The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> Are There Assyrians Today?

Are There Assyrians Today?

Posted by pancho (Moderator) - Wednesday, August 20 2008, 21:22:13 (CEST)
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Of course not. There aren’t any Gauls either and to be born in Rome doesn’t make you a Roman, descendant of Augustus. Even without Dr Joseph’s scholarship, reason and common sense tells the same story. The only ancient people who have a reasonable claim, not a scientific one, but a rational one are the Jews and that’s primarily because they kept their ancient religion more or less intact. Because in those days, at least for the Jews, religion was THE requirement to be a Jew. But, as noted, the ancient Assyrians welcomed everybody...it was more a national identity than an ethnic one, even though an empire is far different from a nation.

You were Assyrian in the old days because you were born in Assyria and followed Assyrian customs and rituals, especially religion. Not even the language made you Assyrian because when Aramaic replaced Akkadian, the people still self-identified as Assyrians...much as Jews today, who speak not a word of Hebrew, still consider themselves Jews....but deny Yahwe and you are no longer a Jew. Similarly to deny Ashur meant to deny the Assyrian heritage...and as the Christians never tire of telling us, they were GLAD to dump Ashur for that mass-murdering Yahwe. From that point on, even if they had retained a semblance of anything Assyrian, they ceased to be. Anyone can learn a language and eat kipti....doesn’t make you “Assyrian”...as speaking Italian and eating pizza won’t make you Roman.

Even modern Assyrians have rules for what it takes to be Assyrian...regardless of being born Assyrian, in Iraq, believing you are Assyrian, speaking Assyrian and in every way being a “true Assyrian...BUT, marry a Muslim, or become one, and BAM, there go your so-called Assyrian genes and DNA. So we can see that the idea of being Assyrian “no matter what” doesn’t apply...as these so-called Assyrians demonstrate when they madly evict each other from Assyria at the drop of a hat.

Dr Joseph’s work provides the evidence...but common sense and some basic knowledge of history shows the way.

If, as some Christians concede, it may be true that Assyrians “forgot”....why can’t they “remember” now and re-subscribe to an Assyrian identity? Fair enough. If modern Romans wish to revive ancient Rome and pledge allegiance to it....fine. So long as they break no laws in the process by demanding “their” ancient lands be returned to them. But, if these modern lovers of Rome should insist that only Catholics can be true descendants of ancient Rome, a time when there was no Christianity in any form, then something is false and screwy. How do THEY know that only Catholics can be true descendants of the ancient empire? On what basis, besides personal prejudice?

There’s no harm done in “remembering” ancient Assyria and wishing to commemorate it...or, better yet, to wipe away the slime heaped upon the ancients by Eurocentric and Biblical prejudice. To clear up misconceptions and expose outright slander against the noble ancient Assyrians is a valid and worthwhile and necessary pursuit for any lover of Assyria...especially as the Assyrians bear the brunt of such prejudice and misinterpretation...more than the Sumerians or Babylonians...who were close relatives to the Assyrians.

But if that is the goal then religion should play no part....and yet it plays the most pivotal part, on the part of Christians....which casts doubt on the integrity of the Christians who claim that ONLY Christians can be “true” descendants of the ancients....no Muslims need apply. If Iraqis wish to remember their ancient Assyrian heritage, why does it matter what religion they are today...since neither Islam nor Christianity played any part in the ancient Assyrian identity?

Muslim Iraqis have shown their good faith by exploring, preserving and promoting their common Assyrian heritage through science and scholarship and in museums where the ancient artifacts are on display as the heritage of ALL Iraqis. No Muslim Iraqi lays down any rules by which a modern may account himself a descendant of the ancients. That’s left to the Christians who insist that only Christians can be “true” Assyrians...even though it is these same types who support the war on Iraq and have played the part of traitor, on behalf of Jesus, often enough. No modern, sane, person hates his country because it has the “wrong” religion...this is Christian fanaticism miles away from anything we know of the ancient Assyrians...or which the world today condones.

If there is to be a valid “rebirth” of an Assyrian identity today...if modern “Assyrians” wish to make their presence known, if they want to “remember” their ancient heritage, then whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jew or Hottentot, makes no difference....IF we are being honest.

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