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107-461: Qaraqosh ( Syriac : ܩܪܩܘ݂ܫ , romanized :  Qaraqoš ; Arabic : بغديدا , romanized :  Baḡdīda (official name), or Arabic : بخديدا , romanized :  Baḵdīda , also known as al-Ḥamdāniyya or Qara-Qūš; a Turkic placename meaning "Black Bird"), is an Assyrian city in the Nineveh Governorate , of Iraq located about 32 kilometres (20 mi) southeast of

214-471: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification Csa ). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Bakhdida is 20.7 °C (69.3 °F). About 468 mm (18.43 in) of precipitation falls annually. Since the late 19th century, various locations on the outskirts of the town were excavated by Hormuzd Rassam . In Balawat (the ancient Assyrian city of Imgur-Enlil)

321-411: A closer grammatical relationship by the addition of a pronominal suffix. Thus, the phrase can be written as ܫܩ̈ܠܝܗ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܐ , šeqlêh d-malkuṯā . In this case, both nouns continue to be in the emphatic state, but the first has the suffix that makes it literally read "her taxes" ("kingdom" is feminine), and thus is "her taxes, [those] of the kingdom". Adjectives always agree in gender and number with

428-482: A common synonym for Aramaic language in general, while other (conventional and narrower) designating only the Edessan Aramaic, also referred to more specifically as the " Classical Syriac ". Noting the problem, scholars have tried to resolve the issue by being more consistent in their use of the term " Classical Syriac " as a strict and clear scientific designation for the old literary and liturgical language, but

535-462: A few irregular stems, like the Šap̄ʿel and ʾEštap̄ʿal , which generally have an extensive meaning. The basic G-stem or "Peal" conjugation of "to write" in the perfect and imperfect is as follows: Phonologically, like the other Northwest Semitic languages, Syriac has 22 consonants. The consonantal phonemes are: Tikrit Originally a fort during the Assyrian empire, Tikrit became

642-620: A fundamental cultural and literary influence on the development of Arabic , which largely replaced it during the later medieval period. Syriac remains the sacred language of Syriac Christianity to this day. It is used as liturgical language of several denominations, like those who follow the East Syriac Rite , including the Assyrian Church of the East , the Ancient Church of the East ,

749-520: A headquarter for U.S. 4th Infantry Division , U.S. 1st Infantry Division , and 42nd Infantry Division . The palace complex now serves several purposes for the Iraqi police and army, including headquarters and jails. The U.S. military subsequently moved their operations to al Sahra Airfield, later known as Camp Speicher , northwest of Tikrit. Saddam Hussein's primary palace complex contained his own palace, one built for his mother and his sons and also included

856-407: A joint raid by special operations forces and the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division . After the fall of Baghdad , Saddam Hussein was in and around Tikrit. He was hidden by relatives and supporters for about six months. During his final period in hiding, he lived in a small hole just outside the town of ad-Dawr , 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Tikrit on

963-526: A leader of the Mukhabarat. Ali Hassan al Majid (1941 – 2010), an Iraqi politician and military commander who was saddam's defence minister, interior minister and chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (1914 – 1982), Iraqi politician who served as the president of Iraq, from 17 July 1968 to 16 July 1979. Tikrit is about 160 kilometers (99 mi) north of Baghdad on

1070-459: A major Miaphysite (Orthodox Christian) center under its first bishop, Ahudemmeh , in 559. Under Marutha of Tikrit , the bishopric was elevated into a maphrianate and the city's ecclesiastical jurisdiction extended as far as Central Asia. The city remained predominantly Syriac Orthodox Christian in the early centuries of Islamic rule and gained fame as an important center of Syriac and Christian Arab literature. Some famous Christians from

1177-415: A man-made lake, all enclosed with a wall and towers. Plans for the palace grounds when originally returned to the Iraqi people included turning it into an exclusive and lush resort. However, within weeks of turning over the palace, it was ravaged, and its contents, (furniture, columns, even light switches), were stolen and sold on the streets of Tikrit. The 402nd Civil Affairs Detachment of the U.S. Army, and

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1284-715: A number of Assyrian artifacts have been excavated; they are currently displayed in the British Museum and Mosul Museum . There is a lot of interest in the archaeology of Baghdida today. It has many Assyrian remains, like those of Tel Bashmoni (Beth Shmoni), Tel Muqortaya, Tel Karamles, Tel Mar Bihnam and others. These mounds were fortresses, temples or buildings that belonged to the Assyrian capital of Nimrud . Throughout 1922, 1927, and 1935, archaeologists found gold pieces and cylinder seals, as well as an Assyrian statue (now in Mosul museum) in

1391-578: A setback when the governor ordered the destruction of the main cathedral known popularly as the " Green Church " in 1089. The maphrian and some of the Christians of Tikrit had to relocate to the Mor Mattai Monastery , where a village named Merki was established in the valley below the monastery. A later governor permitted the reconstruction of the cathedral. However, instability returned and the maphrian moved indefinitely to Mosul in 1156. Regardless,

