A Name Chaldeans Forgot: Assyria
500 Years of Confusion Ends Today, December 9th, 2020
Updated: 1/20/21 (additional sources added)
You are going to die one day. A few hundred years after you die, no one will know you even existed in the first place.
It is a scary thought, but at least most people can take comfort in the fact that their identity will live on for eternity, even if their personal legacy gradually fades out of existence over time.
I cannot say the same for Chaldeans. For over a thousand years, we have been murdered, tortured, and raped out of existence. Within the last five hundred years, external forces confused us about our history and identity.
Now, in 2020, while most of the world is scrambling to figure out how they will afford the best car or the most beautiful house, our people are on the brink of extinction.
Meanwhile, a handful of leaders in our community have emerged and are busy insisting on our people’s existence so that the world will know us long after our generation passes.
To me, that is what it means to be Chaldean.
However, in order to truly know what it means to be Chaldean, you must first know what it means to be Assyrian.
Defining Purpose on the Smallest Scale
Think about all the people who lived and died before us. History does not keep records of every single human being that ever lived. It never has, and it never will.
History only remembers the most notable among us.
Some of us take comfort in the fact that our memory will live on among our loved ones, but that is only a temporary comfort zone because, eventually, your loved ones will die too.
When they die, that ultimately means their memory of you will too.
Gradually, almost every trace of your existence will fade off into the abyss of time, almost like you never even existed in the first place — except for one magical truth.
Besides your soul, another part of you still lives on after you die, and no man or woman is an exception to this rule — even if you lived for only a split second.
That part of you is what you contributed to the collective consciousness of the people you left behind and how it fits neatly into the grand scheme of things.
Some people call it the butterfly effect, but it is more like a footprint of your spirit that lives forever in a chain reaction of existence on Earth, long after your physical body vanishes.
That is why we have things like tradition, culture, language, and even genetics.
Somebody passed down all of it to us.
Think about it. Your mom did not invent Dolma, and neither did your grandma. It came from somewhere, though. During some period in our native homeland, some people decided it was a good idea to roll up rice, tomato paste, and meat inside of grape leaves.
Later down the line, someone else decided that the same stuffing made for grape leaves belonged in vegetables like onions, zucchini, squash, etc.
After that, someone invented a super sour form of citric acid that was powdered, sour, and took Dolma’s flavor to another level. We call it lemon doozy.
With that said, all the people responsible for Dolma as we know it are dead, and we do not know who they were.
But here is the point: the fact that we still make this food today is evidence that they lived. It is likewise the reason we speak Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.
Our Ancestors Passed it All Down to Us. You have the same power.
Your contributions to the collective consciousness of the people you leave behind will reverberate generation after generation.
It will manifest itself physically in the minds and behavior of your descendants, along with all the lives they touch as a result of it — whether they remember your name or not.
This is my contribution. We live in a day and age where information about virtually any subject in the world is available at the tip of our fingers.
There is no reason an outdated “debate” on our community’s origins should plague us any further than it already has, mainly because we inherited this ridiculous debate from people we never met who lived centuries ago.
The identity “debate” ends today, and the hard work of compiling a list of sources on the subject is finished. All you have to do is read it.
Now wake up.
4 Sources From the Chaldean Catholic Church
1. Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako (ܠܘܝܣ ܪܘܦܐܝܠ ܩܕܡܝܐ ܣܟܘ)
Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans & the Chaldean Church worldwide discusses the origins of the modern Chaldean name. Watch below.
2. Former Patriarch Raphael Bidawid (ܪܘܦܐܝܠ ܩܕܡܝܐ ܒܝܬ ܕܘܝܕ)
Bishop Bidawid served as Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans & the Chaldean Church worldwide during 1989–2003. In 2003, he was interviewed and said the following:
I personally think that these different names serve to add confusion. The original name of our Church was the ‘Church of the East’ … When a portion of the Church of the East became Catholic, the name given was ‘Chaldean’ based on the Magi kings who came from the land of the Chaldean, to Bethlehem. The name ‘Chaldean’ does not represent an ethnicity… We have to separate what is ethnicity and what is religion… I myself, my sect is Chaldean, but ethnically, I am Assyrian.
