Editing Assyria (section)

=== Christianity ===
{{main|Church of the East}}[[File:Nestorian archbishop and servants.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|An early 20th-century [[archbishop]] of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], with entourage]]
The Church of the East developed early in Christian history.{{sfn|Cassidy|2005|p=49}} Though tradition holds that Christianity was first spread to Mesopotamia by [[Thomas the Apostle]],{{sfn|Filoni|2017|p=6}} the exact timespan when the Assyrians were first Christianized is unknown. The city of [[Erbil|Arbela]] was an important early Christian center; according to the later ''[[Chronicle of Arbela]]'', Arbela became the seat of a bishop already in AD 100, but the reliability of this document is questioned among scholars. It is however known that both Arbela and Kirkuk later served as important Christian centers in the Sasanian and later Islamic periods.{{Sfn|Hauser|2017|p=239}}

According to some traditions, Christianity took hold in Assyria when Saint [[Thaddeus of Edessa]] converted King [[Abgar V]] of Osroene in the mid-1st century AD.{{Sfn|Donabed|2019|p=118}} From the 3rd century AD onward, it is clear that Christianity was becoming the major religion of the region,{{sfn|Parpola|2004|p=21}} with Christ replacing the old Mesopotamian deities.{{Sfn|Hauser|2017|p=241}} Assyrians had by this time already intellectually contributed to Christian thought; in the 1st century AD, the Christian Assyrian writer [[Tatian]] composed the influential '' [[Diatessaron]]'', a synoptic rendition of the gospels.{{Sfn|Donabed|2019|p=118}}

During the early centuries of Christianity, Syriac priests and scholars often identified themselves as Arameans, primarily in a linguistic and cultural sense, due to Aramaic playing a central role in their daily life.<ref>King, Daniel (Ed.). (2020). The Syriac World. Routledge.</ref><ref>Stark, Rodney, 1996, The Rise of Christianity: History, Documents, and Key Questions</ref><ref>Ferguson, Everett. (2005). Backgrounds of Early Christianity.</ref> However, they remained aware of their Assyrian heritage, which was rooted in biblical and cultural traditions.<ref>King, Daniel (Ed.). (2020). The Syriac World. Routledge.</ref> Syriac Christians in Mesopotamia and Syria identified themselves as Arameans based on their use of Aramaic and shared cultural practices—much like how Arabic speakers today may identify as Arabs, regardless of their specific ethnic background, due to linguistic and cultural ties.

For instance, Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306–373 CE), a prominent figure in Syriac Christianity, often criticized the ancient Assyrians for their imperial violence and idolatry, reflecting a common Christian view of pre-Christian empires. His theological and poetic works contrasted the Christian Syriac identity with the pagan legacy of earlier civilizations. While he did not express ethnic identification with the Assyrian past, his writings reflect a broader cultural and historical awareness of the region's heritage, reinterpreted through a Christian lens.<ref>Brock, Sebastian P. (1990). St. Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns on Paradise</ref> This dual identity—of being both Aramean in language and Assyrian in heritage—was part of a broader process in which Syriac Christians, despite their Christian faith, maintained cultural and linguistic ties to their ancient past.<ref>Ferguson, Everett. (2005). Backgrounds of Early Christianity.</ref>

Aramean and Assyrian identities coexisted and overlapped; therefore, it is historically accurate to understand Syriac Christians as Arameans in terms of cultural and linguistic identity, and as Assyrians in terms of ancestral and historical heritage.<ref>[[Robert Murray (priest)|Murray, Robert]] (2006), Symbols of Church and Kingdom.</ref>

It is likely that some Syriac Christians identified as "Assuraye" (Assyrians) before the term "Suryoyo" (Syriac) became widespread. Their identity as Assyrians reflects the enduring legacy of the Assyrian Empire in both biblical and cultural traditions, even as it was reinterpreted through a Christian lens.<ref>Winkler, Dietmar W., and Wilhelm Baum (2003), The Church of the East.</ref> The term "Suryoyo", derived from the Greek word Syrios (possibly a shortened form of Assyrios), was adopted by Syriac Christians to express their linguistic and religious identity. Arameans and Assyrians, who shared many cultural and spiritual practices, both used this term to describe themselves.<ref>King, Daniel (Ed.). (2018). The Syriac World. Routledge.</ref>

"Suryoyo" thus came to represent a religious and linguistic identity for those who spoke Syriac—a dialect of Aramaic—and followed Syriac Christianity. Over time, both Arameans and Assyrians embraced the term and expressed their shared cultural and spiritual heritage within the broader Syriac Christian tradition.<ref>Murray, Robert (2006), Symbols of Church and Kingdom.</ref> While their ancient distinctions were remembered, they became part of a unified religious and cultural identity shaped by shared faith, language, and liturgy.<ref>Stark, Rodney, 1996, The Rise of Christianity: History, Documents, and Key Questions</ref><ref>Ferguson, Everett. (2005). Backgrounds of Early Christianity.</ref>

Though Christianity is today an intrinsic part of Assyrian identity,{{sfn|Parpola|2004|p=21}} Assyrian Christians have over the centuries splintered into a number of different [[Christian denomination]]s. Though the prominent [[Assyrian Church of the East]], the followers of which have often been termed "[[Nestorians]]", continues to exist, other prominent eastern churches include the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], which split off in the 16th century, the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], the [[Syriac Catholic Church]],{{Sfn|Donabed|2019|p=118}} and the [[Ancient Church of the East]], which branched off from the Assyrian Church of the East in 1968.{{sfn|Akopian|2017|p=409}}

Though these churches have been distinct for centuries, they still follow much of the same liturgical, spiritual and theological foundation.{{sfn|Cassidy|2005|p=49}} There are also Assyrian followers of various denominations of [[Protestantism]], chiefly due to missions by American missionaries of the [[Presbyterian Church (USA)|Presbyterian Church]].{{Sfn|Donabed|2019|p=118}}

Because the Assyrian Church of the East remains dismissed as "Nestorian" and heretical by many other branches of Christianity, it has not been admitted into the [[Middle East Council of Churches]] and it does not take part in the [[Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church]]. This does not mean that efforts to approach [[ecumenism]] have not been undertaken. In 1994, [[Pope John Paul II]] and Patriarch [[Dinkha IV]] signed the [[Common Christological Declaration Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East]], with some further efforts also having been made in the years since.{{sfn|Cassidy|2005|p=49}}

Historically, the main obstacle in the way of ecumenism has been the ancient text ''[[Liturgy of Addai and Mari]]'', used in the Assyrian churches, wherein the [[anaphora (liturgy)|anaphora]] does not contain the [[Words of Institution]], seen as indispensable by the Catholic Church. This obstacle was removed in 2001, when the Catholic [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] determined that the text could be considered valid in Catholicism as well, despite the absence of the words.{{sfn|Cassidy|2005|pp=50–51}} Some efforts have also been made to approach reunification of the Assyrian and Chaldean churches. In 1996, Dinkha IV and Patriarch [[Raphael I Bidawid]] of the Chaldean Church signed a list of common proposals to move toward unity, approved by synods of both churches in 1997.{{sfn|Cassidy|2005|p=50}}