Meltha Magazine Online

Article Page | Review page | Photo Album Page | Links | Contact Me | Archives 1998, Volume 4, No.1 (8), pages 29-34

ASSYRIANS IN MOSCOW

(After some ethno sociological survey)

By A. B. Agranat, S. S. Mikhailov, E. V. Mischenko and V. N. Titov

("Vostok" Journal, 1994, No 2, pp 70-78)

     The importance of ethno cultural surveys stems from a scientific tradition, which was established in Europe a long time ago and only has recently started to shape in Russian Federation [1]. These surveys are built around ethno cultural processes in the urban environment. At first sight there is apparently one tendency to see, namely, it is objectivity that a major industrial city creates a certain social and cultural environment, which is characterized by anonymity of contacts, social nucleus independence of the individual in terms of communal authority typical of a 'traditional' agricultural society[2]. Therefore, it is a priori assumed that the city transforms, and deprives its citizens of their responsibilities in social and cultural life of a 'traditional' society. This assumedly is the 'brightest' manifestation of modern urbanization. And as a result it comes to a heavy leveling of many fields of human application including ethos and culture. However the numerous surveys show that more or less large groups may occur in the mega polis. These groups are aware of their ethnic identity, and continue to keep many elements of their traditional culture subconsciously at some household level. The well- known American ethnologist P. L. Van den Berghe pointed out, "The importance of ethnic ties can be the decider in the amorphous anonymous environment of a big city where .the ethnic group is the main and unique mediator (except nucleus family) between one, single individual and the alien city jungle. So there is no paradox in the survival of ethnical groups in the urban environment. Assimilation is never a simple function of urbanization, 'modernization', and 'westernization'." [3]

     In this connection focus should be placed upon; assimilation versus support of ethnical identity for small ethnic groups in a large city; 2) peculiarities in adaptation of small ethos to modernization of social-economic relations; 3) influence of ethnic identity on economic and demographic behavior; 4) interplay of different elements of national culture with a view of supporting ethnic identity; 5) problem of interethnic contacts in terms of solidarity and conflicts.

     In September 1992 the ethnology faculty men at Moscow University named after M. Lomonosov organized an ethno sociological survey among Moscow Assyrians to consider the above mentioned issues by way of analyzing some empirical materials. This survey had the following objectives, firstly, the analysis of ethno cultural situation, and secondly, acquisition of specific factors which considerably work in support of ethnic identity of this small nation.

     Before we come to terms with the interpretation of sociological data derived from the survey, we had better focus on basic ethnographical, confessional and demographic characteristics of the subject in question. Assyrians call themselves Aturaya or Suraya, the other ethno names are Syro-Chaldeans, Syrians or Aissors (note that the latter name is never popular with Assyrians). Basically they live in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and some large communities in the USA, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Germany and in some other parts of Europe where Assyrians fled from Western Asia. In CIS countries their communities can be found in Ukraine (2,759), in Georgia (6,206), Armenia (5,963), and Azerbaijan (646). In Russian Federation alone according to the 1989 census there were 9,6-22 Assyrians including 4,813 males and 4,809 females. The overwhelming majority of Assyrians inhabit the urban places (8,710 that is about 85%). It is in the village of Urmia, Krasnodar region, where Assyrians live densely[4].

     Assyrians communicate in the so-called new Aramaic language, which often is called new Syrian. This language enters the Northern subgroup of Western Semitic languages of Afro-Asian family. Assyrian literacy stemmed from the Aramaic writing forms. It is note- worthy that this language is well commanded by 4,756 men while 4,697 consider Russian their native language. For contemporary Assyrians they are largely bilingual with a little predominance of the Russian language.

