Issue No.

March 2000

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26This is a

Free Publication

P P 332398/0002

www.atour.com/aygv0-4wqnN A K O S H A

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During the month of February, Assyrian language schools around Victoria began theirschool year. This year there are more than 400 students studying at the four schools.Pictured above are two students from the school of St. Aphrem which is run by theChaldean church. With forty new enrolments, the number of students attending theschool is nearing 300.

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SCHOOL.FETEFace Painting J Colour Hair Spray J Barbeque J Stalls J Other Activies

Sunday 12th March - 8 Broadhurst Ave. Reservoir

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2-NAKOSHA. March 2000

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ASSYRIAN WORLD

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MAR RAPHAEL I BIDAWID DISCUSSESIRAQIS SUFFERING

(ZNDA: Cincinnati) In this month’s issue of St.Anthony Messenger Magazine, published inCincinnati, Ohio, His Holiness Mar Raphael IBidawid discusses the dire condition of the peopleof Iraq due to the economic sanctions imposed bythe United Nations. In an interview with Carol AnnMorrow, assistant managing editor of St. AnthonyMessenger, he reminds the American public of theIraqi children, 5,000 of whom die monthly fromdiarrhea, pneumonia, breathing problems andmalnutrition. He insists that the economic sanctionsin Iraq, imposed after the Gulf War, and the no-fly zone have led to a disaster for the Iraqi people.Raphael I Bidawid, the Assyrian-ChaldeanCatholic patriarch from Baghdad, believes that theU.N.’s position can be reversed. In his recent visitto the United States, His Holiness enlisted the helpof people of influence like Cardinal John J.O’Connor (New York), Dr. Billy Graham andformer President Jimmy Carter.Without a change in the U.N. policy,Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton,an auxiliary bishop in theArchdiocese of Detroit,believes those wholive will bei n t e l l e c t u a l l yimpaired ande m o t i o n a l l yd e s t r o y e d .Gumbleton, whomost recently visited Iraqin December, said the onlyway to eliminate the sanctions is forpeople to inundate the White House with phonecalls, postcards and letters.Until a change is made, Mar Bidawid remains firmin his commitment: “The embargo is inhuman andimmoral... It is disaster for the Iraqi people.”

CHILDREN IN SICILY LEARN ABOUTBABYLONIAN HISTORY

(ZNAP: Sicily) Soon the students in the smallSicilian town of Santa Maria di Licodia will beattending shows at Don Bosco School’s new“Saddam Hussein Auditorium’’. The gift was madeby a group promoting ties between Italy and Iraq.Saddam’s name will be on the 500-seat auditoriumwhen it opens in April.The founder of the group, Salvatore Nicotra,described it as an offer the Sicilian officialscouldn’t refuse.Nicotra travels regularly to Iraq on business andwishes to raise awareness of what he considers theunjust U.N. sanctions forced upon the people ofIraq. Italy, France, and Russia are among thenations taking part in the international effort.Angered by the Italian government’s acceptanceof this gift, a group of Assyrian activists led byMary Younan of Canada have begun circulating aletter of protest. The introduction reads: “Wewould like to express our concern and deceptionwith the Sicilian officials regarding the newauditorium inauguration. The world has witnessedatrocities committed by Saddam Hussein and hisBa’ath government on the Iraqi population. Wemust not forget the Government of Iraq has

violated provisions of international law includingthe International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights (ICCPR), to which Iraq is a party, and alsoviolates Iraq’s interim Constitution. The sanctionsimposed on Iraqi people are very sad, and SaddamHussein must not be considered as a heroicpersona.”According to Rome’s La Repubblica dailynewspaper, in response to the gift, the school’s350 students are now learning about Babylonianhistory. “By now, they’ll know the Tigris andEuphrates better than the Po and the Tiber,’’ thenewspaper predicted.

