@SyriacPhenom Aside from speculation and assumptions by such scholars the theory that he was Aramean literally has zero archeological proof unlike his Assyrian heritage
@SyriacPhenom Sin was a very important god in Neo-Assyria. Also Nabonidus claims Assyrian titles unlike other Babylonian kings and ties himself to the Neo-Assyrian dynasty with Ashurbanipal so it’s very likely he was an Assyrian and claimed this heritage.
I have been saying this for a long time, Dionysius of Tell Mahre makes a sharp distinction between Syrians in the east of the Euphrates and west of it.
The Syrians east of the Euphrates has always been identified as Assyrians. When applying correct perspective it all makes sense
Mosul Province census conducted in April 1933, the Assyrian population was 111,700 (i.e.33% of the total population of 342,000), exceeding both the Arab and Kurdish populations.
Assyrians(AKA Chaldeans &Syriac) 112K
Arabs 80K
Kurds 80K
Yezidis 40k
Jews 9K
Shabak 16K
Armenian 5K
Was King Abgar and the kingdom of Osroene Arab NO.
This claim mainly relies on Roman terminology, Arabic names & titles, and a Safaitic inscription. I will examine these arguments and then look at what Osroene actually was through linguistic, cultural, and historical evidence.
Roman terminology and usage of “Arab”:
In Roman sources, the term Arab was often used broadly and could refer to desert or nomadic groups rather than a clear ethnic identity. Titles like “governor of the Arabs” in Edessa reflect Roman administrative language and how frontier populations were categorized, not a precise statement about ethnicity. Modern scholarship has repeatedly noted this broader usage. As Dr. P.A Webb, a scholar of pre-Islamic Arabian studies, explains:
Arabic names and titles:
The presence of Arab-related names in Osroene does not automatically mean the kingdom or its rulers were Arab. In Upper Mesopotamia, names often moved between different languages and communities, especially in frontier regions where Aramaic, Greek, Persian, Armenian, and Arab influences mixed. Rulers could adopt names or titles for political, cultural, or diplomatic reasons, so names alone are not reliable proof of ethnicity.
The first ruler of Osroene is recorded as Aryo, a name of Aramaic origin that remains part of Syriac naming tradition and is still found among Assyrians today (for example, Turkish-Assyrian politician George Aryo). Persian names also appear in the royal tradition, including Pradasht, Paqor, Parthamaspat, and Fradat, alongside clearly Semitic or Aramaic forms such as Abdu (Owdo), Aryo, and Yalud. The name Yalud survives in a slightly altered form (Yaldu) among Assyrian families from the Nineveh Plain. The name Abdu or Owdu is also used, one of the most important modern writers was Thomas Audo.
The names Abgar and Maʿnu, which appear frequently in the Osroene dynasty, are Semitic in origin, but their exact linguistic origin remains debated. Different scholars have proposed Syriac, Armenian, and even Persian explanations for the name Abgar, showing that it circulated across several linguistic traditions in the region rather than belonging to a single ethnic group. The name also appears in an Armenian manuscript tradition where it is associated with Assyrian royal figures, and it is attested in earlier Mesopotamian contexts as well, including references to an Assyrian priest named Abgar who worshipped the moon god Sin. Taken together, this diversity of usage shows that the name cannot be used as proof of a specifically Arab identity.
Maʿnu may also be of Aramaic origin, meaning “water spring,” with a root shared across Semitic languages and not exclusive to Arabic.
Claims that names such as “Asad” or “Aqrab” prove Arab identity are also weak. The name appearing in the mosaic is Ashad, not Asad, and based on its form it is more likely Persian or derived from the Syriac root ܐܫܕ. Likewise, Aqrab is a Proto-Semitic word attested across many Semitic languages, including Akkadian, and cannot be treated as uniquely Arabic.
Here's one thing that I think separatists fail to understand.
There would not be an Assyrian nation without the Assyrians from the Chaldean Church, and Syriac Orthodox and Catholic Churches.
I understand that separatists like to define ethnic and national lines through sectarian boundaries, but in reality that is not how ethnicity and nations work.
