Login

r/Assyria

▲ 5 r/Assyria

Are Chaldeans, Assryians, and Syriacs the same ethnicity? (Why or why not)

Hey im chaldean (been told that since i was young).

In the past years, I have heard a lot about how we are all one people with the assryians and syriacs. And that us modern day chaldeans​ are not genuine descendants of the babylonian empire.

Specifically that we only became "Chaldean" after joing the Catholic Church way back when (1500 or 1600s).

What makes us the same, or different?

Im sure this has been asked a million times, but I'd appreciate a response! Thanks!

reddit.com
u/BaByNick115 — 22 hours ago
▲ 39 r/Assyria

Inside Chicago’s only Assyrian-owned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy.

Inside Chicago’s only Assyrian-owned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy.

Raised by his immigrant mother and grandmother in Chicago, Professor Ashur Darmo discovered Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at just 15 years old. What began as an outlet became a life-changing pursuit, one that led him to become a Pan-American Champion, world-ranked IBJJF competitor, and founder of The Academy Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Glenview, Illinois.

Now a 2nd-degree black belt, Ashur has spent half his life on the mats building more than athletes. Through discipline, structure, mentorship, and community, he’s helping shape the next generation both on and off the mat.

In our conversation with Professor Ashur Darmo, we discusssed:
• Growing up in Chicago and discovering martial arts
• How Jiu-Jitsu gave him structure and direction
• Building confidence and discipline in children
• Creating community through training
• What it means to represent the Assyrian community through excellence
• The vision behind Chicago’s only Assyrian-owned BJJ academy

“Kids need passion. Kids need structure. Otherwise, they’ll find direction somewhere else.”

From world-class competition to mentorship and community leadership, The Academy Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu reflects a story built on perseverance, humility, and purpose.

📍The Academy Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
1730 Waukegan Rd, Glenview, IL

u/ACFchicago — 1 day ago
▲ 10 r/Assyria

Iraq will play Venezuela in Chicago on June 9 - World Cup tune up game (friendly), tickets still available

Assyrians of Chicago - let’s pack the stadium and each bring an Assyrian flag!

seatgeekstadium.com
u/ChicagoAssyrian — 1 day ago
▲ 29 r/Assyria

MORE Anti-Assyrian Propaganda being taught in Oakland University and by the Chaldean Community foundation

First off, I would like to start with Oakland University’s “Chaldean language program” where they are teaching “Chaldean language” and teaching false history claiming Chaldeans descending from the Babylonian Empire. Does anyone else see an issue with this false information being taught at the University level??? Also, the Chaldean Community Foundation of Michigan does the same, also promoting books in their libraries from authors claiming Chaldean History descending from the Babylonian Empire. I have seen comments deleted from their pages from people calling them out, wish I knew how to go about properly addressing these issues. Thoughts????

u/TheChaldeanAssyrian — 2 days ago
▲ 5 r/Assyria

Suraya vs Suryaya

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this and I'm now a firm believer that these are two different terms that are ultimately derived from the same root (Assyrian). But historically I can at least attest that Eastern Assyrians do not use the term "Suryaya" to describe themselves, it's always "Suraya". Can't say much about Western Assyrians other than the term "Suryoyo" is what's being used more these days, although a few Western Assyrians have told me that in the homeland and among the older generations, it was "Suroyo", and the term "Suryoyo" was pushed more by the church in recent times.

Anyways, let me discuss why I think the two terms are different and why we need to drop "Suryaya/Suryoyo" and just stick with the natural "Suraya/Suroyo" as our natural endonym. It is true that in our church history and the early Syriac Church fathers write "Suryaya", not "Suraya", but this term simply means someone from "Surya", because Syria was the region and adding the "ya" to it makes it "Syrian". Even if this term comes from Assyria, Syriac Christianity in itself was born in Antioch when it was under Roman rule, and Antioch was in the Roman province of Syria. This is why you see the early church fathers identify with this term, because places like Antioch and Edessa were basically looked at as "Syrian" cities, and these church fathers that wrote our early church history identified with this region.

On the other hand if we move east to where our people come from, the term used is "Suraya", not "Suryaya". Oddly enough modern scholarship thinks that Suraya is just a short form of Suryaya, meaning overtime we just lost the usage of that yod. There's a problem with this. Unlike Western Assyrian where it's mostly contained in one place (Tur Abdin). Eastern Assyrian is spread out across a lot of different geographical regions and there are so many diverse accents. We're talking Nineveh Plains, Nohadra, Zakho, Erbil, Hakkari (Which in itself has many accents), Urmia, Salmas, Bhotan, Siirt, Cizre, and others. They all say "Suraya", not "Suryaya". If we dropped that extra yod from the word you'd still see a few accents using "Suryaya", it would be some kind of crazy coincidence that all these diverse accents that are spread across all these different areas decide to change from Suryaya to Suraya. The other thing is our Jewish neighbors that also spoke Aramaic called us Suraye, not Suryaye.