TUKULTI-NINURTA SILVER PLATE,EVIDENCE OF A TRADITION

(ZNDA: Rome) In an effort to re-classify anddocument the findings of a museum in Germany,a German archeologicalcrew has found

a smallsilver plate belonging

to the Assyrian King Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207B.C.) buried under the stone foundation of abuilding. This silver plate was thought to be lost.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

On June 19, the Assyrian International NewsAgency (AINA) reported that the partiallydecomposed body of Helena Aloun Sawa, a 21-year-old Assyrian woman missing since earlyMay, was discovered by a shepherd in a shallowgrave near Dohuk dam. Her family reportedlysuspected that she was raped. Sawa was ahousekeeper for Kurdistan Democratic Party(KDP) Political Bureau member Izzeddin Al-Barwari. Reporting that the KDP offered noassistance in searching for Sawa and that Al-Barwari had intimidated the family into notpursuing an investigation, AINA concluded thatthe murder “ resembles a well-established pattern”of complicity by Kurdish authorities in attacksagainst Assyrian Christians in northern Iraq. Itreported that Sawa had been coerced into workingfor Al-Barwari to restore to her family a KDPpension that had been suspended arbitrarily. Thepension had been awarded because of therecognition of Sawa’s father as a KDP martyr afterhe was killed in the uprising against the Iraqiregime in 1991.However, on June 21, a spokesperson for theKurdistan Regional Government (KRG)announced that the Dohuk police HomicideDivision and the Dohuk General SecurityDepartment were investigating the Sawa murder.A subsequent KRG statement indicated that there

did not appear to be a “ political or racial” motive.The KRG noted that the Al-Barwari family hadreported last seeing Sawa when she left Dohukon her way to a vacation at her family village inthe Nerwa O Rakan area, and that Al-Barwari hadbeen in Damascus, Syria at the time. Nevertheless,Al-Barwari was suspended from official KDPduties pending the conclusion of the investigation.At the end of June, KDP President MassoudBarzani decided to appoint a three-membercommission to further investigate the killing. Noresults of that investigation were reported by year’send.

MILD EARTHQUAKES SHAKENORTHERN IRAQ & URMIA

(ZNRU: Istanbul) On Saturday three tremorsranging up to 5.0 on the Richter scale shook the

Turkish-Iraqi border region. “Theseare not of the scale that would

cause any damage,’’ aspokesman for theKandilli observatory inIstanbul told Reuters.The first tremor ofmagnitude 5.0 struck at

10:18 a.m. local time. Itwas followed by a 4.0

tremor at 11:29, and another of3.8 at 11:35.

Two devastating earthquakes hit Turkeyin August and November last year, killing at

least 18,500 people and wreaking widespreaddamage in the industrialized northwest.In Iran, an earthquake measuring five on the richterscale hit the city of Urmia at 11:48 hours localtime (08:18 GMT) Saturday, causing panic amongcitizens. The epicenter of the tremor, the secondhitting the city in one day, was registered at 30kilometers west of Urmia, by the East Azarbaijanseismological network affiliated to the Tehranuniversity geophysics center.Another 4-degree quake had already shook the cityat 04:13 hours local time (00:43 GMT) Saturdaymorning.

CULINARY EVENT TO RAISE $100,000FOR ASSYRIANS

On Friday, 28 April 2000, the AAS is planning abanquet in the elegant Garden Court of the PalaceHotel in San Francisco. The goal is to raise$100,000 to be used for specific named projectsin north Iraq.The menu will be prepared by five or six MiddleEastern chefs and will be an exceptional showcasefor their talents. Additionally, the Palace Hotel isattempting to bring in one of the Starwood Hotelchefs from the Middle East. Some of the finest ofall California wines will be served.George Zaia of Babylon Printing in Milpitas,California will be the dinner chairperson. BabylonPrinting has been donating the AAS printouts, thequarterly Tree of Life, and this year’s full colorChristmas cards.Dinner tickets will be available for $200.00 perperson. For more information write to:Assyrian Aid Society of America350 Berkeley Park BoulevardKensington, CA 94707

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Ly)yqzx jwdyrf

Nakosha beganpublishing in 1997, it wasto be used as a vehicle toinform the youth of ourcommunity of activities,and projects hosted by theAssyrian Youth Group ofVictoria.

