Assyrians - who are they? Culture, religion, history

The people of Assyria have an interesting culture and a huge historical heritage, which has been preserved for many centuries. Despite the fact that the state of Assyria fell in the sixth century AD, the nation continues to exist and develop. This, undoubtedly, the phenomenon deserves to be talked about and known by people. Assyrians - who are they? The answer to this question is not so simple, but we will try to do this in our article.

History of the Assyrian State

The Assyrian state ended its existence in 612, and since then, the people called the Assyrians live without having their own state. If we talk about the historical homeland of the ethnos, then it is located in the territory of Mesopotamia (now Iraq). One can only imagine what efforts were made by the people of Assyria not to assimilate, not to wander around the world, not to disappear from the map of nationalities. And they did it - the Assyrian people now live in the Caucasus, Tatarstan, Iraq, Turkey, the United States of America and maintain close contact with each other.

The Assyrian is a nationality. But at the same time, a representative of the people can not have the citizenship of Assyria, because such a country simply does not exist today.

Culture of Assyria

Culture, which is still stored by the Assyrians, was born and functioned already when human civilization was at its source. The Assyrian state existed for about two thousand years, cities were built, administrative infrastructure was created, and taxation functioned. This is one of the richest cultures in the world, because she has a long-standing experience. Many achievements that we use, invented or discovered for us, people of modern times, the ancient Assyrians.

Writing

The writing of the Assyrians deserves special attention. All the knowledge of the life and culture of that time, mankind has received thanks to clay tablets. Originally used pictograms (images of objects, their external shape). Since the drawings as a means of communication took a very long time, the letter became more and more simple, until it became a cuneiform. The ink of ancient civilizations was clay, and the instrument of writing was a sharp stick, made of wood.

Tiles, on which the ancient Assyrians wrote about themselves and the world around them, were then dried and burned so that the inscription was not affected by dampness or time.

It is known that schools existed in Assyria. During the excavations, tablets were identified that were identified as "teaching aids for pupils". The training of the same writing was given for four years. And later it was possible to find out that in Mesopotamia there was even a university, probably the first for humanity. It studied the letter, grammar and painting. Unfortunately, the plaques with the completed homework or lecture did not survive. Scientists suggest that the tiles were handled by inept hands. And as a result, they deteriorated, not bringing to our age unique information about the teaching methods.

What language do the Assyrians speak?

The Assyrian language is a mixture of East Aramaic dialects, which etymologically belong to the family of Semito-Hamitic languages. This language is spoken not only by the Assyrians who live in Iran, Turkey, Iraq or Syria, but also immigrants on the territory of Russia, the United States. Literary Assyrian language was formed in the nineteenth century. On it, the press was published and published, fiction. Many foreign words are rooted in the language.

Mysterious Assyrians: Religion and Faith

To begin a story about the Assyrian religion makes sense from the biblical legend. Her carefully guarded and revered Assyrians. Religion is their place of honor, so the story is known to everyone. Its essence is that one of the wise men who came to the newborn Jesus with gifts was an Assyrian by nationality. Convinced that the Messiah was truly born, this wise man returned to his people and spread the good news that a miracle had been created, and the Savior was born into every home.

The religion of the Assyrians is a special kind of Christianity called Nestorianism. This is what the Assyrians believe. Who are they in religion? It's best to call them Christians, only special.

The emergence of Nestorianism

There was a religious trend in about the fifth century. The founder is a monk named Nestorius, and later the Patriarch of Constantinople. He held this position for four years: from 428 to 431. As for Nestorianism as a religion, many traits of Aria's teachings are discernible in him. Recall, the faith of Arius was rejected as a heresy at the First Ecumenical Council in 325, because she rejected the concept of Jesus Christ as a divine messenger. Of course, Nestorianism has many dogmatic differences, namely, the positioning of Jesus Christ not as God (Orthodoxy) and not as a person (Aria), but as a being that had a human face with God inside. The point is that in Jesus Christ there were two principles: divine and human, and they can be easily separated from each other.

In connection with such views on the nature of Jesus Christ, the Nestorians interpret the image of the mother of the Mother of God differently. It is called Christmother and is not worshiped as Orthodox. As for the sacraments, they are in Nestorians converge with the traditional: baptism, priesthood, communion, repentance. In addition to all this, the sacraments and the sign of the cross are considered sacraments in this faith .

The Assyrian church enjoys the liturgies of the apostles Thaddeus and Mark, who were written while in Jerusalem. Divine services are conducted in the Old Syrian language. Icons and statues, symbolizing the saints, are not obligatory elements in the churches. For the priests, celibacy is not provided, the Assyrian church Assumes marriage even after ordination.

Persecution

At the third Ecumenical Council Nestorianism suffered the same sad fate as the faith of Arius - he was recognized as a heresy. Since then, the Nestorians have been living in communities whose heads are recognized by Patriarchal Catholicos. In 1968, the teaching split into two schools, which separately exist to this day. The first school is the Assyrian church, whose center, surprisingly, is located in the USA, Illinois. And the second, the so-called Ancient Church of the East, settled in Baghdad (Iraq).

The twentieth century: the Assyrians, who are they today?

Moved to the territory of Russia Assyrians began after 1918, when it became clear: in Turkey they will simply be destroyed. The reception was organized fairly warm, which was due to the participation of the nationality in the First World War on the side of the Russian army. In general, the twentieth century was the most bloody for the Assyrians, who were twice dragged into cruel war with the Turks. At that time, many Assyrians were pinning their hopes on Russia as a savior of the Christians of the East against oppression, and even complete annihilation. They were promised autonomy and broad rights, but when the war was over, the need to fulfill the promises also fell into the background.

About half of the Assyrians living in the Russian Empire died in the First World War. A quarter suffered from repression several decades later. Then the Second World War, which came in 1941 on the territory of Russia, again took the lives of many Assyrians who, shoulder to shoulder with other nationalities, fought against fascism. Finally, the eviction of Assyrians to Siberia in 1949 led to the fact that about a third of all immigrants died in the next winter because of a lack of warm clothes.

In 1956 they were allowed to return to the Caucasus, to their historical homeland. Where to this day the Assyrians live. Who are they such? Why live in Tatarstan, the Caucasus, Iraq, Turkey and America? Where did they escape and why? The answers to all these questions are given by history, now readers also know it.