Eastern Assyrians

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Eastern Assyrians
ܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ Āṯūrāyē / Sūryāyē / Sūrāyā
Total population

ca. 150,000[1]−300,000[2] 400,000[3]

Regions with significant populations
Assyrian homeland
Iraq 350,000[4]
Assyrian diaspora
United States ca. 35,000[5]−120,000[6]
Germany 10,000[7]
Australia 5,000[8]
Language(s)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Religion(s)
Syriac Christianity, Assyrian Church of the East
Related ethnic groups
Western Assyrians, Chaldeans, and other Assyrian ethnic divisions
A painting of a "Nestorian" Assyrian bishop from 1779.
A painting of a "Nestorian" Assyrian bishop from 1779.

The Eastern Assyrians or Madinkhaye (also "Nestorians" , after Nestorius), are ethnic Assyrians, primarily members of the Assyrian Church of the East. Though they do not usually call themselves "Nestorians", they have been designated with the prefix Nestorians by the Roman Catholic Church, after Nestorius was condemned over a theological dispute, for refusing to acknowledge Mary, mother of Jesus, as "Mary the Mother of God".[9][10] Nestorius is venerated as a saint in the Assyrian Church of the East. Although for the most part, the Assyrian Church of the East follows an Orthodox form of Christianity, they have been condemned by the Roman Catholic Church for adopting the "Nestorian errors".[11] However, relations have improved lately between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Roman Catholic Church.

Nestorian Assyrians usually call themselves Āṯūrāyē. Nestorian is usually considered a pejorative appellation, since it's a prefix that has been enforced upon them, mainly because of the political power the Roman Catholic Church in mediæval times. This is similar to Protestants being called Lutherans after Martin Luther. A notable Nestorian Assyrian is Bahira.

The Nestorian Assyrians speak Assyrian Neo-Aramaic. An estimated 15 million Nestorian Assyrians were killed by Timur's empire, the Timurid dynasty, in 1358.[12] Northern Iraq remained predominantly Assyrian Christian until the destructions of Timur.[13]

At present, there are an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East.

Assyrian nationalism developed among the Eastern Assyrians, during the early 20th century.[14]

  1. ^ Bishop, Peter & Michael Darton (editors). The Encyclopedia of World Faiths: An Illustrated Survey of the World's Living Faiths. New York: Facts on File Publications (1987), p. 84.
  2. ^ Zuck, Jon. "Unofficial Home Page of The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church" (last updated 21 Mar. 1999).
  3. ^ Betty Jane Bailey; J. Martin Bailey (2003). Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? (in English). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, p. 133. ISBN 0802810209. OCLC 51266092. 
  4. ^ http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/nea/8257.htm
  5. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (ed.) The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Vol. 1. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books (1991); Section: Non-Chalcedonian Orthodoxy; pg. 138−9.
  6. ^ Religions and Health Care by Fr. J Mahoney, M.Div.; "Membership Reported" (viewed 20 Feb. 1999); Orig. source: J. Gordon Melton. Encyclopedia of American Religions, 6th edition, copyright 1999, Gale Publishing.
  7. ^ Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst e.V. ― REMID: Religious Studies Media and Information Service, Marburg, Germany; Informationen und Standpunkte (viewed 2 Aug. 1999).
  8. ^ Parliament of Australia; Census 96: Religion (viewed 18 Dec. 1999).
  9. ^ http://zindamagazine.com/html/archives/2000/zn022200.htm#SurfersCorner
  10. ^ Assyrian Patriarch near Qudshanis (HTML) (English). MIDEASTIMAGE. “The Patriarch of the Assyrian Church, Mar Benjamin Shimon, photographed by a visiting English Missionary, ca. 1904−5, riding outside his residence in the remote and unaccessible village of Qudshanis in the moutainous Hakari region in south east Turkey. His iconoclastic Church has been called at different times, the Nestorian, the Assyrian, the Chaldean, the Eastern Syrian, and the Persian Church. The church was named after the Bishop of Antioch in Syria (Nestorius), who was elected the Patriarch of Constantinople (served from A.D. 428−31), to be condemned and exiled to the Libyan desert at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431, instigated by Cyril the bishop of Alexandria, for refusing to acknowledge the title of 'Mary the Mother of God'.”[unreliable source?]
  11. ^ Chaldean Christians (HTML) (English). Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 1908-11-01. “The name of former Nestorians now reunited with the Roman Church. Strictly, the name of Chaldeans is no longer correct; in Chaldea proper, apart from Baghdad, there are now very few adherents of this rite, most of the Chaldean population being found in the cities of Kerkuk, Arbil, and Mosul, in the heart of the Tigris valley, in the valley of the Zab, in the mountains of Kurdistan. It is in the former ecclesiastical province of Ator (Assyria) that are now found the most flourishing of the Catholic Chaldean communities. The native population accepts the name of Atoraya-Kaldaya (Assyro-Chaldeans) while in the neo-Syriac vernacular Christians generally are known as Syrians. From the fifth century, the Persian Church quietly, almost unconsciously, adopted the Nestorian errors.”
  12. ^ White, Matthew. Religious Martyrs (HTML) (English). “1358: Tamerlane destroys 15-million-strong Nestorians: 4M martyrs”[unreliable source?]
  13. ^ The annihilation of Iraq[unreliable source?]
  14. ^ DeKelaita, Robert. The Origins and Development of Assyrian Nationalism (PDF) 19. “Although Assyrian nationalistic sentiments were more prevalent among the Nestorians (particularly those in Urmia) than among Chaldeans and Jacobites, nationalists were to be found among the latter as well.”
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