     In the confessional way Assyrians belong to various branches of Christianity. They began to adopt it in its first formative years, and have been much addicted to it until recently. In its course they went through heavy persecution in times of shakhs of Sasanid, who stood for Zoroastrian ideas, and in times of Arab califs and Turkish sultans who firmly advocated Islam. Mostly Assyrians in Western Asia basically go along two directions of Eastern Christianity, namely, the Assyrian Church of the East (Nestorian) and West Syrian or Syro-Jacobitic (monotheistic) Church. Besides, there are two 'parallel' union Churches; Assyro-Chaldean established in 1552 after the part of Nestorians signed the Union, and Syro-Catholic on the other hand. In the literature only the Assyrian Church of the East and Assyro-Chaldean Church are considered to be ethnically Assyrian. Its adepts can be found also on Malabar Coast in India. Assyrians who came to Russia in the 19th century had to adopt Orthodox Christianity under the influence of the Russian policy. Therefore in 1898 about 8,000 Nestorians lead by bishop Mar-Iona came to be Orthodox as well. Among Assyrians who fled from massacre in Turkey in- 1915 to 1918 90% were Nestorians and about 10% were Catholic-Chaldeans.[5].

     In the territory of Russia Assyrians began to penetrate during Russian- Turkish and Russian- Persian wars as well as after the defeat of Assyrian rebellions in the First World War. It was just when the half of a million Assyrian population was destroyed. At the time, sixty up to hundred thousand Assyrians had to flee to Russian territories from Ottoman Empire. In 1915 around 50,000 people left for Iran occupied by Russian troops.

     In Turkey Assyrians mainly were in farming. In Russia they had to move to cities, Moscow, Krasnodar, Armavir, Vladikavkaz, etc., because they had no land. According to 1926 census 15,500 Assyrians lived in the European Russia, and 1,826 in Moscow alone. Presently 3,196 Assyrians are registered in Moscow.[6]  In the late 1917 first Assyrian families of anti-Turkish rebellions came to settle in Trubnaya Square and Samotechnaya Street. Then Assyrians appeared in Sretenka Street and Ulansky Lane. In early 1920s more Assyrian families came to Moscow from Rostov-on-Don.[7] At the beginning Assyrians were in for small trades including shoe repair and polish, shoe accessories and leather dyes. Having found their own niche in the city's infrastructure they reproduced in some way the mode of life they had known in West Asian cities, which were organized into areas differed by religious or ethnic features. Under these circumstances city areas had specific economies as well.[8] Gradually Assyrians began to lose territorial or tribal differences unlike it was before when marriages used to be made within a tribal group, and feuds could well happen between some tribes over some 'bone of contention' just like it was in 1923.[9]

     Presently Assyrians mostly work in about 500 shoe polish and repair shops. The shops are inside district household services and Assyrians also head some of them.[10] Assyrians have revealed a very high level of adaptation to'' free market economy as well. For instance, in Moscow there are several casinos and "Nineveh" restaurant run by Assyrians. The Assyrian National Congress in Moscow is trying to establish good business contacts with Assyrians across the Atlantic Ocean.[11]

     In the survey the sampling was determined at 2,4% from the total Assyrian population in Moscow so that the figures might seem highly representative.

     The questionnaire list was structurally arranged in the following way, 1) social- demographic status; 2) inner and outer et1nlic contacts; 3) ethnic self-awareness; 4) level of apprehension of national customs, traditions and holidays; 5) confessional tendencies; 6) economic behavior and labor motivation; 7) demographic conduct; 8) acquisition of the native language; 9) life values; 10) historic self-awareness; 11) opinions on the national cultural 'revival' issue.

      In addition to this questionnaire list, it was equally important to derive a variety of opinions and comments well registered by inter- viewers. In terms of sexual representation the questionnaire was offered to 55,8% males and 44,2% females from the total figure. With a view to facilitate the analysis three age groups were chosen, 16 to 30 (young generation), 30 to 50 (mid-generation), and over 50 (elder generation). Besides, it was assumed that the characteristics of ethno cultural process might vary from group to group.

     It is noteworthy to find out a level of acquired education among the participants. The major percentage falls onto persons with unfinished secondary school credentials (32.5%) where as persons with a higher degree make only 22.1 %. Therefore the educational system with Assyrians is very peculiar, there are two poles which usually are not to be found in a similar system in the country, where the majority is people with secondary education credentials and people with a higher degree are fewer than that with Assyrians. Many respondents take it very hard when somebody calls Assyrians 'a nation of shoemakers and wall painters'. They think it is unjust as this nation also gives scientists, physicians, diplomats, etc. The higher education is highly prestigious among Assyrians, 68.8% think that their children must have a higher educational degree.