Permanently Archived Link (page 18, footnote 85)
In an interview with The Assyrian Star, Bidawid said the following:
Before I became a priest I was an Assyrian, before I became a bishop I was an Assyrian, I am an Assyrian today, tomorrow, forever, and I am proud of it.
The video below is a third instance in which the former Chaldean Patriarch touched on the Assyrian identity, but English subtitles are not available.
3. Bishop Sarhad Yawsip Jammo
Since July 25th 2002, Bishop Jammo has been responsible for the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego, California. In 1996, Bishop Jammo held a public forum to address misconceptions about our identity. Watch below.
In the July 2007 issue of the Chaldean News titled “All One People?”, an excerpt from Bishop Jammo went as follows:
If we pose the question. Who are the actual Christians of Iraq, i.e. the Chaldeans, the Assyrians as well as the Syriacs from the civil point of view? The answer should be: They are the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. To the question: What is their ethnic and cultural background? Then, I would answer: Study the history of Ancient Iraq; because that same history is their history; that same culture is their culture; that same Aramaic language is their language.
To be fair to all sides, it is right to say that both names, ‘Chaldeans’ and ‘Assyrians’ are but two nomenclatures designating, from two different perspectives, the same people.
Flip to page 28 in the July 2007 issue below to view Bishop Jammo’s quote.
4. Official Website of the Chaldean Catholic Church
A reporter asked about the relationship between the Chaldean and Assyrian Church, especially after the recent letter of Patriarch Sako to His Holiness Patriarch Dinkha calling him to unity, in addition to the visit of His Beatitude to the Assyrian Church that will take place within his current pastoral visit to the Diocese of Beirut, and His Beatitude answered: “Our history is one, and our Church is one, and our people are one, and despite the split between us, there is a desire for unity. And if we remain isolated churches, as ethnical or regional churches, then there is no future for us in the East. We must have a political position and a Christian Word, and the unity of the Church is very important in this aspect. We need the audacity and courage to restore cohesion between us.”
Source | Permanently Archived Link (4th paragraph)Technically, the term “Chaldean” was first used in the 15th century to describe those East Syriac Christians in Cyprus who came into union with the Roman Catholic Church. In the 18th century the East Syriac Patriarchs settled in Amid (Diyarbaker-Turkey), and soon formed a union with the Catholic Church and occasionally used the term. While in earlier centuries simply the term “Catholic” was preferred, Later on “Chaldean” came into common usage and became official only after 1828.
Source| Permanently Archived Link (1st paragraph, 7th sentence)
5 Chaldean Churches with “Assyrian” in their names
1. Saint Thomas Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic Church
Location: 2901 N Berkeley Ave, Turlock, CA 95382
Phone: (209) 668–0677
2. St. Thomas The Apostle Chaldean & Assyrian Catholic Diocese
Location: 66–78 Quarry Rd, Bossley Park NSW 2176, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9823 1800
3. Saint Mary’s Assyrian Chaldean Church
Location: 109 N 1st St, Campbell, CA 95008
Phone: (818) 996–5173
4. St. Paul Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church
Location: 13050 W Vanowen St, North Hollywood, CA 91605
Phone: (818) 765–3665
5. St. Matthew Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic Church
Location: 3005 6th St, Ceres, CA 95307
Phone: (209) 541–1660
Note: there are several more Chaldean churches around the world with the Assyrian name affixed to their church names in countries such as France, Georgia, etc. This article will be updated when those sources are made available.
2 Sources from the Vatican (5 recently deleted)
1. Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio)
The head of the entire Catholic Church refers to Chaldean Catholics as “Assyrian-Chaldeans” rather than just “Assyrian” or “Chaldean.” In a 2016 interview, when visiting the Assyrian Chaldean Catholic church of Georgia, he said the following:
Among the most troubled community is that of the Assyrian-Chaldeans, with whom I experienced in Tbilisi an intense moment of prayer for peace in Syria, Iraq and all the Middle East.
