The Syriac (also called Assyrian/Chaldean) people are an ethnic group that came from the Syrian Desert in the 14th century B.C. They colonized many areas of the Fertile Crescent (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey) and established many empires. The strongest of these empires were the empires of Damascus, Nahreen, and Sobah. The Syriacs ruled the land for over five centuries. Their reign over the Fertile Crescent ended in the year 723 B.C. when Damascus was sacked by the Assyriacs. Although the Syriacs lost control of the region, they constituted the majority of the population and their language and culture remained a vibrant part of society.
Their Syriac language known as Aramaic remained the dominant language over the entire Middle East, and remained that way until the Islamic invasion in the 7th century. Aramaic is still used in many cities and villages throughout the Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. The terms “Syriac” and “Syria” started to be used as terms to describe the land of Aram and Arameans before the birth of Christ, during the time the Septuagint version of the Old Testament was completed around the year 280 B.C. The word “Aram” was translated as Syria. After the birth of Christ the new term for the Arameans gradually began to spread and soon the word “Syriac” was the preferred term to describe the ethnic group. The Arameans who now became Christians, decided to abandon the old name “Arameans,” and be called by the new term “Syriacs,” in order to distance themselves from the pagan Arameans.
Today the term “Syrian,” describes someone who is a national of the country Syria. The “Syriac people” refer to the ethnic group. The “Syriac Church” describes all churches that use Aramaic in liturgy and who are under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch.
Coffee hour after Sunday Mass