Al-Hasakah ( Arabic : ٱلْحَسَكَة , romanized : al-Ḥasaka ; Kurdish : Heseke/حەسەکە ; Syriac : ܚܣܝܟܐ Hasake ) is the capital city of the Al-Hasakah Governorate , in the northeastern corner of Syria . With a 2023 estimated population of 422,445 Al-Hasakah is predominantly populated by Arabs with large numbers of Kurds , Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians and Chechens . Al-Hasakah is 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the city of Qamishli . The Khabur River , a tributary of the Euphrates River , flows west–east through the city. The Jaghjagh River flows into the Khabur from the north at Al-Hasakah. A portion of the city is a Syrian government -controlled enclave , comprising the city center and various government buildings, with the rest of the city (and the surrounding countryside) controlled by the AANES .
77-770: Beth Nahrin Patriotic Union (Arabic: الاتحاد الوطني بيت نهرين) is an Assyrian political party founded in 1996, in the Slemani area of Iraq , as part of the Dawronoye movement. Since the 2003 Iraq War , the party has taken part in the country's elections, but has failed to ever win a seat. It is the Iraqi branch of Bethnahrin National Council . On July 22, 2023 the party joined the Athra Alliance ,
154-562: A gas station. The new city grew from the 1950s to become the administrative centre of the region. The economic boom in the cities of Qamishli and Al-Hasakah was a result of the irrigation projects started in the 1960s, which transformed northeastern Syria into a cotton -growing area. On 23 March 1993, a large fire broke out in the Al-Hasakah Central Prison after prisoners protested the conditions there, leaving 61 inmates dead and 90 others injured. The detainees accused
231-467: A history stretching back over 3,000 years. Assyrians are almost exclusively Christian, with most adhering to the East and West Syriac liturgical rites of Christianity. Both rites use Classical Syriac as their liturgical language. The Assyrians were among the early converts to Christianity, along with Jews, Arameans, Armenians , Greeks , and Nabataeans . The ancestral indigenous lands that form
308-602: A large number of Christians of various rites. The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary is the episcopal see of the non-metropolitan Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Al Hasakah-Nisibis , which depends directly on the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch . The city of Al-Hasakah is divided into 5 districts, which are Al-Madinah, Al-Aziziyah, Ghuwayran, Al-Nasra and Al-Nashwa. These districts, in turn, are divided into 29 neighborhoods. Al-Jazeera SC Hasakah
385-466: A new ecclesiastical hierarchy: the patriarchal line known as the Shimun line . The area of influence of this patriarchate soon moved from Amid east, fixing the see, after many changes, in the isolated village of Qochanis . The Shimun line eventually drifted away from Rome and in 1662 adopted a profession of faith incompatible with that of Rome. Leadership of those who wished communion with Rome passed to
462-517: A political alliance representing Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac interests in Iraq. This article about an Iraqi political party or organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Assyrian people Assyrians are an indigenous ethnic group native to Mesopotamia , a geographical region in West Asia . Modern Assyrians descend directly from the ancient Assyrians , one of
539-509: A steady influx of Arabs, Kurds and other Iranian peoples , and later Turkic peoples . Assyrians were increasingly marginalized, persecuted and gradually became a minority in their homeland. Conversion to Islam was a result of heavy taxation, which also resulted in decreased revenue from their rulers. As a result, the new converts migrated to Muslim garrison towns nearby. Assyrians remained dominant in Upper Mesopotamia as late as
616-529: Is 7.6 kilometers to the north of the city. In Ottoman times , the town was insignificant. Today's settlement was established in April 1922 as a French military post, which soon grew into a town. The establishment of new cities in northern Syria was deemed necessary by the authorities of the French Mandate because after the foundation of Turkey, all major economic centers were allocated to Turkey. After
693-652: Is given in Adrian Fortescue's Lesser Eastern Churches . Mar Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa returned to northern Mesopotamia in the same year and fixed his seat in Amid. Before being imprisoned for four months and then in January 1555 put to death by the governor of Amadiya at the instigation of the rival Patriarch of Alqosh , of the Eliya line , he ordained two metropolitans and three other bishops, thus beginning
770-773: Is no mention in Assyrian records, which date as far back as the 25th century BC. What is known is that Ashur-uballit I overthrew the Mitanni c. 1365 BC and the Assyrians benefited from this development by taking control of the eastern portion of Mitanni territory and later annexing Hittite , Babylonian , Amorite and Hurrian territories. The rise and rule of the Middle Assyrian Empire (14th to 10th century BC) spread Assyrian culture, people and identity across northern Mesopotamia . The Assyrian people, after