1498-516: A specific variant of the Aramaic language in relation to its regional origin in northeastern parts of Ancient Syria , around Edessa , which lay outside of the provincial borders of Roman Syria . Since Aramaic was used by various Middle Eastern peoples, having several variants ( dialects ), this specific dialect that originated in northeastern Syria became known under its regional (Syrian/Syriac) designation ( Suryaya ). In English scholarly literature ,

1605-405: A variant designation for the ancient Eblaite language from the third millennium BC, that is unrelated to the much later Edessan Aramaic, and its early phases, that were commonly labeled as Old/Proto- or even Paleo/Palaeo-Syrian/Syriac in scholarly literature. Newest addition to the terminological mosaic occurred c. 2014, when it was proposed, also by a scholar, that one of regional dialects of

1712-764: A well in the church of Mar Zina. In 1942 an Assyrian bathroom and several graves were found near the church of Bashmoni. Furthermore, during the 1980s excavations in the grounds of the Church of Mar Youhanna (Saint John), archaeologists found human remains inside graves in the eastern side and at a depth of one and a half metres. These graves were built with typical Assyrian large rectangular bricks. References to Athur (Assyria) continued in texts from Bakhdida. Mapharian Athanasius Ibrahim II of Tur Abdin visited Tikrit, Baghdad, and Arbil to attend to his congregation. According to Afram Abdal al-Khouri and his book al-Lu'lu' al-Nadheed fi Tareekh Deir Mar Bihnam al-Shaheed ( The Layers of Pearls in

1819-637: Is also taught in some public schools in Iraq , Syria , Palestine , Israel , Sweden , Augsburg (Germany) and Kerala (India). In 2014, an Assyrian nursery school could finally be opened in Yeşilköy , Istanbul after waging a lawsuit against the Ministry of National Education which had denied it permission, but was required to respect non-Muslim minority rights as specified in the Treaty of Lausanne . In August 2016,

1926-635: Is named after him. The city was devastated in 1393 by Timur . During the Ottoman period Tikrit existed as a small settlement that belonged to the Rakka Eyalet ; its population never exceeded 4,000–5,000. In September 1917, British forces captured the city during a major advance against the Ottoman Empire during World War I . The Tikriti Jewish community was mostly gone by 1948. By the time Saddam Hussein rose to power there were only two Jewish families in

2033-559: Is of uncertain origin and when translated from the Syriac language it has two components Beth which means "house", and Khodida which could either mean "Youths" in Aramaic or actually "Baghdadak" a diminutive form of Baghdad, Old Persian meaning "God's gift". Some also believe that Bakhdida comes from the Aramaic Beth Deta , meaning "Land of the Kite ". As of October 2016, the city is under

2140-421: Is the head-noun which is marked by the construct state. Thus, ܫܩ̈ܠܝ ܡܠܟܘܬܐ , šeqlay malkuṯā , means "the taxes of the kingdom". Quickly, the construct relationship was abandoned and replaced by the use of the relative particle ܕ , d-, da- . Thus, the same noun phrase becomes ܫܩ̈ܠܐ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܐ , šeqlē d-malkuṯā , where both nouns are in the emphatic state. Very closely related nouns can be drawn into

2247-449: Is written in the Syriac alphabet , a derivation of the Aramaic alphabet . The language is preserved in a large body of Syriac literature , that comprises roughly 90% of the extant Aramaic literature. Along with Greek and Latin , Syriac became one of the three most important languages of Early Christianity . Already from the first and second centuries AD, the inhabitants of the region of Osroene began to embrace Christianity , and by

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2354-1023: The Chaldean Catholic Church , the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church , and the Assyrian Pentecostal Church , and also those who follow the West Syriac Rite , including: Syriac Orthodox Church , the Syriac Catholic Church , the Maronite Catholic Church , the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church , the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church . Classical Syriac was originally

2461-632: The Church of the East in central and northeastern Mesopotamia. Religious divisions were also reflected in linguistic differences between the Western Syriac Rite and the Eastern Syriac Rite . During the 5th and the 6th century, Syriac reached its height as the lingua franca of Mesopotamia and surrounding regions. It existed in literary (liturgical) form, as well as in vernacular forms, as the native language of Syriac-speaking populations. Following

2568-610: The Church of the East teachings, but switched to the Syriac Orthodox Church through the influence of Shapur of Baghdeda in the 7th century and the arrival of Assyrian refugees from Tikrit in the 11th century. In their literature and writings, the Assyrians of Bakhdida remember vividly the raids of the Persians and Kurds on their village and churches. In 1171, while the governors of Mosul and Damascus were fighting each other,

2675-554: The Jazira province. It was later regarded as belonging to Iraq by Arab geographers. Tikrit was briefly controlled by the Nizari Ismailis . After a failed Seljuk campaign against it, the Nizaris handed it over to the local Shia Arabs there. The Arab Uqaylid dynasty took hold of Tikrit in 1036. Saladin was born there around 1138. The modern province of which Tikrit is the capital

2782-504: The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church , the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and some Parishes in the Syro-Malabar Knanaya Archeparchy of Kottayam . Eastern Syriac is the liturgical language of the East Syriac Rite , practised in modern times by the ethnic Assyrian followers of the Assyrian Church of the East , the Assyrian Pentecostal Church , the Ancient Church of the East , the Chaldean Catholic Church , as well as

