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Server Information
Website statistics:
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over 50,000 unique visitors per month, coming
from 100+ different countries |
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over 100 GB (gigabytes) of information (documents,
photos, audio and video) is transmitted monthly
to those visitors |
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over 1,000,000 hits per month are received and
maintained by the server |
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300
GB (gigabytes) of existing data files, consisting of
audio, video, images, photographs and thousands
of web documents, gradually being updated to the
various websites |
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the server has monthly expenses, similar to any
company or organization having an Internet
presence. Due to our increasing website
growth and bandwidth usage (amount of
information viewed by Internet visitors), the
server is now financed primarily by
partners, sponsors,
business affiliations and
individual donations. |
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To
preserve. To inform. To inspire.
Welcome to Assyrian Information Management (AIM),
the virtual Internet-based academic repository which created
and continues to manage
atour.com was
founded on
December 10, 1996, during the early years of the Internet. The
organization's primary objective is to promote Assyrian
history,
language and
culture by having editorial
independence to present our perspective and related information into
accurate articles, freely available for everyone.
AIM has developed and managed many Assyrian-related projects. AIM is
also independent of political persuasion, tribal affiliation,
religious creed and is financed primarily by
partners, sponsors,
business affiliations and
individual donations.
We are
socially responsible and
believe in promoting Assyrian businesses and organizations by
investing in their goods and services. We accomplish this by
advertising their banners through our highly effective website
advertising platform.
We
are selective in choosing companies and organizations to list in our
advertising system. This ensures our Internet presence
and advertising system are free from
distracting marketing clutter that is present throughout the
Internet. We do not accept any outside
advertisements, preferring to manage our own
affiliation, advertising
and search systems.
In
addition to balancing between selective
business affiliations and
conscious capitalism,
we freely promote Ad Council
public service announcements of significant
public issues
to create awareness, cultivate understanding and motivate action
within
our communities.
The
server system and its websites consisting of web documents, images,
photographs, audio and video files, are blended together to form a
unique Internet presence — an activist model
of operations and independence.
Activist model summary:
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Independent, trusted, professional online presence
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Thousands of Assyrians visit monthly for activism and research
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Respected by Assyrian individuals, activists and organizations
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Referenced by universities, websites and search directories
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Unique activists' publishing features and information
We
are a volunteer-based organization. The people developing the
website(s) are Assyrian activists, artists, authors, engineers, journalists,
writers, scholars and students, and their scope of work and participation
varies according to their professional experience and skill levels. There are
also English-speaking scholars who write, translate and
forward articles. We are volunteers and devote our time to bring
tangible results for our communities.
Please
support Assyrian activists and friends of Assyrians.
Would you like to help?
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Share — linking your
website to atour.com and/or posting this website's links of important documents on other websites, it's free and simple
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Display/Embed
— displaying AIM|Atour information instantly on your website, it's free and simple
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Donate —
donating
and helping support these online projects
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Shop — shopping and purchasing items through our business affiliations website
links
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Fundraise — having fundraising efforts within your local organizations and
communities to financially support our
Internet presence
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Volunteer —
volunteering to write articles or gathering historical
documentation and photographs, and sharing that information with
us through our
development forums
which will eventually appear on various sections of the website
Are you part of an active Assyrian organization or business?
Are you interested in sharing your knowledge with fellow Assyrians?