     Native Moscow residents of Assyrian nationality are 55.8% and about 22% are the people who have migrated to Moscow in the past 20 years. This fact speaks for the intensity migration processes. The majority of the participants were aware that their ancestors came to Russia from foreign lands. 35.1 % think t11eir homeland is Iran, 55.8% is Turkey, 3.9% it is Iraq, and 16.9% it is Caucasus. 77.9% want to stay in Moscow. However 14.3% said that they would rather go abroad, namely, to the USA, where the Assyrian community is considerably large.

     Professional orientation and labor motivation were specifically focused in the questionnaire. The majority (74%) said they are satisfied with their jobs. When the respondents were asked, "Why did you choose this profession?" The answers were equally 'the interest' and 'a tip from relatives', 1.8% said 'circumstances'. This fact throws some doubt upon the steady stereotype that Assyrians have a strict priority in choosing a profession. In the set of questions concerning ethnic communication the most of participants (84.4%) declared that they actually have no difficulty in communicating with people of other nationalities. 76,6% think that nationality has no meaning for business contacts at all.

     Assyrians have a long time system of business ties contacts. It was established long before this current transition towards a market economy. This system offers most of them some economic stability and some experience of rational business. The respondents said to this point, "Economy or trades is the gift of our nation" and "We had a market economy a long time ago". In a friendly atmosphere Assyrians are very open hearted. 79.2% heeds no attention to a nationality of people they are mixing with in their free time. However, Assyrians more often like to mix with Armenians, Jews and Russians, also sometimes with Georgians, Azerbaijani and Tatars. Besides, Assyrians hold Armenians, Jews and Russians very close to them by nature, in culture and history.  In the case of the Russians, possibly since they make up the majority of the Moscow population. Perhaps, the Armenians and Jews, since these nations have a similar historical path, the fate of a dispersed nation. Besides, Armenians also are close to Assyrians in the confession and in the neighborhood as well. Some Assyrian intellectuals spoke of Jews with good respect, "They have a very high level of culture". Sometimes, however, some Assyrians think that the confessional differences with Jews and Muslims are too big so "We maintain contacts with Orthodox people only".

     The question "What brings you in contact with other people of your nationality?" 67.5% of the respondents said "It's customs and traditions and tastes", 63.6% said, "It's the language", 59.7% -"A sense of one origin", 39% -"Religion". The language, which is generally considered to be an important factor of ethnic formation, will be in a second position as it still is viewed as the 'ideal value'. The majority of Assyrians in Moscow has retained its native language very low. Hence it is the ritual aspect of living that has become I an important feature of ethnic character now. As much important is the 'common historical memory' as well as awareness of national identity that stems from one historical path.

     The survey revealed that the religious factor plays a considerable role in formation of the Assyrian ethnic self-awareness. 87% of the respondents said t11ey are religious and only 2.6% atheists. 66% belonged to Orthodox Church, 23.4% were Nestorians, and Catholics 2.6%. Basically the national elite declared they adhere to Nestorian confession. 93.5% supported the idea of restoring the Assyrian parish Church in Moscow, and only 5.2% denied it actually, restoration of Nestorian confession with Assyrians is promoted mainly by intelligentsia, but the rest of the nation just are not aware of dogmatic differences between Nestorian and Orthodox confessions. Many indicated that Assyrians observe virtually every religious ritual, e.g., engagement, wedding, baptism, consecration and funeral. At the same time they pointed out that these rituals are very similar to those in Russia. Presently it is generally assumed that the return to confession is a very important factor in the revival of the nation so that 81.8% of the respondents suggested their children should be with the church.

     The native Assyrian holidays play a very important role in the maintenance of in- neret1ulic stability as well as in the ethnic identification. Besides common Christian holidays (Christmas and Easter) Assyrians also observe their own national holidays like Mar-Gewargis, Mart-Mariam, Mar-Zaya, Mar-David and others, as well as some secular historical events like Mar-Shalyta, Kalu- Sulaka. As a rule, these holidays are held with a mass gathering. People feast, sing, and dance all evening.