847-585: Is the attempt to replace Timothy I (779–823) with Ephrem of Gandīsābur. By tradition, a patriarch could be ordained only by someone of archiepiscopal (metropolitan) rank, a rank to which only members of that one family were promoted. For that reason, Sulaqa travelled to Rome, where, presented as the new Patriarch elect, he entered communion with the Catholic Church and was ordained by the Pope and recognized as Patriarch. The title or description under which he
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#1732779887118924-571: Is the homeland of the Assyrian people, located in the ancient Near East. The earliest Neolithic sites in Assyria belonged to the Jarmo culture c. 7100 BC and Tell Hassuna , the centre of the Hassuna culture , c. 6000 BC. The history of Assyria begins with the formation of the city of Assur , perhaps as early as the 25th century BC. During the early Bronze Age period, Sargon of Akkad united all
1001-889: The Armenian genocide and Assyrian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, many refugees fled to the area after their expulsion and began to develop it in the 1920s. During the French mandate period, Assyrians fleeing ethnic cleansing in Iraq during the Simele massacre , established numerous villages along the Khabur River during the 1930s. French troops were stationed on Citadel Hill at that time. In 1942, there were 7,835 inhabitants in Al-Hasakah, several schools, two churches and
1078-635: The Assyrian Genocide and lured by British and Russian promises of an independent nation, the Assyrians led by Agha Petros and Malik Khoshaba of the Bit- Tyari tribe, fought alongside the Allies against Ottoman forces known as the Assyrian volunteers or Our Smallest Ally . Despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned the Assyrians fought successfully, scoring a number of victories over
1155-575: The Assyrian homeland are those of ancient Mesopotamia and the Zab rivers, a region currently divided between modern-day Iraq , southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran , and northeastern Syria . A majority of modern Assyrians have migrated to other regions of the world, including North America, the Levant , Australia, Europe, Russia and the Caucasus . Emigration was triggered by genocidal events throughout
1232-789: The Church of the East , commonly referred to as " Nestorians ", and followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church , commonly called Jacobites . The latter were organised by Marutha of Tikrit (565–649) as 17 dioceses under a "Metropolitan of the East" or " Maphrian ", holding the highest rank in the Syriac Orthodox Church after that of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East . The Maphrian resided at Tikrit until 1089, when he moved to
1309-552: The Council of Ephesus (431), which condemned Nestorianism , and the Council of Chalcedon (451), which condemned Monophysitism . Those who for any reason refused to accept one or other of these councils were called Nestorians or Monophysites, while those who accepted both councils, held under the auspices of the Roman emperors, were called Melkites (derived from Syriac malkā , king), meaning royalists. All three groups existed among
1386-697: The Muslim conquest of Persia . In 410, the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon , the capital of the Sasanian Empire , organised the Christians within that Empire into what became known as the Church of the East . Its head was declared to be the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, who in the acts of the council was referred to as the Grand or Major Metropolitan and who soon afterward was called the Catholicos of
1463-794: The Nineveh Plain Protection Units was formed and many Assyrians joined the force to defend themselves. The organization later became part of Iraqi Armed forces and played a key role in liberating areas previously held by the Islamic State during the War in Iraq . In northern Syria, Assyrian groups have been taking part both politically and militarily in the Kurdish-dominated but multiethnic Syrian Democratic Forces (see Khabour Guards and Sutoro ) and Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria . Assyria
1540-663: The Ottoman Empire occurred between 1894 and 1897 by Turkish troops and their Kurdish allies during the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II . The motives for these massacres were an attempt to reassert Pan-Islamism in the Ottoman Empire, resentment at the comparative wealth of the ancient indigenous Christian communities, and a fear that they would attempt to secede from the tottering Ottoman Empire. Assyrians were massacred in Diyarbakir , Hasankeyef , Sivas and other parts of Anatolia, by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. These attacks caused
