Jump to content

Syriac Orthodox Christians in the Middle East

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Assyrio (talk | contribs) at 14:32, 30 July 2016. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Syriac Orthodox Christians
Suryoye, Suroyo, Athuroyo
The Syriac Flag, created in 1980
Regions with significant populations
Middle East150,000–200,000
 Syria82,000 (mid-1970s)
 Turkey15–20,000 (2008)
 Iraq15–20,000 (1991)
 Lebanonfew thousand (1987)
 Israel200–1,500
Diaspora100,000+
 Germany37–55,000 (2005)
 Sweden30–40,000 (2016)
 United States110,807 (2011) (including Assyrians and Chaldeans)[1]
Languages
Turoyo, Neo-Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish
Religion
Syriac Orthodox
Related ethnic groups
Assyrians, Chaldeans, Maronites

Syriac Orthodox Christians, also known as Syriacs, Western Assyrians and (informally) Arameans (see names of Syriac Christians),[2] are an ethnoreligious group[3] indigenous to the Middle East.[4][5] They follow the West Syrian Rite Syriac Orthodox Church and are sometimes considered a subgroup of the Assyrian people. They traditionally speak Neo-Aramaic languages, particularly the Turoyo language, and write using Syriac, which is their original and liturgical language.[6]

The Syriacs number between 150,000 and 200,000 people according to different estimations, and originate from the Southern Turkish region of Tur Abdin, where the Syriac Orthodox Church had its see See at the Saffron Monastery from the 11th century up until 1932 due to Turkish governmental oppression.[7]

Due to events that have occurred in the past 100 years, they now live in countries throughout the world such as northeastern Syria, the Nineveh Plains region of Iraq, and Lebanon, while significant communities also exist outside the Middle East in Western Europe and North America.

Identity

See also: Terms for Syriac Christians

There is an ongoing debate within the Syriac community over their identity as Syriacs. The Syriacs were historically identified as "Assyrians" and are of similar ethnic, linguistic, geographic, and cultural background as the Assyrians, but most of the Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic community tends to identify as "Syrian" or "Syriac" (Sūryōyē), or "Aramean" (Oromoye).[8][9] Therefore, the identification of Syriac Orthodox as "Assyrians" is contested by the community.

In some cases Syriacs are often considered to be Assyrian, with the Syriac Orthodox community in Iraq based in the Nineveh Plains for example identifying as Assyrian, and being considered as such in censuses by Assyrian organizations and national governments.[10][11] In the diaspora, the Syriac Orthodox identify with the term Suryoye.[12] In Arabic and Kurdish, they were identified as Suryani, and in Turkish as Süryaniler.[12] In Tur Abdin (a ethnically Syriac populated region in Turkey), the community does not consider converts to Protestantism (Prut) and Catholicism (Katholik, Kaldoye) as Suryoye, thus, in Tur Abdin the identification as Syriac only applies to the Syriac Orthodox, who share a collective identity and consciousness.[13]

Late 19th and early 20th-century Syriac intellectuals predominantly used the "Assyrian" identification,[14] but A secular "Assyrianism", as an ethnic category, was then reduced by creating a separate "Aramean" or "Syrian" (or "Syriac") identity by the Syriac Orthodox Church due to this.[15] The Syriac Orthodox community both in and outside of the Middle East is currently divided over their common ancestry and name,[16] with debates and even riots occurring in Sweden among Syriacs from the Tur Abdin, and also in the Netherlands (towns such as Enschede and Hengelo), where many Syriac Orthodox refugees have also settled.[16]

A more archaic term used to refer to Syriacs, and often found in older sources, is "Jacobites", after Bishop Jacob Baradaeus (d. 578) of Edessa, and also "Monophysites"- owing to the religious division of Syriac Church bodies after the council of Chalcedon.[17]

The Syriac Orthodox identity is not only a religious one, although Syriac Orthodoxy was the dominant force in designating themselves as such, as they began to diverge from an Assyrian identity after separating from the Assyrian Church of the East(which was politically and religiously based in the Ancient Assyrian city of Assur) after the Council of Ephesus and becoming West Syrian, but also included cultural traditions of the pagan Assyrian and Aramean kingdoms.[18] Subsequently, Syriac Orthodox traditions crystallized into ethnogenesis through their invention of their own traditions, stories and customs, with the Syriac Orthodox already being aware of their core identity by the 12th century.[18]