2889-470: The Mesopotamian language ( Nahrāyā ) and Aramaic ( Aramāyā ), is an Eastern Middle Aramaic dialect. Classical Syriac is the academic term used to refer to the dialect's literary usage and standardization, distinguishing it from other Aramaic dialects also known as 'Syriac' or 'Syrian'. In its West-Syriac tradition, Classical Syriac is often known as leššōnō kṯoḇonōyō ( lit.   '

2996-877: The Middle East , Central Asia and the Malabar Coast in India , and remains so among the Syriac Christians to this day. It has been found as far afield as Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain , with inscriptions written by Aramaic-speaking soldiers of the Roman Empire . History of Syriac language is divided into several successive periods, defined primarily by linguistic, and also by cultural criteria. Some terminological and chronological distinctions exist between different classifications, that were proposed among scholars. During

3103-647: The Near East (2003), those issues have acquired additional complexity, related to legal recognition of the language and its name. In the Constitution of Iraq (Article 4), adopted in 2005, and also in subsequent legislation, term " Syriac " ( Arabic : السريانية / al-suriania ) is used as official designation for the language of Neo-Aramaic -speaking communities, thus opening additional questions related to linguistic and cultural identity of those communities. Legal and other practical (educational and informational) aspects of

3210-458: The Neo-Aramaic languages. Such differences in classification, both terminological and substantial, within systems and between systems (ISO and MARC), led to the creation of several additional problems, that remain unresolved. Within linguistics, mosaic of terminological ambiguities related to Syrian/Syriac labels was additionally enriched by introduction of the term " Palaeo-Syrian language " as

3317-461: The Old Aramaic language from the first centuries of the 1st millennium BC should be called " Central Syrian Aramaic ", thus introducing another ambiguous term, that can be used, in its generic meaning, to any local variant of Aramaic that occurred in central regions of Syria during any period in history. After more than five centuries of Syriac studies , which were founded by western scholars at

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3424-454: The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India. Syriac literature is by far the most prodigious of the various Aramaic languages. Its corpus covers poetry, prose, theology, liturgy, hymnody, history, philosophy, science, medicine and natural history. Much of this wealth remains unavailable in critical editions or modern translation. From the 7th century onwards, Syriac gradually gave way to Arabic as

3531-512: The Tigris River . The city is located within the semi-undulating area. It penetrates the branch and valleys and ends with very sloping slopes towards the Tigris River, with a height ranging between 45–50 meters. Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh). The Tikrit Museum was damaged during the 2003 Iraq War . The University of Tikrit

3638-694: The US -led invasion of Iraq in 2003. After the invasion, the city has been a site of conflict with the Islamic State , culminating in the Second Battle of Tikrit from March to April 2015, which resulted in the displacement of 28,000 civilians. The Iraqi government regained control of the city from the Islamic State on March 31, 2015, with the city at peace since then. As a fort along the Tigris ( Akkadian : Idiqlat ),

3745-712: The US-led invasion , many of the villagers in Mosul and Baghdad were targeted for being Christians. On 22 November 2006 Yeshu' Hadaya , the leader of a National Syriac movement was assassinated in Bakhdida. At the beginning of July 2014, IS forces attempted to occupy the city. The Kurdish Peshmerga and the Assyrian Qaraqosh Protection Committee successfully defended it, while elders, women, and children fled to neighboring towns, thus joining other Christian refugees from nearby Mosul that had previously escaped

3852-560: The West Syriac Rite under the Byzantine rule. As a liturgical language of Syriac Christianity , Classical Syriac spread throughout Asia as far as the South Indian Malabar Coast , and Eastern China , and became the medium of communication and cultural dissemination for the later Arabs , and (to a lesser extent) the other peoples of Parthian and Sasanian empires. Primarily a Christian medium of expression, Syriac had

3959-456: The infinitive and the active and passive participles . Syriac has only two true morphological tenses: perfect and imperfect. Whereas these tenses were originally aspectual in Aramaic, they have become a truly temporal past and future tenses respectively. The present tense is usually marked with the participle followed by the subject pronoun . Such pronouns are usually omitted in

4066-600: The linguistic homeland of the language in the region of Osroene, was never part of contemporary (Roman) Syria . In the 3rd century, churches in Edessa began to use local Aramaic dialect as the language of worship. Early literary efforts were focused on creation of an authoritative Aramaic translation of the Bible, the Peshitta ( ܦܫܝܛܬܐ Pšīṭtā ). At the same time, Ephrem the Syrian

4173-654: The 1990s, is direct to Mosul. All of its Assyrian Christian citizens fled to the Kurdistan Region after the IS invasion on August 6, 2014. The town was under control of IS until October 19, 2016, when it was liberated as part of the Battle of Mosul after which residents have begun to return. Local Assyrians , who are ethnically distinct from Arabs and Kurds, speak the Qaraqosh dialect of Northeastern Neo-Aramaic . The present name of

4280-547: The 2003 invasion of Iraq, AFN Iraq ("Freedom Radio") broadcast news and entertainment within Tikrit, among other locations. On November 22, 2005, HHC 42nd Infantry Division New York Army National Guard, handed over control of Saddam Hussein's primary palace complex in Tikrit to the governor of Saladin Province, who represented the Iraqi government, discontinuing the existence of what once was FOB Danger. The palace complex had served as

