Ashur Bet Sargis ( syr, ܐܫܘܪ ܒܝܬ ܣܪܓܝܤ; born July 2, 1949) is an

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyri ...

singer, composer, guitarist and activist. He became famous in the

communities worldwide for his nationalistic songs in the 1970s. His career peaked, and became prominent, in the 1990s with five albums released within that decade. His songs usually tend to be

sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. ...

s and

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

s, although he has made many folk dance music as well. To the contrast of his Assyrian peers in music, Sargis's music is slow and mellow. He is also known for incorporating

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

instruments such as the ''

tambouras The tambouras ( el, ταμπουράς ) is a Greek traditional string instrument of Byzantine origin. It has existed since at least the 10th century, when it was known in Assyria and Egypt. At that time, it might have between two and six strings ...

'' into his music.

Early career in Iraq

Ashur Bet Sargis was born in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

to an

family who was originally from

Habbaniyah Al Habbaniyah or Habbaniya ( ar, ٱلْحَبَّانِيَّة, ''al-Ḥabbānīyah'') is a city 85 km (53 mi) west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar Province, in central Iraq. A military airfield, RAF Habbaniya, was the site of a battle in 1941, during Wor ...

. He started playing the organ as a teenager at the local Assyrian church. He later began composing nationalistic songs under the influence of established Assyrian musicians such as Evin Aghassi and King Biba, as well as western artists. As Sargis recalls of his early days in the biography written for his album ''Everything So Far'':

Rise to fame

Shortly after the Ba'ath-led revolution of 1968, Sargis fled the unstable political situation in Iraq in 1969, ending up in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. A year later he formed his first band, "East Bird Band", which released its first recording in 1972. He relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 1973 and in 1975 released his first LP ''Ashur Sargis Sings for Ancient Assyria'' which contained nationalistic songs like "Roosh Jwanqa" and "Bet Nahren Atrewa", written by Benyamin Mako, as well as several other songs that have since become staples of his catalog and concerts. In 1976, Sargis became the first Assyrian artist to tour overseas when he and his band played three sold-out shows in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Soon afterward he would travel to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, which at that time had the second largest population of Assyrians in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, and had long been a large producer of Assyrian music on the record labels that flourished in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

in the days before the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

. After two weeks of performances there, he returned to Los Angeles to record his third album, ''Sing Me a Lullaby''. He followed it with ''Dance of Victory'' in 1984.

Later years

Sargis is known for his staunch support for Zowaa and has composed several songs for the party.الحركة الديمقراطية الآشورية تحتفل بالذكرى الـ 28 لتأسيسها
, ADM He also returned to Northern Iraq many times where he gave many concerts during Kha b-Nisan, before the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. He is often featured at Zowaa-sponsored festivals in the Nineveh Plains and the

Dohuk Governorate ar, محافظة دهوك , image_skyline = Collage_of_Dohuk_Governorate.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_seal = ...

. Sargis currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Discography

* 1972 – ''Bet Nahren'' ("''

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

''") * 1975 – ''Ancient Assyria'' ( Atour Atiqa) * 1979 – ''Sing Me a Lullaby'' (Tanili Lay Lay) * 1984 – ''Dance of Victory'' (Riqda d'Ghaliboota) * 1990 – ''Winter Wind'' (Pokha d'Sitwa) * 1992 – ''The Mighty Assyrians'' * 1995 – ''Mirror of Deception''(Nora Aldyana) * 1996 – ''From a Distant World'' ( Ana Lewin Min Daha Dunyeh) * 1998 – ''Immortal Memories'' (Zmaryeta d'Khoba Mtomaya) * 2003 – ''Everything So Far'' (Kol'Mindi Hal Hadyia) * 2008 – ''Dashta D'Nineveh'' (Nineveh Plains) * 2016 – ''Nishmi'' (My Breath) * 2020 - ''Tarpa'' (Leaf)

Notes

References

External links

Ashur Bet Sargis
entry at

Last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...

Lyrics from AssyrianLyrics.com

Music pearls of Beth-Nahrin: an Assyrian/Syriac discography
Abboud Zeitoune
Ashur Bet-Sargis Finds Solace in Dashta D’Nineveh
Skokie.net
آشور بت سركيس بين احضان الوطن
Zahrira.net
تأملات في ألبوم آشور بت سركيس دشتا د نينوى
خابور كوم {{DEFAULTSORT:Sargis, Ashur Bet Assyrian musicians Assyrian nationalists American people of Iraqi-Assyrian descent Syriac-language singers 20th-century Iraqi male singers Musicians from Baghdad Iraqi Assyrian people Living people 1949 births Singers from Los Angeles Iraqi emigrants to the United States 21st-century Iraqi male singers