     In terms of the Assyrian folklore, 39% said t11ey know some tales and legends but they basically derive this knowledge from books and articles published by no other but Assyrian intelligentsia alone, because most of the folklore materials seem lost in generations. In t11e meantime, the demand for such literature is very considerable as these editions are carefully kept in almost every Assyrian home. When the respondents were asked, "Do you have some book on Assyrian history or culture?"  37.7% said of books in the Assyrian language and 63,3% mentioned books on national history and culture.

66.2% of  the respondents know traditional songs and dance titles, and besides they even can perform some of them no matter how difficult they might be. 35.1% keep recordings of national music in their homes. Many disclosed that their children take part in folk performances.

     National food is very popular with Assyrians, 49.9% cook national food very regularly. Another 49.4% only on holidays only one said he never cook national food at all. This way national food is one of the most stable elements of the ethnic culture.

     The questionnaire list also included a question of mixed marriages. 75.3% said that they have relatives married to another nationality. Of this figure 58.4% married to Russians, 17.9% to Armenians, 11.7% to Georgians. Among marriage partners were also Uk1.ainians, Jews, Germans, Moldavians, and Gypsies. It is noteworthy that no Muslim was referred to a mixed marriage. Therefore it might be assumed that the ideal partner for Assyrians is Orthodox Russian confession or Armenian who have a related confession.

     Also, there were questions concerning the use of the Assyrian language in its Moscow community. Some intelligentsia representatives think that the language gets out of use very quickly especially among the youth. 54.5% know Russian better than Assyrian. 40,3% know both languages equally, and only 5,2% speak better Assyrian. Besides, 54,5% speaks Assyrian fluently, while 40,3% speaks it very little. Most respondents use the language in the family only (71.4%) 58.4% use it when they mix with friends, and only 5.2% do it at work. Assyrians seem to use the Russian language in everyday communications, and they usually take to it when they have to identify themselves with their nation or when they just want to avoid a casual listener. 83, 1% of the respondent think children should study the Assyrian language by all means, and 49,4% suppose kids will have to attend a school where some subjects are taught in their native language as well.

     The explorations of the Assyrian family that were made in the late 19th century revealed many patriarchal features of Assyrian life which was very typical of peoples in Western Asia, namely, the leading role of the man in the house, high authority of elder relatives, etc. The participants were asked, "Who makes decisions in the family?" 42.9% said, "The one who gives a good reason", and only 33,8% said it is the husband. Communicating with Assyrians one might note that elderly women, mothers of the families, are more respected members. Statistics revealed a very high authority of parents in the family.

     In every conversation with Assyrians there was one idea behind it all, and that was the individuality of the Assyrian nation and its difficult historical path. The questionnaire also included a set of questions concerning the past of Assyrians. The objective was sooner to find some crucial moments as well as biggest historical figures rather than testing their knowledge of history.

     Among the Assyrian celebrities the most popular were a) enthusiasts of culture (Juna, K. P. Matveev, D.I1jan) chosen by 35.1% of the respondents, b) ancient Assyrian and Babylonian kings (Ashurbm1ipal, Sargon, Assarkhaddon, tiglatpalasar, Khammurappi, Semi-ramida, Nabuk11adnazzar) chosen by 37,7%, c) religious leaders of the past (Mar-Shimun Benjamin, Mar-Sargis, Mar-Gewargis) by 30%. There is very little mentioning of con- temporary religious leaders of the Nestorian Church (Mar- Dynkha), political leaders of the past (Agha Poutros), past cultural workers (Tatian, Bar Ebraya, Efrem Sirin). As for the most important historical events, a) genocide of Assyrians in Turkey during the First World War years and massacre in Iraq, b) the role of Assyrians in the same war. The medieval times were reflected in the minds of the respondents mainly due to the adoption of Christianity. Correlation between contemporary Assyrians and the nation, which once was the core of the Assyro-Babylonian civilization, is very important for ethnic identification. Anyway many respondents emphasized military campaigns of Assyrian and new Babylonim1 kings, construction of the Babylon tower and gardens of Semiramides, and the fall of Nineveh, the last Assyrian capital.