4387-591: The 5th century. In the same time, a growing body of later sources showed that both in Greek, and in native literature, those labels were most commonly used as designations for Aramaic language in general, including its various dialects (both eastern and western), thus challenging the conventional scholarly reduction of the term "Syriac language" to a specific designation for Edessan Aramaic. Such use, that excludes non-Edessan dialects, and particularly those of Western Aramaic provenience, persist as an accepted convention, but in

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4494-504: The Arab conquest in the 7th century, vernacular forms of Syriac were gradually replaced during the next centuries by the advancing Arabic language . Having an Aramaic (Syriac) substratum , the regional Arabic dialect ( Mesopotamian Arabic ) developed under the strong influence of local Aramaic (Syriac) dialects, sharing significant similarities in language structure, as well as having evident and stark influences from previous (ancient) languages of

4601-513: The Christians defended it and after months of blockade, the Persians finally signed a peace agreement with Mosul's governor Hasan Pasha Al Jalili, and withdrew in 1743. To reward the Christians for their bravery, the Jalili governor permitted many churches in the Mosul region to be restored. The people of Bakhdida got the chance to vote for the first time on 30 January 2005. The secular Ayad Allawi led

4708-922: The History of the Monastery of Martyred Mar Bihnam ), 1951, p. 219, Sony writes: "in 1365 the Mapharian came to Athur or Mosul and was welcomed by Nour al-Din the Chief of Baghdeda … " (Sony 1998, 699). Last but not least, Sony writes that in 1294–1295 (according to the Mar Bihnam monastery archives) a certain king "came to Lower Athur, the city of Saint Mar Bihnam … " (Sony 1998, 95). Syriac language The Syriac language ( / ˈ s ɪr i æ k / SIH -ree-ak ; Classical Syriac : ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ , romanized:  Leššānā Suryāyā ), also known natively in its spoken form in early Syriac literature as Edessan ( Urhāyā ),

4815-478: The Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen near Baghdida. In 1324 Baghdida was attacked by the Kurds again, in which many homes and four churches were burned. In the early 18th century, Persians under the leadership of Nader Shah invaded the Mosul region and most of the inhabitants of Baghdida escaped to Mosul with all their valuables, in accordance with the governor's orders. Mosul was harassed and then besieged for months. However,

4922-470: The Kurds used the opportunity to attack the Mor Mattai Monastery . According to the 13th-century writer Bar Hebraeus , in 1261 the Kurds came down to Mosul, killing many Christians who refused to follow Islam and looting their homes and churches. The Kurds then occupied the Monastery of Saint John of Dailam and killed many of its nuns and those who had sought refuge there. In 1288, a battle took place between

5029-844: The Ourhi Centre was founded by the Assyrian community in the city of Qamishli, to educate teachers in order to make Syriac an additional language to be taught in public schools in the Jazira Region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria , which then started with the 2016/17 academic year. In April 2023, a team of AI researchers completed the first AI translation model and website for classical Syriac. Many Syriac words, like those in other Semitic languages , belong to triconsonantal roots , collations of three Syriac consonants. New words are built from these three consonants with variable vowel and consonant sets. For example,

5136-496: The Phoenicians all speak Syriac, but with many differences in pronunciation ". Theodoret's regional (provincial) differentiation of Aramaic dialects included an explicit distinction between the "Syrians" (as Aramaic speakers of Syria proper, western of Euphrates ), and the "Osroenians" as Aramaic speakers of Osroene (eastern region, centered in Edessa ), thus showing that dialect of the "Syrians" (Aramaic speakers of proper Syria)

5243-546: The Syriac-speaking world. As a result, Syriac developed distinctive western and eastern varieties. Although remaining a single language with a high level of comprehension between the varieties, the two employ distinctive variations in pronunciation and writing system, and, to a lesser degree, in vocabulary. The Syriac language later split into a western variety, used mainly by the Syriac Orthodox Church in upper Mesopotamia and Syria proper, and an eastern variety used mainly by

5350-530: The University of Mosul was the target of a coordinated attack, which killed and injured more than a hundred. The Iraqi Ministry of Education started the construction of a subsidiary of the University of Mosul which in 2014 became the University of AL-Hamdaniya , which is planned to serve the whole Nineveh Plains region. The University of AL-Hamdaniya currently consists of two colleges: The college of Education and

5457-400: The attack in its list of deadliest attacks in 2011. On June 11, 2014, during the Northern Iraq offensive , the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took control of the city . Hours later, the Iraqi Army made an attempt to recapture the city, which resulted in heavy fighting. On June 12, ISIL executed at least 1,566 Iraqi Air Force cadets from Camp Speicher at Tikrit. At the time of

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5564-402: The attack there were between 4,000 and 11,000 unarmed cadets in the camp. The Iraqi government blamed the massacre on both ISIL and members of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region . By July 2014, government forces had withdrawn from Tikrit. On September 25, 2014, Islamist militants destroyed the Assyrian Church there that dated back to 700 AD. The historic Al-Arba'een Mosque

