The Assyrians who have now been targeted by ISIL for kidnapping in northern Syria have suffered like this before. But they also, further back in time, have a glorious history that illuminates one of the finest eras of Arab Muslim civilisation. If you have ever wondered how Christianity reached China, or how come the Mongols have an alphabet that is closer to Arabic than it is to the Chinese, the Assyrians are the answer.
They are descendants of the ancient Church of the East, which originally was the community of Christians who lived under Persian rule. This church is hardly known today, but it was once one of the world’s most important Christian churches: it sent the first missionaries to China in AD632, appointed bishops in Tibet and Kashgar, and established a flourishing intellectual community that translated Greek scholarship into Aramaic.
This was the lingua franca of the Middle East before Arabic, and remarkably it is still spoken by Assyrians today, which is one of the reasons that their targeting by ISIL is so significant and so tragic. It is yet another attempt by the extremist group to eradicate anyone or anything that is pre-Islamic.
The Assyrians’ translation of Greek scholarship later made it easier for Greek science and philosophy books to be translated into Arabic and stimulate the great intellectual renaissance of Islamic Baghdad.
Under the rule of the Abbasid caliphs in the 8th and 9th centuries, the Church of the East was not allowed to convert Muslims. However, it could convert non-Muslims, especially those living further east outside Islamic rule. So, under Muslim rulers, Christian patriarchs in Baghdad came to have sway over monasteries as far east as Beijing. They spread the Syriac alphabet, in which they wrote Aramaic, to the Uighurs and the Mongols (the Mongols still use it today) and were allowed to debate with the caliph himself on points of religion.
This was a time of great religious freedom. Free-thinkers, pagans and atheists were allowed to write books and teach. One man, Thabit ibn Qurra, wrote a paean of praise to “paganism”. Instead of being executed, burnt alive or whipped in public, he was invited to contribute his knowledge of mathematics to the burgeoning scholarly community in Baghdad. How different those caliphs were to the self-styled caliph who leads ISIL today. And how different are the results: the Arab rulers established an empire which was the envy of the world, while ISIL has created only a hellish nightmare in a decreasing segment of territory.
The Assyrians’s great culture was extinguished, along with much else, by the twin invasions of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane in the Middle Ages. Tamerlane ordered that nothing should be left standing in Baghdad that was not a hospital or a mosque. From then on, the adherents of the Church of the East lived in the highlands of northern Iraq, north-east Syria and south-east Turkey, which then were all part of the Ottoman Empire. Their patriarchs became hereditary rulers under Ottoman tutelage.
The Church of the East, meantime, split into factions some of which affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and are now called Chaldeans. The Assyrians still have their own distinctive religious practices and beliefs. Traditionally, of all Christians they were the most uncomfortable with the belief that Jesus perfectly fused the natures of man and God. Perhaps for this reason or because of their long coexistence with Islam, they tend to avoid iconography in their churches.
As the Ottoman Empire died, it lashed out at the Christian communities that lived in what is now Turkey. It feared that they would side with Russia, and in 1915 and 1916 massacred them or sent them on forced marches to new homes in Iraq and Iran. Among those communities, most of whom were Armenian, there were many Assyrians.
After the First World War, these displaced Assyrians lobbied for an independent state with Mosul as its capital, which they would have shared with the Chaldeans and the Yazidis. But that never came to pass. Instead, that demand and their willingness to give military help to the British exposed them to further bouts of violence. These drove them onwards to Syria as twice-displaced refugees.
They have been refugees over and over. In Iraq last summer, Assyrians were again driven from their homes when ISIL seized Mosul and the towns to its east. Now they are also under siege in Syria. If they end up leaving the Middle East, as so many of Iraq’s Christians have already done, then it will be a tragic end to a glorious history.
Gerard Russell is author of Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: journeys among the disappearing religions of the Middle East
On Twitter: @gsjrussell
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
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A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution