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Sunday, April 27, 2014.

Annual Overnight Reno Trip.

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It was from Assyria, known as Mesopotamia (between the Tigris and Euphrates) that the first civilization began, and gave rise to an intellectual thought process that helped build scientific as well as religious basis for all other cultures.

Gender and Engenderment - The Declaration of Women’s Independence (Nineveh 2013 vol. 1)

"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.

Year 6764
March 21 marked the beginning of the 6764th Assyrian year. The celebration of the new year is called the Akitu festival by Assyrians, and it goes back to antiquity. It was adopted by the various cultures that lived contemporaneously with Assyrians and by those that succeeded them. The Kurds and Iranians adopted the festival and call it Nowrooz.

The Akitu festival is a 12 day celebration. In the old Assyrian Calendar the Assyrian year (April 1st) began on the Vernal Equinox, which falls on March 21 in the Gregorian Calendar. The first month of the Assyrian year is April (Neesan). To align with the Gregorian calendar, contemporary Assyrians mark April first as the beginning of the new year. For more information see The Meaning of Assyrian New Year.

Assyrians Tomorrow: Continuity and Preservation

Appreciation Event, Sunday, April 27, 2014

Key Note Speaker: Dr. Nicholas Al-Jeloo

Throughout their history, especially from ancient to medieval times, Assyrians have played a seminal role in the process of inventing, disseminating, translating and applying knowledge. It was this role that earned ancient Mesopotamia the nickname of ‘Cradle of Civilization.’ Various invasions and domination by other, more numerous and more aggressive cultural groups, however, have now rendered the Assyrians a stateless, transnational ethnic group, and a beleaguered minority in their own native lands. This presentation will, therefore, deal with the way in which such previous intellectual prowess has continued amongst them today. It will also attempt to tackle the question as to whether or not the Assyrians have persisted in the same spirit of education and cultural preservation, particularly in safeguarding the Aramaic language and ensuring its future continuation. Today, Assyrians around the globe are advancing their efforts to unite with one another, bring about awareness of their history and culture, and continue their traditions and language. The activities of Assyrian organizations in the United States such as the Assyrian Foundation of America, Assyrian Aid Society, Assyrian American National Federation, Assyrian Council of Illinois and Assyrian Universal Alliance Foundation, as well as those in other countries, will thus be discussed. Finally, suggestions will be raised as to how these efforts can be continued into the future, and expanded further internationally, in order for the goals of continuity and preservation to be maintained.

Dr. Al-Jeloo is an Australian-born Iraqi-Assyrian, and is currently an independent researcher and scholar. He completed his PhD in Assyrian/Syriac Studies at University of Sydney in 2013. In addition Dr. Al-Jeloo holds an MA in Eastern Christianity from Leiden University, and a BA in Classical Hebrew from the University of Sydney. He works on classical Syriac and modern Aramaic literature, ethno-religious and linguistic minorities, as well as the social and cultural history of ethnic Assyrians in the medieval and modern periods. In addition to his experience as a socio-cultural historian, he has conducted fieldwork across the Middle East. He has taught Syriac at the University of Sydney and his books include a Modern Aramaic (Assyrian/Syriac) Dictionary and Phrasebook (2007) and the exhibit catalogue Persistence and Existence (2010). He has also written a number of scholarly articles and is presently writing a book on Assyrians in Iran during the pre-modern and early modern periods.

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Happy Assyrian New Year

Assyrians Tomorrow: Continuity and Preservation

Appreciation Event, Sunday, April 27, 2014

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