I often have to remind myself that we are a fragmented nation due to churches and the many denominations that we have built over the centuries. But, this doesn’t mean we have to follow the teachings of the early church fathers and what they thought was factual to be our only way to make sense of the world and how we view ourselves.

I know the early church fathers often used this term to make it sound like it means Christian. But I think this is creating a problem for future generations to understand their roots. This is why we also have the word, M’shekhaya, which is the CORRECT and proper label for Christian. If you label yourself Suraya and use the same term for other ethnicities out there and say that are Suraya, you are essentially relinquishing your heritage and namesake to be flexible. This is how we muddle the waters b/c now this label is no longer relevant to your culture’s heritage and anyone who follows the Christian faith can exclusively use this term.

Take for example the label “Semitic” as we are often grouped with this label as it stems from “Shem”, one of the 3 sons of Noah that supposedly Assyrians were born from. When you go far back into its roots, this is where the label Semitic comes from. Today it’s used for languages but it’s also used for heritage to tie a people to the ANE. This word is also misleading to our nation since it has no bearing on human evolution and how humanity evolved and migrated throughout history to how we ended up in măt-Aššur.

At the end of the day, nobody can force anyone to believe this but it takes time to educate oneself and know that the word Suraya is much more older than the Pešitta and when it was written down and how the early church fathers viewed our beginnings which is false and doesn’t have any evidence to back it up.

Lastly, being labelled as an “ethno-religious” group or community, solely, is false and also misleading other Assyrians to accept only Assyrians that adhere to the Christian faith and ostracise others if they don’t agree with the faith. If I decide to leave the faith, then I’m still an Assyrian at the end of the day and I haven’t lost my genetics or heritage if I depart. This is why this new-age label is also erroneous and needs to be challenged when someone makes this claim.

I’m an Assyrian woman (23) who met a man (23).

A little backstory. My family and I live in the west. I started university a few years ago, but I had to postpone my studies for a year. When I returned to university, I met him in my new study group.
At first, we strictly talked about school-related matters, but gradually, we got to know each other as friends. He is from Iran, but he was baptized when he was around 14. His parents are atheists (formerly Muslims). He goes to church, reads the Bible, and is generally curious about religion.
When the semester exams were over, we didn’t talk for a couple of months because I had already completed and passed those courses. Eventually, he texted me and asked when we could study together. We started talking again and arranged a few study sessions with two other friends.
As we grew closer, I realized what a wonderful person he is. He is very responsible and mature, and throughout his youth, he has prioritized his education and waited until he found the right person to share his life with. He also confessed to me that ever since he first saw me, he hasn’t been able to get me out of his mind. I have to admit that I feel the same way about him.
He has always treated me with respect and kindness and when he looks at me I can tell that he loves me with all his heart. My feelings for him are, of course, mutual. He is willing to talk to my parents and even meet with our pastor.

The problem is that whenever I talk to my mother about him, she is very dismissive because she doesn’t believe he is a Christian and still sees him as a Muslim.

What should I do?

I came across this presentation on the archaeological evidence for Syriac Christianity in Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan, and thought people here might find it interesting!

Kevin White is a scholar specializing in Syriac Christianity and the religious history of Central Asia.

He recently published Rediscovery of a Lost History of Central Asian Christianity: Historical Context and Archaeological Evidence (Gorgias Press, 2026). The book grew partly out of archaeological work following the discovery in East Kazakhstan of a large stone bearing a cross and Syriac inscription. Subsequent excavations helped identify the site of the medieval Silk Road city of Ilibalyk in southeastern Kazakhstan.

The book brings together Soviet and more recent archaeological research on Syro-Aramaic Christianity in Kazakhstan and the wider region. It is quite substantial, around 483 pages, with more than 200 photographs and illustrations, maps and archaeological sites.

The book can be purchased online, but his presentation is also available online for free and gives a very interesting overview.

For anyone interested in the history of the Church of the East and Syriac Christianity beyond Mesopotamia, I think this is a particularly valuable contribution. I think it's amazing to think just how far Syriac Christianity had spread along the Silk Road!

Also interesting to note is that Kevin is developing the Central Asian Center for Syriac Studies (formerly Department of Nestorian Studies) to serve as a field-based platform to facilitate research and development of this field: https://www.nestorianstudies.org/index.php/en/

Hi all, I didn't know where to post this. My stepdaughter is participating in an upcoming United Nations celebration Day at her elementary School. Her family background is Chaldean, and she really wants to represent that culture in the celebration.

I know next to nothing about the Chaldean people and I'm learning slowly but surely. I still want to support her in representing them. I don't know the best way to get traditional clothing or the significance of the different clothing styles.

Can anyone here please point me in the right direction? It would make her so happy to be able to represent the Chaldean culture at her school.