Due to the lack ofresources the AYGV wasunable to continue thepublication beyond thefirst two issues. But in1998 Nakosha restartedpublication, and this issuecompletes two years ofcontinous monthlypublishing.

It has been hard attimes, especially findingsubject matter to writeabout. We overcame thisproblem by going furtherthan only covering issuesthat are based around �TheAssyrian�. We try and dealwith issues that affect usas humans. This openedmany new doors, and ithas allowed us to reachnew heights.

As for the future,Nakosha�s aims are toexpand its coverage toSydney. We are hopingthat a national magazinecould be established, onethat would cover Assyriannews from bothMelbourne, and Sydney.

One of the changes that we haveimplemented in Nakosha is proving to bevery successful. In our efforts to increasereader feedback, and involvement in theproduction of this publication, weintroduced two new features � U Say, andCaricature On Life. I thank all those whotook the time to contribute, and I hopemore people will get involved.

During this month, the editorial team ofNakosha had the pleasure of meeting withMiss Lounarda David who is the presidentof The Assyrian Australian AcademicSociety. I am very impressed with TAAAS�swork, which includes functions, trivianights, seminars, and recently a youthconference that was spread over two days.The conference was aimed at tacklingissues that affect Assyrian youth � we hopeto bring you a full report in next month�sissue.

On another note, and to echo an idea Ihave heard many times over; apparently,in our struggle to maintain our language,culture and so forth, we turn into fascists.We want our youth to intermarry withinthe culture � anything outside of it is a bigno no.

With the ways of the modern society, andif we are hoping to improve the world forour children, we need to be more flexible.We need to accept other people of othernationalities as humans who are all on anequal footing. Because if we don�t, we arefueling the fire of racial cleansing thatburned us at the beginning of thenineteenth century, and is still eating usup in this modern age.n

Sennacherib Warda

BACK.TO.SCHOOL

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4-NAKOSHA. March 2000

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Farid Ilias Nazha is a prominent Assyrian Jour-nalist, who spent the greater part of his life in theservice of the Assyrian people and Assyrian jour-nalism. He passed away on the 19th, October 1971.

Farid Ilias Nazha, was born in Homs, Syria. Heimmigrated to Argentina with members of his fam-ily, after World War I. In Argentina, he engagedin various business ventures, in order to earn a liv-ing. Nazha was fluent in the Syriac, Arabic and ofcourse Spanish languages.

After establishing himself in Argentina�s capital,Buenos Aires, several years after his arrival to thecountry, he established his monthly publication,The Syrian (syriac) Community, publishing it in theSyriac, Arabic and Spanish languages. In it, hestrived to convey the message of unity among hiscontemporary Assyrian community, in spite of fel-lowship to various names and religious affiliations,that was as a result, as he saw it, an inheritancefrom the community�s long history. He stressedmost vehemently, unity among members of theAssyrian community, in the time after WWI, inthe name of a single nation, language, customs andtraditions, and a shared history full of oppressionand persecution.

Nazha spent almost all his adult life in the serv-ice of Assyrian journalism, well over 36 years, with-An Assyrian Journalist

out interruption and so died while in the practiceof Assyrian journalism.

Throughout his life, Nazha was subjected to in-cessant, unfair and vindictive attacks that persistedwithout mercy or relief. In addition, he endurednumerous threats throughout his educational jour-nalistic career. The task that he had undertakenwas magnanimously exhausting.

The Syrian (syriac) Community, is consideredto be a fundamental resource to the period of time,experienced by the Assyrian community, towardsthe end of World War I and until Farid Nazha�sdeath in 1971.

