The migration of Christians from the Middle East to the Western world has been going on for about a century. At the turn of the century groups of East Assyrians migrated to the United States, as well as some groups of Syrian Orthodox Christians, albeit far fewer in number. During the 1950s West Germany started to import a massive influx of manpower from Turkey.  In addition to ethnic Turks, these groups of immigrants also included a number of Kurds and Christians.

The first Assyrians to arrive in Sweden were part of a group of ca. 200 Christians from Lebanon who were allowed into the country as the result of a request from the World Council of Churches and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The group was gradually spread out over about fifty places in Sweden. However, Södertälje (20 miles south of Stockholm) soon became a kind of centre for the Assyrian immigrants. Between 1972 and 1976 four more groups of refugees from Lebanon were admitted. A certain number of family reunions were also permitted during this period. In 1970 the first Syrian Orthodox congregation was formed in Södertälje.

Between 1974 and 1978 the migration of Christians from Turkey increased enormously. One reason for this was the conflict in Cyprus which raised the level of tension between Muslims and Christians in Turkey. The increased immigration into Sweden was also due to the fact that West Germany had stopped immigration from the Middle East and Turkey and had also sent guest workers back to their homelands. Many Assyrian then chose to apply to come to Sweden from Germany. In 1978 it was estimated that there were ca. 7,000 Assyrians living in Sweden. During the 1980s and early 1990s immigration was dominated by Assyrians from Syria and Lebanon. In the Swedish Immigration Board's statistics these Christian immigrants who mainly come from Lebanon are classed as stateless citizens. During the years 1989 to 1990 this group numbered nearly 5,000 people. In 1997 it was estimated that there are ca. 50,000 Assyrians living in Sweden. This number includes both first generation and second generation immigrants but is very difficult to determine exactly.  Population figures produced by Statistics, Sweden (SCB) are primarily based on nationality and are not easily applicable to Assyrians. In SCB's statistics the Assyrian immigrants are an unidentifiable part of the total group of immigrants from Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.

The Assyrian group in Sweden is represented by two national federations: The Assyrian National Federation which was formed in 1977, and the Syrian National Federation which was formed in 1978. Both national federations have local organisations throughout Sweden. In 1996 ca. 8,300 Assyrians were affiliated with the Assyrian National Federation and ca. 12,000 Syrians were affiliated with the Syrian National Federation. Both federations issue monthly magazines; the Assyrian National Federation's Hujådå has a circulation of 2,000 copies, while Bahro Suryoyo, which is issued by the Syrian National Federation, has a circulation of 1,300 copies.

The Immigrant Department at the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts news and cultural features in Turoyo in the programme Qolo.

Dan Lundberg
with the research project Music Media Multiculture
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
Stockholm, Sweden

See this week's Assyrian Surfing Posts for more information.

(ZNRU: Tehran)  President Mohammad Khatami opens a new era in the history of post-revolutionary Iran this week when he travels to Rome, the Vatican and Paris on the first visit to Europe by a head of state from the Islamic Republic.  Khatami, fresh from a run of domestic political victories, will seek to cement budding commercial and political ties to Italy and the European Union beyond.   Khatami is a moderate Shi'ite Moslem cleric and student of western philosophy.  On Tuesday he will be meeting with Pope John Paul before traveling to Paris on March 11.  Last year Khatami called for a "Dialogue of
Civilizations" with Iran's traditional antagonists in the West.  Iranian newspapers have hailed the trip as a turning point in relations with the West.

Khatami and his reformist allies got a big boost last week when European oil giants ENI and Elf Aquitaine signed a $1 billion deal to develop Iran's offshore Doroud oil field. The deal flies in the face of U.S. sanctions which target firms that invest more than $20 million in Iran's oil or gas sectors.

President Khatami's meeting with Pope John Paul II will be the first step toward a dialogue between Christianity and Islam and will lead to further dialogues with other nations, religions and civilizations.

(ZNSO: India)   The metropolitan of the Syrian Orthodox Diocese of Kottayam and the President of the Synod of the Malankara Church, His Grace Mor Gregorius Gheevarghese, entered into eternal rest on Feb 22, 1999 at 8:20 pm. The mortal remains of Mor Gregorius were brought to the Perumpilly St. George Simhasana Church and entombed in the sanctuary of the church at 5:30 pm on February 23rd. Ordained bishop on February 24, 1974, by late Patriarch Mor Ignatius Ya`qub III, Mor Gregorious was the metropolitan of the Cochin diocese with additional responsibility for the Kottayam diocese. In 1982, he became the metropolitan of the Kottayam diocese. Following the passing away of late Catholicose Mor Baselius Paulose II, Mor Gregorius assumed the leadership of the church and presided over the synod of the Malankara church. Since the passing away of Mor Gregorius, Metropolitan Mor Dionysius Thomas has been nominated to preside over the Synod in Malankara and Mor Timotheus Thomas has assumed the spiritual care of the archdioceses of Kottayam and Quilon, Niranam and Thumpamon.