1617-642: The Parthian Empire , ceased to be ethnically distinct in Sasanian times. Most of the population were Eastern Aramaic speakers. Along with the Arameans, Armenians , Greeks , and Nabataeans , the Assyrians were among the first people to convert to Christianity and spread Eastern Christianity to the Far East despite becoming, from the 8th century, a minority religion in their homeland following
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#17327798871181694-605: The 14th century, and the city of Assur was still occupied by Assyrians during the Islamic period until the mid-14th century when the Muslim Turco-Mongol ruler Timur conducted a religiously motivated massacre against Assyrians. After, no records of Assyrians remained in Assur according to the archaeological and numismatic record. From this point, the Assyrian population was dramatically reduced in their homeland. From
1771-610: The 19th and 20th centuries, including the Assyrian genocide or Sayfo, as well as religious persecution by Islamic extremists. The emergence of the Islamic State and the occupation of a significant portion of the Assyrian homeland resulted in another major wave of Assyrian displacement due to events such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies , and the Syrian civil war , which began in 2011. Of
1848-590: The 19th century, after the rise of nationalism in the Balkans , the Ottomans started viewing Assyrians and other Christians on their eastern front as a potential threat. The Kurdish Emirs sought to consolidate their power by attacking Assyrian communities, which were already well-established there. Scholars estimate that tens of thousands of Assyrians in the Hakkari region were massacred in 1843 when Bedr Khan Beg ,
1925-585: The 3rd of September 1924 and ended on the 28th of September. The Assyrians of Tyari and Tkhuma returned to their ancestral land in Hakkari in 1922, shortly after World War I without permission from the Turkish government. This led to clashes between the Assyrians and the Turkish army with their Kurdish allies that grew into a rebellion in 1924, it ended with the Assyrians being forced to retreat to Iraq. Al-Hasakah An ancient tell has been identified in
2002-548: The 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia . Assyrians contributed to Islamic civilizations during the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterward to Arabic . They also excelled in philosophy , science ( Masawaiyh , Eutychius of Alexandria , and Jabril ibn Bukhtishu ) and theology (such as Tatian , Bardaisan , Babai the Great , Nestorius , and Thomas of Marga ) and
2079-529: The 8th century BC, being marginalized by Old Aramaic during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III . By the Hellenistic period , the language was largely confined to scholars and priests working in temples in Assyria and Babylonia. From the 1st century BC, Assyria was the theatre of the protracted Roman–Persian Wars . Much of the region would become the Roman province of Assyria from 116 AD to 118 AD following
2156-666: The Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population. An Assyrian identity distinct from other neighboring groups appears to have formed during the Old Assyrian period , in the 21st or 20th century BC. In the traditions of the Assyrian Church of the East , they are descended from Abraham 's grandson, Dedan son of Jokshan , progenitor of the ancient Assyrians. However, there is no other historical basis for this assertion. The Hebrew Bible does not directly mention it, and there
2233-717: The Arabs and Kurds), as well as other neighbouring countries in and around the Middle East such as Armenia , Georgia and Russia . During World War I ( Sayfo ), the Assyrians suffered heavy losses due to deportations and mass killings organized by the Ottoman Turks. Several representatives of the Assyrian people participated in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 after the war had ended. These representatives aimed to free Assyria and sought to influence
2310-661: The Aramaic that the modern Assyrians speak. The Kültepe texts , which were written in Old Assyrian, preserve some loanwords from the Hittite language . Those loanwords are the earliest attestation of any Indo-European language , dated to the 20th century BC. Most of the archaeological evidence is typical of Anatolia rather than of Assyria, but using both cuneiform and the dialect is the best indication of Assyrian presence. Over 20,000 cuneiform tablets have been recovered from
2387-608: The Archbishop of Amid Joseph I , recognized first by the Turkish civil authorities (1677) and then by Rome itself (1681). A century and a half later, in 1830, headship of the Catholics (the Chaldean Catholic Church ) was conferred on Yohannan Hormizd , a member of the family that for centuries had provided the patriarchs of the legitimist "Eliya line", who had won over most of the followers of that line. Thus
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2464-529: The Church of the East from the northern regions of Amid and Salmas , who were dissatisfied with reservation of patriarchal succession to members of a single family, even if the designated successor was little more than a child, elected as a rival patriarch the abbot of the Rabban Hormizd Monastery , Yohannan Sulaqa . This was by no means the first schism in the Church of the East. An example