History

See also: Syriac Orthodox Church

Middle Ages

The 8th-century hagiography Life of Jacob [Baradaeus] evidences a definite social and religious differentiation between the Chalcedonians and Miaphysites (Syriac Orthodox).[19] By the time[when?] of the longer hagiography on Jacob Baradaeus, he had become the hero of the "Jacobite" Syriac Orthodox Church; the followers eventually wore his name.[20] The longer hagiography shows that the Syriac Orthodox (called "Jacobites" in the work, suryoye yaquboye) self-identified with Jacob's story more than those of other saints.[21]

Coptic patriarch Al-Muqaffa (ca. 897), of Miaphysite (Syriac Orthodox) ancestry, speaks of Jacobite origins, on the veneration of Jacob Baradaeus; he explained that the Chalcedonian "Melkites" were labelled as such because the Miaphysite Jacobites never traded their Orthodoxy to win the favour of the king as the Melkites had done (malko is derived from "king, ruler").[22]

It has been assumed that in the Principality of Antioch (1098–1268), the Syriac Orthodox made up the civilian population, their elite consisting of clergy; they did not participate in the military nor administration.[23] It seems that in Antioch itself, after the 11th-century persecutions, the Syriac Orthodox population was almost extinguished.[23] Only one Jacobite church is attested in Antioch in the first half of the 12th century, while a second and third are attested in the second half of the century, perhaps due to refugee influx.[23]

Dorothea Weltecke thus concludes that the Syriac Orthodox populace was very low in this period in Antioch and its surroundings.[23] In Adana, on the other hand, an anonymous 1137 report speaks of the entire population consisting of Syriac Orthodox.[23] In the 12th century several Syriac Orthodox patriarchs visited Antioch and some established temporary residences.[24] In the 13th century the Syriac Orthodox hierarchy in Antioch was prepared to accept Latin supervision, however, for the whole Church, this was of little consequence.[24]

The Syriac Orthodox were the most numerous non-Latin sect in Jerusalem and Bethlehem prior to 1187.[25]

19th century

Syriac Orthodox women from Mardin, Turkey.

The 1895–96 massacres in Turkey affected the Armenian and Syriac Orthodox communities; an estimated 105,000 Christians were killed.[26] By the end of the 19th century, 200,000 Syriac Orthodox Christians remained in the Middle East, most concentrated around Deir el-Zaferan, the Patriarchal seat.[27]

Diyarbakır province

In 1870, there were 22 Syriac Orthodox settlements in the vicinity of Diyarbakır.[28] In the 1870–71 Diyarbakır salnames, there were 1,434 Orthodox Syriacs in that city.[29] In the 1881/82–93 census, the kaza of Diyarbakır had 4,046 "monophysites" (Syriac Orthodox), while the sancak of Diyarbakır had 5,909 Syriac Orthodox.[30] The results of these records shows that the Syriac Orthodox were rural, as opposed to the Catholics who were less but more urbanized.[31] The 1894–95 salname of Diyarbakır records 4,096 Syriac Orthodox in the kaza.[31] In the 1897–98 salname the vilayet (province) of Diyarbakır had 20,082 Syriac Orthodox, out of 84,906 non-Muslims.[31]

20th century

Syriac Orthodox Christian celebration in Mosul, Iraq.

Genocide (1914–18)

Further information: Assyrian genocide

The Ottoman authorities looted, killed and deported Orthodox Syriacs.[32] In 1915–16, the number of Orthodox Syriacs in the Diyarbakır province was reduced by 72%, in the Mardin province by 58%.[33]

Inter-war period

In 1924, the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Church was transferred to Homs in Syria.[34] This happened after Kemal Atatürk expelled the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch, who took the library of Deir el-Zaferan and settled in Damascus.[27] The Syriac Orthodox villages in Tur Abdin suffered from the 1925–26 Kurdish rebellions; massive flight to Lebanon, northern Iraq and especially Syria ensued.[35]

1945–present

In 1959, the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Church was transferred to Damascus in Syria.[34]

In 1977, the number of Syriac Orthodox followers in diaspora dioceses were: 9,700 in the Diocese of Middle Europe; 10,750 in the Diocese of Sweden and surrounding countries.[36]

By 1990, there were 4,000 Syriac Orthodox in Tur Abdin.[27]

After the Turkish–PKK ceasefire in 1999, conditions to Christians in Turkey have improved.[34]

Population

Estimations of the total number of Syriac Orthodox Christians in the Middle East include: 150–200,000 (2002)[37] and 146,300 (2008).[38] In the diaspora, there are significant communities in Western Europe and North America, most notably in Sweden, Germany and the United States. Sodertalje, Sweden is one of the largest Syriac communities in the Diaspora, with them being a large minority of 18,000, and have several organizations based in the city.[39] A Syriac migration wave out of Turkey was prompted by the Turkey-PKK conflict (1970s–90s). Syriac Orthodox refugees from Syria and Iraq have recently increased the number of Syriacs in Turkey and the diaspora.[40]

Turkey

Syriac villages and monasteries in Tur Abdin.