5671-412: The birthplace of Muslim military leader Saladin . Saddam Hussein 's birthplace was in a modest village (13 km) south of Tikrit, which is called " Al-Awja "; for that, Saddam bore the surname al-Tikriti . The inhabitants of this village were farmers. A few significant people from Saladin Governorate , including some from Tikrit, were appointed to government roles during the time of Ba'athist Iraq until

5778-447: The case of the third person. This use of the participle to mark the present tense is the most common of a number of compound tenses that can be used to express varying senses of tense and aspect. Syriac also employs derived verb stems such as are present in other Semitic languages. These are regular modifications of the verb's root to express other changes in meaning. The first stem is the ground state, or Pəʿal (this name models

5885-444: The city and the next day Islamists from IS invaded the city. Much of the population, including recent arrivals, was left joining the 150,000 Assyrians fleeing, though they were forced to walk towards Erbil without their cars and possessions as Kurdish forces feared Islamist infiltration. All of its citizens fled to Kurdistan Region after the IS invasion on 6 August 2014. The town was under control of IS until 19 October 2016, when it

5992-405: The city in fear of the extremists. The Islamists proceeded to cut off the town's water supply. This, together with the rise in the price of oil following IS's invasion of nearby oil field and an embargo imposed by IS forcing nearby Muslim villages to stop trade with Bakhdida, rendered life difficult in the town also burdened with incoming refugees. On August 6, 2014, the Kurdish troops withdrew from

6099-478: The city include its bishop Quriaqos of Tagrit who ascended to become the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church , theologians Abu Zakariya Denha and Abu Raita , and translator Yahya ibn Adi . From the ninth century Christians of Tikrit began to migrate northwards due to restrictive measures taken by some Muslim governors. Many settled in Mosul and villages in the Nineveh Plains , especially Bakhdida , as well as Tur Abdin . The Christian community received

6206-446: The city is first mentioned in the Fall of Assyria Chronicle as being a refuge for the Babylonian king Nabopolassar during his attack on the city of Assur in 615 BC. Tikrit is usually identified as the Hellenistic settlement Birtha . Until the 6th century, Christianity within the Sasanian Empire was predominantly dyophysite under the Church of the East , however, as a result of Miaphysite missionary work, Tikrit became

6313-504: The city of Edessa ( Urhay ). Among similar endonymic names with regional connotations, term Nahraya was also used. It was derived from choronym (regional name) Bet-Nahrain , an Aramaic name for Mesopotamia in general. Original endonymic (native) designations, for Aramaic in general ( Aramaya ), and Edessan Aramaic in particular ( Urhaya ), were later (starting from the 5th century) accompanied by another term, exonymic (foreign) in origin: Suryaya (Syrian/Syriac), adopted under

6420-411: The city of Edessa . During the Early Christian period, it became the main literary language of various Aramaic-speaking Christian communities in the historical region of Ancient Syria and throughout the Near East . As a liturgical language of Syriac Christianity , it gained a prominent role among Eastern Christian communities that used both Eastern Syriac and Western Syriac rites. Following

6527-406: The city of Mosul and 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Erbil amid agricultural lands, close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian cities Kalhu and Nineveh . Qaraqosh is connected to the main city of Mosul by two main roads. The first runs through the Assyrian towns of Bartella and Karamlesh , which connects to the city of Erbil as well. The second, which was gravel before being paved in

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6634-421: The city remained an important center of the Syriac Orthodox Church until its destruction by Timur in the late 14th century. A Christian presence has not existed in the city since the 17th century. The town was also home to the Arab Christian tribe of Iyad. The Arabs of the town secretly assisted the Muslims when they besieged the town. The Muslims entered Tikrit in 640; it was from then considered as part of

6741-461: The city. The city is the birthplace of Saddam Hussein . Many senior members of the Iraqi government during his rule were drawn from Saddam's own Tikriti tribe, the Al-Bu Nasir , as were members of his Iraqi Republican Guard , chiefly because Saddam apparently felt that he was most able to rely on relatives and allies of his family. The Tikriti domination of the Iraqi government became something of an embarrassment to Hussein and, in 1977, he abolished

6848-402: The college of Administration and Economics. The University is based at the Mosul-Erbil road, Al-Hamdaniya intersection. It is thought that the ancient city of Rasin mentioned in some texts, the second city built by the Assyrian king Nimrud, was in Bakhdida. The Assyrians of Bakhdida became Christians during early Christianity. With the Christological disputes of the 4th century, they followed

6955-440: The consistency of such use was never achieved within the field. Inconsistent use of "Syrian/Syriac" labels in scholarly literature has led some researchers to raise additional questions, related not only to terminological issues but also to some more fundamental (methodological) problems, that were undermining the integrity of the field. Attempts to resolve those issues were unsuccessful, and in many scholarly works, related to

7062-413: The control of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units . On November 25, 2017; Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU) celebrated the completion of its new military camp in Bakhdida, Nineveh Plain. Students from the village were harassed in University of Mosul ; many female students were forced to wear an Islamic dress for fear of being attacked. On May 2, 2010, a convoy of buses carrying students from Bakhdida to

