Free Republic

Meticulous ancient notetakers have given archaeologists a glimpse of what life was like 3,000 years ago in the Assyrian Empire, which controlled much of the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf. Clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform, an ancient script once common in the Middle East, were unearthed in summer 2009 in an ancient palace in present-day southeastern Turkey... A team led by University of Akron archaeologist Timothy Matney has been excavating the massive mud brick palace, once inhabited by the governor of the empire's Tushhan Province, for more than a decade. The palace is located in Ziyaret...

Bishop Mar Bawai Soro San Jose, CA., Jun 5, 2008 / 03:44 am (CNA).- Last month, Bishop Mar Bawai Soro and nearly 1,000 Assyrian Christian families were received into communion with the Chaldean Catholic Church in California.  Bishop Bawai explained the process to CNA, and expressed his hope that other Assyrian churches will also consider uniting with the Catholic Church.  The Assyrian Church, centered in modern-day Iraq, dates back to the earliest days of Christianity.  Around the fifth century, the Assyrian followers began to embrace the teachings of Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople whose doctrines were condemned by the Council...

San Jose, CA., May 18, 2008 / 12:40 pm (CNA).- One week ago today leaders of the Chaldean Catholic Church in California formally received into communion a bishop of the Assyrian Apostolic Church of the East, his clergy, and about 3,000 Assyrian Christians. The Assyrian Church, centered in modern-day Iraq, dates back to the earliest days of Christianity.  According to the California Catholic Daily, the church eventually embraced the teachings of Nestorius, the fifth-century Archbishop of Constantinople whose doctrines were condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431.  Beginning in the sixteenth century, large numbers of Nestorian Assyrians came...

BAGHDAD - An Assyrian Orthodox priest was killed in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Baghdad, police and an assistant said, the latest attack against Iraq's Christian minority. The priest, Youssef Adel, was shot by gunmen who drove up in a car and opened fire as he was opening the gate of his house near the St. Peter and Paul church where he presided, an assistant said. Christians have frequently been caught up in the violence or been targeted in this predominantly Muslim country. The body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, one of Iraq's most senior Chaldean Catholic clerics, was found...

A 5-year-old Iraqi girl gives a thumbs-up at the Assyrian Christian Christmas Party attended by the 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition forces, Dec. 15 in Kirkuk. Soldiers with the 2414 Logistical Transition Team who are training the 2-4 IA logistics at Iraqi Army Base K-1 brought presents donated by employers, friends and family of Pennsylvania National Guardsmen, members of the LTT team. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Margaret C. Nelson, 115th MPAD. KIRKUK — The 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army (IA) Division invited Coalition forces to a Christmas Party at an Assyrian Christian School in Kirkuk,...

Christian America may soon be the death of Iraqi Christians. Although Islam long has been in the ascendancy in Iraq, the so-called Assyrians, who speak a neo-Aramaic language, predate the rise of Islam. Today, however, the Iraqi Christian community faces possible extermination. The irony is extraordinary: America, a nation with deep Christian roots, has inadvertently loosed the vicious forces bent on destroying Iraqi Christians. Persecuted by Islamic extremists and targeted for their frequent cooperation with occupation authorities, Christians have ever less hope in a nation that has fallen into violent chaos. The Assyrian International News Agency has released a new...

Austrian Assyriologist Michael Jursa recently discovered the financial record of a donation made a Babylonian chief official, Nebo-Sarsekim. The find may lend new credibility to the Book of Jeremiah, which cites Nebo-Sarsekim as a participant in the siege of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. The tablet is dated to 595 B.C., which was during the reign of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II. Coming to the throne in 604 B.C., he marched to Egypt shortly thereafter, and initiated an epoch of fighting between the two nations. During the ongoing struggle, Jerusalem was captured in 597, and again in 587-6 B.C. It was...

CNA).- On the same day as Father Ragheed Ganni’s funeral, Muslim fundamentalists sent another message of hatred to Catholics, this time attacking two churches in Iraq. Fr. Ragheed, along with three deacons were killed just this past Sunday after they had finished celebrating Mass. According to the AINA news agency, two churches were attacked in the Baghdad district of Dora.  At St. John the Baptist’s in Hay Al-Athoriyeen, several security guards who protect the church were killed, and St. Jacob’s in Hay al Asya was vandalized and forcibly turned into a mosque.  St. Jacob’s had previously been attacked in October...

Fathers of the zodiac tracked downAstronomer shows when and where his ancient counterparts worked. Geoff Brumfiel The MUL.APIN tablets record the dates that constellations appeared in the Assyrian sky. R. D. Flavin Using modern techniques — and some rocks — a US astronomer has traced the origin of a set of ancient clay tablets to a precise date and place. The tablets show constellations thought to be precursors of the present-day zodiac. The tablets, known collectively as MUL.APIN, contain nearly 200 astronomical observations, including measurements related to several constellations. They are written in cuneiform, a Middle-Eastern script that is one...