The Tur Abdin region is a traditional stronghold of Orthodox Syriacs.[41] The community identifies as Sūryōyō, historically as Sūrōyō or Sūrōyē (until 20 years ago).[42] The identity characteristics defining the Tur Abdin Syriacs is the Neo-Aramaic language and the Syriac Orthodox Church, and their religious identity correlates to an ethnic identity. Intermarriage between Syriacs and other Christian groups (Armenians and Greeks) is very rare.[43] It is estimated that there are 15–20,000 Syriac Orthodox in Turkey.[44] 2,400 still live in Tur Abdin.[27] The community speaks Syriac (Suryani) in Tur Abdin, and Arabic, due to historical reasons, in Mardin.[45][better source needed]

Syria

The Syriac Orthodox Church is one of eight Christian denominations in the country. The Syriacs in Syria are concentrated in Al Hasakah Governorate along the Khabur river in Syriac and Assyrian majority villages such as Tal Tamer, and have communities established in the cities of Maskanah, Kafr Ram, Al-Qaryatayn, Sadad, Fairouzeh, Al-Hafar,Zaidal, Qamishli, Hasakah, and Damascus, where the Syriac Orthodox Churches See is located.[46][47][48][49] The Syriacs of Al Hasakah came after Seyfo, and were later joined by Assyrians and Syriacs fleeing the Simele Massacre in the 1930s.[46] In the mid-1970s it was estimated that 82,000 Syriac Orthodox lived in the country.[50] The community increased with an influx of Iraqi refugees after the 2003 invasion.[46] The shelling of Homs in 2012 affected the city, which was until then home to a large Christian community.[46]

Iraq

An estimated 15–20,000 Syriac Orthodox Christians lived in northern Iraq in 1991.[51]

Lebanon

Syriac Orthodox Christians are one of several Christian minority groups in Lebanon. As of 1987 there were only a few thousands Syriac Orthodox in Lebanon.[52]

Diaspora

See also: Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac diaspora
Memorial to Seyfo outside a Syriac Orthodox church in Sweden.

Language

Main article: Neo-Aramaic languages

The Syriac language, of the Semitic Aramaic family, is the literary language of the Syriac Orthodox Church. In Tur Abdin, Turoyo is the Neo-Aramaic dialect spoken by the Syriac Orthodox community.[58] The community speaks Arabic (Mesopotamian and Levantine) and Neo-Aramaic in Arabic countries, and Turkish, Arabic and Neo-Aramaic in Turkey.

