(Redirected from Assyrian naming dispute)
Chaldean flag (since 1997)
The various communities of adherents of
Syriac Christianity and speakers of
Neo-Aramaic languages advocate different terms for ethnic self-designation:
★ "Assyrians", after the ancient
Assyrian Empire, advocated by the
Assyrian Church of the East ("
Eastern Assyrians"),
[1] and other Aramaic-speaking Christians from the other Syriac Churches
★ "Aramaeans", after the ancient
Aramaeans, advocated by the
Syrian Orthodox Church ("
Western Assyrians")
★ "Chaldeans", after ancient
Chaldea, advocated by the
Chaldean Catholic Church ("
Chaldean Assyrians")
The terminological problem goes back to colonial times, but it became more acute in 1946, when with the independence of
Syria, the adjective ''Syrian'' referred to an independent state. The controversy isn't restricted to
exonyms like English "Assyrian" vs. "Aramaean", but also applies to self-designation in
Neo-Aramaic, but confusingly, the Aramaean fraction endorses both ''Sūryōyō'' and ''Āramayē'' , while the "Assyrian" fraction insists on ''Āṯūrāyē'' .
Exonyms
The most common English
exonym is "
Assyrians", but emphatically denounced by the "Aramaean" faction.
In other parts of the
Assyrian diaspora, the case may lie differently, depending on the confessional composition of the regional population. Thus, in
Germany and in
Sweden, "Aramaean" ('', '') is more common, but by no means undisputed. Alternative terms are "Syriac" or "Syrian", both rarely used because "Syriac" is usually reserved for early Christian times, and "Syrian" for citizens of the modern nation of
Syria. In Sweden '' is commonly used in the Aramaean faction (as opposed to ''Syrier'' "Arab citizen of Syria").
Proponents of self-identification as Chaldeans are in fact a sub-group of Syriac Christianity, the
Chaldean Christians, adherents of the
Chaldean Catholic Church (since 1553), while the dispute between self-identification as "Assyrians" vs. "Aramaeans" concerns the entire ethnicity.
The confusion was noted as early as the 18th century by
Edward Gibbon, who wrote that the Nestorians "Under the name Chaldeans or Assyrians, are confounded with the most learned or the most powerful nation in Eastern antiquity."
The English appellation "Assyrian" has been common since the
First World War. In 1910, William A. Wigram in his ''An introduction to the history of the Assyrian Church'' opts for "Assyrian" in the interest of clarity, noting of the alternatives:
''Syrian'' to an Englishman, does not mean 'a Syriac-speaking man'; but a man of that district between Antioch and the Euphrates where Syriac was the vernacular once, but which is Arabic-speaking today, and which was never the country of the 'Assyrian' Church.
''Chaldean'' would suit admirably; but it is put out of court by the fact that in modern use it means only those members of the Church in question who have abandoned their old fold for the Roman obedience; and ''Nestorian'' has a theological significance which is not justified. Thus it seemed better to discard all these, and to adopt a name which has at least the merit of familiarity to most friends of the church today
Assyriologist
Simo Parpola argues for a common designation ''Assyrian'', on grounds that:
Middle East expert
Walid Phares speaking at the 70th Assyrian Convention, on the topic of
Assyrians in post-Saddam Iraq, began his talk by asking why he as a Lebanese
Maronite ought to be speaking on the political future of Assyrians in Iraq, answering his own question with "because we are one people. We believe we are the Western Assyrians and you are the Eastern Assyrians."
[2]
During the 2000 United States census, Syriac Orthodox Archbishops Cyril Aprim Karim and Clemis Eugene Kaplan issued a declaration that their preferred English designation is "Syriacs"
[1]. The official census avoids the question by listing the group as "Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac".
[3]
Aramaic
In Aramaic, the dispute boils down to the question of whether ''Sūryayē'' "Syrian" and ''Āṯūrāyē'' "Assyrian" are synonymous. Etymologically, the question is unsettled (see
Syria#Etymology). J. Joseph emphasizes non-identity of the two terms, not so much on etymological as on geographical grounds, a position criticized by Michael (2002).
Michael the Great in the 12th century reports on a 9th century dispute between Greek and Syriac sects, and has the Jacobites answer derogatory comments of their Greek opponents to the effect:
When
Horatio Southgate visited the Syrian Orthodox communities of Turkey in 1843 he reported that its followers were calling themselves ''Suryoye Othoroye'':
In the wake of the
modern rediscovery of Ancient Assyria from the 1840s, "Assyrian" identity was embraced with renewed enthusiasm in
Assyrian nationalism.
Archaeology
Recent archaeological evidence includes a statue from Syria with Assyrian and Aramaic inscriptions,
[4] as well as the
Cinekoy inscription.
Footnotes
1. "Eastern Churches", ''Catholic Encyclopedia''
2. http://www.aina.org/releases/2003/convention6753.htm
3. http://www.euroamericans.net/euroamericans.net/census2000.htm
4. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0006-0895(198222)45%3A3%3C135%3AASFSWA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1
References
★ John Joseph, ''The Modern Assyrians of the Middle East - Encouters with Western Christian Missions, Archeologists & Colonial Powers''
★ R.N. Frye, ''Assyria and Syria: Synonyms'', Journal of Near Eastern Studies vol.51, n. 4, pp.281-285, reprinted Journal of the Assyrian Academic Studies 1997, vol.11, n.2, pp.30-36.
★
Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today Simo Parpola
★ Sargon R. Michael, review of J. Joseph ''The Modern Assyrians of the Middle East'',
Zinda magazine (2002)
See also
★
Aram Nahrin
★
Assyrian homeland
★
Assyrian nationalism
★
Syria (etymology)
★
Cinekoy inscription
External links
;general
★ Kelley L. Ross, ''Note on the Modern Assyrians'', The Proceedings of the Friesian School
[4]
;pro "Assyrian"
★ Wilfred Alkhas,
Neo-Assyrianism & the End of the Confounded Identity (2006)
;pro "Aramaean"
★ http://suryoyo-oromoyo.info.se/
★ M. S. Megalommatis, ''Do not Call the Illustrious Nation of Aramaeans by the Misnomer ‘Assyrians’!'' (2007)
[5]
★ M. S. Megalommatis, ''Aramaeans, Syrians, Syriacs, Assyrians or Chaldaeans?''
[6]
;anti "Assyrian"
★ M. S. Megalommatis, ''The Assyrian and Israelite Origin of the Northern Europeans and Americans''
[7]
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