Misplaced Pages

#309690

111-1058: In the Middle East today, the overwhelming majority of people who hold the Semaan surname are Christians who belong to early Christian churches such as the Syriac Orthodox Church , the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch , the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Antioch, the Maronite Catholic Church , the Chaldean Catholic Church , the Assyrian Orthodox Church , and the Coptic Orthodox Church . The ethnic origin of Semaan families varies by geographic location, most prevalent of which

222-877: A Jewish community of about 7,000 people led by Rabbi Zakkai, presumed to be a scion of the Davidic line . In 1288–89, when the Exilarch was in Mosul, he signed a supporting paper for Maimonides . In the early 16th century, Mosul was under the Turkmen federation of the Ağ Qoyunlu , but in 1508 it was conquered by the Safavid dynasty of Iran. In the 13th century, Mosul had a flourishing industry making luxury brass items that were ornately inlaid with silver. Many of these items survive today; in fact, of all medieval Islamic artifacts, Mosul brasswork has

333-593: A 2012 Pew Research Center survey, if current trends continue, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion by 2050. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. While Muslims have an average of 3.1 children per woman—the highest rate of all religious groups—Christians are second, with 2.7 children per woman. High birth rates and conversion were cited as the reason for Christian population growth . A 2015 study found that approximately 10.2 million Muslims converted to Christianity . Christianity

444-460: A century for metalwork it did not make. However, Julian Raby has defended the concept of the Mosul School, arguing that the city did have a distinct metalworking tradition with its own techniques, styles and motifs, and sense of community. He compared Mosul's metalwork to Kashan 's pottery and wrote that "Mawsili metalworkers displayed a conscious sense of community and tradition and, at least in

555-512: A continuous part of Assyria proper from circa 2050 BC through the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire between 612 and 599 BC. Mosul remained within the geopolitical province of Assyria for another 13 centuries (as a part of Achaemenid Assyria , Seleucid , Roman Assyria and Sasanian Asōristān ) until the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century. After the Muslim conquests, the region saw

666-720: A covered market ( qaysariyya ), and its fabrics and flourishing trades. Mesopotamia had been acquired by the Ottoman Empire in 1555 by the Peace of Amasya , but until the Treaty of Zuhab in 1639 Ottoman control over Mesopotamia was not decisive. After the Peace of Amasya, the Safavids recaptured most of Mesopotamia one more time during the reign of king Abbas I (r. 1588–1629). Among the newly appointed Safavid governors of Mesopotamia during those years

777-408: A derisive element in the term Christian to refer to followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians , had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames. However Peter's apparent endorsement of the term led to its being preferred over "Nazarenes" and the term Christianoi from 1 Peter becomes the standard term in

888-460: A gradual influx of Muslim Arab, Kurdish, and Turkic peoples, although indigenous Assyrians continued to use the name Athura for the ecclesiastical province. Nineveh was one of the oldest and most significant cities in antiquity and was settled as early as 6000 BC. The city is mentioned in the Old Assyrian Empire (2025–1750 BC) and during the reign of Shamshi-Adad I (1809–1776 BC) it

999-406: A member of the first generation. The octagon disappears after about 1250, and is also not used by workers known to have been outside Mosul. Another recurring symbol is a rosette with either 10 or 12 leaves found at the bottom of the item - either the base of a ewer or the bottom of the shaft of a candlestick. This is not normally visible, and perhaps because it served no practical purpose, it

1110-402: A mixture of Arabs , Kurds , Assyrians , Armenians , Turkmens , Shabaks , a few Jews , and isolated populations of Yazidis , Mandeans , Kawliya and Circassians . Saddam was able to garrison portions of the 5th Army within Mosul, had Mosul International Airport under military control, and recruited heavily from Mosul for his military's officer corps. This may have been because most of

1221-524: A nexus for the movement of oil via truck and pipeline to Turkey and Syria. Qyuarrah Refinery was built within about an hour's drive from the city and was used to process tar for road-building projects. It was damaged but not destroyed during the Iran–Iraq War . The opening of the University of Mosul in 1967 enabled the education of many in the city and surrounding area. After Iraq's 1991 uprisings , Mosul

SECTION 10

#1732847447310

1332-531: A noblewomen of the Ilkhanate during the early 1300s. What started as irregular attacks in 1517 were finalized in 1538, when Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent added Mosul to his empire by capturing it from his archrival, Safavid Persia . Thenceforth Mosul was governed by a pasha . Mosul was celebrated for its line of walls, comprising seven gates with large towers, a renowned hospital ( maristan ) and

1443-609: A part of the Sasanian province of Asōristān . Christianity was present among the indigenous Assyrian people in Mosul as early as the 1st century, although the ancient Mesopotamian religion remained strong until the 4th century. It became an episcopal seat of the Assyrian Church of the East in the 6th century. In 637 (other sources say 641), during the period of the Caliph Umar , Mosul

1554-512: A period under semi-independent atabeg such as Mawdud , in 1127 it became the centre of power of the Zengid dynasty . Saladin besieged the city of Mosul unsuccessfully in 1182 After his conquest of Aleppo in 1183, ending Zengid rule in Syria, Saladin made a last offensive against Mosul in late 1185, hoping for an easy victory over the presumably demoralized Zengid Emir of Mosul Mas'ud , but failed due to