For full story click here.  Courtesy of SOCNews.

A barn full of cows and their dung cushioned the collapse of a Roman temple at Dharih, Jordan, around the eighth century A.D. Thanks to the cows--whose crushed skeletons were found beneath the blocks --sculptures of Medusa heads and vine leaves, and busts of Hermes, Pan, and the Dioscouroi, were relatively intact when recovered by François Villeneuve of Paris' École Normale Supérieure and Zeidun al-Muheisen of Yarmuk University in Jordan.

Excavation of the temple has raised questions about early Christian attitudes toward pagan images. Villeneuve and al-Muheisen initially presumed that iconoclastic fervor after A.D. 750 would have doomed any figural sculpture on the temple.  Although the deities display Greco-Roman attributes, their frontal pose and large oval eyes are stylistically Nabatean, recalling oriental gods. It is uncertain whether these pagan deities, which still decorated the temple in the sixth century A.D. after its conversion into a church, had lost all significance for early Christian worshipers. How the church was used is also unclear. An undecorated cultic platform inside the temple contrasts with its ornate facade, which may suggest more orthodox ritual practice inside the sanctuary and more ecumenical worship outside. Excavation will continue through 2004.

Spencer P.M. Harrington
The Archaeological Institute of America
Archaeology Magazine:  Vol 52, # 2

"ChicagoWatch- On February 7, 1999, polling forms on the presidential elections in Syria were distributed in the Assyrian churches of the Chicago area and its surrounding suburbs.  This led to tense situations that eventually erupted into confrontations, particularly in the church of Mar Sargis in Chicago, between the pollsters and individuals loyal to the Assyrian cause.  Physical altercations ensued.  The authorities had to be called in to alleviate the situation.  Several police cars and undercover automobiles arrived at the scene and escorted the perpetrators away from the area.

The first thought to enter one's mind is:  "Why is a referendum for a dictatorial regime in the Middle East, being conducted in an Assyrian church in the United States?"  The Church has always maintained neutrality with regard to political issues; so why start now?  Furthermore, why choose a country whose history towards the Assyrians has been brutal and callous to say the least.

It was only two years ago (1996) that the Syrian government implemented a program to oust the Assyrians from their villages by drying up the Khabur river.  And one year later (1997), innocent Assyrians, who were trying to solve the forced water shortage problem, were captured and jailed without due process.

It is puzzling that the church, who is aware of the crimes (past and present), committed against its people would open its doors to Syrian agents sent to seek supporters of President Assad -- the very person whose government programs have made life miserable for Assyrians in villages along the depleted river Khabur.

The gall of the Syrian government, to approach people it has persecuted for support, is inexcusable, but the ignorance of the Assyrians that allow these agents to come within our community is reprehensible.

Given this serious incident, our esteemed organizations have not fulfilled their responsibilities to the community.  Not one had even issued a simple statement regarding this matter and they are supposed to be our political conduits."

M. Zia
Chicago Eyewatch

The Assyrian community of the New York/New Jersey areas is honouring the memory of Naoum Faik, one of the great Assyrian thinkers of the 19th and 20th century, by establishing a book fund at Columbia University dedicated to the expansion of the University’s holdings as related to the history and culture of the Assyrians during the Christian period. The funds for the endowment will begin with an initial amount of $5,000 in 1999 donated by Mr. Afram Koumi.  The Assyrian community at large is asked to contribute towards the fund which Mr. Koumi has committed himself to its completion at $25,000 within a three to five year period.  While the fund is being endowed, the community will make efforts to direct to the University archival, manuscript and printed materials as they become available from Assyrian sources.  A Naoum Faik bookplate is to be placed in each acquisition, as appropriate.  The University may begin to use the income generated by the fund whenever such funds are available. Assyrians in Canada who wish to contribute to this fund are asked to contact Firas Jatou at 416-747-9107 for further details.

