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123-659: At the 2004 census, the subdistrict had a population of 50,982. Assyrians from the Assyrian Church of the East constitute about 40% of the population of this district, with the rest being adherents of other Assyrian churches such as the Chaldean Catholic Church and Syriac Orthodox Church . There is also Kurds and Arabs . It is the headquarter of the Assyrian Khabour Guards and Nattoreh militias, as well as

246-399: A crucifix ) in the circle of a ringed cross (in the form of Celtic cross ) surrounded by four angels. Three Syriac manuscripts from the early 19th century and earlier—they were edited into a compilation titled The Book of Protection by Hermann Gollancz —containing a number of illustrations which are more or less crude. These manuscripts prove the continuous use of images. Moreover,

369-479: A complex term, equivalent for Greek term hypostasis ), unmingled, but everlastingly united in the one prosopon (person) of Christ. The precise Christological teachings of Nestorius are shrouded in obscurity. Wary of Monophysitism, Nestorius rejected Cyril's theory of a hypostatic union , proposing instead a much looser concept of prosopic union . Nestorianism has come to mean radical Dyophysitism , in which Christ's two natures are eternally separate, though it

492-463: A history stretching back over 3,000 years. Assyrians are almost exclusively Christian, with most adhering to the East and West Syriac liturgical rites of Christianity. Both rites use Classical Syriac as their liturgical language. The Assyrians were among the early converts to Christianity, along with Jews, Arameans, Armenians , Greeks , and Nabataeans . The ancestral indigenous lands that form

615-466: A life-size male stucco figure was discovered in a church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon from the late 6th century. Beneath this church were found the remains of an earlier church. Although it cannot be determined which Nestorian Church was involved, the discovery nevertheless proves that the Church of the East also used figurative representations. The Assyrian Church of the East is governed by an episcopal polity ,

738-664: A local lord ( malik ), while each malik was ultimately subject to the patriarch, who mediated between Christian Assyrians and the Ottoman authorities. In 1780, at the beginning of the patriarchal tenure of Eliya XII (XIII) (1778–1804), a group seceded from the Eliya line in Alqosh and elected Yohannan Hormizd , who entered full communion with the Catholic Church and was officially appointed Archbishop of Mosul and patriarchal administrator of

861-462: 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 . 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

984-465: A number of changes to the church, including liturgical reform, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar , and the shortening of Lent . These changes, combined with Shimun's long absence from Iraq, caused a rift in the community there, which led to another schism. In 1968, traditionalists within the church elected Thoma Darmo as a rival patriarch to Shimun XXI Eshai, forming the independent Ancient Church of

1107-501: A steady influx of Arabs, Kurds and other Iranian peoples , 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. Assyrians remained dominant in Upper Mesopotamia as late as

1230-660: Is an Eastern Christian church that follows the traditional Christology and ecclesiology of the historical Church of the East . It belongs to the eastern branch of Syriac Christianity , and employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari belonging to the East Syriac Rite . Its main liturgical language is Classical Syriac , a dialect of Eastern Aramaic , and the majority of its adherents are ethnic Assyrians who speak differing Akkadian influenced dialects of Eastern Aramaic in everyday life. The Assyrian Church of

1353-515: Is doubtful whether Nestorius ever taught such a doctrine. Nestorius' rejection of the term Theotokos ('God-bearer', or 'Mother of God') has traditionally been held as evidence that he asserted the existence of two persons (dyoprosopism) — not merely two natures — in Jesus Christ, but there exists no evidence that Nestorius denied Christ's oneness. In the controversy that followed the Council of Ephesus,

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1476-631: Is given in Adrian Fortescue's Lesser Eastern Churches . 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 , he ordained two metropolitans and three other bishops, thus beginning

1599-716: Is in communion with it. Membership is estimated to 385,000 adherents, although some sources say as high as 500,000. According to scholar James Minahan around 19% of the Assyrian people belong to the Assyrian Church of the East. In its own 2018 Report on Religious Freedom, the United States Department of State put the Assyrian Church of the East adherents at approximately 20% of the Christians in Iraq . The patriarchal seat