2541-573: The East. Later, the title of Patriarch was also used. Dioceses were organised into provinces , each of which was under the authority of a metropolitan bishop . Six such areas were instituted in 410. Another council held in 424 declared that the Catholicos of the East was independent of "Western" ecclesiastical authorities (those of the Roman Empire). Soon afterward, Christians in the Roman Empire were divided by their attitude regarding
2618-474: The First World War. Between 275,000 and 300,000 Assyrians were estimated to have been slaughtered by the armies of the Ottoman Empire and their Kurdish allies, totalling up to two-thirds of the entire Assyrian population. This led to a large-scale migration of Turkish-based Assyrian people into countries such as Syria, Iran , and Iraq (where they were to suffer further violent assaults at the hands of
2695-730: The Middle East—the Arabs, Persians , Kurds, Turks —the Assyrians have endured much hardship throughout their recent history as a result of religious and ethnic persecution by these groups. After initially coming under the control of the Seljuk Empire and the Buyid dynasty , the region eventually came under the control of the Mongol Empire after the fall of Baghdad in 1258. The Mongol khans were sympathetic with Christians and did not harm them. The most prominent among them
2772-399: The Security Box to protect the government's department buildings. In July 2018, the Syrian Army raised the Syrian flag over the Al-Nashwa District that previously was controlled by the YPG and the Asayish security forces in the city of Hasakah . However, in September through November 2019, Asayish forces were still present in al-Nashwa district and able to make arrests. In March 2023
2849-414: The Syriac Christians, the East Syriacs being called Nestorians and the West Syriacs being divided between the Monophysites (today the Syriac Orthodox Church , also known as Jacobites, after Jacob Baradaeus ) and those who accepted both councils, primarily today's Eastern Orthodox Church , which has adopted the Byzantine Rite in Greek , but also the Maronite Church , which kept its West Syriac Rite and
2926-478: The Syrian government controlled 25% of the city while Rojava controlled 75%. On August 16, 2016, a small skirmish erupted into the third Battle of al-Hasakah between Asayish alongside YPG and the Syrian government for al-Hasakah. After a week-long battle, Kurdish fighters secured control over 95% of the city. Russia mediated a ceasefire that was put into place on August 23, 2016. Only civilian police officers and interior ministry forces were allowed to return to
3003-418: The Syrian government. The United Nations estimates that violence related to the civil War has displaced up to 120,000 people. On 1 August 2016, the Syrian Democratic Council opened a public office in Al-Hasakah. On 16 August 2016, the Battle of al-Hasakah (2016) started, with the YPG and Asayish capturing most of the remaining areas held by government forces. On 23 August 2016, an agreement between
3080-439: The Turks and Kurds. This situation continued until their Russian allies left the war, and Armenian resistance broke, leaving the Assyrians surrounded, isolated and cut off from lines of supply. The sizable Assyrian presence in south eastern Anatolia which had endured for over four millennia was thus reduced significantly by the end of World War I. The Assyrian rebellion was an uprising by the Assyrians in Hakkari that began on
3157-439: The US conducted retaliation strikes against IRCG forces in the city after a drone attack which killed a US contractor. Al-Hasakah has a Mediterranean -influenced semi-arid climate ( BSh ) with very hot dry summers and cool wet winters with occasional frosty nights. In 1939, French mandate authorities reported the following population numbers for different ethnic/religious groups in al-Hasakah city centre: In 1992, Al-Hasakah
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3234-503: The YPG and the Syrian Army resulted in a ceasefire within the city. Al-Hasakah has since been part of the Jazira Region in the framework of the de facto autonomous Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava . In January 2021, Al-Hasakh, along with Qamishli , came under siege by the Asayish due to disputes with the Damascus government. On 20 January 2022, the al-Sina'a prison came under attack by Islamic State forces who attempted to free ex-IS fighters that were incarcerated inside
3311-435: The action was "a protest against the Syrian government ". In the Battle of Hasakah of summer 2015, the Syrian Government lost control of much of the city to the Islamic State , which was then captured by the Kurdish YPG . Afterwards, some 75% of Hasakah and all of the surrounding countryside were under the administration of the Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava , while only some inner-city areas were controlled by