The Ancient and Assyrian Churches of the East are the smallest of the of the churches and their members would not be able to have such a nation by themselves. The reality has it that the Assyrians belong to various Christian sects and are not exclusionary.
The existence of the Assyrian nation comes from the beauty that it does not distinguish between sectarian lines.
We are not a box to be ticked for diversity representation. From scribes of ancient Nineveh to educators & doctors in modern Iraq, Christians actively participated in this land for over 2000 years. We want to be valued as Iraqi citizens, not as some minority paid lip service to.
Ephrem the Syrian and Mar Narsai, two of the most venerated saints in the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Church of the East, reflect a shared Syriac tradition in which Athōr (Assyria) recognizes the star and calls the Wise Men to honor the newborn Christ.
Ephrem records: “Great Assyria, when she perceived it, called the Magi and said to them: take gifts and go honor the great King who has dawned in Judea.” (MS14506, c. 350 AD)
Mar Narsai likewise preserves this tradition: “As great Assyria realized, she called the Magi and told them: take offerings and go honor the great King who is born in Judea.” The passage appears to draw on Ephrem’s formulation. (Vat. Syr. 498, c. 500 AD)
A tradition also exists among the Assyrians of Tur Abdin that the Wise Men returned to Hah after visiting Christ and built a church there in commemoration of the event.
Why are we Assyrians not standing against the perpetrators? Why is the church shielding the perpetrators?
So the Barzani and the KRG steal 1,500 donams of Assyrian agricultural land of Bakhitme and then return to gift certain institution 2.5 donams to put the foundation stone of a so-called Simele monument on it. Do you see this as something to celebrate about?
Why not protest and reject the Barzani when a Kurdish official calls the Assyrian martyrs of Simele massacre (that the Kurds participated in committing) as "martyrs of kurdistan"?
What happened to the true spirit of Assyria?
Two important events have occurred for Assyrians in the KRG. One of which is the first step to heal old wounds of past atrocities, and the other is a continuation of land grabs brought on by Kurdish political authorities.
The first occurrence is the long awaited Semele Massacre monument being erected in the town of Semele to honour and remember the thousands of innocent Assyrian Christian men, women, and children who were brutally killed. This even has been deemed as a very positive step in the long awaited healing between the KRG and Assyrians as the latter have been petitioning for such a monument for decades.
The plot of land that has been given is 2.5 donams (~1.25 acres) and is seen in the highlighted yellow section below.
The second event is the Kurdish Dohuk Governorate's land confiscation of farmland used by Assyrians which will become an urban development unit for Kurdish government officials and Peshmerga. The land dispute will witness the takeover of farmland used by Assyrians from Bakhitme (seen in yellow below). The land which will be developed by the Dohuk Government (seen in red) is approximately 1500 donams (~370 acres).
As of right now, there is no word for any monetary compensation which will be given to the Bakhitme farmers.
This is not the first time that the KRG has taken land from Assyrian farmers without providing any monetary compensation. The most famous such case is land taken from Ankawa farmers who's farmlands were taken in order to build the Erbil International Airport. It has been decades since the seizure of the farmland and to this day, the Ankawa farmers have not been compensated.
As mentioned, these are not isolated incidents and such incidents continue to occur against the Assyrian Christian populations.
Below is a size comparison of the 2.5 donams land allotted for the Semele Massacre monument (seen circled) and the 1500 donams Urban development land which will be given to Government officials and Peshmerga.
@nasbni @GewargisTyari Yes, Abdisho wrote it in a Latin way. This is non-existent beside this letter, but occasionally you also see ܐܣܘܪܝܐ “Asoriya” which is the transliteration from Greek in certain Syriac texts. Again, very rare though
Mark Savaya,Trump envoy to Iraq called for enforcing Iraq’s Article 125 to protect Chaldean and Assyrian rights, while reports say the U.S. is seriously examining the creation of a regional entity recognising the area’s historical significance.
@PGi_2001 Wow! Didn’t even know about this king, the early elite of Adiabene seem to be the same Assyrians of antiquity as their names suggest, and not Iranians or Greeks.