A Chaldean archbishop told OSV News June 23 that he has been unable to contact his fellow bishop in Iran, following recent strikes by the U.S. and Israel on various sites in that nation. Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar M. Warda of Irbil, Iraq, said he has been attempting to call fellow Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Imad Khoshabeh of Tehran over the past few days, but without success.
This carved relief from Nimrud, a major city of the ancient Assyrian Empire in present-day Iraq, regularly drifts around the internet as purported evidence for scuba diving nearly 3,000 years ago. But the wall panel actually depicts an army crossing a river, and soldiers are navigating the waves with the help of ancient flotation devices.
A suicide bombing by Islamic State (IS) targeting a church in Damascus has killed 20 people and wounded 52, Syrian authorities have said. The attack on Sunday night was the first major IS operation and the first suicide bombing in Syria since former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December and replaced by an Islamist-led government.
On June 13th and 14th, an international conference titled '1915-2025: 110 Years Since the Assyrian Genocide' was held in Athens. Many genocide scholars and historians spoke regarding the causes and consequences of the genocide, as well as how its denial by Turkey still affects Turkish politics, amongst other topics.
"It's amazing to see people living the Christian faith -- and especially when they don't have to." That's what Chaldean Paul Thabet Habib Yousif Al Mekko of Alqosh in Iraq told me during an interview two years ago. A soft-spoken man, he knew why he and his people were following Christ. They were given an ultimatum by ISIS: Convert or die.
(AINA) -- Professor Michael Wingert interviews Sabro Bengaro, the director of the Assyrian Genocide Research center. ...
In light of the upcoming country visit to Iraq by the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and Assyrian Universal Alliance have submitted a report on the current human rights situation facing the Assyrians in Northern Iraq, urging the Special Rapporteur to consider visiting the region.
The historic Mor Kiryakus Monastery, built 1,600 years ago by Syriac Christians in southeastern Türkiye's Batman province, has reopened to visitors following an extensive restoration effort. Located on the slopes of Mount Kıra near the village of Ayrancı in Beşiri district, the two-story monastery spans 2,500 square meters and dates back to the 5th century. Related: The Case of the St.
(CNA) -- Amid renewed tensions in the Middle East, the Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul and its surrounding areas has continued its tradition of celebrating first holy Communion for children in Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), Iraq. Over 450 boys and girls received the sacrament during liturgies held over the past month in various churches of the town.
The seemingly simple celebration of National Apple Strudel Day on June 17th conceals a 4,700-year culinary journey that reveals surprising connections between ancient Mesopotamian trade routes and your local bakery's most popular dessert. What started as honey-filled pastries in 8th-century B.C.
A team from Heidelberg University working in Iraq made a remarkable discovery. In the throne room of the North Palace of King Ashurbanipal, located in the ancient city of Nineveh, the archaeologists uncovered large sections of a monumental relief. The relief shows the seventh-century BC ruler of the Assyrian empire alongside two prominent deities and other figures.
The 1915 mass killings of Assyrians, known to survivors and descendants as Seyfo or "the sword", have been remembered across Turkey and the Assyrian diaspora on the 110th anniversary of the events. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party has issued a statement calling for official recognition, justice and reconciliation.
(AINA) -- Professor Michael Wingert interviews Sabro Bengaro, the director of the Assyrian Genocide Research center. ...
(AINA) -- Amir Harrak, Professor of Aramaic and Syriac at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, delivered a lecture on the history of Assyrians after the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC, covering the period up to the 12th century AD. ...
(AINA) -- The Assyrian Arts Institute (AAI) is an organization founded by Nora Betyousef Lacey in 2017 and claims to support Assyrian arts. AAI has sponsored a few events since its founding, including an Assyrian women's choir.
(AINA) -- On July 12 Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid repealed the decree recognizing the appointment of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church and which appointed him to the office of the waqf (وقف), the endowment which oversees all church property. The details of the events leading up to this action are exhaustively covered in this report by MEMRI.
(AINA) -- 'Syria is free'; thus screamed the Syrians as they celebrated the tumbling down of the criminal regime during a whole week. Thousands, even millions, of Syrians strolled the streets of the entire major cities of Syria. They were from all societal segments, strata, trends, genders, religious beliefs and non-religious ones, convictions, sects, confessions, parties, and orientations.
(AINA) -- The collapse of the Syrian regime has added yet another chapter to the cycle of deep crises that perpetually plague the Middle East. Yet, these devastations increasingly render ancient peoples, burdened by the weight of historical memory, invisible.
This carved relief from Nimrud, a major city of the ancient Assyrian Empire in present-day Iraq, regularly drifts around the internet as purported evidence for scuba diving nearly 3,000 years ago. But the wall panel actually depicts an army crossing a river, and soldiers are navigating the waves with the help of ancient flotation devices.
The seemingly simple celebration of National Apple Strudel Day on June 17th conceals a 4,700-year culinary journey that reveals surprising connections between ancient Mesopotamian trade routes and your local bakery's most popular dessert. What started as honey-filled pastries in 8th-century B.C.