1722-748: 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. The rise and rule of the Middle Assyrian Empire (14th to 10th century BC) spread Assyrian culture, people and identity across northern Mesopotamia . The Assyrian people, after

1845-516: Is the attempt to replace Timothy I (779–823) with Ephrem of Gandīsābur. 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

1968-557: 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. During the early Bronze Age period, Sargon of Akkad united all

2091-515: The Antiochene theological tradition of the early church. The founders of Assyrian theology are Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia , both of whom taught at Antioch . "Antiochene" is a modern designation given to the style of theology associated with the early church at Antioch, as contrasted with the theology of the Church of Alexandria. Antiochene theology emphasizes Christ's humanity and

2214-629: The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London , and elected Dinkha as the 120th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East. On 17 October he was consecrated as Dinkha IV at St Barnabas Church, Ealing, in an area where many Assyrians lived. Dinkha, who was then aged 33, operated his see at Tehran until the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988, when he went into exile in the United States and transferred

2337-562: 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

2460-563: The Assyrian homeland are those of ancient Mesopotamia and the Zab rivers, a region currently divided between modern-day Iraq , southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran , and northeastern Syria . A majority of modern Assyrians have migrated to other regions of the world, including North America, the Levant , Australia, Europe, Russia and the Caucasus . Emigration was triggered by genocidal events throughout

2583-596: The British mandate there, and joined the already existing indigenous Assyrian communities of both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic rites in the north, where they formed communities in Baghdad , Basra , and other areas. In the aftermath of World War I, the British-educated Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai , born into the line of patriarchs at Qodchanis, had agitated for an independent Assyrian state. Following

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2706-769: The Catholic Church , and a 2001 theological dialogue between the churches, they drew up guidelines for faithful to have mutual admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. The Assyrian Church of the East has a traditional episcopal structure, headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch . Its hierarchy is composed of metropolitan bishops and diocesan bishops , while lower clergy consists of priests and deacons , who serve in dioceses (eparchies) and parishes throughout

2829-534: The Chaldean Catholic Church , in 1783. Only after the death in 1827 of the last representative of the Josephite line, Joseph V Augustine Hindi , was Yohannan recognized as the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch by the Pope, in 1830. By this official appointment, the final merger of various factions committed to the union with the Catholic Church was achieved, thus forming the modern Chaldean Catholic Church. At

2952-533: The Chaldean Catholics . The next Assyrian Patriarch Shimun XVII Abraham (1820–1861) also governed his church from Qodshanis . During years marked by political turbulence, he tried to maintain good relations with the local Ottoman authorities. In 1843, he was faced with renewed hostilities from Kurdish warlords, who attacked and looted many Christian villages, killing 10,000 Christian men and taking away women and children as captives. The patriarch himself

3075-655: 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

3198-556: The Council of Ephesus (431) and the Council of Chalcedon (451), and still adheres to the Church of the East 's traditional Christology , that is often labeled as Nestorian . The use and exact meaning of that term has been the subject of many debates, not only throughout history but also in modern times, since the Assyrian Church of the East has distinctive views on several Christological questions and claims that its theological doctrines and traditions are essentially Orthodox, while admitting

3321-494: 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), meaning royalists. All three groups existed among

3444-670: The Muslim conquest of Persia . In 410, the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon , the capital of the Sasanian Empire , 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

3567-764: The Nineveh Plain Protection Units was formed and many Assyrians joined the force to defend themselves. The organization later became part of Iraqi Armed forces and played a key role in liberating areas previously held by the Islamic State during the War in Iraq . In northern Syria, Assyrian groups have been taking part both politically and militarily in the Kurdish-dominated but multiethnic Syrian Democratic Forces (see Khabour Guards and Sutoro ) and Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria . Assyria

3690-707: 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

3813-620: The Parthian Empire , ceased to be ethnically distinct in Sasanian times. Most of the population were Eastern Aramaic speakers. Along with the Arameans, Armenians , Greeks , and Nabataeans , the Assyrians were among the first people to convert to Christianity and spread Eastern Christianity to the Far East despite becoming, from the 8th century, a minority religion in their homeland following