1665-452: A political context, is Ṣalībī ( صليبي ' Crusader ' ) from ṣalīb ( صليب ' cross ' ), which refers to Crusaders and may have negative connotations. However, Ṣalībī is a modern term; historically, Muslim writers described European Christian Crusaders as al-Faranj or Alfranj ( الفرنج ) and Firinjīyah ( الفرنجيّة ) in Arabic. This word comes from the name of

1776-741: A pre-Ottoman, pre- Turcoman , pre- Mongol , Arab cultural heritage that was to put the town on its way to recapturing some of the prestige and prominence it had enjoyed under the golden reign of Badr ad-Din Lu’lu’ ." Along with the al-Umari and Tasin al-Mufti families, the Jalilis formed an "urban-based small and medium gentry and a new landed elite", which proceeded to displace the control of previous rural tribes. Such families establish themselves through private enterprise, solidifying their influence and assets through rents on land and taxes on manufacturing. As well as by elected officials, Mosul's social architecture

1887-1044: A report commissioned by the United Kingdom's Secretary of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to investigate global persecution of Christians found religious persecution has increased, and is highest in the Middle East, North Africa, India, China, North Korea, and Latin America, among others, and that it is global and not limited to Islamic states. This investigation found that approximately 80% of persecuted believers worldwide are Christians. Etymology Mosul Mosul ( / ˈ m oʊ s əl , m oʊ ˈ s uː l / MOH -səl, moh- SOOL ; Arabic : الموصل ‎ , romanized :  al-Mawṣil , pronounced [alˈmawsˤil] , locally [ɪlˈmoːsˤɪl] ; Kurdish : مووسڵ ‎ , romanized :  Mûsil ; Turkish : Musul ; Syriac : ܡܘܨܠ , romanized :  Māwṣil )

1998-492: A review of the Nobel Prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. In 2017, Open Doors , a human rights NGO , estimated approximately 260 million Christians are subjected annually to "high, very high, or extreme persecution", with North Korea considered the most hazardous nation for Christians. In 2019,

2109-460: A role in this transmission. Only two items are definitively known to have been produced in Mosul. The first is the Blacas ewer , made by Shuja' ibn Man'a in 1232, and the second is a silver-inlaid pen box made by Ali ibn Yahya in 1255/6 (653 AH). No other works by either craftsman are known. They form part of the broader Mosul work which consists of 35 known surviving brasses made by artisans with

2220-528: A substantial local power base." Mosul's importance as a trading center declined after the opening of the Suez Canal , which enabled goods to travel to and from India by sea rather than by land through Mosul. Mosul was the capital of Mosul Vilayet , one of the three vilayets ( provinces ) of Ottoman Iraq , with a brief break in 1623, when Persia seized the city. At the end of World War I in October 1918, after

2331-502: A test to be accepted into a craftsman's guild. According to Raby, the Mosul metalwork may have been part of the gifts that Badr al-Din Lu'lu' gave to other rulers to appease them as part of his realpolitik diplomacy. Another notable item tentatively attributed to Mosul metalworkers is the Courtauld bag , which is believed to be the world's oldest surviving handbag . It was likely made for

SECTION 20

#1732847447310

2442-525: A third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world. Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's population for around 100 years. The largest Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church , with 1.3 billion adherents, representing half of all Christians. Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western World , where 70% are Christians. According to

2553-411: A unique significance. The term Christian used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches , or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in

2664-720: A unique significance." Michael Martin evaluated three historical Christian creeds (the Apostles' Creed , the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed ) to establish a set of basic Christian assumptions which include belief in theism , the historicity of Jesus , the Incarnation , salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as an ethical role model. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah

2775-514: A university degree in institutions of higher education (67%), followed by the Christians of Israel (63%), and the Christians of Georgia (57%). According to the study, Christians in North America , Europe , Middle East , North Africa and Asia Pacific regions are highly educated since many of the world's universities were built by the historic Christian denominations , in addition to

2886-772: Is Greek - Syrian , descendants of the Byzantine Greek ( Rûm ) population of the Syrian tetrapolis ( Antioch , Seleucia Pieria , Apamea , and Laodicea ). The Semaans of Antioch and Syria have roots that can be traced back to the early days of Christianity, to 1st century Antioch and Damascus. As Luke the Evangelist , a native of Antioch, writes in Acts of the Apostles , "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts 11:26). Although

2997-500: Is a major city in northern Iraq , serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate . The city is considered the second-largest city in Iraq in terms of population and area after the capital Baghdad. Mosul is approximately 400 km (250 mi) north of Baghdad on the Tigris river. The Mosul metropolitan area has grown from the old city on the western side to encompass substantial areas on both

3108-710: Is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words Christ and Christian derive from the Koine Greek title Christós ( Χριστός ), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach ( מָשִׁיחַ ) (usually rendered as messiah in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has

3219-672: Is also nicknamed al-Faiha ("the Paradise"), al-Khaḍrah ("the Green"), and al-Hadbah ("the Humped"). It is sometimes called "The Pearl of the North" and "the city of a million soldiers." The area where Mosul lies was an integral part of Assyria from as early as the 25th century BC. After the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC), which united all the peoples of Mesopotamia under one rule, Mosul again became