7169-399: The creation of a specific field of Syriac studies , within Aramaic studies . Preference of early scholars towards the use of the Syrian/Syriac label was also relied upon its notable use as an alternative designation for Aramaic language in the " Cave of Treasures ", long held to be the 4th century work of an authoritative writer and revered Christian saint Ephrem of Edessa (d. 373), who

7276-536: The creation of newspapers in written Syriac ( ܟܬܒܢܝܐ Kṯāḇānāyā ) similar to the use of Modern Standard Arabic has been employed since the early decades of the 20th century. Modern forms of literary Syriac have also been used not only in religious literature but also in secular genres, often with Assyrian nationalistic themes. Syriac is spoken as the liturgical language of the Syriac Orthodox Church , as well as by some of its adherents . Syriac has been recognised as an official minority language in Iraq. It

7383-405: The development of Classical Syriac, the emphatic state became the ordinary form of the noun, and the absolute and construct states were relegated to certain stock phrases (for example, ܒܪ ܐܢܫܐ/ܒܪܢܫܐ , bar nāšā , "man, person", literally "son of man"). In Old and early Classical Syriac, most genitive noun relationships are built using the construct state, but contrary to the genitive case, it

7490-524: The eastern bank of the Tigris, a few kilometers southeast of his hometown of Al-Awja (although the story of having been found in a hole specifically has come into question as being a piece of war-time propaganda). The missions which resulted in the capture of Saddam Hussein were assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Teams of the 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Colonel James Hickey of the 4th Infantry Division. The U.S. Army finally captured Saddam Hussein on December 13, 2003 during Operation Red Dawn . During

7597-439: The end of the 15th century, main terminological issues related to the name and classification of the language known as Edessan Aramaic, and also referred to by several other names combined of Syrian/Syriac labels, remain opened and unsolved. Some of those issues have special sociolinguistic and ethnolinguistic significance for the remaining Neo-Aramaic speaking communities. Since the occurrence of major political changes in

7704-621: The first three centuries of the Common Era , a local Aramaic dialect spoken in the Kingdom of Osroene , centered in Edessa , eastern of Euphrates , started to gain prominence and regional significance. There are about eighty extant early inscriptions, written in Old-Edessan Aramaic, dated to the first three centuries AD, with the earliest inscription being dated to the 6th year AD, and the earliest parchment to 243 AD. All of these early examples of

7811-457: The following words belong to the root ܫܩܠ ( ŠQL ), to which a basic meaning of taking can be assigned: Most Syriac nouns are built from triliteral roots. Nouns carry grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), they can be either singular or plural in number (a very few can be dual) and can exist in one of three grammatical states. These states should not be confused with grammatical cases in other languages. However, very quickly in

7918-423: The government of Salah ad Din province, began plans to improve local economic conditions. One of the many projects they are working on is building an industrial vocational school in the Tikrit area. The school will teach local people skills in different fields of technology, which will help to build and improve Iraq's economic stability. The curriculum will educate men and women in multiple occupational fields such as

8025-566: The influence of a long-standing Greek custom of referring to speakers of Aramaic as Syrians . Among ancient Greeks, term "Syrian language" was used as a common designation for Aramaic language in general, and such usage was also reflected in Aramaic, by subsequent (acquired) use of the term "Suryaya" as the most preferred synonym for "Aramaya" (Aramaic). Practice of interchangeable naming (Aramaya, Urhaya, Nahraya, and Suryaya) persisted for centuries, in common use and also in works of various prominent writers. One of those who used various terms

8132-420: The language and its Syrian/Syriac regional origin. Early native speakers and writers used several endonymic terms as designations for their language. In addition to common endonym (native name) for the Aramaic language in general ( Aramaya ), another endonymic term was also used, designating more specifically the local Edessan dialect, known as Urhaya , a term derived directly from the native Aramaic name for

8239-427: The language are non-Christian. As a language of public life and administration in the region of Osroene, Edessan Aramaic was gradually given a relatively coherent form, style and grammar that is lacking in other Aramaic dialects of the same period. Since Old-Edessan Aramaic later developed into Classical Syriac, it was retroactively labeled by western scholars as "Old Syrian/Syriac" or "Proto-Syrian/Syriac", although

8346-481: The linguistic self-identification also arose throughout Syriac-speaking diaspora , particularly in European countries (Germany, Sweden, Netherlands). Syriac was the local dialect of Aramaic in Edessa , and evolved under the influence of the Church of the East and the Syriac Orthodox Church into its current form. Before Arabic became the dominant language, Syriac was a major language among Christian communities in

8453-658: The liturgical language of the Syriac Melkites within the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in Antioch and parts of ancient Syria . The Syriac Melkites changed their church's West Syriac Rite to that of Constantinople in the 9th-11th centuries, necessitating new translations of all their Syriac liturgical books. In the English language , the term "Syriac" is used as a linguonym (language name) designating

8560-521: The name " Syriac ", while the existing general code syr, that was until then named " Syriac ", was renamed to " Syriac, Modern ". Within ISO 639 system, large body of unspecific references related to various linguistic uses of the term " Syriac " remained related to the original ISO 639-2 code syr ( Syriac ), but its scope is defined within the ISO 639-3 standard as a macrolanguage that currently includes only some of