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3936-762: The Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . On 18 September 2015, the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East elected the Metropolitan of Iraq, Jordan, and Russia, Warda Sliwa, to succeed the late Dinkha IV as Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East . On 27 September 2015, he was consecrated as Catholicos-Patriarch in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist, in Erbil , Iraq. Upon his consecration, he assumed

4059-606: The Persian Gulf , is the largest diocese of the church. Its history goes back to the Church of the East that established a presence in Kerala , but the two communities maintained only a sporadic connection for several centuries, and consistent relations were only established with the arrival of the Portuguese in India around 1500. The church is represented by the Assyrian Church of the East and

4182-652: The Western Asia , India , North America , Oceania , and Europe (including the Caucasus and Russia ). The Assyrian Church of the East considers itself as the continuation of the Church of the East , a church that originally developed among the Assyrians during the first century AD in Assyria , Upper Mesopotamia and northwestern Persia , east of the Byzantine Empire . It is an apostolic church established by Thomas

4305-587: The 14th century, 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. From

4428-536: The 19th and 20th centuries, including the Assyrian genocide or Sayfo, as well as religious persecution by Islamic extremists. The emergence of the Islamic State and the occupation of a significant portion of the Assyrian homeland resulted in another major wave of Assyrian displacement due to events such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies , and the Syrian civil war , which began in 2011. Of

4551-575: 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 ,

4674-539: 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 , Eutychius of Alexandria , and Jabril ibn Bukhtishu ) and theology (such as Tatian , Bardaisan , Babai the Great , Nestorius , and Thomas of Marga ) and

4797-419: 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. 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

4920-486: The Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population. An Assyrian identity distinct from other neighboring groups appears to have formed during the Old Assyrian period , in the 21st or 20th century BC. 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. However, there is no other historical basis for this assertion. The Hebrew Bible does not directly mention it, and there

5043-428: The Apostle , Addai of Edessa , and Bartholomew the Apostle . Contrary to a widespread opinion, the Apostle Saint Peter never visited the Church of Babylon . The historical distinctiveness of the Assyrian Church of the East resulted from the series of complex processes and events that occurred within the Church of the East during the transitional period that started in the middle of the 16th century, and lasted until

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5166-467: The Arabs and Kurds), as well as other neighbouring countries in and around the Middle East such as Armenia , Georgia and Russia . During World War I ( Sayfo ), 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 free Assyria and sought to influence

5289-491: The Aramaic that the modern Assyrians speak. 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

5412-416: 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

5535-491: The Assyrian Church of the East hang a Christian cross (without the corpus) on the eastern wall of the main room. The Assyrian Church of the East does not make use of icons , and the interiors of its houses of worship are simple. Iconography has been present in the Church of the East's history; opposition to religious images eventually became the norm due to the spread of Islam in the region, which forbade any type of depictions of saints and biblical prophets . As such,

5658-499: The Assyrian Church of the East. During the patriarchal tenure of Shemon VII Ishoyahb (1539–1558), who resided in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery near Alqosh , an internal dissent occurred over several issues, including the question of hereditary succession to the patriarchal throne, and the question of union with the Catholic Church. By that time, Franciscan missionaries had already gained some influence over several local communities, and they took an active role in organizing

5781-433: The Assyrian defense under Agha Petros , but they were pursued into Iranian territory despite the fact they were fleeing. Later, in 1918, after the murder of their de facto leader and Patriarch Shimun XIX Benyamin and 150 of his followers during a negotiation, fearing further massacres at the hands of the Turks and Kurds, most of the survivors fled by train from Iran into what was to become Iraq. They sought protection under

5904-488: The Catholic Church as late as 1653, eventually receiving confirmation from the Pope. By that time, the movement towards full commitment to the traditional faith was constantly growing stronger within the Shimun line. When the next Patriarch Shimun XII Yoalaha decided to send his profession of faith to the Pope, he was deposed by his bishops because of his pro-Catholic attitude. The Pope tried to intervene on his behalf, but without success. Final resolution of conflicts within