3330-415: Is an octagon filled with complex geometric patterns, which appears on at least 13 items over the course of three decades: the 1220s through the 1240s. Several of the most important Mosul artists from what Raby terms the "second generation of Mosul metalwork" all used this symbol: Ahmad al-Dhaki , Ibn Jaldak, Shuja' ibn Man'a, Dawud ibn Salama, and Yunus ibn Yusuf. A notable absence is Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya,

3441-665: Is first mentioned by Xenophon in his expeditionary logs in Achaemenid Assyria of 401 BC, during the reign of the Persian Achaemenid Empire . There, he notes a small Assyrian town of "Mépsila" ( Ancient Greek : Μέψιλα ) on the Tigris around where Mosul is today ( Anabasis , III.iv.10). It may be safer to identify Xenophon's Mépsila with the site of Iski Mosul, or "Old Mosul," about 30 km (19 mi) north of modern Mosul, where six centuries after Xenophon's report,

Semaan - Misplaced Pages Continue

3552-513: Is generally understood to be derived from Nazarenes , believers of Jesus of Nazareth through Syriac (Aramaic); Masīḥī ( مسيحي ) means followers of the Messiah. Where there is a distinction, Naṣrānī refers to people from a Christian culture and Masīḥī is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Naṣrānī tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners. Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in

3663-515: Is growing in Africa , Asia, Eastern Europe , Latin America , the Muslim world , and Oceania . According to a study from 2015, Christians hold the largest amount of wealth (55% of the total world wealth), followed by Muslims (5.8%), Hindus (3.3%) and Jews (1.1%). According to the same study it was found that adherents under the classification Irreligion or other religions hold about 34.8% of

3774-622: Is not accepted by Judaism. The term for a Christian in Hebrew is נוֹצְרִי ( Notzri ' Nazarene ' ), a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as יְהוּדִים מְשִׁיחִיִּים ( Yehudim Meshihi'im ' Messianic Jews ' ). In Arabic-speaking cultures , two words are commonly used for Christians: Naṣrānī ( نصراني ), plural Naṣārā ( نصارى )

3885-400: Is of an unknown date, but D.S. Rice estimated that it was made around 1200. Production of inlaid brasswork in Mosul may have already begun before the turn of the century. The body of Mosul metalwork significantly expands in the 1220s - several signed and dated items are known from this decade, which according to Julian Raby "probably reflects the craft's growing status and production." In

3996-693: The Americas , about 26% live in Europe , 24% live in sub-Saharan Africa , about 13% live in Asia and the Pacific , and 1% live in the Middle East and North Africa . Christians make up the majority of the population in 158 countries and territories. 280 million Christians live as a minority . About half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic , while more than a third are Protestant (37%). Orthodox communions comprise 12% of

4107-577: The Armistice of Mudros , British forces occupied Mosul. After the war, the city and surrounding area became part of the British-occupied Iraq (1918–1920) and then Mandatory Iraq (1920–1932). This mandate was contested by Turkey, which continued to claim the area on the grounds that it was under Ottoman control during the signature of the Armistice. In the Treaty of Lausanne , the dispute over Mosul

4218-633: The Early Church Fathers from Ignatius and Polycarp onwards. The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus , referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan ; and Tacitus , writing near the end of the 1st century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" and identifies Christians as Nero 's scapegoats for

4329-620: The Franks and can be seen in the Arab history text Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ali ibn al-Athir . The most common Persian word is Masīhī ( مسیحی ), from Arabic . Other words are Nasrānī ( نصرانی ), from Syriac for ' Nazarene ' , and Tarsā ( ترسا ), from the Middle Persian word Tarsāg , also meaning ' Christian ' , derived from tars , meaning ' fear, respect ' . An old Kurdish word for Christian frequently in usage

4440-653: The Great Fire of Rome . Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes . Jesus is named as a Nazarene in Matthew 2:23 , while Paul is said to be Nazarene in Acts 24:5 . The latter verse makes it clear that Nazarene also referred to the name of a sect or heresy, as well as the town called Nazareth. The term Nazarene was also used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus ( Against Marcion 4:8), who records

4551-674: The Greek Septuagint , christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ ( Mašíaḥ , ' messiah '), meaning "[one who is] anointed". In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as chrétien in French and cristiano in Spanish. The abbreviations Xian and Xtian (and similarly formed other parts of speech) have been used since at least

Semaan - Misplaced Pages Continue

4662-575: The Hatay province , which includes Antakya ( Antioch ), after Syria had control over the territory since the end of World War I . Today, the Semaans of Syria are scattered throughout, and they live in cities such as Latakia ( Laodiceia ), Homs ( Emesa ), Aleppo , and Damascus . The Semaans of Lebanon can be broken down into four categories: The Semaans of Israel / Palestine can be broken down geographically as follows: The Simaans of Jordan are mainly of Ghassanid Christian Arab descent from Yemen who settled in Jordan and southern Syria in

4773-400: The Library of Ashurbanipal ), Ashur-etil-ilani , Sin-shumu-lishir and Sin-shar-ishkun . The Assyrian Empire began to unravel in 626 BC, being consumed by a decade of brutal internal civil wars, significantly weakening it. A war-ravaged Assyria was attacked in 616 BC by a vast coalition of its former subjects, most notably their Babylonian relations from southern Mesopotamia, together with