Source | Permanently Archived Link
This is significant because of a Catholic concept called papal infallibility. The original “Chaldean” perspective on papal infallibility is also available in this snippet. Click the snippet to expand to the full text. Best viewed on a computer.
If you are interested in reading the prayer for Assyrian Chaldeans in the country of Georgia referenced above, you can read it here:
Source | Permanently Archived Link
You can also watch the whole ceremony below.
2. The Vatican’s Official Website
Likewise, when discussing the cultural and religious traditions of Chaldeans and Assyrians, the Vatican refers to us as two groups of a single entity.
It annexed to a religious, educational and cultural centre dedicated to the teaching of ancient religious traditions and Assyrian-Chaldean culture, including the Aramaic language.
Source | Permanently Archived Link
The quote above refers to an Assyrian Chaldean church in Georgia that was primarily funded from donors of the St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church in West Bloomfield, MI. This link has since been deleted from the Vatican’s website for unknown reasons, although it was temporarily indexed by Google’s Cache tool and subsequently archived permanently via a tool provided by a nonprofit called Wayback Machine.
The Vatican also recently deleted 5 noteworthy links from their website and Google’s Cache tool before I had a chance to archive them using the Wayback Machine. These are the links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
The 5th linked contained a 5 page PDF, single-spaced, with rich history and a “Common Christological Declaration” between Pope John Paul II and Mar Dinka IV of the Assyrian Church of the East.
I was able to preserve its contents in a word document and will make it available when it is ready to be published in a clean, easy to read format.
3 Sources from the 19th Century (1801–1900)
Note: these sources are unique in the sense that they are old, verified, and written by unbiased European historians or Christian missionaries who were born outside of our community and, therefore, outside of the bubble of bias and controversy that has consumed the hearts and minds of our people during the last few centuries. Besides the sources below, many more exist. I will add them to this piece at a later date.
1. The Nestorians and Their Rituals
Reverend George Percy Badger. Pages 179–181. Published in 1852.
There can be no doubt but that the Chaldeans were of the same family with the Assyrians, who were also called Syrians, by which name, as we have seen, the mountain Nestorians, and the Papal Chaldeans of the plains, who speak the vulgar Syriac, still designate themselves. This, however, is not the subject of dispute; but whether the term “Chaldeans” was or is used of the Nestorians by themselves or others. I have proved that it is not. They call themselves Soorayé, Nestorayé, and sometimes Christiané and Meshihâyé, but never Chaldâyé or Chaldâni. Dr. Grant’s testimony goes to establish the above statements; his words are these:
“CHALDEAN is a name commonly used to designate the papal, but it is seldom applied to the orthodox Nestorians; and, when so applied, it is used to express their relation to Abraham, who was from ‘Ur of the Chaldees.’”
The origin of the term “Chaldean” as applied to a Christian sect, is correctly given in the following extract from Smith and Dwight’s “Researches in Armenia” — “The present Chaldean Christians are of recent origin. It was in A.D. 1681, that the Nestorian Metropolitan of Diarbekir, having quarrelled with his patriarch, was first consecrated by the Pope patriarch of the Chaldeans. The sect was as new as the office, and created for it. Converts to papacy from the Nestorian and Jacobite churches* were united in one body, and dignified by the name of the Chaldean Church. It means no more than Papal Syrians, as we have in other parts Papal Armenians and Papal Greeks.”
After giving this quotation, Dr. Grant remarks: “There appears to be no propriety in applying this name to the Nestorians as a Christian sect; and its casual employment among them is a circumstance of little importance, except as it may lead to wrong conclusions respecting their origin. If its occasional use proves any thing regarding their origin, it indicates their relation to the Father of the Faithful, agreeably to their own explanations.”
When the Latin missionaries had succeeded in forming a schism among the Nestorians of Diarbekir, they wanted a name whereby to designate the proselytes. In other instances the national title of the parent body supplied a ready and unobjectionable appellative. Thus, by prefixing the term “Catholic,” they adequately, and according to their views appropriately distinguished the seceders from the Greek, Armenian, and Syrian communities. A difficulty now arose; the new converts styled themselves “Soorâyé” and “Nestorayé.”