Nineveh Newspaper
Volume I, Issue 4
January 1999

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Sargon Guiliana calls this picture "Me, Homy & Ashur out on the town!"   Sargon (the one on the left) is a student at University of Illinois at Chicago and can be distracted at sguliana@eecs.uic.edu.  Interested to see more pictures?  Click Here.

The Knights of Babylon Video:  Click Here
Lion of Babylon Video:  Click Here

BC (141)

The Parthian King Mithridates I of Persia captures Babylonia and ejects the Greeks from Bet-Nahrain and pushed them back to northern Syria.  By the first century A.D. the Parthians and the Romans were preparing themselves for control of the Middle East.  With the creation of the new political structure in the Middle East the Arabs were able to penetrate farther into the northern provinces of the Syrian plains.

Persia II, Lukonin

Arthur J. McLean publishes his Dictionary of the Dialects of Vernacular Syriac, 14 years after he first arrives in Urmia, as a representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assyrian Mission Press.  Over a hundred years after its first publication McLean's Dictionary remains an important source for scholars of the Eastern Syriac language.

There was a king near Mardin, the legend says, who was wary of the growing power of Christianity which was gaining converts among his subjects and undermining his authority. In order to set an example, he captured forty Christians and had them thrown into a cold mountain lake.  Then he gave instructions to his soldiers that they should be allowed out only if they renounce their faith. Only one did; in his place, a soldier who was moved by the faith of the other thirty nine, jumped in and died with them.

The Church of the Forty Martyrs in Mardin is still in use, though with a diminishing number of Syriac Christians. Due to the political turmoil in that area, the Syriac Christians are being forced to migrate.

As narrated by Christopher Wenner
Video:  Forgotten Christians

Courtesy of Syrian Orthodox Resources.

March 15, 1910 :  born, William Sarmas (brother of Peera Sarmas).  He was educated in the Missionary School in the city of Tabriz, Iran.  He completed his studies in Chemistry in France and was employed in Iran until his return to France in 1963 where he passed away.  He is the author of several Assyrian plays, a complete Persian-Assyrian dictionary (see last week's issue), poetry books, and lexicons of Assyrian words (i.e. names of  animals, plants) and a medical dictionary.

In the February 1 issue of our magazine we revealed the identity of Terrence Malick, the Assyrian-American director of last year's hit, The Thin Red Line.   Last month, The Thin Red Line was nominated to receive seven Academy Awards at this years 71st Annual Oscar ceremony on March 21.  Nominations are for the best:

• Picture
• Director
• Screenplay
• Cinematography
• Sound
• Original Dramatic Score
• Film Editing

Congratulations Terry Malick!   Mr. Malick is the son of Emil Malick of Chicago and the grandson of , Nanajan and Avimelk who emigrated from Urmia in the 1930's.

On the first day of the Assyrian year 6749 what better a present than witnessing such an honor bestowed upon the son of an immigrant Assyrian-American family.

AAC = Ancient Assyrian Church of the East
ACE = Assyrian Church of the East
CCC = Chaldean Catholic Church
COP = Coptic Church
MCC= Maronite Catholic Church
MSO = Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church
SCC = Syrian Catholic Church of Antioch
SKC = Syrian Knanaya Church
SOC = Syrian Orthodox Church

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The Directory of ZENDA News Sources
ZNAA (Assyrian Academic Society-Chicago)
ZNAD (Assyrian Democratic Organization)
ZNAF (Agence France-Presse)
ZNAH (Al-Ahram Newspaper, London)
ZNAL (Al-Hayat, London)
ZNAI  (Assyrian International News Agency)
ZNAK (American Kurdish
ZNAM (Archeology Magazine)
ZNAP (Associated Press International)
ZNBN (Bet-Nahrain Inc/ KBSV-TV "AssyriaVision")
ZNCN (ClariNews)
ZNIF (Iraq Foundation)
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
ZNIN (Iraqi National Congress)
ZNLT (Los Angeles Times)
ZNMN (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNMS (Mar Shimun Magazine-Canada)
ZNMW (Mideast Newswire)
ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly)
ZNNV (Nineveh Magazine)
ZNNY:  New York Times
ZNPR:  Palestinian Review
ZNQA (Qala Atouraya- Moscow)
ZNRF (Radio Free Iraq)
ZNRU (Reuters)
ZNSH (Shotapouta Newsletter)
ZNSJ (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNSM (Shufimafi Lebanese News)
ZNSO (Syrian Orthodox News "SOCNews")
ZNTD (Turkish Daily News)
ZNTM (Time Magazine)
ZNUP (United Press International)
ZNUS (US News & World Report)
ZNCW:  Catholic World News