A
town of Ashur which gave its name to the entire country Assyria (in the Greek
version) was founded in North Mesopotamia in the first half of the third
millennium BC. In the second half of the thirteenth century BC Assyria became
the most powerful state in the Middle East. In 729 BC Assyria had a territory
stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It incorporated many
lands except the state of Urartu and some small provinces.
Assyrian kings and rulers came and went until the fall of its power. Most
powerful rulers were Assarhaddon (681 to 669 BC) and Ashurbanapal (669 to 629
BC). The capital of Assyria, .the town of Nineveh fell in 612 BC. The
devastation of the Assyrian state happened in 605 BC. Assyrians could be
rightfully called one of the most ancient nations in the world. Normally such
terms as' Assyria', Assyrians' can be associated with the ancient world, Great
Assyrian power, the conquest of its kings, the gardens of Semiramidis, etc. But
it is a shame that only few people really know that direct descendants of
ancient Assyrians even live today anywhere including Russia. This nation has
preserved its culture and identity through over two and a half thou- sands year
since the fall of their statehood due to attacks of their numerous enemies.
Legend has it that some part of Assyrians survived the collapse of the nation
and fled to the mountains. A well-known Soviet historian I.M.Dyakonov also
subscribes to this opinion, 'The Assyrian people were not destroyed during the
fall of the Assyrian kingdom. Their posterity continued to live in the same
location' (1). In I to 3 AD Assyrians split to be Christians, Monophesytes in
the west, and Nestorians in the east. In the late 19th c. some Assyrians fell
under the influence of Protestant ideas.
The modern Assyrian language has developed from Middle
Age dialects of the Aramaic language. In writing this modern Assyrian language
is referred to as Syrian, Neo-Assyrian or Neo-Aramaic. In the early 20th c.
Assyrians lived on the joint of modern Iran, Iraq and Turkey (Eastern
Assyrians), and also in Northern and North-Eastern Syria (western Assyrians).
Assyrian communities were in Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere in the region. On
the whole this territory of Assyrian dispersion (except Turkey where after
tragic events early in the century there was only a very small percent of the
Assyrian population left) still exists now. The large Assyrian communities or
Diasporas can be found in the United States, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Latin
America and elsewhere. The total number of Assyrians dispersed in the world
according to Assyrian organizations amounts to at. Least 3000000 people.
The First Assyrian settlers found their way into the
territory of the Russian Empire after the Russian-Persian war conflict in 1826
to 1828. At the time some Assyrian families of most ardent supporters of the
Russian Cause in Iran were invited to come to Armenia and to set up three
villages Arzni, Koilasar and Upper Dvin which exist even now. Through out the
19th c. there were many occasions of Assyrian relocation to the Tran Caucasian
Russian territory. Mainly they were Assyrians from Iran. And only in 1878 a
fairly small number of Assyrians came from Turkey. In the early 20th c. small
groups of Assyrians kept corning to Russia from both Iran and Turkey. But this
time they in some numbers reached beyond Caucasus. For example, some groups from
Iranian Urmia came to Mariople in 1900s. However, the Assyrian population of
Russia was not very large before the First World War and the events that
followed. Ac- cording to the official statistics, only 5353 Assyrians mainly in
Trans Caucasian territories was registered. The steady inflow of Assyrian
happened in between 1914 to 1918 when they fled from Osman Turkey just for fear
of their lives. They were all allowed, because Assyrians had taken the Russian
side during the world war, and there was a real danger for them to be destroyed.
In fact, over 500000 'Assyrian Christians were murdered during the genocide in
Turkey at the time. It brought about a real exodus of the entire nations. People
just fled anywhere in the world where they could find shelter. This time around
no less than 100000 Assyrians came to Russia according to K.P .Matveyev (Bar
Mattai) (2). Then part of them moved on to Iran, some died of hunger or disease.
After the Russian troops left in 1918 as the war over, Assyrians as they were
unable to return home, moved further on to the Northern Russian territories,
namely, Kransnodar and Ukraine. Basically they choose towns to settle down. The
method was as follows. One or two 'scouts' first were send to find out things
about living accommodation and job opportunity, and then if everything seemed
alright, their families came to follow. After awhile the families of their
relatives or fellow villagers joined them in the town. In this way Assyrians
built their own communities in virtually every provincial center both in Russia
and Ukraine. The rural population of Assyrians began to show only in the region
of Krasnodar somewhere around 1920s, namely, the village of Urmia. In the mid
1920s 50000 Assyrians lived in the USSR (3). Through out this time and
especially in 1938 when passports were to be changed in the USSR (before this
Assyrian refugees were still formal subjects to Iran) many Assyrians left.
