Sydney's Gilgamesh festival: a celebration of both legacy and current achievements
Sydney’s recent Gilgamesh Festival highlighted the enduring legacy of Assyria while showcasing the accomplishments of the Assyrian-Australian community.
The Assyrian Australian Association (AAA) hosted the Gilgamesh Festival in Sydney from 1–9 November, celebrating one of humanity’s oldest stories and the enduring cultural legacy of Assyrians in Australia. The festival coincided with the 175th anniversary of the University of Sydney and the 25th anniversary of the Gilgamesh Statue on the university grounds, a monumental work created in 2000 by Assyrian–Australian sculptor Lewis Batros.
Two-Day Symposium with leading scholars
Central to the festival was a two-day academic symposium at the University’s Chau Chak Wing Museum, bringing together international scholars and members of the Assyrian community to explore Mesopotamian history, literature, and science. The speakers included Doctor Stephanie Dalley, Oriental Institute & Wolfson College; Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Somerville College, University of Oxford, Professor Simo Parpola, Emeritus Professor of Assyriology, University of Helsinki, and Doctor Daniel Mansfield, Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales.
Their presentations highlighted the intellectual achievements of ancient Mesopotamia. Additional lectures were held at Eden Venues, including one by the Assyrian Cultural & Social Youth Association (ACSYA) on Assyrian silverwork.
Re-Unveiling the Gilgamesh Statue
On 8 November, the festival marked a symbolic milestone with the re-unveiling of the Gilgamesh Statue in a public ceremony. The statue was presented by its original creator, Lewis Batros, who also created Sydney’s Assyrian Genocide (Seyfo) Monument.
The event drew a large crowd of Assyrians and supporters, who regard the statue as a cultural anchor and a symbol of the enduring Assyrian identity in the diaspora.
The Legacy of the Assyrian Australian Association
The festival also celebrated the long-standing contributions of the Assyrian Australian Association, one of the earliest Assyrian community organisations in Australia. Over the decades, AAA has played a central role in building and sustaining Assyrian culture, education, and social life. The AAA established an Assyrian social club, later known as the Nineveh Club and founded the first Assyrian football club, initially the Nineveh Eagles, now Fairfield Bulls. The organisation also launched the Diqlat Assyrian School, the first Assyrian school in Australia in 1974 as well as founded the Ashurbanipal Library, which archives resources on Assyrians.
These initiatives, and several others by the AAA, have shaped generations and continue to support the cultural, educational, and social development of the Assyrian-Australian community.