Assyrian Forums Make a difference, collaborate and share information! Register and
share your activism in the Assyrian Forums.
activist \ak-ti,-vist\ noun (1915) 1 : a person who campaigns for political or social change 2 : a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action (as a mass demonstration) in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue — ac•tiv•is•m \ak-tiv-,iz-em\ noun — ac•tiv•is•tic \ak-tiv-,'is-tik\ adjective
mentor \'men-tór, 'ment-er\ noun [Latin, from Greek Mentor] 1 cap : a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus' son Telemachus 2 : an experienced person in an organization or institution who trains and advises new employees or students 3 a : a trusted counselor or guide b : TUTOR, COACH — men•tor•ship \-,ship\ noun
moderator \'mäd-e-,rät-er\ noun (1560) 1 : one who arbitrates : MEDIATOR 2 : one who presides over an assembly, meeting, or discussion: as a : the presiding officer of a Presbyterian governing body b : the nonpartisan presiding officer of a town meeting c : the chairman of a discussion group 3 : a substance (as a graphic) used for slowing down neutrons in a nuclear reactor — mod•er•a•tor•ship \-,ship\ noun
teacher \te-cher\ noun (14th century) [Aramaic: malpana | Assyrian: mulammidu] 1 : one that teaches; esp : one whose occupation is to instruct 2 : a Mormon ranking above a deacon in the Aaronic priesthood
Sources: Helsinki Neo-Assyrian Dictionary | Aramaic Dictionary | Oxford English Dictionary | Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary
Do
you have a question? Please search our
Frequently
Asked Questions,
FAQs.
Beth-Nahren,
Assyria |
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Assyrian
Population |
Iraq |
1,928,000 |
Syria |
815,000 |
USA |
490,000 |
Armenia |
206,000 |
Brazil |
98,000 |
Iran |
74,000 |
Lebanon |
68,000 |
Germany |
60,000 |
Russia |
52,000 |
Sweden |
48,000 |
Australia |
38,000 |
Turkey |
24,000 |
Canada |
23,000 |
France |
18,000 |
Jordan |
15,000 |
Georgia |
15,000 |
Holland |
12,000 |
Denmark |
10,000 |
England |
9,000 |
Austria |
8,000 |
Greece |
8,000 |
Belgium |
5,000 |
Switzerland |
5,000 |
New Zealand |
4,000 |
Dubai (UAE) |
3,000 |
Italy |
3,000 |
Argentina |
2,000 |
Mexico |
2,000 |
Poland |
2,000 |
Spain |
1,000 |
Kazakhstan |
250 |
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TOTAL |
4,036,250 |
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Assyrians — a historical summary
The Assyrians of today are the indigenous
Aramaic-speaking
descendants of the ancient Assyrian people, one of the earliest
civilizations emerging in the Middle East, and have a history
spanning over 6760 years. Assyrians are not Arabian or Arabs, we are
not Kurdish, our religion is not Islam. The Assyrians are
Christian, with our own unique language, culture and heritage.
Although the Assyrian empire ended in 612 B.C., history is replete
with
recorded details of the continuous presence of the Assyrian
people until the present time.
The Assyrian kingdom, being one of the base roots of Mesopotamia,
encouraged urbanization, building of permanent dwellings, and
cities. They also developed agriculture and improved methods of
irrigation using systems of canals and aqueducts. They enhanced their language
that served as a unifying force in writing, trade and business
transaction. They encouraged trade, established and developed
safe routes, protecting citizens and property by written law.
They excelled in administration, documented their performance and
royal achievements, depicting their culture in different art forms.
They built libraries and archived their recorded deeds for
prosperity. They accumulated wealth and knowledge; raised
armies in disciplined formation of infantry, cavalry and war-chariot
troops with logistics; and built a strong kingdom, an unique
civilization and the first world empire.
The heartland of Assyria lays in present day northern Iraq, northeastern
Syria, southeastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran. The remains
of the ancient capital of Assyria, Nineveh, is next to Mosul in
northern Iraq.
Prior to the Assyrian Holocaust
which occurred before, during and after World War I, the major
Assyrian communities still inhabited the areas of Harran, Edessa,
Tur Abdin, and Hakkari in southeastern Turkey, Jazira in
northeastern Syria, Urmia in northwestern Iran, and Mosul in
northern Iraq as they had for thousands of years.
The world’s 4 million Assyrians are currently dispersed with members of
the Diaspora comprising nearly one-third of the population.