6027-419: The Catholic Church in February 1553. At that point, officials of the Roman Curia were given incorrect information that the elderly Patriarch Shemon VII had actually died. After some deliberation, the Pope decided to appoint Yohannan Sulaqa as "Patriarch of Babylon" and named the breakaway Church as 'The Church of Assyria and Mosul" in April 1553. Upon consecration, Yohannan Sulaqa took the name Shimun and by

6150-400: 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

6273-464: The East , based in Baghdad , Iraq . In 1972, Shimun decided to step down as patriarch, and the following year he got married, in contravention to longstanding church custom. This led to a synod in 1973 in which further reforms were introduced, the most significant of which included the permanent abolition of hereditary succession — a practice introduced in the middle of the fifteenth century by Patriarch Shemon IV Basidi (who had died in 1497) — and it

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6396-457: The East , the modern Assyrian Church of the East recognizes the first two ecumenical councils : the First Council of Nicaea (325), and the First Council of Constantinople (381). The Assyrian Church follows trinitarian doctrines, expressed in the Nicene Creed , and professes the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father . Theologically , the Assyrian Church of the East does not accept doctrinal definitions that were adopted at

6519-418: The East had about 380,000 members, mostly living in the United States, Iran , Iraq , Syria , and Turkey. On 6 September 2021, Mar Gewargis III formally stepped down as Catholicos-Patriarch during an Extraordinary Session of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East, leaving the Patriarchal See vacant. On 8 September 2021, the Holy Synod elected Mar Awa Royel , Bishop of California and Secretary of

6642-407: The East is officially headquartered in the city of Erbil , in northern Iraq ; its original area encompassed Iraq , southeastern Turkey , northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran , corresponding roughly to ancient Assyria . The current Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Awa III , was consecrated in September 2021. The Assyrian Church of the East claims continuity with

6765-552: The East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church and Assyrian Protestants) entered into a war of independence and allied themselves with the United Kingdom , the Russian Empire and the Armenians against the Ottomans and their Islamic Kurdish, Iranian and Arab allies. Despite the odds, the Assyrians fought successfully against the Ottomans and their allies for three years throughout southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran and northeastern Syria. Eventually, however, they were abandoned by their allies,

6888-451: 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. 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

7011-409: The First World War. 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

7134-400: The Holy Synod, to succeed Mar Gewargis III as the 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East . He was Consecrated and Enthroned as Catholicos-Patriarch on 13 September 2021, on the Feast of the Holy Cross, in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist in Erbil, Iraq, and assumed the ecclesiastical name Mar Awa III. Following doctrinal traditions of the ancient Church of

7257-491: 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. 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

7380-408: The Patriarchal See to Chicago. Much of his patriarchate had been concerned with tending to the Assyrian diaspora community and with ecumenical efforts to strengthen relations with other churches. On 26 March 2015, Dinkha IV died in the United States, leaving the Assyrian Church of the East in a period of sede vacante until 18 September 2015. During that time, Aprem Mooken served as the custodian of

7503-456: The Russian Empire and the First Republic of Armenia , due to the Russian Revolution and the collapse of the Armenian defense, leaving the Assyrians vastly outnumbered, surrounded, and cut off from supplies of ammunition and food. During this period, their See at Qodchanis was completely destroyed and the Turks and their Islamic allies massacred all of the Assyrians in the Hakkari Mountains. Those who survived fled into Iran with what remained of

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7626-406: The Shimun line occurred under the next Patriarch Shimun XIII Dinkha (1662–1700), who definitively broke communion with the Catholic Church. In 1670, he gave a traditionalist reply to an approach that was made from the Pope, and by 1672 all connections with the Catholic Church were terminated. At the same time, Patriarch Shimun XIII moved his seat from Amid to Qochanis . After the final return to