8667-481: The nouns they modify. Adjectives are in the absolute state if they are predicative , but agree with the state of their noun if attributive . Thus, ܒܝܫܝ̈ܢ ܫܩ̈ܠܐ , bišin šeqlē , means "the taxes are evil", whereas ܫܩ̈ܠܐ ܒܝ̈ܫܐ , šeqlē ḇišē , means "evil taxes". Most Syriac verbs are built on triliteral roots as well. Finite verbs carry person , gender (except in the first person) and number, as well as tense and conjugation . The non-finite verb forms are

8774-411: The old literary and liturgical language, reduction of the term " Classical Syriac " to " Syriac " (only) remained a manner of convenience, even in titles of works, including encyclopedic entries, thus creating a large body of unspecific references, that became a base for the emergence of several new classes of terminological problems at the advent of the informational era . Those problems culminated during

8881-490: The process of international standardization of the terms " Syriac " and " Classical Syriac " within the ISO 639 and MARC systems. The term " Classical Syriac " was accepted in 2007 and codified (ISO code: syc ) as a designation for the old literary and liturgical language, thus confirming the proper use of the term. In the same time, within the MARC standard, code syc was accepted as designation for Classical Syriac , but under

8988-417: The production of high-tech products, plastic production technology, masonry, carpentry, petroleum equipment maintenance and repair, farm machinery and automotive repair. This self-supporting educational institution owns a textile mill where many of the graduates will work producing uniforms. The mill is scheduled to begin producing and selling products within the year, with the profits from the mill going to fund

9095-491: The region. Syriac-influenced Arabic dialects developed among Iraqi Muslims , as well as Iraqi Christians , most of whom descend from native Syriac speakers. Western Syriac is the official language of the West Syriac Rite , practiced by the Syriac Orthodox Church , the Syriac Catholic Church , the Maronite Catholic Church , the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , the Malabar Independent Syrian Church ,

9202-402: The same preference was adopted by later scholars, with one important distinction: in western scholarly use, Syrian/Syriac label was subsequently reduced from the original Greek designation for Aramaic language in general to a more specific (narrower) designation for Edessan Aramaic language, that in its literary and liturgical form came to be known as Classical Syriac . That reduction resulted in

9309-440: The same time stands in contradiction both with original Greek, and later native (acquired) uses of Syrian/Syriac labels as common designations for Aramaic language in general. Those problems were addressed by prominent scholars, including Theodor Nöldeke (d. 1930) who noted on several occasions that term " Syriac language " has come to have two distinctive meanings, wider and narrower, with first (historical and wider) serving as

9416-445: The school. The vocational school's operation, support and funding are modeled after a system South Korea used in another part of Iraq. On April 18, 2010, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi were killed in a raid 10 km (6 mi) southwest of Tikrit in a safe house. The Islamic State of Iraq launched an attack on March 29, 2011 that killed 65 people and wounded over 100. Reuters news agency included

9523-482: The shape of the root) form of the verb, which carries the usual meaning of the word. The next is the intensive stem, or Paʿʿel , form of the verb, which usually carries an intensified meaning . The third is the extensive stem, or ʾAp̄ʿel , form of the verb, which is often causative in meaning. Each of these stems has its parallel passive conjugation: the ʾEṯpəʿel , ʾEṯpaʿʿal and ʾEttap̄ʿal respectively. To these six cardinal stems are added

9630-460: The spoken language of much of the region, excepting northern Iraq and Mount Lebanon. The Mongol invasions and conquests of the 13th century, and the religiously motivated massacres of Syriac Christians by Timur further contributed to the rapid decline of the language. In many places outside of Upper Mesopotamia and Mount Lebanon , even in liturgy, it was replaced by Arabic. Revivals of literary Syriac in recent times have led to some success with

9737-531: The spread of Syriac Christianity, it also became a liturgical language of eastern Christian communities as far as India and China . It flourished from the 4th to the 8th century, and continued to have an important role during the next centuries, but by the end of the Middle Ages it was gradually reduced to liturgical use, since the role of vernacular language among its native speakers was overtaken by several emerging Neo-Aramaic languages . Classical Syriac

9844-446: The subsequent occupation , Tikrit became the scene of a number of resistance attacks against Coalition forces . It is commonly regarded as being the northern angle of the " Sunni Triangle " within which the resistance was at its most intense. In June 2003, Abid Hamid Mahmud , Saddam Hussein's Presidential Secretary and the Ace of Diamonds on the most wanted 'Deck of Cards,' was captured in

9951-451: The term "Syriac" is preferred over the alternative form "Syrian", since the latter is much more polysemic and commonly relates to Syria in general. That distinction is used in English as a convention and does not exist on the ancient endonymic level. Several compound terms like "Syriac Aramaic", "Syrian Aramaic" or "Syro-Aramaic" are also used, thus emphasizing both the Aramaic nature of

10058-512: The third and fourth centuries, local Edessan Aramaic language became the vehicle of the specific Christian culture that came to be known as the Syriac Christianity . Because of theological differences, Syriac-speaking Christians diverged during the 5th century into the Church of the East that followed the East Syriac Rite under the Persian rule, and the Syriac Orthodox Church that followed

