Tehran -- Iranian archaeologists have discovered a portion of a royal memorial inscription, which is attributed to a Neo-Assyrian king, in western Iran. "During an excavation project in Qabaq Tappeh of Kermanshah province, a team of Iranian archaeologists has unearthed a portion of a royal memorial inscription, which is attributed to Sargon II, who was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire," ISNA...
Syriac organizations in Europe have demanded that the Turkish government release and drop all charges against priest Sefer (Aho) Bileçen, who was handed down a 25-month prison sentence on charges of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) by a court in southeastern Turkey.
Sydney's Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities are being encouraged to participate in the 2021 March for Justice, which will occur in Sydney's CBD on Saturday, April 24, according to the Armenian National Committee of Australia.
Once upon a time, tourists in Turkey eagerly made their way to Hagia Sophia--a historic architectural marvel shimmering with the golden light of ancient mosaics. Although marred by many centuries, images of Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist reflect the spirit of a fledgling Christian world. In fact, Turkey's earliest churches are recalled in the New Testament itself--in Antioch, where St.
In a bas relief, Ashurbanipal is depicted as a great slayer of lions. The 2,700-year-old sculpt shows him fending off the kings of the jungle with bow and arrow, in a chariot, and on horseback. One panel, showing the lions' planned release, says otherwise.
A Turkish court on Wednesday handed down a 25-month prison sentence to an Assyrian priest in southeastern Turkey on charges of aiding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Turkish Minute reported, citing the Mezopotamya news agency.
Iraqi Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako issued a bold proposal Monday for the establishment of a secular state in Iraq, separating religion from government "as the Christian West has done for a long time." "A civil or secular state is not hostile to religion and respects all faiths, but does not include it in politics," Cardinal Sako said, proposing Iraq adopt a model "that guarantees freedom of...
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, has written to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to recognise formally as genocide the murderous anti-Christian violence in the Ottoman Empire a century ago in which 3.75 million Christians died.
Mardin, Turkey (AINA) -- The Armenian newspaper Agos reported last Thursday that a parking lot is being built on the grounds of the Monastery of St.Efrem in Mardin, belonging to the Syriac Catholic Church. The monastery was built in 1884 during the reign of Patriarch Cercis Şelhet and belongs today formally to the Syriac Catholic Foundation.
Istanbul, or Constantinople, is one of the world’s most well-known holiday destinations. Millions of foreign tourists visit this historic city to see its cultural heritage and scenic beauties. However, a large number of magnificent buildings in the city, such as homes, offices, palaces, hotels, museums, and even mosques (converted from churches), that are now used by Turks or Kurds...
The village of Alqosh is an oasis of Christianity in the Nineveh Plain of northern Iraq. Home to about 4,600 Chaldean Catholics, Alqosh was the only Christian stronghold not to fall to ISIS when Islamist militants seized territory in northern Iraq. In 2014, when ISIS threatened to attack Alqosh, the women and the children fled for a month, while the men remained to defend their village.
While Assyrians around the world are currently preparing to celebrate their Assyrian ancestors' tradition of Akitu or the Assyrian New Year, an ancient Assyrian heritage site is being bulldozed by heavy earth moving machinery.
Mardin, Turkey (AINA) -- The Armenian newspaper Agos reported last Thursday that a parking lot is being built on the grounds of the Monastery of St.Efrem in Mardin, belonging to the Syriac Catholic Church. The monastery was built in 1884 during the reign of Patriarch Cercis Şelhet and belongs today formally to the Syriac Catholic Foundation.
Geneva, Switzerland (AINA) -- Following a meeting with members of the UN-facilitated Syrian Constitution Committee in Geneva at the end of January, Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, lamented the slow progress of the peace process in Syria. He pointed to disagreements on the process between the two Co-Chairs, representing the Syrian Government and the Syrian Opposition.
Chicago (AINA) -- In September of 2014, Attorney Robert DeKelaita was indicted for helping a handful of Assyrian (also known as Chaldean or Syriac) asylum seekers obtain asylum. The government, represented by the US Attorney's Office, alleged that the means used to obtain asylum for the handful of the witnesses chosen to testify against DeKelaita was fraudulent.
(AINA) -- On May 4-5 the Salahaddin University in Erbil, Iraq and the French Institute of the Near East (IFPO) organized a workshop titled Christianity in Iraq at the turn of Islam. Its aim was to discuss important institutional changes for Christians in areas of the collapsed Persian Empire and retreated Byzantine Empire which were conquered by Muslims.
During the years of World War I 75% (750,000) of the Assyrian population in the Ottoman Empire was systematically murdered. That genocide of Assyrians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 is a fact, but it has largely been forgotten by the world.
(AINA) -- When speaking about the Ottoman Empire and Turkey today, it is not their contribution to civilization that comes to mind. Instead it is human rights violations, confiscation of land and property, genocide and genocide denials that are most frequently discussed in the public discourse. Today's Turkey is still far from being ruled by democratic principles.
In a bas relief, Ashurbanipal is depicted as a great slayer of lions. The 2,700-year-old sculpt shows him fending off the kings of the jungle with bow and arrow, in a chariot, and on horseback. One panel, showing the lions' planned release, says otherwise.
(BBC) -- If you want big answers, start small. Take, for example, the sprawling sculpted slabs of ancient alabaster known as the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal. At first glance, the 7th-Century BC gypsum panels, which once adorned the walls of a royal palace in Nineveh, Upper Mesopotamia, are a confusing chaos of arrows splitting muscle.