7749-492: The Shimun line to become the sole primate of both Assyrian traditionalist branches. Consolidated after 1804, the reunited traditionalist Church led by patriarchs of the Shimun line became widely known as the "Assyrian Church of the East". Still based in Qodchanis, Assyrian Patriarch Shimun XVI Yohannan was not able to secure control over the traditional seat of the former Eliya line in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery; and around 1808 that venerated monastic institution passed to

7872-407: The Shimun line. Hereditary succession was not acceptable to Rome, and during the tenure of the next Patriarch Shimun X Eliyah (1600–1638) ties with the Catholic Church were loosened again. In 1616, Shimun X signed a traditional profession of faith that was not accepted by the Pope, leaving the Patriarch without Rome's confirmation. His successor Shimun XI Eshuyow (1638–1656) restored communion with

7995-414: 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

8118-439: 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. The Assyrian rebellion was an uprising by the Assyrians in Hakkari that began on

8241-464: The ancient Assyrians , one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from other Mesopotamian groups, such as the Babylonians, they share in the broader cultural heritage of the Mesopotamian region. Modern Assyrians may culturally self-identify as Syriacs , Chaldeans , or Arameans for religious, geographic, and tribal identification. Assyrians speak Aramaic , specifically dialects such as Suret and Turoyo , which are among

8364-573: The beginning of the Ottoman–Persian War (1743–1746) . Faced with a centuries-old rivalry and frequent conflicts between two mighty Islamic empires ( Ottoman and Persian ), all Christian communities in the bordering regions were constantly exposed to danger – and not only in the times of war, since local, mainly Kurdish , warlords were accustomed to attacking Assyrian and Armenian Christian communities and monasteries and taking their land, often with Ottoman support. Patriarchs Eliya X (XI) (1700–1722) and Eliya XI (XII) (1722–1778) tried to improve

8487-434: The beginning of the 19th century. That turbulent period was marked by several consequent splits and mergers, resulting in the creation of separate branches and rival patriarchal lines. During the entire period, one of the main questions of dispute was the union with the Catholic Church . Ultimately, the pro-Catholic branches were consolidated as the Chaldean Catholic Church , while the traditional branches were consolidated as

8610-453: The church was forced to get rid of her icons. A Nestorian Peshitta Gospel book written in Estrangela , from the 13th century, resides at the State Library of Berlin . This illustrated manuscript from Upper Mesopotamia or Tur Abdin proves that in the 13th century the church was not yet aniconic . The Nestorian Evangelion preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France , which contains an illustration depicting Jesus Christ (not

8733-418: The church's and the general Assyrian community's disorganized state as a result of the conflicts of the 20th century, Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai was forced to reorganize the church's structure in the United States . He transferred his residence to San Francisco in 1954, and was able to travel to Iran , Lebanon , Kuwait , and India , where he worked to strengthen the church. In 1964, the patriarch decreed

8856-581: 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 . In 1552, a group of bishops of

8979-416: 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. Following a successful campaign in 197–198, Severus converted the kingdom of Osroene , centred on Edessa , into a frontier Roman province. Roman influence in the area came to an end under Jovian in 363, who abandoned

9102-505: The continuous presence of the pro-Catholic movement, led by successors of Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa . After his death in 1555, the newly established line of patriarchs who were united with the Catholic Church was continued by Abdisho IV Maron (1555–1570), who remained in full communion with the Catholic Church. He visited Rome and was officially confirmed by the Pope of Rome in 1562. Soon after his death, connections with Rome were weakened for

9225-512: 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. As non-Islamic proselytising

9348-444: 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. The Assyrians suffered a number of religiously and ethnically motivated massacres throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, culminating in

9471-543: The east under Parthian rule, lasting until conquests by the Sasanian Empire in the region in the 3rd century AD. Modern Assyrian derives from ancient Aramaic , part of the Northwest Semitic languages. 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 Akkadian language has influenced

9594-552: The ecclesiastical name Gewargis III . Church leaders proposed moving the Patriarchal See from Chicago back to Erbil. There have also been talks of reunification. In the Common Christological Declaration Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East in 1994, the two churches recognized the legitimacy and rightness of each other's titles for Mary . In 2005, the Assyrian Church of