4884-431: The Medes , Persians , Chaldeans , Scythians , Cimmerians , and Sagartians . Nineveh fell after a siege and bitter house-to-house fighting in 612 BC during the reign of Sin-shar-ishkun , who was killed defending his capital. His successor, Ashur-uballit II , fought his way out of Nineveh and formed a new Assyrian capital at Harran (now in southeastern Turkey). Mosul (then the Assyrian town of Mepsila, founded by

4995-416: The Sasanian Empire 's center of Budh-Ardhashir was built. In any case, "Mepsila" is doubtless the root of the current name. In its current Arabic form and spelling, the term Mosul, or rather "Mawsil," means "linking point"—or, loosely, "Junction City," in Arabic . On Mosul's eastern side are the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, and Assyrians still call the entire city Nineveh (or Ninweh). Mosul

5106-428: The Seleucid Empire after Alexander 's conquests in 332 BC. While little is known of the city from the Hellenistic period, Mosul likely belonged to the Seleucid satrapy of Syria , the Greek term for Assyria ("Syria" originally meaning Assyria rather than the modern nation of Syria ), which the Parthian Empire conquered circa 150 BC. Mosul changed hands again with the rise of the Sasanian Empire in 225 and became

5217-483: The education of women , which led to the eradication of illiteracy among females in Protestant communities. Christian culture describes the cultural practices common to Christian peoples. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Greco-Roman , Byzantine , Western culture , Middle Eastern , Slavic , Caucasian , and Indian cultures . Since

5328-414: The liwa of Mosul became an independent wilaya ." Despite being a part of the Ottoman Empire, during the four centuries of Ottoman rule Mosul was considered "the most independent district" within the Middle East, following the Roman model of indirect rule through local notables. "Mosuli culture developed less along Ottoman–Turkish lines than along Iraqi–Arab lines; and Turkish, the official language of

5439-417: The nisbah al-Mawsili, by some 27 different makers. 80% of them are from the years 1220 to 1275, and the remaining 20% are from 1275 to about 1325. Modern western scholarship has termed this body of metalwork attributed to Mosul the " Mosul School ", although the validity of this grouping is disputed. The "indiscriminate" attribution of silver-inlaid brasses to Mosul, particularly by Gaston Migeon at

5550-413: The "Left Bank" (east side) and the "Right Bank" (west side), as locals call the two riverbanks. Mosul encloses the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh – once the largest city in the world – on its east side. Mosul is considered among the larger and more historically and culturally significant cities of the Arab world . Due to Mosul's strategic location, it has traditionally served as one of

5661-408: The 1250s. Extant Mawsili works from these regions seem to be the result of one particular family setting up workshops in Damascus and then Cairo rather than a mass movement of Mosul artisans to those cities. Five Mawsili craftsmen are known from these two cities in the late 13th century, of which 3 or 4 are members of this same family. The first is Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Mawsili , who produced

SECTION 50

#1732847447310

5772-478: The 16th and 17th centuries before the religion was banned by the Tokugawa shogunate . Today, Christians are referred to in Standard Japanese as キリスト教徒 ( Kirisuto-kyōto ) or the English-derived term クリスチャン ( kurisuchan ). Korean still uses 기독교도 ( RR : Gidokkyodo ) for ' Christian ' , though the Portuguese loanword 그리스도 (RR: Geuriseudo ) now replaced the old Sino-Korean 기독 (RR: Gidok ), which refers to Christ himself. In Thailand,

5883-494: The 17th century: Oxford English Dictionary shows a 1634 use of Xtianity and Xian is seen in a 1634–38 diary. The word Xmas uses a similar contraction. The first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament , in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year. The text says that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" ( Acts 11:26 ). The second mention of

5994-413: The 19th century still had its motherhouse in Mosul in the early 21st century. Over 120 Assyrian Iraqi Sisters belonged to this congregation. In the 19th century the Ottoman government started to reclaim central control over its outlying provinces. Their aim was to "restore Ottoman law, and rejuvenate the military" and to revive "a secure tax base for the government". In order to reestablish rule, in 1834

6105-410: The 3rd century. Some Jerusalemite Semaans of Galilean ancestry escaped the violence following the establishment of Israel in 1948 by relocating to Jordan. The Semaans of Iraq ( Mesopotamia ) are mainly Chaldeans and Assyrians from Mosul and Tel Keppe , in the north of Iraq, who can trace their ancestry back to the 2nd century. Today, most Semaans of Mosul and Iraq have left, especially after

6216-416: The American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ensuing anti-Christian backlash, to places such as Lebanon , Sweden , and the United States . The Semaans of Iran ( Persia ) are mainly Chaldeans from northern Mesopotamia who traveled east and settled in Iran in two waves; the first one was during the 5th century to escape the Greco-Roman persecution of non-Chalcedonian Assyro-Chaldean Christians, and

6327-483: The Mongol defeat in the Battle of Ain Jalut (1260) against the Mamluks , he sided with the latter and revolted against the Mongols. Hulagu then besieged the city of Mosul for nine month, and destroyed it in 1262. Later Mosul regained some importance but never recovered its original splendor. Mosul was thenceforth ruled by the Mongol Ilkhanate and Jalairid Sultanate and escaped Timur 's destructions. In 1165, Benjamin of Tudela passed through Mosul. He wrote about

