Syriac-Aramean people

Syriac-Aramaeans ܐܪܡܝܐ Orōmōye

Total population
approx. 1.0 million
Regions with significant populations
Syria	ca. 800,000
Turkey	15,000
Lebanon	15,000
United States	80,000
Sweden	80,000 Syriacs
Germany	50,000
Languages
Turoyo, Syriac
Religion
Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Catholic Church
Related ethnic groups
Assyrians, Chaldean Assyrians, and other Assyrian ethnic divisions

The Syriac-Aramean people (In Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܝܐ ܐܪܡܝܐ ), also known as Syriac/Assyrian people, are an ethnic group of Syriac Christians that are widely spread into countries such as Syria, Turkey, Israel, and Iraq. In later times, many of them fled into Europe, the United States and Australia, to countries including Germany and Sweden. Today tens of thousands of Syriacs live in diaspora.

Many Syriacs, especially those originating in Syria ("Western Syriacs") claim that they are descendants of the Arameans (viz., the Neo-Hittite kingdoms of the Levant during and after the Bronze Age collapse). This group roughly corresponds to the Syrian Jacobite denomination (named after Jacob Baradaeus), i.e. adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Syriac Catholic Church, which are churches of the so-called West Syrian Rite.

Identity

Further information: Names of Syriac Christians

The term Syrian was changed to Syriac in referring to the (Syrian Christian) people and language so as to avoid confusion with belonging to the country of Syria. For information on Syrian nationals see the Demographics of Syria.

The term Syriac-Aramaean identity is one form of Syriac identity, mainly held by Western Syriacs, which emphasizes Aramaean identity.

Irredentist assertions includes northern Mesopotamia being called "Aram-Naharaim". Aramaeanist supporters are mainly found in the Syrian Orthodox Church. The Syrian Orthodox Church in the documentary The Hidden Pearl emphasizes the continuity of linguistic Aramaean identity.

The division has its roots in the Early Middle Ages, when Western Syriacs were located in Roman (Byzantine) territory (Roman Syria), and looked to the Patriarchate of Antioch, rather than to the Church of the East, originally on Sassanid territory, whence the Assyrian and Chaldean communities derive. These Christians tend to see themselves as Syrians or Aramaeans. What remains of actual Western Neo-Aramaic, sometimes noted as the surviving language that would be the closest to the language spoken by Jesus, is only to be found in three villages near Damascus, in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Self-identified Chaldeans and Aramaeans are frequently called "Assyrians" by Assyrian nationalists. This is resented by many who do not want to be identified, wholly or even partially, with the ancient Assyrians, or with modern Assyrian nationalism. This has led to intense dispute, for instance, over categories in the United States census and about press reports on minorities in Iraq

The Syriac-Aramean Flag

The Syriac flag has it history when André Dupont-Sommer made diggings in the well known and historical aramaic village Tell-Khalaf in Syria, in the beginning of the 1900-century. He found a relief that shows three demons carrying the bewinged sunplate.
The Syriacs in Syria started to use this symbol as an honour to their aramaic origin. The sun is representing the universe, the wings as symbol for everything between the universe and earth, the flowers (that looks as stars) is a symbol for the four cardinal points and all life in earth. These three symbolize the universe. The red background was chosen because of all Syriac blood that has been spilled out due to all suffering and persecutions. The yellow color is symbolizing the hope for a own country.

Homeland

Main article: Assyrian homeland

the Euphrat-Tigris watershed

Many Syriacs live today in the Middle East, the area around Tigris and Euphrat rivers. The strongeset Syriac community is in Syria, where 800,000 Syriacs live. In Tur Abdin, mostly known as the homeland, there are around 3,000 still left, and approx. 15,000 in Turkey.

Turkey
A lot of Syriacs are originally from Tur Abdin. The name Tur Abdin is on Syriac and means The mountains of servants of God. This area was known as the worlds most church and monastery closed area. Today, there are around 3,000 Syriacs left in Tur Abdin and 15,000 in Turkey

Syria
The strongest Syriac stronghold in Syria is in Qamishli and Hassakeh. Syriacs who fled from the Syriac Genocide, fled into the newly country known as Syria. Here they established cities as Qamishli.

Lebanon
There are only a few thousand Syriacs in Lebanon.

History

Abgar V meets Taddeus

The Aramean king Abgar the Black (Abgar u Komo) got the Syriac people to leave their polytheism belief for Christianity. During this time (300 after Christ), the most Syriacs lived in a place called Tur Abdin in Turkey . Today, there is still 3000 Syriacs left in Tur Abdin .

The great king Abgar V the Black (In Syriac; Abgar u Komo), son of the Araméans , suffered from a leprosy sickness, that even his own doctor not could cure him from. Abgar had been told about a wise man in Palestine (Jesus) and that this person had effective cures against sicknesses. He send a delegation with a letter to Jesus and invited him to Edessa, to cure Abgar. Jesus answered that could not come to Edessa, because he was on other dutys. But he sent one of his followers, Taddeus and this Taddeus cured king Abgar V. and not long after, Abgar V and the aramaic converted into Christianity. Abgar V´s kingdom, Edessa, got famous because of this event, and many people visited Edessa to look at the letters that was exchanged between Abgar V and Jesus .
Later, Edessa became a important centre for the christian Arameans (Syriacs) and for theirs Syriac-Christian culture. The aramaic dialect that was spoken in Edessa, became standard language in the new Syriac-Christian church.

Since 300 A.D. the Syriac people are living without a own state. At the Ottoman Empiress fall after the first world war, the colonial power wanted to establish new order in the Middleast. France and Britain divided the area without taking consideration to ethnic groups. They drew a new map over the area and created new countrys as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon etc. Many Syriacs fled from Tur Abdin into the new countrys. Kamishli, Hassakeh and Derik was City´s in Syria that got dominated by Syriacs. Others fled to Irak, Jordan, Lebanon, and the remaining ones stayed in Tur Abdin, In Southwest Turkey. The Syriac group got divided, and at the late 60´s, the first Syriac people fled into Europe from Lebanon. Today, there are not many Syriacs left in the middleast. In the homeland, Tur Abdin there are still about 3000 Syriacs left .

in the end of 1300 AD, the Syriacs were in significiant majority in different areas in the Middleast, but at the end of this century, the mongol Timur Lenk had assumed the Islamic religion and conquered big areas. Large amounts of Syriacs were killed and the survivals became a minority. Over 90,000 Syriacs were killed in Baghdad. The survival Syriacs fled into the mountains of Tur Abdin. The Syriacs gave it the name Tur Abdin, that in english means Mountain of the servants of God. This area became the centre for survival Syriacs. After this century, the Syriacs never succeeded in recovering, and this was the start on oppressions, persecutions and constant massacres on the Syriacs. They´re counting on 25 big genocides on the Syriacs, and the largest one performed by Timur Lenk.

The Syriac genocide was committed against the Syriac/Assyrian population of the Ottoman Empire near the end of the First World War by the Young Turks. The Syriac/Assyrian population of northern Mesopotamia (Tur Abdin, Hakkari, Van, Siirt region in modern-day southeastern Turkey and Urmia region in northwestern Iran) was forcibly relocated and massacred by Ottoman (Turkish and Kurdish) forces between 1914 and 1920 under the regime of the Young Turks. This genocide is considered by some scholars to be a part of the same policy of extermination as the Armenian Genocide and Pontic Greek Genocide .

See also

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