9717-459: The emir of Bohtan , invaded their region. 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. Being culturally, ethnically, and linguistically distinct from their Muslim neighbors in

9840-424: The end of the 19th century, the Assyrian Church of the East consolidated itself as the sole representative of all traditionalist Assyrians. It also managed to secure a certain level of autonomy within the highly complex system of Ottoman local governance in the bordering regions. On several occasions, Assyrian patriarchs refused to enter communion with the Catholic Church or merge with the Chaldean Catholic Church. On

9963-653: The end of the British mandate in 1933 and a massacre of Assyrian civilians at Simele by the Iraqi Army, the patriarch was forced to take refuge in Cyprus . There, Shimun petitioned the League of Nations regarding his people's fate, but to little avail, and he was consequently barred from entering Syria and Iraq. He traveled through Europe before moving to Chicago in 1940 to join the growing Assyrian diaspora community there. Due to

10086-694: 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." 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. The Ottomans secured their control over Mesopotamia and Syria in

10209-579: The end of the year he returned to his homeland. He started to organize the pro-Catholic party by appointing several metropolitans and bishops. Union with Rome was actively opposed by Patriarch Shemon VII Ishoyahb , who continued to reside in the Rabban Hormizd Monastery near the ancient Assyrian town of Alqosh . He was succeeded by his nephew Eliya (1558–1591), who was designated as Eliya "VII" in older historiography, but renumbered as Eliya "VI" in recent scholarly works. The same renumbering

10332-705: 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. However, Herodotus , whose Histories are

10455-490: 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. The Aramaic-speaking Mesopotamian Christians had long been divided between followers of

10578-426: The first time during the tenure of Patriarch Yahballaha IV who did not seek confirmation from the Pope. That interlude was ended by his successor Shimun IX Dinkha (1580–1600) who restored full communion with the Catholic Church, and was officially confirmed by the Pope in 1584. After his death, the patriarchal office was made hereditary, and Patriarchs of this line continued to use the name Shimun , thus creating

10701-587: The historical Church of the East , and it is not in communion with the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox churches. The faction of the original Church of the East in that came into full communion with the Holy See of Rome is the Chaldean Catholic Church , whose members are mostly ethnic Assyrians . After the Common Christological Declaration in 1994 between the Church of the East and

10824-402: The increasingly worsening position of their Christian flock by staying loyal to Ottoman authorities, but the local administration was frequently unable to provide effective protection. The Eliya line of traditionalist Patriarchs ended in 1804 with the death of Eliya XII (XIII) (1778–1804). During the second half of the 16th century, traditionalist patriarchs of the Eliya line were faced with

10947-413: 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

11070-619: The location of a large Syriac Orthodox Monastery. This article about a location in Al-Hasakah Governorate , Syria is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East ( ACOE ), sometimes called the Church of the East and officially known as the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ( HACACE ),

11193-618: The native Semitic -speaking peoples, including the Assyrians, and the Sumerians of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC). The cities of Assur and Nineveh (modern-day Mosul ), which was the oldest and largest city of the ancient Assyrian Empire, together with several other towns and cities, existed as early as the 25th century BC. They appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centres at this time rather than independent states. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into

11316-406: The need for further inter-Christian dialogue that would resolve various questions in the field of comparative Christological terminology. The Nestorian nature of Assyrian Christianity remains a matter of contention. Elements of Nestorian doctrine were explicitly repudiated by Patriarch Dinkha IV on the occasion of his accession in 1976. The Christology of the Church of the East has its roots in

11439-402: The next Patriarch Eliya VIII (IX) (1617–1660). David Wilmshurst noted that his successor, Patriarch Eliya IX (X) (1660–1700) also was a "vigorous defender of the traditional faith". The Eliya line of traditionalist Patriarchs continued throughout the entire 18th century, residing in the ancient Monastery of Rabban Hormizd, which was eventually attacked and looted by muslim Turks in 1743, at