The crisis for the Assyrian community in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood is deepening. Islamists are systematically targeting the Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs), forcing them to pay the jizya (AINA 4-17-2007, 3-18-2007 ), a "protection" tax demanded by the Koran, or convert within 24 hours or be killed. Dora is located 10 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Families are abandoning their homes and seeking refuge in Churches: 14 families have fled to the Al-So'ud Chaldean Church. 7 families have fled to Saint Odisho Assyrian Church. 3 families are in the church and 4 in the Saint Adai Patriarchate, the...

More on Muslims Forcing Christian Assyrians in Baghdad to Pay 'Protection Tax' Posted GMT 4-17-2007 15:53:13 (AINA) -- On 3-18-2007 AINA reported that Muslims were forcing the Christian Assyrians in the Dora Neighborhood of Baghdad to pay the jizya, the 'Protection Tax' demanded from Christians and Jews by Islamic law. AINA has obtained testimony from two residents of Dora and an observer. All names are withheld to protect the safety of the individuals. Baghdad Observer: Elements of Al-Qaeda have moved into Dora from Anbar. No security forces are to be seen there, it seems to be abandoned by both Iraqi...

While Canada's self-appointed guardians of Christmas dig up new evidence of persecution -- a tree moved down the hall, a greeting without "merry" dutifully attached -- real persecution against Christians is going on daily and is being largely ignored. Nowhere is the situation as grave as in Iraq. Since the U.S. invasion in 2003, Iraq's one million Assyrian Christians -- the oldest sect in Christendom -- have been the target of a campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing at the hands of Islamic extremists and Kurdish nationalists. Tens of thousands have fled the country for Syria, Jordan or Turkey. This...

Muslim militias have forced Christians to pin up posters condemning the words of Benedict XVI in Regensburg. But religious leaders, including al Sistani, have expressed their friendship with the Apostolic Nunciature. And the representative of the Iraqi Shiite leader would like to meet the pope. Baghdad (AsiaNews) – The start of the month of Ramadan in Iraq was marked by violence but also by significant openness by al Sistani towards the Vatican. Yesterday, two churches, one in Baghdad and another in Mosul, were struck. Recently, the country has seen an escalation of attacks against Christians, thought by some to be...

Honey and Vinegar Attitudes toward Iran's Assyrian Christians Even as the number of Assyrians in Iran diminishes toward the point of extinction, the attitudes about them appear to harden into chauvinistic prejudice. - The recent remarks of a high cleric in Urumiyah NOT to buy Assyrian property because they are all leaving and then the property will be free, symbolizes the latent prejudice against non-Muslims. To see similar sentiments expressed by Muslim Iranian émigrés is nothing short of disgusting. Outright disinformation, hopefully born of genuine lack of information and not prejudice, permeates Internet writing about this last substantial Aramaic speaking...

Hamas' victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections is already being sanitized by the politically correct, despite the terrorist group's bloody track record and its fallacious and dubious historical claims to the land of Israel. Thankfully, some Western leaders are condemning the selection of murderers by Palestinians for their government. At the top of a BBC article yesterday regarding the Hamas terrorist group winning Palestinian elections: The win poses problems for efforts to restart peace talks with Israel, say analysts. Israel insists it will not deal with an authority including Hamas. So this is all just Israel's problem/fault because the majority of...

THOUSANDS HIT DANFORTH FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY SUNNY SKIES shone down on the Greek community yesterday for their 94th annual Greek Independence Day parade on the Danforth. No bunnies or Easter eggs were in sight at the parade honouring Greece's 184th year of independence from the Ottoman Empire. Instead, blue and white flags lined the main thoroughfare while blue and white cabs played Greek music for the 6,000 partiers in attendance. Dressed in the tsolia, the traditional Greek costume for males, Fotios Saratsiotis brought his children Alexandros, 5, and Sophia, 3, to the parade. "It's important to show our culture to...

According to sources from Baghdad, Iraq, a recent series of violent murders of Assyrian Christians in the Baghdad area has left many Assyrian Christians deeply concerned for their safety and well being. On July 25, 1997 the Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported that the Iraqi National Congress announced that Uday, the son of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, had shot and killed an Assyrian girl earlier in June. The Assyrian girl, Asil Salman Mansour, was last seen walking home within the predominantly Christian Doura district of Baghdad. Witnesses reported that the girl was stopped by a "presidential" vehicle and was forced...