     It is a demographic behavior that is another living ground for an ethnic group. This ground is just to find some traits of its traditional or rational motivation. The modern type of matrimonial orientation or 44,2% of the respondents at band thinks that nationality in the marriages is not important. This tendency actually was found with middle-aged or elderly people. Besides, 17% young or old respondents just deny ethnically mixed marriages. 35, 1% still feels they would rather choose a traditional ethnic partner.

     The role of spouses in the family was also emphasized in the survey. Anyway 34% think that the husband has a top priority in the family (traditionally the husband was the leader in the Assyrian family). However 17% give their sympathies to the woman. These figures indicate that this is a traditional type of matrimonial behavior for Assyrians who usually invest authority to the woman as well. The rational type of behavior is revealed in 42,9% of the respondents who think that it is a level of reasonable counseling but not a sex that counts here. In terms of marriage etl111ic orientation, 24,7% said that parental guidance in this question is not important (a modernized type). 64.9% accept parental guidance in matrimonial matters. Only 9.1% cling to the traditional type of marriages as they think that marriages should be made upon mutual parental agreement.

Also, the questio1111aire list included the re- productive behavior item. It is universally acknowledged that demographically families tend to have no more than 2 children now, but if this figure is increased, it then shows the traditional type of productive behavior. The results drawn from the survey indicated that Moscow Assyrians in ~ considerable measure are orientated towards the traditional level of reproduction. Only 35,1% supposes that 1 or 2 children will do, while 50,7% think that families should have more children. It is difficult to say how close the ideal orientation to the real life because there is no statistics on Assyrian families. 13% of the respondents indicated that a big number of children are one of the values in the life.

     It can be assumed that the higher intention to 'revive' the national culture and language the more traditional reproductive orientation, and in the absence of this orientation it is then the case of a modernized reproductive orientation. Accordingly all the answers are grouped in the following way. Modernized type: a) 3.9% think that there is no need to participate in any cultural or educative societies for they like to be rather in the European culture, b) 7.8% deny any publications in the Assyrian language, c) 11.7% think the Assyrian children should not know their native language. Traditional type: a) up to 89% more or less actively participate in cultural or just educative centers or societies, b) considerable majority (61 %) of the respondents think it is necessary to publish the Assyrian language periodicals, c) 83,1% think there is a need to teach the language to Assyrian children as well. Hence, the orientation towards reviving of some national cultural elements dominates in the minds of some respondents. It seems that national identification loses part of its meaning due to intensive social transformations that occur inside small ethnic groups. Hence, ethos comes on the scene as well as the family as the nearest possibility to become a part of some larger community. It has been already mentioned, that the modernized self-centered type of personality who chooses a rational behavior has a modest position among other participants. The type of traditional orientation gains the upper hand in the survey mainly due to traditional consciousness, which obviously generates in many Assyrians a reminder of the ancient Assyrian origin, and greatest achievements of Assyro-Babylonian culture, and yet above everything of the Christian belief, which presumably they were the first to adopt in the history, etc.

     However this traditionalistic orientation is hardly in line with stagnation or inability of the nation to adapt itself to ever changing conditions and therefore to be accustomed to .a more adequate mode of life. Even reproduction of some elements of national culture as well as of social behavior never comes in the way of modernization. On the contrary, some certain ethno cultural features that perform social standards can be very effective in stabilization of ethnic community and its preservation from social erosion.

     Thus the preserved traditions of the Assyrian family as well as a long time experience in adaptation to alien ethos and even to alien confessional environment in Western Asia are laid in the foundation of ethnic identity of Moscow Assyrians. Among other elements so important in the preservation of a relative ethno cultural identity of this nation are observation of national customs and traditions, especially in the most crucial moments of life like birth of a child, wedding, or funeral, and holidays, which are very efficient in keeping up a homogenous community. At the level of consciousness the identity is maintained through book~ which tell of history, ethno genesis and culture of the Assyrian people and can be available in many different ways. The linguistic and confessional factors as it is shown in the survey have already lost its functional significance and playa modest role now.