6438-549: The Mongol siege and capture of Mosul in July 1262, probably caused a decline in Mosul's metalworking industry. There is a relative lack of known metalwork from the Jazira in the late 1200s; meanwhile, an abundance of metalwork from Mamluk Syria and Egypt is attested from this same period. This doesn't necessarily mean that production in Mosul ended, though, and some extant objects from this period may have been made in Mosul. The earliest definite evidence of Mawsili craftsmen emigrating westward to Mamluk Syria and Egypt dates from

6549-470: The Russian term крестьяне ( khrest'yane ) acquired the meaning ' peasants of Christian faith ' and later ' peasants ' (the main part of the population of the region), while the term Russian : христиане ( khristiane ) retained its religious meaning and the term Russian : русские ( russkie ) began to mean representatives of the heterogeneous Russian nation formed on the basis of common Christian faith and language, which strongly influenced

6660-444: The State, was certainly not the dominant language in the province." In line with its status as a politically stable trade route between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf , Mosul developed considerably during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Like the development of the Mamluk dynasty in Baghdad, during this time "the Jalili family was establishing itself as the undisputed master of Mosul" and "helping to connect Mosul with

6771-453: The Western world, Christians has had an influence and contributed on various cultures, such as in Africa, the Near East, Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Christians have made noted contributions to a range of fields, including philosophy, science and technology , medicine , fine arts and architecture , politics , literatures , music , and business . According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes

SECTION 60

#1732847447310

6882-419: The central role of the Western world and Western culture . Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western Hemisphere can be described as practicing or nominal Christians. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom". Outside

6993-429: The city's unexpectedly stiff resistance and a serious illness which caused Saladin to withdraw to Harran . Upon Abbasid encouragement, Saladin and Mas'ud negotiated a treaty in March 1186 that left the Zengids in control of Mosul, but under the obligation to supply the Ayyubids with military support when requested. The city remained in control of the Zengids, until Badr al-Din Lu'lu' took over from 1234 to 1259. During

7104-453: The city. Around 700 BC, King Sennacherib made Nineveh Assyria's new capital. Immense building work was undertaken, and Nineveh eclipsed Babylon , Kalhu and Aššur in size and importance, making it the largest city in the world. Many scholars believe the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were at Nineveh. The mound of Kuyunjik in Mosul is the site of the palaces of King Sennacherib and his successors Esarhaddon , Ashurbanipal , (who established

7215-416: The control of the native Arab Hamdanid dynasty . From Mosul, the Hamdanids under Abdallah ibn Hamdan and his son Nasir al-Dawla expanded their control over Upper Mesopotamia for several decades, first as governors of the Abbassids and later as de facto independent rulers. A century later they were supplanted by the Uqaylid dynasty . Mosul was conquered by the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century. After

7326-412: The country's rich history of early Christianity during the Spanish colonial era . Some Protestants in the Philippines use the term Kristiyano (before the term born again became popular) to differentiate themselves from Catholics ( Katoliko ). The region of modern Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia has a long history of Christianity and Christian communities on its lands. In ancient times, in

7437-414: The earliest known silver-inlaid work from Damascus in the late 1250s. His presumed son, Ali ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Mawsili , was active in Cairo several decades later. However, the earliest known silver-inlaid brasswork from Cairo belongs to another presumed member of this family, Muhammad ibn Hasan. His one known work, a candlestick dated to 1269, has an inscription which suggests he died before it

7548-476: The early 1200s that Mosul had the demand for large-scale production of them. Mosul was then a wealthy, prosperous capital city, first for the Zengids and then for Badr al-Din Lu'lu'. The origins of Mosul's inlaid brasswork industry are uncertain. The city had an iron industry in the late 10th century, when al-Muqaddasi recorded that it exported iron and iron goods like buckets, knives and chains. However, no surviving metal objects from Mosul are known before

7659-432: The early 13th century. Inlaid metalworking in the Islamic world was first developed in Khurasan in the 12th century by silversmiths facing a shortage of silver. By the mid-12th century, Herat in particular had gained a reputation for its high-quality inlaid metalwork. The practice of inlaying "required relatively few tools" and the technique spread westward, perhaps by Khurasani artisans moving to other cities. By

7770-414: The early years, a proud acknowledgement of tradition" and that the city's metalwork gained a wide reputation or " brand value" lasting for over a century. Part of Raby's argument was that many items shared one or two recurring symbols that "served no practical purpose" and may have been meant as a "brand", "workshop mark", a " guild emblem", or "perhaps as a mark of master craftsmanship". The first one

7881-412: The final stages of the Mongol invasion of Persia and Mesopotamia , in 1258, while about 80 years old, Badr al-Din Lu'lu' went in person to Meraga to offer his submission to the Mongol invader Hulagu . Badr al-Din helped the Khan in his following campaigns in Syria. Mosul was spared destruction, but Badr al-Din died shortly thereafter in 1259. Badr al-Din's son continued in his father's steps, but after