11562-473: The oldest continuously spoken and written languages in the world. Aramaic was the lingua franca of West Asia for centuries and was the language spoken by Jesus . It has influenced other languages such as Hebrew and Arabic, and, through cultural and religious exchanges, it has had some influence on Mongolian and Uighur. Aramaic itself is the oldest continuously spoken and written language in the Middle East, with

11685-582: The one million or more Iraqis who have fled Iraq since the occupation , nearly 40% were indigenous Assyrians, even though Assyrians accounted for only around 3% of the pre-war Iraqi population . The Islamic State was driven out from the Assyrian villages in the Khabour River Valley and the areas surrounding the city of Al-Hasakah in Syria by 2015, and from the Nineveh Plains in Iraq by 2017. In 2014,

11808-602: The opposition to the Patriarch at that time. By the end of 1552, a pro-Catholic party had been organized in Mosul under the leadership of the priest Yohannan Sulaqa , who decided to legitimize his position by traveling to Rome and seeking confirmation by Pope Julius III (1550–1555). Receiving support from the Franciscan missionaries, he arrived in Rome and entered into full communion with

11931-520: The other hand, by the end of the 19th century some of its communities were converted to Protestantism by various western missionaries, while other communities were drawn to Eastern Orthodoxy . That movement was led by Assyrian Bishop Mar Yonan of Supurghan in the region of Urmia who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in 1898, through the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Urmia . Among all

12054-469: 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 ". 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. Another major massacre of Assyrians (and Armenians) in

12177-593: The patriarchs temporarily resided between Urmia and Salmas , and after 1918 the patriarchs resided in Mosul . After the Simele massacre of 1933, the then Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai was exiled to Cyprus due to his agitation for independence . In 1940, he was welcomed to the United States where he set up his residence in Chicago , and administered the United States and Canada as his patriarchal province. The patriarchate

12300-678: The personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrians, such as the long-serving Bukhtishu dynasty. Many scholars of the House of Wisdom were of Assyrian Christian background. 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. Assyrians were excluded from specific duties and occupations reserved for Muslims. They did not enjoy

12423-609: The primary source of information about that battle, makes no mention of Assyrians in connection with it. 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. The Greeks , Parthians , and Romans had a relatively low level of integration with the local population in Mesopotamia, which allowed their cultures to survive. Semi-independent kingdoms influenced by Assyrian culture ( Hatra , Adiabene , Osroene ) and perhaps semi-autonomous Assyrian vassal states ( Assur ) sprung up in

12546-416: 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. Theodora , who lived from April 1, 527 A.D. to June 28, 548 A.D.,

12669-547: The reality of the moral choices he faced. In order to preserve the impassibility of Christ's Divine Nature, the unity of his person is defined in a looser fashion than in the Alexandrian tradition. The normative Christology of the Church of the East was written by Babai the Great (d. 628) during the controversy that followed the 431 Council of Ephesus . Babai held that within Christ there exist two qnome ( Syriac : ܩܢܘܡܐ / qnômâ ,

12792-556: The region after concluding a hasty peace agreement with the Sassanians. 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 . The Greek element in the cities, still strong during

12915-405: The same as other apostolic churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses and archdioceses . The Catholicos-Patriarch is the head of the church. Its synod is composed of bishops who oversee individual dioceses and metropolitans who oversee episcopal dioceses in their territorial jurisdiction. The Chaldean Syrian Church , which encompasses India and

13038-530: 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 . 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

13161-441: The same time, the long coexistence and rivalry between two traditionalist patriarchal branches — the senior Eliya line of Alqosh and the junior Shimun line of Qochanis — ended in 1804 when the last primate of the Eliya line, Patriarch Eliya XII (XIII) died and was buried in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery . His branch decided not to elect a new patriarch, thus enabling the remaining patriarch Shimun XVI Yohannan (1780–1820) of

13284-519: The site. 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. 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

13407-595: The term "Nestorian" was applied to all doctrine upholding a strictly Antiochene Christology. In consequence, the Church of the East was labelled Nestorian, though its official Christology was in fact defined by Babai the Great , at the council that was held in 612. The church employs the Syriac dialect of Eastern Aramaic in its liturgy , the East Syriac Rite , which includes three anaphoras , attributed to Addai of Edessa and Mari , Theodore of Mopsuestia and later also Nestorius . In their homes, Christians belonging to