3388-419: The city centre by Dominique Charpin as the location of the city of Qirdahat . Another possibility is that it was the site of the ancient Aramean city of Magarisu , mentioned by the Assyrian king Ashur-bel-kala , who fought the Arameans near the city. The etymology of "Magarisu" is Aramaic (from the root mgrys) and means "pasture land". The city was the capital of the Aramean state of Bit-Yahiri , which
3465-414: The city of Mosul for half a century, before settling in the nearby Monastery of Mar Mattai (still belonging to the Syriac Orthodox Church) and thus not far from the residence of the Eliya line of Patriarchs of the Church of the East. From 1533, the holder of the office was known as the Maphrian of Mosul, to distinguish him from the Maphrian of the Patriarch of Tur Abdin . In 1552, a group of bishops of
3542-416: The conquests of Trajan . Still, after a Parthian-inspired Assyrian rebellion, the new emperor Hadrian withdrew from the short-lived province Assyria and its neighboring provinces in 118 AD. Following a successful campaign in 197–198, Severus converted the kingdom of Osroene , centred on Edessa , into a frontier Roman province. Roman influence in the area came to an end under Jovian in 363, who abandoned
3619-512: The conversion of a Muslim, a non-Muslim man could not marry a Muslim woman, and the child of such a marriage would be considered a Muslim. They could not own an enslaved Muslim and had to wear different clothing from Muslims to be distinguishable. In addition to the jizya tax, they were required to pay the kharaj tax on their land, which was heavier than the jizya. However, they were protected, given religious freedom, and to govern themselves according to their own laws. As non-Islamic proselytising
3696-444: The death of over thousands of Assyrians and the forced "Ottomanisation" of the inhabitants of 245 villages. The Turkish troops looted the remains of the Assyrian settlements and these were later stolen and occupied by Kurds. Unarmed Assyrian women and children were raped, tortured and murdered. The Assyrians suffered a number of religiously and ethnically motivated massacres throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, culminating in
3773-434: The east under Parthian rule, lasting until conquests by the Sasanian Empire in the region in the 3rd century AD. Modern Assyrian derives from ancient Aramaic , part of the Northwest Semitic languages. Around 700 BC, Aramaic slowly replaced Akkadian in Assyria, Babylonia and the Levant. Widespread bilingualism among Assyrian nationals was already present before the fall of the Empire. The Akkadian language has influenced
3850-409: The emir of Bohtan , invaded their region. After a later massacre in 1846, western powers forced the Ottomans into intervening in the region, and the ensuing conflict destroyed the Kurdish emirates and reasserted the Ottoman power in the area. The Assyrians were subject to the massacres of Diyarbakır soon after. Being culturally, ethnically, and linguistically distinct from their Muslim neighbors in
3927-528: The end of the thirteenth century, Bar Hebraeus , the noted Assyrian scholar and hierarch, found "much quietness" in his diocese in Mesopotamia. Syria's diocese, he wrote, was "wasted." The region was later controlled by the in Iran-based Turkic confederations of the Aq Qoyunlu and Kara Koyunlu . Subsequently, all Assyrians, like with the rest of the ethnicities living in the former Aq Qoyunlu territories, fell into Safavid hands from 1501 and on. The Ottomans secured their control over Mesopotamia and Syria in
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#17327798871184004-420: The fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 609 BC, were under the control of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and later, the Persian Empire , which consumed the entire Neo-Babylonian or "Chaldean" Empire in 539 BC. Assyrians became front line soldiers for the Persian Empire under Xerxes I , playing a significant role in the Battle of Marathon under Darius I in 490 BC. However, Herodotus , whose Histories are
4081-429: The first half of the 17th century following the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39) and the resulting Treaty of Zuhab . Non-Muslims were organised into millets . Syriac Christians, however, were often considered one millet alongside Armenians until the 19th century, when Nestorian, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldeans gained that right as well. The Aramaic-speaking Mesopotamian Christians had long been divided between followers of
4158-432: The key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from other Mesopotamian groups, such as the Babylonians, they share in the broader cultural heritage of the Mesopotamian region. Modern Assyrians may culturally self-identify as Syriacs , Chaldeans , or Arameans for religious, geographic, and tribal identification. Assyrians speak Aramaic , specifically dialects such as Suret and Turoyo , which are among