7992-735: The first centuries after the birth of Christ, when this region was called Scythia, the geographical area of Scythians – Christians already lived there. Later the region saw the first states to adopt Christianity officially – initially Armenia (301 AD) and Georgia (337 AD), later Bulgaria ( c. 864) and Kyivan Rus ( c. 988 AD). In some areas, people came to denote themselves as Christians ( Russian : христиане, крестьяне ; Ukrainian : християни , romanized :  khrystyiany ) and as Russians ( Russian : русские ), Ruthenians ( Old East Slavic : русини, руснаки , romanized:  rusyny, rusnaky ), or Ukrainians ( Ukrainian : українці , romanized :  ukraintsi ). In time

8103-421: The former inhabitants out of the ruins of their former capital) later succeeded Nineveh as the Tigris bridgehead of the road that linked Assyria and Anatolia with the short-lived Median Empire and succeeding Achaemenid Empire (546–332 BC), where it was a part of the geopolitical province of Athura (Assyria), where the region, and Assyria in general, saw a significant economic revival. Mosul became part of

8214-481: The highest numbers of years of schooling among Christians were found in Germany (13.6), New Zealand (13.5) and Estonia (13.1). Christians were also found to have the second highest number of graduate and post-graduate degrees per capita while in absolute numbers ranked in the first place (220 million). Between the various Christian communities , Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain

8325-515: The historical evidence that "Christian monks built libraries and, in the days before printing presses, preserved important earlier writings produced in Latin, Greek and Arabic". According to the same study, Christians have a significant amount of gender equality in educational attainment, and the study suggests that one of the reasons is the encouragement of the Protestant Reformers in promoting

8436-494: The history and development of the region. In the region, the term Orthodox faith ( Russian : православная вера , pravoslavnaia vera ) or Russian faith ( Russian : русская вера , russkaia vera ) from the earliest times became almost as common as the original Christian faith ( Russian : христианская, крестьянская вера khristianskaia, krestianskaia ). Also in some contexts the term cossack ( Old East Slavic : козак, казак , romanized:  kozak, kazak )

8547-533: The hub of international commerce and travel. The North Mesopotamian dialect of Arabic, commonly known as Moslawi , is named after Mosul and is widely spoken in the region. Together with the nearby Nineveh Plains , Mosul is one of the historical centers of the Assyrian people. Mosul and its surroundings have an ethnically and religiously diverse population; a large majority of its population are Arabs , with Assyrians , Turkmens , Kurds and other minorities comprising

8658-542: The integration of the administrative apparatus with the central government. This process started in 1834 with the appointment of Bayraktar Mehmed Pasha, who was to rule Mosul for the next four years. After his reign, the Ottoman government (wishing still to restrain the influence of powerful local families) appointed a series of governors in rapid succession, ruling "for only a brief period before being sent somewhere else to govern, making it impossible for any of them to achieve

8769-526: The larger category as Christian. Most Baptists and fundamentalists ( Christian Fundamentalism ), for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian. In fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity. Linda Woodhead attempts to provide a common belief thread for Christians by noting that "Whatever else they might disagree about, Christians are at least united in believing that Jesus has

8880-434: The majority of Semaans of Syria is of Greek - Syrian and Syriac ( Aramaean ) origin and known to have come from the north of Syria (Antioch area), however, a very small minority of Ghassanid Christian Arab descent (from the 3rd century) reside in the southern part ( Hauran area). Some Semaans of Antioch claim descent from Saint Peter ( Heb : Shimeon Kefa, Syr : Semaan Kefa , Grk : Symeon Kephas, Eng : Simon Peter),

8991-426: The most epigraphic inscriptions. However, the only reference to this industry in contemporary sources is the account of Ibn Sa'id , an Andalusian geographer who traveled through the region around 1250. He wrote that "there are many crafts in the city, especially inlaid brass vessels which are exported (and presented) to rulers". These were expensive items that only the wealthiest could afford, and it wasn't until

9102-518: The most characteristic features of 14th-century Mamluk metalwork: large-scale inspirational candlesticks, and large multi-lobed medallions with a wide border that eventually became filled with flying ducks". Mosul metalwork eventually influenced a tradition of metal inlay in Fars and elsewhere in western Iran in the 14th century. The Ilkhanids rounding up artisans and gathering them in their capital of Tabriz for centralized royal production may have played

9213-635: The most common terms are คนคริสต์ ( RTGS : khon khrit ) or ชาวคริสต์ (RTGS: chao khrit ) which literally means ' Christ person/people ' or ' Jesus person/people ' . The Thai word คริสต์ (RTGS: khrit ) is derived from Christ . In the Philippines , the most common terms are Kristiyano (for ' Christian ' ) and {{lang[fil|Kristiyanismo}} (for ' Christianity ' ) in most Philippine languages ; both derive from Spanish cristiano and cristianismo (also used in Chavacano ) due to

9324-699: The past, the Malays used to call Christians in Malay by the Portuguese loanword Serani (from Arabic Naṣrānī ), but the term now refers to the modern Kristang creoles of Malaysia . In the Indonesian language , the term Nasrani is also used alongside Kristen . The Chinese word is 基督 徒 ( jīdū tú ), literally ' Christ follower ' . The name Christ was originally phonetically written in Chinese as 基利斯督 , which