Culture

Television

Organizations

Notable people

Diaspora

See also

References

  1. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_1YR_S0201&prodType=table
  2. ^ For use of the term Aramean, see
    • Donabed & Mako, Identity of Syrian Orthodox Christians, p. 72
    • Nicholas Aljeloo, Who Are The Assyrians?
    • John A. Shoup, Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia, p. 30
  3. ^ Donabed & Mako 2009; Jongerden & Verheij 2012, p. 223
  4. ^ For Assyrians as indigenous to the Middle East, see
    • Mordechai Nisan, Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle and Self-Expression, p. 180
    • James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, p. 206
    • Carl Skutsch, Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, p. 149
    • Steven L. Danver, Native Peoples of the World: An Encylopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues, p. 517
    • UNPO Assyria
    • Richard T. Schaefer, Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society, p. 107
  5. ^ James Minahan, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C, pp. 205-209
  6. ^ For Assyrians speaking a Neo-Aramaic language, see
    • The British Survey, By British Society for International Understanding, 1968, p. 3
    • Carl Skutsch, Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities, p. 149
    • Farzad Sharifian, René Dirven, Ning Yu, Susanne Niemeier, Culture, Body, and Language: Conceptualizations of Internal Body Organs across Cultures and Languages, p. 268
    • UNPO Assyria
  7. ^ http://www.academia.edu/1860499/Syriac_Monasticism_in_Tur_Abdin_A_Present-Day_Account
  8. ^ Brock & Taylor 2001, p. 123.
  9. ^ Donabed & Mako 2009.
  10. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/dec/24/iraq-minorities-assyrians
  11. ^ Donabed & Mako 2009, p. 90.
  12. ^ a b Hämmerli & Mayer 2016, "Suryoye as a Social Category in the Homeland"
  13. ^ Hämmerli & Mayer 2016.
  14. ^ Donabed & Mako 2009, p. 77.
  15. ^ Donabed & Mako 2009, p. 80.
  16. ^ a b Romeny 2010, p. 51.
  17. ^ Michael Lapidge (2 November 2006). Archbishop Theodore: Commemorative Studies on His Life and Influence. Cambridge University Press. pp. 30–. ISBN 978-0-521-03210-0.
  18. ^ a b Gantner 2016, p. 195.
  19. ^ Saint-Laurent 2015, p. 131.
  20. ^ Saint-Laurent 2015, p. 103, 131.
  21. ^ Saint-Laurent 2015, p. 103, 106.
  22. ^ Saint-Laurent 2015, p. 136.
  23. ^ a b c d e Ciggaar & Metcalf 2006, p. 108.
  24. ^ a b Ciggaar & Metcalf 2006, p. 123.
  25. ^ Benjamin Arbel (15 April 2013). Intercultural Contacts in the Medieval Mediterranean: Studies in Honour of David Jacoby. Routledge. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-1-135-78195-8.
  26. ^ Peter C. Phan (21 January 2011). Christianities in Asia. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 251–. ISBN 978-1-4443-9260-9.
  27. ^ a b c d Tozman & Tyndall 2012, p. 9.
  28. ^ Jongerden & Verheij 2012, p. 225.
  29. ^ Jongerden & Verheij 2012, p. 222.
  30. ^ Jongerden & Verheij 2012, pp. 222–223.
  31. ^ a b c Jongerden & Verheij 2012, p. 223.
  32. ^ Kevorkian 2011.
  33. ^ Gaunt, David. Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2006, pp. 433–436
  34. ^ a b c Parry 2010, p. 259.
  35. ^ Michael Angold (17 August 2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 5, Eastern Christianity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 513–. ISBN 978-0-521-81113-2.
  36. ^ Sobornost. Vol. 28–30. 2006. p. 21.
  37. ^ Avraham Sela (5 September 2002). Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East: Revised and Updated Edition. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-8264-1413-7.
  38. ^ Jos M. Strengholt (2008). Gospel in the Air: 50 Years of Christian Witness Through Radio in the Arab World. Boekencentrum. p. 147. ISBN 978-90-239-2280-3. In the whole Arab World, but mostly in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, there are an estimated 146,300 Syriac-Orthodox.
  39. ^ http://www.sodertalje.se/upload/aktuellt/dokument/Sodertalje_in_the_world.pdf
  40. ^ http://www.aina.org/news/20140127171559.htm
  41. ^ Aphram I. Barsoum; Ighnāṭyūs Afrām I (Patriarch of Antioch) (2008). The History of Tur Abdin. Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-715-5.
  42. ^ Donabed & Mako 2009, p. 88.
  43. ^ Roy, Olivier (2014). Holy Ignorance: When Religion and Culture Part Ways. Oxford University Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-19-932802-4.
  44. ^ D. Jung; Catharina Raudvere (29 September 2008). Religion, Politics, and Turkey's EU Accession. Springer. pp. 183–. ISBN 978-0-230-61540-3.
  45. ^ Diana Darke (1 May 2014). Eastern Turkey. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 280–. ISBN 978-1-84162-490-7.
  46. ^ a b c d Lucian N. Leustean (30 May 2014). Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. pp. 547–. ISBN 978-1-317-81866-3.
  47. ^ Batatu, Hanna (1999). Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics. Princeton University Press. pp. 14, 356. ISBN 0691002541.
  48. ^ Said, H. (2015-06-15). "Kafram: An Ancient Syriac Town Famous for Gorgeous Nature Charms". Syrian Arab News Agency. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  49. ^ Mounes, Maher Al (2015-12-24). "Fearful Christmas for Syrian Christian town threatened by IS". Agence France-Presse. Yahoo News. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  50. ^ Joseph 1983, p. 110.
  51. ^ Farida Abu-Haidar (1991). Christian Arabic of Baghdad. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 2–. ISBN 978-3-447-03209-4.
  52. ^ John C. Rolland (2003). Lebanon: Current Issues and Background. Nova Publishers. pp. 79–. ISBN 978-1-59033-871-1.
  53. ^ Prakash Shah; Marie-Claire Foblets (15 April 2016). Family, Religion and Law: Cultural Encounters in Europe. Routledge. p. 183. ISBN 978-1-317-13648-4.
  54. ^ United States. Dept. of State; Committee on International Relations; United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations (2005). Annual report, international religious freedom. U.S. G.P.O. p. 342.
  55. ^ Gerhard Robbers (2010). Religion and Law in Germany. Kluwer Law International. p. 32. ISBN 978-90-411-3352-6.
  56. ^ Marlou Schrover; Willem Schinkel (4 September 2015). The Language of Inclusion and Exclusion in Immigration and Integration. Routledge. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-1-317-43254-8.
  57. ^ R. Khanam (2005). Encyclopaedic Ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: A-I. Global Vision Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-8220-063-0.
  58. ^ Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier. 6 April 2010. pp. 58–. ISBN 978-0-08-087775-4.
  59. ^ ""Baylan började hos mig när han var sju år"". SVD.
  60. ^ "Syrianske stjärnan Abgar Barsom tackar Syrianska folket".
  61. ^ Max Wiman (2011). "Ur ilskan växte årets stora succé".
  62. ^ "Jimmy Durmaz ska underlätta flytt - kan skaffa turkiskt pass". Fotbolltransfers.
  63. ^ . Svenska fans http://www.svenskafans.com/fotboll/mff/259544.aspx. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  64. ^ "yilmazkerimo". socialdemokraterna.

