Christians from the Middle East]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071103114444/http://www.christiansofiraq.com/assyriancostumoc96.html Traditional Assyrian Costumes]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20030511210802/http://www.zindamagazine.com/iraqi_documents/earliestchurches.html Assyrian Iraqi Document Projects]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20030511211400/http://www.zindamagazine.com/iraqi_documents/whoareassyrians.html Who Are Assyrians?]
• [http://www.aina.org/brief.html Assyrian History]
• [http://www.aramaic-dem.org/English/History/1.htm Aramean History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318194125/http://www.aramaic-dem.org/English/History/1.htm |date=2018-03-18 }}

{{Assyrian communities}}

{{Ethnic groups in Iran}}

{{Iraq topics}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Ethnic groups in Iran

Category:Ethnic groups in Iraq

Category:Ethnic groups in Syria

Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East

Category:Ethnic groups in Turkey

Category:Indigenous peoples of West Asia

Category:Oriental Orthodoxy in Iran

Category:Oriental Orthodoxy in Iraq

Category:Oriental Orthodoxy in Syria

Category:Oriental Orthodoxy in Turkey

Category:Ethnoreligious groups in Asia

Category:Ethnic groups divided by international borders