9435-524: The phrase "the Jews call us Nazarenes." While around 331 AD Eusebius records that Christ was called a Nazoraean from the name Nazareth , and that in earlier centuries "Christians" were once called "Nazarenes". The Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes , Notzrim , occurs in the Babylonian Talmud , and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. A wide range of beliefs and practices are found across

9546-748: The preeminent disciple of Christ . The story is based on oral tradition that claims that Saint Peter, avoiding persecution in his homeland, left his family with the Hellenized Jewish community of Antioch during his seven-year stay in the city before his travel to Rome . Some others claim that they're related to Saint Simeon Stylites , a popular ascetic Syrian saint during the Byzantine empire . Antioch ’s history of continuous falls and captures by Arabs , Seljuk Turks , Crusaders , and Mamluk Turks led to many Semaans fleeing their native city to neighboring areas in Syria and Lebanon. In 1939, Turkey annexed

9657-428: The rest of cases it depends on nisbah s. However, al-Mawsili is by far the most common nisbah ; only two others are attested: al-Is'irdi (referring to someone from Siirt ) and al-Baghdadi. There are, however, some scientific instruments inlaid with silver that were made in Syria during this period, with the earliest being 1222/3 (619 AH). Instability after the death of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' in 1259, and especially

9768-443: The rest of the city's population. Sunni Islam is the largest religion, but there are a significant number of Christians , as well as adherents of other sects of Islam and other minority religions. Historically, essential products of the area include Mosul marble and oil . Mosul is home to the University of Mosul and its renowned Medical College, one of the Middle East's largest educational and research centers. The city's name

9879-621: The second one was during the 16th century to escape the Turkish persecution of Christian minorities during the Ottoman Empire . However, today, there are only very few left. The Semaans of Egypt are Copts and Greek - Egyptian Christians from Alexandria , Aswan , and Cairo . Some can trace their ancestry to 1st century Alexandria, and the establishment of Christianity there by Saint Mark . Today, many Semaans have also immigrated to Western countries. Christians A Christian ( / ˈ k r ɪ s tʃ ən , - t i ə n / )

9990-502: The spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa and Horn of Africa during the early Roman Empire , Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West . Consequently, different versions of the Christian cultures arose with their own rites and practices, centered around the cities such as Rome ( Western Christianity ) and Carthage , whose communities

10101-451: The sultan abolished public elections for governor, and began "neutraliz[ing] local families such as the Jalilis and their class" and appointing new, non-Maslawi governors directly. In line with its reintegration within central government rule, Mosul was required to conform to new Ottoman reform legislation, including the standardization of tariff rates, the consolidation of internal taxes and

10212-544: The term follows in Acts 26 , where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle , "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." ( Acts 26:28 ). The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4 , which exhorts believers: "Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." ( 1 Peter 4:16 ). Kenneth Samuel Wuest holds that all three original New Testament verses' usages reflect

10323-410: The total global wealth. A study done by the nonpartisan wealth research firm New World Wealth found that 56.2% of the 13.1 million millionaires in the world were Christians. A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that Christians ranked as the second most educated religious group around in the world after Jews with an average of 9.3 years of schooling, and

10434-484: The turn of the 13th century, the silver-inlaid-brass technique had reached Mosul. A pair of engraved brass flabella found in Egypt and possibly made in Mosul are dated by a Syriac inscription to the year 1202, which would make them the earliest known Mosul brasses with a definite date (although they are not inlaid with anything). One extant item may be even older: an inlaid ewer by the master craftsman Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya

10545-402: The turn of the 20th century, led to a reaction against the term. Later scholars such as Max van Berchem , Mehmet Ağa-Oğlu , and D.S. Rice all took a more skeptical view; van Berchem in particular argued that only six known items could be definitely attributed to Mosul, and others were likely made elsewhere. Souren Melikian-Chirvani remarked in 1973 that Mosul had been famous in the west for

10656-430: The two decades from roughly 1220 to 1240, the Mosul brass industry saw "rapid innovations in technique, decoration, and composition". Artisans were inspired by miniature paintings produced in the Mosul area. Mosul seems to have become predominant among Muslim centers of metalwork in the early 13th century. Evidence is partial and indirect - relatively few objects which directly state where they were made exist, and in

10767-500: The world among those who call themselves Christian. Denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of "Christianity". For example, Timothy Beal notes the disparity of beliefs among those who identify as Christians in the United States as follows: Although all of them have their historical roots in Christian theology and tradition, and although most would identify themselves as Christian, many would not identify others within

10878-766: The world's Christians. Other Christian groups make up the remainder. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion in 2050, if current trends continue. In recent history, Christians have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in the Middle-East , North Africa, East Asia , and South Asia . The Greek word Χριστιανός ( Christianos ), meaning ' follower of Christ ' , comes from Χριστός ( Christos ), meaning ' anointed one ', with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership. In

10989-516: Was felle ( فەڵە ), coming from the root word meaning ' to be saved, attain salvation ' . The Syriac term Nasrani ( ' Nazarene ' ) has also been attached to the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala , India. In northern India and Pakistan , Christians are referred to ʿĪsāʾī ( Hindi : ईसाई , Urdu : عیسائی ). Masīhī ( Hindi : मसीही , Urdu : مسیحی ) is a term Christians use to refer to themselves as well. In