10165-587: The town, Qaraqosh, is first attested in a source from the sixteenth century. It is of Turkish origin, meaning 'Black Bird', and was introduced either by the Ottomans after their conquest of the area at the beginning of the sixteenth century or by the Turkmen rulers of the region in the fifteenth century. The local population, however, when speaking in their Aramaic dialect, still refer to the town by its former name. The name Bakhdida ( Syriac : ܒܝܬ ܟܘܕܝܕܐ ; Beth Khdeda ),

10272-452: The use of surnames in Iraq to conceal the fact that so many of his key supporters bore the same surname, al-Tikriti (as did Saddam himself). Saddam Hussein was buried near Tikrit in his hometown of Al-Awja following his hanging on December 30, 2006. In the opening weeks of the 2003 US-led invasion , many observers speculated that Saddam would return to Tikrit as his "last stronghold". The city

10379-469: The votes in the town. However many Assyrians, Shabaks and Yazidis were not allowed to vote, which led to demonstrations against the results. The next parliamentary elections on 7 March 2010, saw the rise of local candidates with the Assyrian Democratic Movement coming second. Only 52% of registered voters participated in this election. Due to the rise of extremism in Iraq shortly after

10486-612: The wider historical region of Syria should not be overlooked by improper and unspecific use of Syrian/Syriac labels. Diversity of Aramaic dialects was recorded by Theodoret of Cyrus (d. c. 466), who accepted Syrian/Syriac labels as common Greek designations for the Aramaic language in general, stating that " the Osroënians, the Syrians, the people of the Euphrates, the Palestinians, and

10593-419: The written language or the book language ' ) or simply kṯoḇonōyō , or kṯowonōyō , while in its East-Syriac tradition, it is known as leššānā ʔatīqā ( lit.   ' the old language ' ) or saprāyā ( lit.   ' scribal or literary ' ). It emerged during the first century AD from a local Eastern Aramaic dialect that was spoken in the ancient region of Osroene , centered in

10700-655: Was detonated as well, damaging the cemetery surrounding it. In March 2015, the Iraqi Army along with the Hashd Shaabi popular forces launched an operation to retake Tikrit . On March 31, the Iraqi government claimed the city had been recaptured. Saladin (1137 – 1193), was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Saddam Hussein (1937 - 2006), President of Iraq from 16 July 1979 – 9 April 2003 . Barzan al-Tikriti (1951 – 2007), one of three half-brothers of Saddam Hussein, and

10807-456: Was established in 1987 and is one of the largest universities in Iraq. Tikrit Stadium is a multi-use facility used mostly for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Salah ad Din FC . It holds 10,000 people. There is also a new world-class stadium that meets FIFA standards with a capacity of 30,000 seats being built in Tikrit. The Iraqi Air Force has had several air bases at Tikrit:

10914-635: Was known to be different from that of the "Osroenians" (speakers of Edessan Aramaic). Native ( endonymic ) use of the term Aramaic language (Aramaya/Oromoyo) among its speakers has continued throughout the medieval period, as attested by the works of prominent writers, including the Oriental Orthodox Patriarch Michael of Antioch (d. 1199). Since the proper dating of the Cave of Treasures , modern scholars were left with no indications of native Aramaic adoption of Syrian/Syriac labels before

11021-595: Was liberated as part of the Battle of Mosul . Currently, the Nineveh Plain Protection Units run the security profile in the city and participated alongside the Iraqi Army in the liberation efforts of the city. On 26 September 2023, a fire broke out at the Al Haytham Wedding Hall during a Syriac Catholic wedding in the city, which killed at least 114 people, and injured 150. It is 32 miles (51 km) southeast of Mosul . Bakhdida has

11128-543: Was producing the most treasured collection of poetry and theology in the Edessan Aramaic language, that later became known as Syriac. In 489, many Syriac-speaking Christians living in the eastern reaches of the Roman Empire fled to the Sasanian Empire to escape persecution and growing animosity with Greek-speaking Christians. The Christological differences with the Church of the East led to the bitter Nestorian Schism in

11235-436: Was subjected to intense aerial bombardment meant to throw Saddam's elite Republican Guard troops out of the city. On April 13, 2003, several thousand U.S. Marines and other coalition members aboard 300 armored vehicles converged on the town, meeting little or no resistance. With the fall of Tikrit, U.S. Army Major General Stanley McChrystal said, "I would anticipate that the major combat operations are over." However, during

11342-471: Was theologian Jacob of Edessa (d. 708), who was referring to the language as " Syrian or Aramaic " (Suryāyā awkēt Ārāmāyā), and also as Urhāyā , when referring to Edessan Aramaic, or Naḥrāyā when pointing to the region of Bet-Nahrain (Aramaic term for Mesopotamia in general). Plurality of terms among native speakers (ārāmāyā, urhāyā, naḥrāyā, and suryāyā) was not reflected in Greek and Latin terminology, that preferred Syrian/Syriac designation, and

11449-435: Was thus believed to be proponent of various linguistic notions and tendencies expressed in the mentioned work. Since modern scholarly analyses have shown that the work in question was written much later ( c. 600) by an unknown author, several questions had to be reexamined. In regard to the scope and usage of Syrian/Syriac labels in linguistic terminology, some modern scholars have noted that diversity of Aramaic dialects in

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