Recently, the Suraye Educational Collective, a U.S. based organization with a mission to promote the awareness, recognition, and preservation of Assyrian history, culture, and identity through educational initiatives, released a year-long project about Assyrians in classical Assyrian literature.
The project began when an anonymous Assyrian approached the organization in December 2024 with a compilation and the idea of publishing an article on the subject, and expanding it into a visual presentation format. The Collective agreed and began working on the idea.
The result is an in-depth presentation that details the remembrance and connection of Assyrians throughout ancient and medieval epochs with the endonym "Suryaye" in classical Assyrian literature, showing how Assyrians understood themselves as being part of a common and continuous heritage and identity.
The Educational Collective says its aim with the published article is to show that the ancient Assyrians have always been part of the identity of the “Suryaye” in Classical Assyrian literature. "Our larger goal is to the spread the information to all Assyrians to show a common linking heritage, and for the knowledge to be spread for the education of any Assyrian, whether in diaspora or homeland!"
The Collective states that both the article and presentation have been reviewed by a scholar, while explaining that the scholar "would prefer to remain anonymous to emphasize the information included."
The published article is chronologically ordered, and each example is specified to its origin in either East or West Assyrian wherever possible. Part one covers the presence of Assyrians by name and identity in Assyrian texts, while part two covers the remembrance of ancient Assyria locally. A small amount of non-Assyrian sources, which show the connection between the endonyms "Suraye/Suryoye" and the exonym "Assyrians", are included as well.
The Collective explains that it is important to note that ancient writers did not have the same abilities that we do today to study Assyrian history. They mostly relied on Greek and Biblical texts alongside oral traditions. "Thus, it's important to not view the included information as vague or inaccurate, but to show the self-identification of the medieval Assyrians who were our forefathers", the organization underscores.
For readers interested in viewing the article and presentation, they can be found both here and here. To view video visualizations of the article's contents, consider checking out the Collective's Instagram and TikTok pages.