Needless to say, Farid Nazha is considered tobe one of the few prominent Assyrian journalistsin our contemporary times. Nazha edited hismonthly publication, solely, from the first, till thelast page. Moreover, he undertook personally thesetting of the type for each issue, the printing andmailing of the publication to all the subscribersworld wide.

Farid Ilias Nazha defended the values of democ-racy, the oppressed and the persecuted. He cham-pioned the cause of freedom, and stood up for thedowntrodden. Farid Nazha was a lover of peaceand human harmony.

Brian Ibrahim Berro

FARIDNAZHA

Merna is a play written byHaitham Potros. It depicts thehardships, and the tragedies thatthe people of Iraq areexperiencing. It is a story of thebroken human spirit thatextends a hand, only to return itempty of all but humility, andloss.The writer of the play, Haitham,and eight actors, plus others whoare working on the decor, sound,and lighting, are meeting threetimes a week to prepare this playfor its opening during the St.Aphrem Festival that will be heldat the beginning of April.

M E R N A

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Lanil Potros plays thelead role of Merna uuu

The Play will be held onthe third day of the St.Aphrem Festival.

6.30pm on 2nd April 2000at the St. MatthewsCatholic ChurchWilliam St. Fawkner

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6749 rd0 .04wqn-5

�USay� is an on going disscussion onissues that affect us.

Is it right for an Assyrian guy/girl from the West to travelto the Middle East to marry an Assyrian guy/girl?

DISCUSSION 1

Have we forgotten about our people who stillremain in the Middle East?

DISCUSSION 2

DISCUSSION 3What is our �Culture�, and what are our �Traditions�?

I tseemsto me thatmarriage haslost its truemeaning if one is to travelto the Middle East (or any other country)purely for marriage. Especially if peopleintend to go to overseas to pick a bridethat they have never met. What everhappened to meeting someone, gettingto know them, falling in love and thentake the next step of spending the restof your life with him/her? But, who arewe to dictate whats right or whats wrong.Most people who do travel for marriagepurposes have about 2, at most 3monthsto find a bride, get engaged and getmarried. In this whole process, thecouple would have seen each other about10 to 15 times (including theengagement day!!). Is it possible to getto know a person in such a shorttimeconsidering that you will be spending therest of your life with them? Some of youmay argue that you never fully get toknow a person. I would agree with that.

Infact ask your parents if they fully knoweach other. Possibly not. I believe thatyou will learn things about yourhusband/wife until the day you leave thisworld, but to know enough about aperson to convince you that he/she isthe right one whom you will be

spending the rest of your life with, youare going to need weeks, months maybeeven years of spending time with him/her. Will the two months be enough?Only you can answer that. You have toalso ask yourself, is it morally and/orethically right to travel overseas purelyfor marriage? If it is acceptable by thetraveller and it is acceptable by theperson he/she choses to marry, then itshould be acceptable by the rest of us.To them it may seem to be the right wayto take the next step in their lives. Wemay have a differing opinion, but thenagain everyone is free to have their ownviews. It is not wrong to travel to anoverseas destination to meet a spouse.I personally would not do it, but somepeople are quite happy in doing that. Ifthat is what you really want and youhave explored all other possible optionsand have had no luck then I wish you all

the best. Marriage is a very big step inour lives. One that is full of love, sharedexperiences, happy moments andchildren. One that opens a whole newchapter in our Biography. This chapterwill always have a happy beginnig. Willit have a happy ending? We all needsomeone to share our love, experiences(good or bad) and the majority of ourlife with. It is a need that we are bornwith and it is direclty related to the lovethat we received from our parents(mainly our mothers) from the day wewere born. Put yourself in a time whenyou are about 80 years old (assumingmost of us will live that long, and I�msure we will). Would it not be nice tolook back in your life and remember allthatyou have been through, all thehappiness and how much of that youshared with your spouse? Would it notbe nice to know that you have chosenthe right spouse to share all thosemoments with? Ultimatley It is your lifeand you have full control of it. Experienceas much of it as you can and do whatevermakes you happy. You are the one thatis going to live with all the memories ofyour life. Regards,N B - Melbourne

ON #2

ZINDA 6 Years of International News

Our Assyrian World News feature iscompiled by using the resources of Zindamagazine. This month they celebrated theirsixth year anniversary. The following is theircelebrations in their own words.