11100-502: Was Qasem Sultan Afshar , who was appointed governor of Mosul in 1622. Before 1638, the Ottomans considered Mosul "still a mere fortress, important for its strategic position as an offensive platform for Ottoman campaigns into Iraq, as well as a defensive stronghold and staging post guarding the approaches to Anatolia and to the Syrian coast. Then, with the Ottoman reconquest of Baghdad (1638),

11211-594: Was annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate by Utba ibn Farqad al-Sulami during the early Arab Muslim invasions and conquests, after which Assyria dissolved as a geopolitical entity. In the late 9th century the Turkic dynasts Ishaq ibn Kundaj and his son Muhammad seized control over Mosul, but in 893 Mosul came once again under the direct control of the Abbasid Caliphate . In the early 10th century Mosul came under

11322-571: Was called Western or Latin Christendom , and Constantinople ( Eastern Christianity ), Antioch ( Syriac Christianity ), Kerala ( Indian Christianity ) and Alexandria , among others, whose communities were called Eastern or Oriental Christendom. The Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization . From the 11th to 13th centuries, Latin Christendom rose to

11433-616: Was completed. The "key figure" for early Mamluk metalwork in Cairo, however, was Ali ibn Husayn. His works from the 1280s both show Mosul influence as well as a different "early Mamluk" style. A final member was Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Husayn, a grandson of Husayn ibn Muhammad, who was active at the turn of the 14th century and made "a major work" for the Rasulid sultan al-Mu'ayyad Hizabr al-Din Dawud ibn Yusuf . This family appears to have initiated "two of

11544-607: Was eventually abandoned around the middle of the century. The last example of this rosette is the bottom of a candlestick made by Dawud ibn Salama in 1248/9 (646 AH). Raby suggested that Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya "may have been a seminal figure" in the Mosul brasswork industry. The particular phrasing of the "benedictory inscriptions" on his objects, bestowing good luck on their owners, is repeated in several works by other Mosul craftsmen. Two assistants of Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya's are known: his tilmidh (apprentice) Isma'il ibn Ward, and his ghulam Qasim ibn Ali. Ahmad al-Dhaki's workshop

11655-513: Was highly influenced by the Dominican fathers who arrived in Mosul in 1750, sent by Pope Benedict XIV (Mosul had a large Christian population, predominantly indigenous Assyrians ). In 1873 they were followed by the Dominican nuns, who established schools, health clinics, a printing press, an orphanage, and workshops to teach girls sewing and embroidery. A congregation of Dominican sisters founded in

11766-478: Was included in the northern no-fly zone imposed and patrolled by the United States and Britain between 1991 and 2003. Although this prevented Saddam 's forces from mounting large-scale military operations again in the region, it did not stop his regime from implementing a steady policy of "Arabisation" by which the demography of some areas of Nineveh Governorate were gradually changed. Despite this program, Mosul and its surrounding towns and villages remained home to

11877-569: Was later abbreviated as 基督 . The term is Kî-tuk in the southern Hakka dialect ; the two characters are pronounced Jīdū in Mandarin Chinese. In Vietnam, the same two characters read Cơ đốc , and a "follower of Christianity" is a tín đồ Cơ đốc giáo . In Japan, the term kirishitan (written in Edo period documents 吉利支丹 , 切支丹 , and in modern Japanese histories as キリシタン ), from Portuguese cristão , referred to Roman Catholics in

11988-520: Was left for future resolution by the League of Nations . In 1926, Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the League of Nations ' brokered agreement between Turkey and Great Britain. Former Ottoman Mosul Vilayet became the Nineveh Governorate of Iraq, but Mosul remained the provincial capital. Mosul's fortunes revived with the discovery of oil in the area, from the late 1920s onward. It became

12099-797: Was listed as a center of worship of the goddess Ishtar , remaining so during the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1056 BC). During the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC), Nineveh grew in size and importance, particularly from the reigns of Tukulti-Ninurta II and Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) onward; he chose the city of Kalhu (the Biblical Calah , modern Nimrud ) as his capital in place of the ancient traditional capital of Aššur ( Ashur ), 30 km (19 mi) from present-day Mosul. Thereafter, successive Assyrian emperor-monarchs, such as Shalmaneser III , Adad-nirari III , Tiglath-Pileser III , Shalmaneser V and Sargon II , continued to expand

12210-548: Was possibly also "intimately connected to others in Mosul". The Mosul metalwork is the only example in the Muslim world where metalworkers recorded their relationships between masters and apprentices ( tilmidh ) and hirelings ( ajir ). This was apparently a point of pride for Mosul artisans. Julian Raby speculated that two elaborate but impractically tiny Mosuli objects, a tiny 6x4 cm box made by Isma'il ibn Ward and an anonymous 8-cm-tall bucket, were made as "credential work" by apprentice or journeyman metalworkers as part of

12321-543: Was used to denote "free" Christians of steppe origin and East Slavic language. Nominally "Christian" societies made "Christian" a default label for citizenship or for "people like us". In this context, religious or ethnic minorities can use "Christians" or "you Christians" loosely as a shorthand term for mainstream members of society who do not belong to their group – even in a thoroughly secular (though formerly Christian) society. As of 2020, Christianity has approximately 2.4 billion adherents. The faith represents about

#309690