Sources

Further reading

  • Taylor, William (2014). Narratives of Identity: The Syrian Orthodox Church and the Church of England 1895-1914. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-6946-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Tozman, Markus K.; Tyndall, Andrea (2012). The Slow Disappearance of the Syriacs from Turkey and of the Grounds of the Mor Gabriel Monastery. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-643-90268-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Joseph, John (1983). Muslim-Christian Relations and Inter-Christian Rivalries in the Middle East: The Case of the Jacobites in an Age of Transition. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-87395-600-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Wozniak, Marta, From religious to ethno-religious: Identity change among Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden
  • Atto, Naures (2011), Hostages in the homeland, orphans in the diaspora: identity discourses among the Assyrian/Syriac elites in the European diaspora, Leiden University Press
  • Van Ginkel, Jan J. (2006), "The perception and presentation of the Arab conquest in Syriac Historiography: How did the changing social position of the Syrian orthodox community influence the account of their historiographers?", The Encounter of Eastern Christianity with Early Islam, Brill, pp. 171–184
  • Weltecke, Dorothea (2006), The Syriac Orthodox in the principality of Antioch during the Crusader period
  • Menze, Volker L. (2008), Justinian and the making of the Syrian Orthodox Church, OUP Oxford
  • Armbruster, Heidi (2002), Homes in crisis: Syrian orthodox Christians in Turkey and Germany, pp. 17–33
  • Weltecke, Dorothea (2003), Contacts between Syriac Orthodox and Latin Military Orders
  • Tozman, Markus K., and Andrea Tyndall (2012), The slow disappearance of the Syriacs from Turkey and of the Grounds of the Mor Gabriel Monastery, vol. III, LIT Verlag Münster{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Anthony O'Mahony; Emma Loosley (16 December 2009). Eastern Christianity in the Modern Middle East. Routledge. pp. 22–. ISBN 978-1-135-19371-3.
  • Palmer, Andrew (1991), "The History of the Syrian Orthodox in Jerusalem", Oriens Christianus (75): 16–43
  • Romeny, Bas ter Haar (2012), "Ethnicity, Ethnogenesis and the Identity of Syriac Orthodox Christians", Visions of the Community in the post-Roman World, the West, Byzantium and the Islamic World 300 1109: 183–204
  • Romeny, Bas ter Haar (2005), "From religious association to ethnic community: a research project on identity formation among the Syrian Orthodox under Muslim rule", Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 16.4: 377–399
  • Thomas, David Richard, ed. (2001), Syrian Christians under Islam: the first thousand years, Brill {{citation}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Sebastian P. Brock; David G. K. Taylor (2001). The Hidden Pearl: At the turn of the third millennium ; the Syrian Orthodox witness. Trans World Film Italia.
  • The hidden pearl: The Syrian Orthodox Church and its ancient Aramaic heritage, Trans World Film Italia, 2001
  • Snelders, Bas (2010), Identity and Christian-Muslim interaction: medieval art of the Syrian Orthodox from the Mosul area, Leiden Institute for Religious Studies, Faculty of the Humanities
  • Sato, Noriko (2005), "Selective Amnesia: Memory and History of the Urfalli Syrian Orthodox Christians", Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 12.3: 315–333
  • Millar, Fergus (2013), "The Evolution of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the Pre-Islamic Period: From Greek to Syriac?", Journal of Early Christian Studies 21.1: 43–92
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Syriac Orthodox Christians (Middle East).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Syriac_Orthodox_Christians_in_the_Middle_East&oldid=732231179"