The Romanists could not call them “Catholic Syrians,” or “Syrian Catholics,” for this appellation they had already given to their proselytes from the Jacobites, who also called themselves “Syrians.” They could not term them “Catholic Nestorians,” as Mr. Justin Perkins, the Independent American missionary does, for this would involve a contradiction. What more natural, then, than that they should have applied to them the title of “Chaldeans,” to which they had some claims nationally in virtue of their Assyrian descent? This, then, was the first use of the term as applied to a Christian community, and I can confidently vouch for the fact, that it was never before used by the Nestorians in any such acceptation.
It is true, indeed, that the present Mar Shimoon styles himself in his official documents “Patriarch of the East,” and “Patriarch of the Chaldeans;” but this latter title he or his immediate predecessors most probably assumed to put themselves on an equality with the Patriarchs of the plains, after they had joined the Church of Rome and taken that appellation, and as a stratagem, to repel the name of “Nestorian,” which then more especially began to be regarded as a reproachful epithet through the aspersions cast upon it by the Latin missionaries. The Nestorians, generally, as we have seen, disavowed the title, nor is there the shadow of a proof that the Eastern Patriarchs ever used it. I have before me the impression of a seal belonging to one of the late Elîas of Alkôsh, which bears the following motto: “The undeserving Elîa by grace Patriarch and Occupant of the throne of Addai and Mari.” This was the title by which the Nestorian Primates designated themselves before their submission to Rome, and the same is inscribed on all the tombs of the deceased Patriarchs whose remains were buried in the convent of Rabban Hormuzd; so that when Mr. Layard writes:
“In the chapel [of Rabban Hormuzd] are the tombs of several Patriarchs of the Chaldean Church, buried here long before its divisions, and whose titles, carved upon the monuments, are always ‘Patriarch of the Chaldeans of the East,’” he makes a serious mistake. I have examined with care all the epitaphs, and could not discover therein any such phraseology.
The language of the Nestorians I have called Syriac, since it is precisely the same as that used by the Jacobite Syrians, the only difference being in the form of the character and the vowel-points, which were altered by Gregory Bar Hebræus, the Monophysite doctor in the 13th century. For distinction’s sake, however, it is sometimes styled “Syro-Chaldaic,” a term not indeed strictly correct, but for want of a better by no means inapplicable.
2. The Literary Gazette & Journal of the Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences
Princeton University, Volume 26. Published in 1842. Page 757:
But while the mountaineers have preserved their old forms of worship intact, the inhabitants of the plains, both in and Mesopotamia, have almost all been converted to Roman Catholicism. It was in pride of this conversion, that the Jesuits gave to the old church the epithet of Nestorians, which they disclaim and dislike, and retained for the Roman Catholics the national appellation of Chaldeans; just in the same manner as in the Syrian church they gave to the Syrians, strictly speaking, the name of Jacobites, and endeavoured to attach that of the national church to the Roman Catholics. It is that so gross a misrepresentation ought not tolerated by any educated Protestant.
Permanently Archived Link (Large archive. Wait 2–3 mins before the page loads.)
3. A Catholic Dictionary: Containing Some Account of the Doctrine, Discipline, Rites, Ceremonies, Councils, and Religious Orders of the Catholic Church
William Edward Addis, Thomas Arnold, Thomas Barthomolew Scannell. Columbia University. Published in 1893. Pages 151–153.
Note: this particular excerpt details a chronological history of the use of the Chaldean name or appellation as it relates to the Roman Catholic church, beginning with Bishop Sahaduna of the St. Thomas Christians of India, who was assigned the Chaldean name in 630 AD by Rome. A total of 815 years passed before the Catholic Church reintroduced the Chaldean name to the Nestorians of Cyprus in 1445 AD. It also discusses, at length, how we inherited and later rejected the “Chaldean” name several times during the last few centuries.