Christians Flee "Liberated" Iraq Understandably concerned over the fact that the new Iraqi constitution designates Islam the "official religion of the state," Iraqi Christians are "voting with their feet" by preparing to leave their native country, reported Insight on May 28. Tragically, this validates a prediction made in these pages more than a year ago (see "What Did We Win?" in our May 19, 2003 issue). "Most of the Christians in Iraq are Assyrians — people who claim to be the original inhabitants of Iraq," reported Insight. "Because they are Christians and seen as allies of the West, the Assyrians...

BAGHDAD – It was 10:30 in the morning, almost four months ago, and the children were getting ready for church. Aziz Raad Azzo, 5 years old, was drinking his milk; his 14-year-old sister Raneen was putting on her new clothes. When they heard a car pull up, Raneen, thinking her father was home, ran to the window and flung open the shutters. Four men shot her and her little brother in the head. The children's crime: Their father, a Christian storekeeper, had sold alcohol. Before the murders, the family received a photocopied death threat. "We are warning you, the enemies...

Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Assyrian Christians of Iraq, Sunday, May 16, 2004 A Worldwide Day of Prayer for the 2.5 Million Assyrian Christians of Iraq has been set. Christians worldwide are asked to pray for the long persecuted Assyrian Christian Community in Iraq. As the original people of Iraq and the first nation to accept Christianity following the death of Christ and the greatest missionary sending nation in history having brought the gospel to China, Japan and Asia. Prayer is being asked for the following: 1. Delay of the proposed June 30 handover in Iraq until a secular...

Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Assyrian Christians of Iraq, Sunday, May 16, 2004 A Worldwide Day of Prayer for the 2.5 Million Assyrian Christians of Iraq has been set. Christians worldwide are asked to pray for the long persecuted Assyrian Christian Community in Iraq. As the original people of Iraq and the first nation to accept Christianity following the death of Christ and the greatest missionary sending nation in history having brought the gospel to China, Japan and Asia. Prayer is being asked for the following: 1. Delay of the proposed June 30 handover in Iraq until a secular...

   One Man-One Vote: Now That’s a Pogrom!January 29, 3004Let’s talk some common sense.  Democracy will prevail in Iraq.  Yup…One Man-One Vote. Of course this democratic success will look more like a pogrom than a constitutional convention.  I hope, for the sake of the Sunnis and Kurds, that the Shi’as are good masters.  And speaking of the Kurds, I wonder what Turkey will be carving up by Thanksgiving. Why the pessimism?  Because the same thing would happen in America…if it was a democracy.  For those who might have forgotten, the U.S. is a democratic republic.  What a difference that little word “republic”...

Rev. Ken Joseph has spent his time helping the Christians of Iraq after its liberation by “The Coalition of the Willing.” He is currently touring the U.S. and is discussing the situation of the Christian Assyrians and the dangers posed to them by the Islamic fundamentalists. His next stop is Turlock, California as following: Thursday – June 12, 2003 7:00 PM Assyrian American Civic Club of Turlock 2618 North Golden State Blvd. Turlock, CA Free Admission Presentation will be in English If you are local, your participation in this event will encourage Rev. Joseph to continue his mission of love...

Assyrians Return to Turkey Anatolian Agency (Diyarbakir - Mardin) 14 Turkish Assyrian families that had immigrated to Switzerland and Germany from the Elebegendi Village of Midyat, Mardin 20 years ago are coming back. The villagers are building villas with swimming pools and a sports centre with tennis courts and will also build high quality infrastructure to the village. The villas ranging between 140 to 250 m2 in size , whose foundations have already been layed, will cost between £60-100,000 each. Yusuf Begtas, General Secretary of the Turabdin Metropolitan, has stated that the villas will be made from Midyat stine and...

I Was Wrong! By Ken Joseph, Jr. Amman, Jordan How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realize those you were defending in fact did not want your defense and wanted something completely different from you and from the world? This is my story. It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I have fought for peace all my life and those for whom the decision for war comes a bit too fast. I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second generation in ministry after my...

How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realizethose you were defending in fact did not want your defense and wanted something completely different from you and from the world? This is my story. It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I have fought for peace all my life and those for whom the decision for war comes a bit too fast. I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second generation in ministry after my Father came to Japan in answer to General Douglas Macarthur's...

Click to display: This is why ALL Iraqis and ALL civilized world want to get rid of Saddam and his terrorist regime.

Feb. 3 — An Iraqi dam under construction on the Tigris River threatens to submerge the remains of the spiritual capital of the ancient Assyrian empire in an act archaeologists liken to flooding the Vatican.Much of the city of Ashur, which thrived for more than 1,000 years until the Babylonians razed it in 614 B.C., could vanish under a lake to be created by the Makhoul dam, U.S. and European archaeologists said.More than 60 outlying historical sites are also threatened.Ashur, or Assur, was of such importance that it lent its name to the Assyrian civilization itself."Losing it would be...