Assyrian Jews () first appeared in the territory of Assyria when the Israelites were
exiled to Assyria in approximately
740 BCE.
[The Books of Kings and Chronicles modern view by ]Umberto Cassuto
Umberto Cassuto, also known as Moshe David Cassuto (16 September 1883 – 19 December 1951), was an Italian historian, a rabbi, and a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic literature, in the University of Florence, then at the University ...
and Elia Samuele Artom (1981) Jews have been continuously living alongside the
Assyrian people
Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group Indigenous peoples, indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians Assyrian continuity, share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesop ...
in the territories of Assyria since the
Assyrian exile
The Assyrian captivity, also called the Assyrian exile, is the period in the history of ancient Israel and Judah during which tens of thousands of Israelites from the Kingdom of Israel were dispossessed and forcibly relocated by the Neo-Assyrian ...
.
History

Assyrian Jews are Aramaic-speaking
Mizrahi Jewish
Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...
communities native to the geographic region of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
the
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...
, roughly covering parts of northwestern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, northern
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, northeastern
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and southeastern
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. Assyrian Jews lived as closed ethnic communities until they were
expelled from Arab and Muslim states from the 1940s–1950s onward. The community largely speaks
Judeo-Aramaic
The Judaeo-Aramaic languages are those varieties of Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic languages used by Jewish communities.
Early use
Aramaic, like Hebrew, is a Northwest Semitic language, and the two share many features. From the 7th century BCE, Ara ...
.
Many Assyrian Jews, especially the ones who hailed from larger cities of Iraq, went through a
Sephardic Jewish
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
blending during the 18th century.
[https://lawoffice.org.il/מגורשי-ספרד-בעיראק-הוצאת-דרכון-פורטוג/]
See also
*
Assyrian captivity
The Assyrian captivity, also called the Assyrian exile, is the period in the history of ancient Israel and Judah during which tens of thousands of Israelites from the Kingdom of Israel were dispossessed and forcibly relocated by the Neo-Assyrian ...
*
Ktav Ashuri
''Ktav Ashuri'' (, ', lit. "Assyrian Writing") also ''(Ktav) Ashurit'', is the traditional Hebrew language name of the Hebrew alphabet, used to write both Hebrew and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. It is often referred to as (the) Square script. T ...
*
Ktav Ivri
*
Adiabene
Adiabene ( Greek: Αδιαβηνή, ) was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it ...
*
Helena of Adiabene
Helena of Adiabene ( ''Hellēnī''; died c. 50–56 CE) was a queen mother of Adiabene, a vassal state of the Parthian Empire. With her husband-brother Monobaz I, she was the mother of Izates II and Monobaz II. Helena became a convert to Judai ...
*
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (Aramaic: ) was the form of Middle Aramaic employed by writers in Lower Mesopotamia between the fourth and eleventh centuries. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talmud (which was comp ...
*
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic also known as Jewish Western Aramaic was a Western Aramaic language spoken by the Jews during the Classic Era in Judea and the Levant, specifically in Hasmonean, Herodian and Roman Judaea and adjacent lands in the ...
*
Judeo-Aramaic languages
The Judaeo-Aramaic languages are those varieties of Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic languages used by Jewish communities.
Early use
Aramaic, like Hebrew, is a Northwest Semitic language, and the two share many features. From the 7th century BCE, Ara ...
*
Aramaic studies
Aramaic studies are scientific studies of the Aramaic languages and literature. As a specific field within Semitic studies, Aramaic studies are closely related to similar disciplines, like Hebraic studies and Arabic studies.
As a distinctive ac ...
*
History of the Jews in Kurdistan
Kurdistani Jews are the Mizrahi Jewish communities from the geographic region of Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Kurdish Jews lived as closed ethnic communities ...
References
Works cited
* {{Cite book , last=Beyer , first=Klaus , title=The Aramaic Language: Its Distribution and Subdivisions , year=1986 , location=Göttingen , publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , isbn=9783525535738 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZ53zpMQNLEC
External links
Assyrian JewsProf. Maoz about Assyrian JewsAssyrian Jews in IsraelAssyrian Jews in Captivity
Ten Lost Tribes
Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)
Mesopotamian Hebrews