4235-413: The large-scale Hamidian massacres of unarmed men, women and children by Muslim Turks and Kurds in the late 19th century at the hands of the Ottoman Empire and its associated (largely Kurdish and Arab) militias, which further greatly reduced numbers, particularly in southeastern Turkey. The most significant recent persecution against the Assyrian population was the Assyrian genocide which occurred during
4312-413: The movements of the internal security forces' vehicles. Accordingly, international coalition warplanes bombed the college building. The Hasakah Security Box is a Syrian government enclave within Al-Hasakah, established in August 2016. It contains the prison, immigration office, mayor's palace, police headquarters, and local army command center. Following the second battle for the city in 2015,
4389-510: The native Semitic -speaking peoples, including the Assyrians, and the Sumerians of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC). The cities of Assur and Nineveh (modern-day Mosul ), which was the oldest and largest city of the ancient Assyrian Empire, together with several other towns and cities, existed as early as the 25th century BC. They appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centres at this time rather than independent states. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into
4466-419: The oldest continuously spoken and written languages in the world. Aramaic was the lingua franca of West Asia for centuries and was the language spoken by Jesus . It has influenced other languages such as Hebrew and Arabic, and, through cultural and religious exchanges, it has had some influence on Mongolian and Uighur. Aramaic itself is the oldest continuously spoken and written language in the Middle East, with
4543-416: The one million or more Iraqis who have fled Iraq since the occupation , nearly 40% were indigenous Assyrians, even though Assyrians accounted for only around 3% of the pre-war Iraqi population . The Islamic State was driven out from the Assyrian villages in the Khabour River Valley and the areas surrounding the city of Al-Hasakah in Syria by 2015, and from the Nineveh Plains in Iraq by 2017. In 2014,
4620-469: The patriarchal line of those who in 1553 entered communion with Rome are now patriarchs of the "traditionalist" wing of the Church of the East, that which in 1976 officially adopted the name " Assyrian Church of the East ". In the 1840s many of the Assyrians living in the mountains of Hakkari in the south eastern corner of the Ottoman Empire were massacred by the Kurdish emirs of Hakkari and Bohtan. Another major massacre of Assyrians (and Armenians) in
4697-573: The personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrians, such as the long-serving Bukhtishu dynasty. Many scholars of the House of Wisdom were of Assyrian Christian background. Indigenous Assyrians became second-class citizens ( dhimmi ) in a greater Arab Islamic state. Those who resisted Arabization and conversion to Islam were subject to severe religious, ethnic, and cultural discrimination and had certain restrictions imposed upon them. Assyrians were excluded from specific duties and occupations reserved for Muslims. They did not enjoy
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#17327798871184774-411: The police chief and the Syrian forces of having set the fire. The government blamed five inmates, who were then executed on 24 May 1993. On 26 January 2011, in one of the first events of the 2011 Syrian protests , Hasan Ali Akleh from Al-Hasakah poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire, in the same way Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi had in Tunis on 17 December 2010. According to eyewitnesses,
4851-609: The primary source of information about that battle, makes no mention of Assyrians in connection with it. Despite the influx of foreign elements, the presence of Assyrians is confirmed by the worship of the god Ashur . References to the name survive into the 3rd century AD. The Greeks , Parthians , and Romans had a relatively low level of integration with the local population in Mesopotamia, which allowed their cultures to survive. Semi-independent kingdoms influenced by Assyrian culture ( Hatra , Adiabene , Osroene ) and perhaps semi-autonomous Assyrian vassal states ( Assur ) sprung up in
4928-407: The prison. Following the initial attack, clashes spread to the neighbourhoods of al-Zuhour and Ghuwayran. After a 6-day battle, SDF and Coalition forces managed to push back the attack and secure the area. After thwarting their attack on Ghweran prison, they barricaded themselves in the Faculty of Economics building in the Syrian government-controlled areas in the city of Hasaka, targeting civilians and
5005-416: The pronunciation and written symbolization of vowels. With the rise of Syriac Christianity , eastern Aramaic enjoyed a renaissance as a classical language in the 2nd to 8th centuries, and varieties of that form of Aramaic ( Neo-Aramaic languages ) are still spoken by a few small groups of Jacobite and Nestorian Christians in the Middle East. Theodora , who lived from April 1, 527 A.D. to June 28, 548 A.D.,