OUR Z-CREWWhat better way to celebrate our birthday

than to celebrate our team at Zinda Magazine.Very briefly, we would like to introduce our�News & Information� team that brings youthe articles and news feeds every week without

interruption (you really don�t want to knowabout our insane �techies� shown on thisweek�s cover photo). The final draft is thensent to our �Technical� team that transformsour writings into HTML, JPEGS, andHyperlinks. It takes nearly 50 hours ofresearch, editing, and design to produce asingle issue of Zinda Magazine. ZindaMagazine is truly the result of the dedicationof over 20 volunteer reporters, researchers,artists, and editors.

Thank you Z-Crew and thank you Z-

readers for making us the most influentialAssyrian medium of information.R.C. Samo - Mazin Enwiya - Adrin Takhsh- Firas Jatou - Juliet George - RamanMikhael - Michelle Badal - MarianYounan - David Chibo - Evelyn Enwiya -Attiya Gamri - Matay Arsan - MahaHermesFrom all of us at Zinda Magazine, thankyou for reading Zinda! We look forward to5, no 50, more years of serving our readersthroughout the world!

6-NAKOSHA. March 2000

Caric

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uMale/54/USAwThe answer is no, I

do not feel restricted inmy relationship withothers.uMale/15/Canadaw Assyrian cultural

values alows me to fall inlove. But only with anAssyrian woman. Ibelieve that if the parentsteach the child that it isnot wise to marry someone that is not anAssyrian, then we will remain a strongcultural group. My dad had explained to me,my sister, and my brother that the Assyrianculture and people will only live on if wemarry Assyrian men and women! Otherwise,we will be in danger of forgeting who we areand turning into something we are not!uFemale/34/AmericawEvery society is governed by certain

values and these may be good or baddepending on the point of view of eachcommunity. We as Assyrians who have beenraised in other countries and then came tothe West have certain ideas and values whichwe have accomodated to a certain extent soas we can live in these societies which aredifferent in many ways than ours andcertainly in our values. I believe that i havebeen able to find the boundaries which mademe able to distiguish which of my values areimportant to me to apply to my life in thesecountries and which I consider to be ablessing, and hopefully I didn�t see that myAssyrian values clashed with the freedom inthese countries which to a certain extent istoo much.uFemale/23/USAwI live with my parents and 4 brothers

and sisters. As a young Assyrian femalegrowing up in the United States, it was toughfor me. I had to abide by ALL of myparents�rules: going out with friends was a big NONO; I could not date guys (let alone haveany as friends); I could not wear any facialcosmetics. Up until the end of my high schoolyear was I allowed to wear cosmetics.Recently have I started to date guys withthe consent of my parents. If I wanted todate when I was younger, I would have todo it �behind� my parents� backs. I often thinkto myself about things I used to do when Iwas younger. The only �good� reasons Iwould find were that I did it in revenge; justto get back at my parents, and to see how itfelt to do something they did not allow. Tothis day I can proudly say I never didanything besides kiss the male that I wasdating. I believe my parents restricted mefrom doing the above because of good moraljudgement. Parents (shockingly) are very�psychic.� I guess it is because of the fact

Do Assyrian cultural valuesrestrict you from exercisingyour freedom in relationships?