13530-521: The traditional faith, Patriarchs of the Shimun line decided to keep their independence and after that time there were two independent lines of traditional patriarchs: the senior Eliya line in Alqosh and the junior Shimun line in Qochanis. Such division was additionally caused by the complex structure of local Assyrian communities, traditionally organized as tribal confederations with each tribe being headed by

13653-511: The tragedies and schisms which thinned the church out, no other was as severe as the Assyrian genocide . At that point the Assyrian Church of the East was based in the mountains of Hakkari , as it had been since 1681. In 1915, The Young Turks invaded the region — despite the Assyrians' plea of neutrality during the Caucasus campaign by Russia and their Armenian allies — out of fear of an Assyrian independence movement . In response to this, Assyrians of all denominations (the Assyrian Church of

13776-402: The victorious powers to place it under one mandatory power. Although many felt sympathy for the Assyrians, none of their demands were implemented. The Assyrians failed in their efforts due to geographical and denominational differences 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. In reaction to

13899-517: 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. The Assyrians initially experienced periods of religious and cultural freedom interspersed with periods of severe religious and ethnic persecution after

14022-462: 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

14145-614: Was also decided that Shimun should be reinstated. The second matter was supposed to be settled at another synod in 1975; however, Shimun was assassinated in November 1975 by an estranged relative before this could take place. Almost a year after the death of Shimun, Mar Khnanya Dinkha , Metropolitan of Tehran , convened a synod of seven Assyrian bishops which took place at St Paul's Abbey, Alton , in England, from 12 to 17 October 1976. They were joined by two Church of England bishops, representing

14268-444: Was applied to his successors, who all took the same name thus creating the Eliya line . During his patriarchal rule, the Eliya line preserved its traditional christology and full ecclesiastical independence. His successor was Patriarch Eliya VII (VIII) (1591–1617), who negotiated on several occasions with the Catholic Church, in 1605 and 1610, and again in 1615–1616, but without any conclusion. Further negotiations were abandoned by

14391-570: Was forced to take temporary refuge in Mosul . He was succeeded by Patriarch Shimun XVIII Rubil (1861–1903) who also resided in Qodshanis. In 1869, he received an open invitation from the Vatican to visit Rome to attend the First Vatican Council as an observer, but he did not accept the invitation, In following years, he also rejected other initiatives for union with the Catholic Church. By

14514-529: Was moved several times throughout history. Up to the 1804, patriarchs of the senior Eliya line resided in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery , while patriarchs of the junior Shimun line resided in the Cathedral Church of Mar Shallita, in the village of Qudshanis in the Hakkari Mountains of the Ottoman Empire , and continued to do so up to the First World War . After the beginning of conflict in 1915,

14637-488: Was not as closely aligned with Constantinople. 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

14760-632: Was probably Isa Kelemechi , a diplomat, astrologer, and head of the Christian affairs in Yuan China . He spent some time in Persia under the Ilkhanate . The 14th century massacres of Timur devastated the Assyrian people. Timur's massacres and pillages of all that was Christian drastically reduced their existence. At the end of the reign of Timur, the Assyrian population had almost been eradicated in many places. Toward

14883-585: 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 ). From the 7th century AD onwards, Mesopotamia saw

15006-582: Was recognized as Patriarch is given variously as "Patriarch of Mosul in Eastern Syria"; "Patriarch of the Church of the Chaldeans of Mosul"; "Patriarch of the Chaldeans"; "Patriarch of Mosul"; 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 , of which an English translation

15129-573: Was then moved to Modesto, California , in 1954, and finally to San Francisco in 1958 due to health issues. After the assassination of the patriarch and the election of Dinkha IV in 1976, the patriarchate was temporarily located in Tehran , where the new patriarch was living at the time. Assyrian people Assyrians are an indigenous ethnic group native to Mesopotamia , a geographical region in West Asia . Modern Assyrians descend directly from

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