5082-400: The region after concluding a hasty peace agreement with the Sassanians. The Assyrians were Christianized in the first to third centuries in Roman Syria and Roman Assyria . The population of the Sasanian province of Asoristan was a mixed one, composed of Assyrians, Arameans in the far south and the western deserts, and Persians . The Greek element in the cities, still strong during
5159-420: The same political rights as Muslims, and their word was not equal to that of a Muslim in legal and civil matters. As Christians, they were subject to payment of a special tax, the jizya . They were banned from spreading their religion further or building new churches in Muslim-ruled lands, but were expected to adhere to the same laws of property, contract, and obligation as the Muslim Arabs. They could not seek
5236-409: The site. From 1700 BC and onward, the Sumerian language was preserved by the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians only as a liturgical and classical language for religious, artistic, and scholarly purposes. The Akkadian language , with its main dialects of Assyrian and Babylonian , once the lingua franca of the Ancient Near East , began to decline during the Neo-Assyrian Empire around
5313-402: The victorious powers to place it under one mandatory power. Although many felt sympathy for the Assyrians, none of their demands were implemented. The Assyrians failed in their efforts due to geographical and denominational differences among themselves, as well as the fact that the major powers, Britain and France, had their own plans for the territories where the Assyrians lived. In reaction to
5390-458: Was a key supporter of her husband's efforts to restore and expand the Byzantine Empire from their capital, Constantinople . Additionally, Theodora worked towards alleviating the persecution of Miaphysites , although full reconciliation with this Christian sect was not achieved during her lifetime. The Assyrians initially experienced periods of religious and cultural freedom interspersed with periods of severe religious and ethnic persecution after
5467-462: Was a notable empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I . Although her exact ethnic background is not definitively established, some sources suggest she was of Assyrian origin. She played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and social reforms. Theodora is particularly remembered for her efforts to improve the status of women, including legislation against forced prostitution and support for widows and orphans. She
5544-434: Was described as "an Arab city with a growing Kurdish population." Christians —mostly Assyrians , plus a smaller number of Armenians —also live in the city. In 2004, the city's population was 188,160. Al-Hasakah has an ethnically diverse population of Arabs , Kurds and Assyrians , with a smaller number of Armenians . There are more than forty mosques in the city, as well as at least nine church buildings, serving
5621-560: Was invaded by Assyrian kings Tukulti-Ninurta II and Ashurnasirpal II . Excavations in the tell discovered materials dating to the Middle-Assyrian , Byzantine and Islamic eras. The last level of occupation ended in the fifteenth century. A period of 1,500 years separated the Middle-Assyrian and Byzantine levels. There are numerous other archaeological tells in the surrounding area, such as Tall Sulaymānī , which
5698-501: Was not as closely aligned with Constantinople. Roman/Byzantine and Persian spheres of influence divided Syriac-speaking Christians into two groups: those who adhered to the Miaphysite Syriac Orthodox Church (the so-called Jacobite Church), or West Syrians, and those who adhered to the Church of the East, the so-called Nestorian Church. Following the split, they developed distinct dialects, mainly based on
5775-652: Was probably Isa Kelemechi , a diplomat, astrologer, and head of the Christian affairs in Yuan China . He spent some time in Persia under the Ilkhanate . The 14th century massacres of Timur devastated the Assyrian people. Timur's massacres and pillages of all that was Christian drastically reduced their existence. At the end of the reign of Timur, the Assyrian population had almost been eradicated in many places. Toward
5852-667: Was punishable by death under Sharia , the Assyrians were forced into preaching in Transoxiana , Central Asia , India , Mongolia and China where they established numerous churches. The Church of the East was considered to be one of the major Christian powerhouses in the world, alongside Latin Christianity in Europe and the Byzantine Empire ( Greek Orthodoxy ). From the 7th century AD onwards, Mesopotamia saw
5929-602: Was recognized as Patriarch is given variously as "Patriarch of Mosul in Eastern Syria"; "Patriarch of the Church of the Chaldeans of Mosul"; "Patriarch of the Chaldeans"; "Patriarch of Mosul"; or "Patriarch of the Eastern Assyrians", this last being the version given by Pietro Strozzi on the second-last unnumbered page before page 1 of his De Dogmatibus Chaldaeorum , of which an English translation
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