Assyrian homeland
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The Assyrian homeland, Assyria, refers to the homeland of the Assyrian people within which Assyrian civilisation developed, located in their indigenous Upper Mesopotamia. The territory that forms the Assyrian homeland is, similarly to the rest of Mesopotamia, currently divided between present-day Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria. In Iran, the Urmia Plain forms a thin margin of the ancestral Assyrian homeland in the north-west, and the only section of the Assyrian homeland beyond the Mesopotamian region. The majority of Assyrians in Iran currently reside in the capital city, Tehran.
King Ashurnasirpal II of the Assyrian Empire meets a high official during a review of soldiers and war prisoners. He is accompanied by a parasol-bearer and is watched over by a winged deity (Ashur). He holds a bow and a pair of raised arrows, symbolising victory in battle. From the North-West Palace at Nimrud, Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), about 865-860 BC
Rabban Hormizd Monastery, Alqosh, Nineveh, Iraq.
Mor Hananyo Monastery, or The Saffron Monastery in the Tur Abdin region.
Saint Mary Church: an ancient Assyrian church located in the city of Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.
Assyrian people
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Assyrians are an indigenous ethnic group native to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians descend directly from Ancient Mesopotamians such as ancient Assyrians and Babylonians. Modern Assyrians may culturally self-identify as Syriacs, Chaldeans, or Arameans for religious, geographic, and tribal identification.
Chaldean Catholics praying in a Holy Qurbana in Baghdad, Iraq
Part of the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal, c. 645–635 BC
Mor Mattai Monastery (Dayro d-Mor Mattai) in, Bartella, Nineveh, Iraq. It is recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence. It is famous for its magnificent library and a considerable collection of Syriac Christian manuscripts
Assyrian Mar Toma Church near Urmia, Iran.