The name Chaldeans in ecclesiastical use signifies the Catholics who belong to the Church formed by conversions from Nestorianism. Assemani (“Bibliothec. Orient.” tom. iii. p. 410 seq.) distinguishes between particular conversions — i.e. conversions of individual bishops and their dioceses, and general conversions i.e. unions effected with a large section of the Nestorians which led to the recognition of a Catholic patriarch. Under the former head he mentions — (1) the conversion of the Bishop Sahaduna and the Gamaræans, A.D. 630; (2) that Timothy of Tarsus, metropolitan of the Nestorians in Cyprus, and of his subjects, A.D. 1445; (3) that of the Nestorians on the Malabar Coast; (4) that of the Christians of St. John, called Sabæans, by the Carmelite Fathers, in Bassora, circ. A.D. 1630. The story of the third of these conversions will be given in the article on the CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS. We doubt the accuracy of Assemani’s statement about the Sabæans, whose history has been recently investigated by Chwolson. The third case is interesting from its connection with the Council of Florence. Timothy was converted by Andrew, archbishop of Rhodes (Colossensis), whom Eugenius IV. sent to Cyprus. The union was effected in the second session of the continuation of the council in the Lateran, August 7, 1445. Eugenius, in his bull containing the decree of union, forbids anyone to call the Chaldeans heretics. So that here we have a formal recognition of the name “Chaldean.” (Hefele, “Concil.” vii. p. 815 seq.)
Assemani enumerates the following “general conversions.” (1) In 1247 Asa, “Vicar of the East” i.e. — representative of the patriarch in China and Eastern Tartary — under the Nestorian Patriarch Sabarjesu (1226-56) made a profession of Catholic belief to Innocent IV. It was subscribed by the Archbishop of Nisibis, two other archbishops, and three bishops. (2) The Patriarch Jaballaha was reconciled under Benedict XI. A.D. 1304. (3) A dispute about the succession to the patriarchate between Sulâka and Shimoom led to the reconciliation of the former under Julius III., A.D. 1552. (4) The Patriarch Elias became Catholic under Paul V., A.D. 1616. None of these conversions had any wide or lasting influence. (5) The conversion of the Nestorians at Diarbekir led Innocent XI. to establish a new Chaldean patriarchate in that city. Joseph I. was the first patriarch; the last died in 1828. (Badger, “The Nestorians and their Rituals,” vol. i. p. 150.)
Here Assemani’s narrative ends, but since his great work was published at Rome (1719-28) the most important accession of Nestorians to the Church has taken place. There had been since the middle of the sixteenth century a schism between the Nestorians themselves, and they had two patriarchs, one residing at Kochanes in Central Koordistan, the other at Mosul or Alkosh. Elias, the patriarch at the latter place on his death in 1778, left two nephews, Hanna (= John, the name he took at ordination, his own being Hormuzd) and Jeshuyan. Both were already metropolitans, both became Catholics, and both were candidates for the patriarchate. The latter had scarcely reached the object of his ambition when relapsed into Nestorianism. John, who remained Catholic, claimed the in his place, A.D. 1782. He had bitter disputes, not only with his Nestorian relatives, but also with the Carmelite missionaries and the Patriarch Joseph, who still exercised jurisdiction at Diarbekir. It was not till the close of the last century he was recognised by Rome as the spiritual head of all the Chaldeans, and allowed use the patriarchal seal and exercise patriarchal functions, and he then the name Elias. He only received pallium shortly before his death at Bagdad in 1841. He must have been bishop more than sixty-three years; but it from his autobiography, translated by Badger, that he was consecrated metropolitan at the age of sixteen. This last conversion to the Church embraced of the Nestorians in the plains by the Tigris. Badger, writing in 1852, the number of Catholics belonging to Chaldean rite at 20,000, thinly scattered through the vast territory which extends from Diarbekir to the frontiers of Persia, and from Tyari to Bagdad. The Chaldeans, says Badger (i. p. 176) are superior to their Nestorian countrymen “in civilisation, general intelligence, and ecclesiastical order.” This is important testimony, coming, as it does, from an author who had extraordinary opportunities of judging correctly, and who writes with passionate vehemence against everything Catholic.Rome utterly abolished the succession to the patriarchate which long prevailed among the Nestorians, and John was forbidden to make any of his relations bishops, but it was difficult to root out this abuse. A nephew of Patriarch John actually became Nestorian for a few months, in 1834, that he be consecrated metropolitan by the Nestorian patriarch and succeed his uncle, who is said to have approved of this proceeding. The devotion to the old house nearly led to a schism, which was fomented by a Nestorian patriarch, Shimoom, who fled from the Kurds to Mosul. Great discontent was caused in 1843 by an attempt of the Patriarch Zeiya to make the Chaldeans keep Easter according to the Latin reckoning. This patriarch was himself cited before the Holy Office on a charge of embezzlement, and resigned in 1846. The next patriarch, Joseph Audu, came into conflict with Rome on account of his claims to exercise jurisdiction over the Chaldeans in India, and because of his uncanonical ordinations. He was forbidden to consecrate bishops without leave from Rome. He refused to accept the decrees of the Vatican Council, which he attended, and renounced communion with Rome. A Capuchin, Bishop Fanciulli, was sent as Apostolic visitor to Mosul, and the patriarch made a qualified submission in July 1872. Soon after the patriarch renewed the schism, induced some of the bishops and nobles to join him, and consecrated bishops in defiance of the Pope. The revolt was fostered by the Turkish Government. The patriarch made his submission in January 1877.