that at one point in their young lives theywere once like us. As far as relationships go,I have to say that I�m not involved in one atthis time, but when I was, of course myparents knew, they (especially my mother)were trying to �hurry� us to get engaged.Sadly, the relationship ended because I wasbeing �pushed� to do something I was notready to do. In answer to your question,yesI believe Assyrian cultural values restrict me(in some cases) from exercising my freedomin a relationship. But if I follow my instinctsand especially my heart, then all will endwell.uFemale/18/MelbournewJust like our bodies need vitamine A,B,C

etc.. our hearts need vitamine L (love). andmy answer to your question is:Yes, and it actually tires me very much. Itmakes love seem like a big challenge and itmakes life much harder than it already is. atthis age love is vital because it is the onlyage where you have enough energy to re-ally love and make the most of it. It is alsovery unhealthy for the mind and very stress-ing to be constantly worried about it. Suchunhappiness that these restrictions couldcause may lead to destroying a pure andperfect relationship. I love my culture andall the wonderful myths and legends of it.However it disappoints me, being a part of aculture with big current problems but wehave to busy ourselves in dealing with suchminor social issus in order to be able to livea normal life with enough freedom to love. Ihave many plans ahead of me and I have afuture to look forward to, these problemsare draining that energy out me.

Something to remember: we are all bornwith that seed of love in our hearts. Whenlove comes to sprinkle that seed with it�swater,that seed has the right to bloom withlife and beauty and it grows to reach thelight. If that seed is restricted from life it willnever grow. It will never reach the light. Itwill be desroyed by the thorns of other plants.It will never stop bleeding.uMale/17/MelbournewDefintely, I believe that our cultural

beliefs and values have a strong restrictionon not only our relationships but our life.

There many things that Assyrian people cannot do such as having a �normal relationship�without causing a huge dilemma betweenparents and their kids. The main reason forthis is that our parents follow thecommandments of our religion, and thereforeenforce us to grow in a similar way. Theydon�t want us to change our ways, they wantsus to grow with the knowledge that they grewup with.The other reason might be that theylook around and see how the society is andthey don�t want us to be like that.uFemale/24/SydneywThe Assyrian female in general has been

disadvantaged because of the Assyrianculture and tradition, especially in MiddleEast. However, as we can see the measuresare different here in Western countries wherefemales have more freedom andopportunities, but this depends on differentfamilies prospects. Some families are moreopen than others and can give theirdaughters more freedom to mix with and toknow different people.

But, even by living in Western countriesfemales are the first ones to blame. Femalesare monitored by all people in everythingthey say and can get criticise easily in anysimple innocent action. Assyrian communitygenerally blame females first before malesthat is if they are going to do so. I believethat even if we are living in Western countriesfemales are still living like prisoners in theirown home and community. Probably this isthe reason why some Assyrian females don�tmix with the Assyrian community.I believe that as females we need morefreedom and our parents and communityshould give us more chances of mixing withthe Assyrian males to get to know thembetter and to find the right Assyrian partner.Assyrian families should encourage their sonsand daughters to mix with each other notnecessarily to have a marriage among thembut to have more Assyrian friends to helpeach other maintaining our language andsome of our traditions. At the same time Ibelieve that Assyrian females should respectthe freedom they are given so their parentswill not be disappointed in them.

assyriancruelty?

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This article was inspired by a message thatwas published on the �Assyrian Forum�.It is intended to finally dispel the myths

and rumors that have tarnished the name of theancient Assyrians, and subsequently their moderndescendants.

The topic of �Alleged Assyrian Cruelty� isespecially poignant today as our own youth tend tohave also been caught up in the false and baselessrumours and generalisations spread by somehistorians and writers.

In a recent conversation, my own cousin recentlymade the following remarks, after I had finishedexplaining to him the genocides that had beencommitted against the Assyrian people throughoutthe ages. �We probably deserved it. After all,weren�t we also a cruel and violent people whenwe ruled the Middle East?� was his reply.

Now, hold that thought for a moment as I attemptto answer this question through the use of ananalogy.

An Assyrian girl from America, named Claudia,came to Melbourne for a visit last year. Aftermeeting and talking to her, I asked her what shefound different in Melbourne, as compared toWashington, where she was originally from. Shestated, �The Australian drivers are crazy and, shefelt compelled to wear a seat belt whenever shewas in a car�.

