Assyrian Art

Assyrians are Aramaic-speaking Christians who consider themselves to be indigenous inhabitants of Mesopotamia, and inheritors of the ancient culture of Assyria. They have a culture, language, and religion that is distinct from that of modern-day Arabs, Kurds, Persians, and Turks.

They are believed to descend from the ancient Akkadians, who emerged as the ruling class of Assyria, starting with Sargon of Akkad (grandfather of Naram-sin). Babylonia, formerly Sumer and Akkad, was a colony of Assyria. The title of "King of Babylon" was "King of Sumer and Akkad" as transliterated from the Akkadian Ðâr Mat Ðûmerî û Akkadî. Eventually Aramaean tribes, among them Chaldeans, emigrated en-masse into the region and their language became dominant. These different cultures ultimately merged, to form classic Assyrian culture. [16] Today, in certain areas of the Assyrian homeland, identity within a community is aligned to village of origin or Christian denomination, as with Chaldean for example.