During the census campaign 26160 Assyrians were found to be in the USSR in 1989.
9622 Assyrians live in Russia Federation, while the rest mainly in Ukraine and
Tran Caucasus (4).
After the fall of the Great Assyrian kingdom in 7 BC
Assyrians just failed to regain their statehood. So they have been just a
mi'" nor nation in their homeland which has been owned be different powers
for over 2500 years by now. Still, the Assyrians were strong enough to fight
back the assimilation line among other nation. Christianity was a very important
instrument in that struggle. It worked out its way first through Gentiles or
pagan cultures, and then Islamic influences. Until recently Assyrians have stood
firm on the Christian belief. They still observe the most significant Christian
rites or ceremonies like baptizing, wedding or dizge song during the funeral.
However, this factor does not seem to work inside the Diaspora especially just
when Assyrians have to live along with relative nations in Georgia, Armenia and
Russia who might as well have similar cultural and religious ways. For example,
mixed marriages were rather typical between Assyrians and Russians long before
the Second World War. Now this tendency works its way out. Even in a larger
proportion despite the consolidation of Assyrians, close ties between township
communities and the role of go- between institutions still assists in finding a
marriage partner. This puts a real threat to the existence of this small nation.
Russian Assyrians still keep some traditions of the nation but time just may
wash them away eventually. Almost everyone including youths remembers national
Assyrian, dances. They sometimes organize folk groups, to perform on holidays or
wedding. Traditions still play important role in the life of Assyrians
especially those, which are associated with cliristeming and wedding ceremonies.
Presently Assyrians in Russia tend to lose their own language. Normally only
elder people can use it fluently whilst the middle aged generation just know the
language in a very passive form. The youth usually never use it at all with
quite a few exceptions probably. The Assyrian Sunday school in Moscow
unfortunately cannot help it either. They just need more books, rooms and
teacher as well. Practically there is no opportunity to teach the Assyrian
language to children in the majority of towns in Russian Federation. Back in
1920s and 1930s Soviet Assyrians had primary schools in some Assyrian densely
populated areas. In Tbilisi they ran the newspaper 'Kokhva d'Madynkha' (The Star
of the East) in the. Assyrian language. They also published books where they
used Latin graphics instead of the traditional Assyrian Nestorian one. However,
in 1938 Assyrians were deprived of everything. The Armenian republic of the USSR
was the only region where Assyrians had their own school. Some time ago a new
Assyrian journal in the Russian language came out in St. Petersburg.
The situation is becoming urgent for Assyrians in
their traditional living areas like in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Southern Turkey.
There are some political factors to be counted here, namely the Kurdish issue in
Iraq and Turkey which bring about clashes between Kurdish radical groups and
governmental armed forces, then comes the Islamic fundamentalists who intend to
end Christian communities in the Islamic world by the year 2000, also the stance
of local authorities on the question of Christian presence, etc.
All taken together makes Assyrian have their native lands on a quest elsewhere
again. Assyrian Diasporas in the west grow in numbers just in proportion with
reduced communities in their traditional living areas. In the western culture,
Assyrians fall under its influence and slowly but surely begin to lose their
native language; customs and traditions and soon they just might face the danger
of assimilation as well. "Even the rapid. Analysis of the problem 'how to
preserve the Assyrian national identity, culture and language in the western
countries' show that the Assyrians of the West would practically lose even the
basic skill of their own language as well as their national identity in 50 to
100 years to come" (5).
Therefore, if Assyrians should not win themselves their
own statehood or political autonomy either in Russia Federation or in their
traditional living areas or anywhere else, the Assyrian Diasporas in the Western
Europe and CIS countries where all nations begin to lose their identities, will
probably be threatened by the full assimilation during next century.
The only solution as it seems is finding the possibility to establish their own
state in the Assyrian traditional living areas in the Near or Middle Asia, but
it looks yet next to be real now.
References:
1. The world history. M.1957, vol.1, p.557
2. Matveyev A.K. Matveyev K.P. Assyrians. Materials for the series 'Peoples of
the Soviet un- ion', 1990, issue 1,p.101
3. Aissors. Great Soviet Encyclopedia, M.1926, vol.1,p.763
4. Population of the USSR according to their nationality, native language, and a
second language of the peoples, of the USSR, M. 1989.
5. Osipov S.G. immigration No, repatriation. 'Atra', 1992, nQ.3, p.43.