I made further enquiries and found out the realreason why she had made that strange statement.

Today the VAC (Victorian AccidentCommission) spend millions of dollars a year inaccident prevention. Their �Prevention is betterthan cure� policy appears to be working. Theyprevent accidents by using the power of the mediaand advertising. They accomplish this by usingshock advertising tactics depicting; children beingrun over, passengers being hurled through carwindscreens and others being burnt alive. AlthoughI am today desensitised by the ads, which areincidentally shown on prime time television, theystill cause me to wince upon seeing them. Claudia,

had apparently been watching Australiantelevision and had seen a few of these ads.She was now in a state of being extra-cautiouswhen it came to traveling on Victorian roads.

I laughed after she had told me her story,and went on to explain to her that Victoriahad one of the best road safety records inthe Western world. Since 1989, theTransport Accident Commission (TAC) hasembarked on an aggressive and co-ordinatedaccident prevention campaign (inconjunction with Police and VicRoads)which had seen the State�s road toll almost halved.

In a recent road safety conference held inVictoria the European equivalents had sent theirdelegates specifically to Melbourne to determinehow to lower their road tolls and make their roadssafer. She found this information astonishing as shehad been too busy paying attention to the televisioncommercials.

What has this story got to do with the allegedAssyrian cruelty?

I could complete this answer, but my opinioncould be seen as being biased, as I am an Assyrian,and descendent of the ancient Assyrians. Thus Ishall let a non-Assyrian named H.W.F.Saggs, anAssyriologist, complete the point I am attemptingto make through the use of the above-mentionedanalogy.

�Amongst all the aspects of ancientMesopotamian life, there are few which have beenmore widely misunderstood and misrepresentedthan the nature of Assyrian imperialism. Fewhistorians or other writers who touch upon Assyriain the period between 900 B.C. and its final falljust before 600 B.C. can resist the temptation togather up their skirts and add yet another shockedcomment upon barbarism, brutality and unmatchedruthlessness of the Assyrians. It is rare to find anyattempt to look at Assyrian warfare and imperialismas a whole in its perspective. Yet, as it is hoped toshow below, when one considers the wholefunctioning of the Assyrian Empire, and particularly

when one passes judgement in accordance with thestandards, not of our own times but of the otherpeoples of the ancient world, a very different pictureemerges. The Assyrian Empire was efficient andwould not gladly bear those who wished to upsetthe civilised world order, but it was not exceptionallybloody or barbaric. The number of people killedor mutilated in an average Assyrian campaign inthe interest of efficient administration was, even inproportion to the population, probably no morethan the number of dead and mangled humans thatmost Western countries offer annually as a sacrificeto the motor-car, in the supposed interest of efficienttransport�.

It is therefore fair to say that the ancient Assyrianbas-reliefs performed the same task that ourmodern television, and advertising, accomplishestoday. Thus the ancient Assyrians, who havewrongly been maligned by ignorant writers and lazyhistorians, upon closer inspection are left with arecord of efficiency and stability that was the envyof the ancient world. Their powerful use ofpsychological warfare and propaganda, which cantoday be seen in the world�s Museums, in the formof bas-reliefs, was so effective that modern viewerscan be forgiven for equating the bas-reliefs depictingviolent images as symbolic of the ancientAssyrians.n

David Chibo

References: Everyday Life In Babylonia and Assyria -H.W.F. Saggs. p.99

8-NAKOSHA. March 2000

The Assyrian Youth Group of Victoria is a non-political, non-religious and non-profit organisation.It seeks to promote the Assyrian culture, history andlanguage, as well as the Assyrian name andcommunity, bringing it to the world stage.

AYGVP.O. BOX 948 Merlynston, Victoria,

3058. Australia.nakosha@atour.comwww.atour.com/aygv

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