Most of the Assyrians in the Diaspora live in North America, Europe
and Australia with nearly 460,000 residing in the United States of
America. The remaining Assyrians reside primarily in Iraq and
Syria, with smaller populations in Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and
Jordan.
The Assyrians are not to be confused with Syrians even though some
Syrian citizens are Assyrian. Although the name of Syria is
directly derived from Assyria and Syria was an integral part of
Assyrian civilization, most of the people of Syria currently
maintain a separate Arab identity. Moreover, the Assyrians are
not Arabs but rather have maintained a continuous and distinct
ethnic
identity, language, culture, and religion that predates the
Arabization
of the Near East. In addition, unlike the Arabs who did not
enter the region until the seventh century A.D., the Assyrians are
the indigenous people of Mesopotamia. Until today, the
Assyrians speak a
distinct
language (called
Aramaic
[Syriac]),
the actual language spoken by Jesus Christ. As a Semitic
language, the
Aramaic
language is related to Hebrew and Arabic but predates both. In
addition, whereas most Arabs are Muslim, Assyrians are essentially
Christian.
The
Assyrians were among the first to accept Christianity in the first
century A.D. through the Apostle St. Thomas. Despite the
subsequent Islamic conquest of the region in the seventh century
A.D., the Church of
the East flourished and its adherents at one time numbered in
the tens of millions. Assyrian missionary zeal was unmatched
and led to the
first Christian missions to China, Japan, and the Philippines.
The Church of the East stele in
Xian,
China bears testament to a thriving Assyrian Christian Church as
early as in the seventh century A.D. Early on, the Assyrian Church
divided into two ancient branches, the Syrian Orthodox Church and
the Church of the East. Over time, divisions within these
Assyrian Churches led to the establishment of the Chaldean Church
(Uniate Catholic), Syrian Catholic Church, and Maronite Church.
Persistent persecution under Islamic occupation led to the migration
of still greater numbers of Assyrian Christians into the Christian
autonomous areas of Mount Lebanon as well. With the arrival of
Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries into Mesopotamia,
especially since the nineteenth century, several smaller
congregations of Assyrian Protestants arose as well. A direct
consequence of Assyrian adherence to the Christian faith and their
missionary enterprise has been persecution, massacres, and ethnic
cleansing by various waves of non-Christian neighbors which
ultimately led to a decimation of the Assyrian Christian population.
Most recently and tragically, Great Britain invited the Assyrians as
an ally in World War I. The autonomous Assyrians were drawn
into the conflict following successive massacres against the
civilian population by forces of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, Kurds,
Arabs and Persians. Although many geopolitical and economic
factors were involved in provoking the attacks against the
Assyrians, a jihad or holy war was declared and served as the
rallying cry and vehicle for marauding Turks, Kurds, and Persians.
Although the Muslim holy war against the Armenians is perhaps better
known, over three-fourths, or
750,000 Assyrian Christians were also killed between 1843-1945
during the Assyrian Holocaust.
The conflict and subsequent
Assyrian
Holocaust led to the decimation and dispersal of the Assyrians.
Those Assyrians who survived the Holocaust were driven out of their
ancestral homeland in Turkish Mesopotamia primarily toward the area
of Mosul Vilayet in Iraq, Jazira in Syria, and the Urmi plains of
Iran where large Assyrian populations already lived. The
massacres of 1915 followed the Assyrians to these areas as well,
prompting an exodus of many more Assyrians to other countries and
continents. The Assyrian Holocaust of 1915 is the turning
point in the modern history of the Assyrian Christians precisely
because it is the single event that led to the dispersal of the
surviving community into small, weak, and destitute communities.
Most Assyrians in the Diaspora today can trace their emigration from the
Middle East to the Assyrian Holocaust of 1915. Many, who fled
from their original homes into other Middle Eastern countries
subsequently, just one generation later, once more emigrated to the
West. Thus, many Assyrian families in the West today have
experienced transfer to a new country for three successive
generations beginning, for instance, from Turkey to Iraq and then to
the United States.