So comparing to the etymology of Suryaya (Someone from Surya), Suraya would be someone from "Sur". Given our geographical location and how close "Sur" is to "Assur" in sound, seems self explanatory to me.

reddit.com
u/Green_Bull_6 — 1 day ago
▲ 0 r/Assyria

Is it okay for my Assyrian gf (21) to wear A very revealing bra and a really small bikini to the beach/pool. And is it okay to post it?

reddit.com
u/Pale-Resist3067 — 3 days ago
▲ 30 r/Assyria

The once "St. Mary's Assyrian Apostolic Church of Antioch" (notice the old Assyrian flag on the right). The name changed into the Assyrian Orthodox Church until finally it became the 'Syriac Orthodox Church.' Now when you visit their website, they have an 'aramean' flag instead of the Assyrian one

u/Non-white-swiftie — 3 days ago
▲ 5 r/Assyria

Assyrian writing

Hi, I am from a family which is obviously Assyrian originated from Mardin,Midyat/Turkey. My aunts always told me we were called Shakkire/Shekkire as a family meaning some kind of sugar (I unfortunately dont speak Assyrian so i dont know how accurate my description/translation is). I always wanted to tattoo a Assyrian text on to me and wanted to use my families nickname. I just have a few people that can write Assyrian in my family and I do not have much contact with them.

My question is; is the text I attached in this post accurate and if so is there anyone that could write it out for me in hand writing? Weird requests i know but I can only rely on the kindness of strangers at this point, thank you

u/Impressive-Mouse7685 — 3 days ago
▲ 20 r/Assyria

These people are from Syrian Christen community from 🇮🇳. Do the pass as local Assyrian

Claim to be Descendants of Assyrian merchant in Kerala.

u/Curious_Rooster_9413 — 4 days ago
▲ 110 r/Assyria

Assyrian midfielder Kevin Yakob is officially a Danish champion with AGF! 🏆

Kevin Enkido Yakob and AGF have officially been crowned Danish Superliga champions after finishing the season with a 6–2 win over Viborg FF in Aarhus.

Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to an Assyrian family from Iraq, Yakob began his football journey at Assyriska BK before progressing through Swedish football and eventually joining AGF in Denmark.

After battling back from a serious ACL injury suffered while representing Iraq, he has now returned to become a Danish champion and is also part of the Iraq national team that has qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

From Assyriska BK to Danish champion with AGF. From injury to triumph. Thank you, Kevin Yakob, for making us proud. ❤️💙🤍🏆

u/Mission_Tone_8906 — 4 days ago
▲ 4 r/Assyria

In light of the upcoming The Odyssey (2026) film and its non-Greek cast, how would you feel about an ancient Assyrian film that did not feature Assyrian actors?

The Odyssey is already facing backlash over its casting choices, including a Black Helen of Troy, a trans male Achilles, and the absence of Greek actors in major roles. So how would you react to a hypothetical film about ancient Assyria that featured a Black king and an overwhelmingly non-Assyrian cast?

Personally, I would not mind a non-Assyrian cast, so long as the actors actually look Assyrian. So no Brad Pitt, but also no Will Smith. Actors such as George Clooney, Al Pacino, Stanley Tucci, James Franco, and Sandra Bullock pass as Assyrian. I would not consider that “whitewashing” (as some people probably would, lmao).

Of course, some Assyrians should still be cast, but as minor roles. I mean, would a film starring someone named “Ninos Khoshaba” at the top of the billing sell massive numbers of tickets? Probably not, unless it were a Jesus film. So I am fine with a non-Assyrian cast, provided the actors at least visually resemble us.

reddit.com
u/Stenian — 4 days ago
▲ 27 r/Assyria

Assyrian Australian star Dani Butrus wins a domestic double with Melbourne City

Assyrian Australian wonderkid Danella Butrus and her club Melbourne City have secured a domestic double, winning both the A-League Women regular season and the grand final to secure the premiership and the championship!

Born in 2007 in Duhok in the Kurdistan Region to an Assyrian Christian family, Dani fled due to armed conflict in Iraq which displaced the majority of the country’s Assyrian population. First settling in Syria along the way, she arrived in Australia with her family in 2013, aged seven. Growing up speaking English as a second language, she attended school in Wallan, Victoria, a regional town just outside Melbourne. She began playing soccer at Roxburgh Park United in the VSL Division 5 North, before progressing to NPLW Victoria clubs FV Emerging Matildas and later Bulleen Lions. She made her début for the Junior Matildas (the Australia under-17 national team) in 2024, before becoming a regular in the Young Matildas (the under-20 national team) in 2025.

Ahead of the 2025–26 season, Dani signed her first contract in the A-League Women, signing for a talented Melbourne City side full of current and future Matildas (Australia national team) players. She was one of four players of Assyrian descent in the league this season, with the other three playing for Western Sydney Wanderers (a club based in Western Sydney, which includes the diaspora heartland for Fairfield). Throughout the course of the season, Dani has played 15 league games and assisted once for the double-winning side. She could also be part of a historic treble-winning side should City go all the way in the AFC Women’s Champions League, which they’re currently in the semi-finals of. In the Champions League, she’s played four games and scored twice so far.

Congratulations Dani!

u/HonestSpursFan — 5 days ago
▲ 9 r/Assyria

Not sure my relationship with my non Assyrian bf is working out

He seemed like he really was interested in me and we even had a meshmetha where him and his family participated in our traditions but now that I am bringing him to weddings and other events he seems pressured. He just sits and watches everyone dance and seems to feel like an outsider. I feel like the reality of our culture and all the events we attend is hitting him.

Has anyone had a similar experience and realized it didn’t work out?

reddit.com
u/DistributionMuted439 — 6 days ago
▲ 7 r/Assyria

Assyrians vs chaldeans

Can someone actually explain the difference between assyrians and chaldeans. When i google it it just says its the same ethnicity just different religous sects but my families chaldean and when i ask my mom she says were different but come from the same place 😭, can someone explain why and how and also why theres assyrian vs chaldean conflicts going on in iraq, this mught be dum but im asking cuz im genuinely curious

reddit.com
u/okokok207 — 6 days ago