According to the ordinary law the patriarch — unless Rome has previously appointed a coadjutor with right of succession — is chosen by the bishops. The election, if canonical, is confirmed at Rome. He is subject not only to Propaganda but to the Latin Archbishop of Bagdad, as apostolic visitor. He resides at Alkosh and Mosul.
The metropolitans and bishops, who are chosen from the monks, are nominated and consecrated by the patriarch. The metropolitan sees are Amedia, Mosul (both immediately subject to the patriarch), Kerkuk, and Sehna. The episcopal sees are Akra, Diarbekir, Gezir, Mardin, Salmas, Seert, and Zaku. The secular priests are usually married, and partly support themselves by manual labour. The monks belong to the order St. Anthony, and there are two monasteries — a very ancient one, that of Rabban Hormuzd, at Alkôsh, which in 1843 had an abbot and four monks, and a small one founded in modern times, and with scarcely any religious, that of Mar Yurgis (=St. George), on the left bank of Tigris, a few miles above Mosul. The monks live apart in cells which are mostly in the rock. They abstain from wine and spirits and from flesh, except on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.
The number of priests, secular and regular, is at present (1891) above 100; the number of Catholics about 33,000. (Werner, “Orbis Terrarum Catholicus.”)
Who was the First King of the Neo-Babylonian Era?
If you’re reading this on your phone, hold down the link below to get the answer rather than just clicking the link so it will take you directly to the post instead of the Facebook app.
Note: This is not the end of the article. This article will be updated routinely with more archived sources and primary sources as I come across them. The idea is to overwhelmingly prove the point that Chaldeans and Assyrians are one in the same — historically, culturally, and of course genetically.
Some words are hyperlinked with links to Wikipedia or a pre-filled google search for the sole purpose of adding brief context to a specific word or words. For example, a source above mentioned “Zaku” which is more commonly spelled “Zakho.” In order to quickly convey this, I simply added a link to the Wikipedia page for Zakho. This approach in adding context should not be conflated with the idea that this piece relies on Wikipedia as an academic source. It does not. If one were to remove every Wikipedia link from this piece, the argument stands just as strong, albeit with less context.
Also, the point of this article is not to replace the Chaldean name with the Assyrian one, but to enhance both names by acknowledging that each one is ours. With that said, there is nothing wrong with self-identifying as Chaldean. However, knowing what you know now, it would be factually inaccurate to deny the Assyrian name. In fact, both names complement each other, and I will write a separate piece on this later.
Regarding genetics, DNA samples and test results are being collected to add to this piece. If you remain unconvinced at this point for whatever reason, rest assured that you can not argue with scientific facts.
With this, the pain felt by our people for centuries will finally vanish, at which point we can unite and collectively focus on resisting extinction. A prophecy in the book of Isaiah foretelling the rise of the Assyrian nation awaits all of us:
Isaiah 19:23–25
23 On that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of armies has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