During
World War I, after the Assyrians ["Our
Smallest Ally"] sided with the victorious Allies, Great Britain had promised
the Assyrians autonomy,
independence, and a homeland.
The Assyrian
question was addressed during postwar deliberations at the
League of Nations. However, with the termination of the
British Mandate in Iraq, the unresolved status of the Assyrians was
relinquished to the newly formed Iraqi government with promises of
certain minority guarantees specifically concerning freedom of
religious, cultural, and linguistic expression. The Assyrians
lost two-thirds of their population during the World Wars.
The
Simele Genocide (Syriac:
ܦܪܡܬܐ ܕܣܡܠܐ:
Premta d-Simele) was the first of many massacres committed by
the Iraqi government during
the
systematic genocide of Assyrians of Northern Iraq in August
1933. The term is used to describe not only the massacre of Simele,
but also the killing spree that continued among 63 Assyrian villages
in the Dohuk and Mosul districts that led to the deaths of an
estimated 3,000 innocent Assyrians. Today, most of these
villages continue to be illegally occupied by Arabs and Kurds.
The Assyrians are a stateless people and continue to be religiously and ethnically
persecuted in the Middle East due to Islamic fundamentalism,
Arabization and Kurdification
policies, leading to land expropriations and
forced emigration to the West. |
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Assyria
\ã-'sir-é-ä\ n (1998)
1: an ancient empire of Ashur
2:
a democratic state in Bet-Nahren, Assyria (northern Iraq, northwestern
Iran, southeastern Turkey and eastern Syria.)
3: a democratic state that fosters the social and
political rights to all of its inhabitants irrespective of their religion,
race, or gender
4: a democratic
state that believes in the freedom of religion, conscience, language,
education and culture in faithfulness to the principles of the United
Nations Charter —
Atour synonym |
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Ethnicity, Religion, Language
»
Israeli, Jewish, Hebrew
»
Assyrian, Christian, Aramaic
»
Saudi Arabian, Muslim, Arabic |
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Assyrian
\ã-'sir-é-an\ adj or n (1998)
1: descendants of the ancient empire of Ashur
2: the Assyrians, although representing but one single
nation as the direct heirs of the ancient Assyrian Empire, are now
doctrinally divided, inter sese, into five principle ecclesiastically
designated religious sects with their corresponding hierarchies and
distinct church governments, namely, Church of the East, Chaldean,
Maronite, Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic. These formal
divisions had their origin in the 5th century of the Christian Era.
No one can coherently understand the Assyrians as a whole until he can
distinguish that which is religion or church from that which is nation
-- a matter which is particularly difficult for the people from the
western world to understand; for in the East, by force of circumstances
beyond their control, religion has been made, from time immemorial,
virtually into a criterion of nationality.
3:
the Assyrians have been referred to as Aramaean, Aramaye, Ashuraya,
Ashureen, Ashuri, Ashuroyo, Assyrio-Chaldean, Aturaya, Chaldean, Chaldo,
ChaldoAssyrian, ChaldoAssyrio, Jacobite, Kaldany, Kaldu, Kasdu, Malabar,
Maronite, Maronaya, Nestorian, Nestornaye, Oromoye, Suraya, Syriac,
Syrian, Syriani, Suryoye, Suryoyo and Telkeffee. — Assyrianism
verb |
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Aramaic
\ar-é-'máik\
n (1998)
1: a Semitic language which became the lingua franca of
the Middle East during the ancient Assyrian empire.
2: has been referred to as Neo-Aramaic, Neo-Syriac, Classical
Syriac, Syriac, Suryoyo, Swadaya and Turoyo. |
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Please consider the environment when disposing of this material — read, reuse,
recycle. ♻
AIM |
Atour: The State of Assyria |
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