Aadaar 10, 6746 Volume III Issue 4 March 10, 1997
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A Weekly Online Publication of the ZENDA Assyrian Newsagency
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T H I S W E E K I N Z E N D A
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The Lighthouse...................... The Nameless Gates
of Gods
Good Morning Bet-Nahrain............ More on the Shaqlawa
Murder Case
Saddam's Massacre of Shiites
Turkish Premier Gives in
Surfs Up............................ "put these people
where they belong."
Surfers Corner...................... Novelist Seeks Information
New Opportunities in Canada
News Digest......................... Pope's Visit to
Lebanon
Iran's Presidential Elections
Syria's Political Prisoners
Germany's New Immigration Law
Ziggurat............................ Die "Assyrer" wer
sind sie?
Calendar of Events.................. Several New Entries
for March & April
Entracte............................ No New Entries
Intelligentsia...................... New Classes in San
Jose & Harvard
Assyrian Surfing Posts.............. MIT Videos
Pump up the Volume.................. Editorial &
Article
Back to the Future.................. Hammurabi's Year
of Ascension
The Assyrian National Petition
Literatus........................... A Sumerian Father
& Son Talk
This Week in History................ The First Assyrian
School for Girls
Bravo............................... Salma Hayek
The Directory....................... News Sources
Bshena.............................. Software Technologies
Salute.............................. Adrin, Lorine, Esha,
& Ramin
:)
[With this issue we introduce the new ZIGGURAT section.
Nearly half of our
readers live in countries where English is not a primary
language. We hope
that ZIGGURAT can bring our Latin American and European
readers closer to
the readers of ZENDA in their own communities.
Another Assyrian Community Networking Conference is scheduled
during the
Assyrian State Convention of California in Turlock. Please
note the
textfile invitation and registration form entitled "ACNC97.TXT"
attached to
ZENDA II. If you experience technical difficulty
in decoding this file
please contact us at zenda@ix.netcom.com .
For more information see:
http://www.nineveh.com/acnc97.htm .]
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THE L I G H
T H O U S E
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THE NAMELESS GATES OF GODS
Come with me to a land far away into our past. Leave
your stuffy office
room and fly with me to Babylon, the greatest city ever
built in the
ancient world. Our Mesopotamian fore-fathers built it
in the form of a
crooked rectangle, about a mile and a half from east
to west and
four-fifths of a mile from north to south. The
river Euphrates flowed
through this most magical city from north to south, dividing
it into the
New City on the west and the Old City on the east.
The bigger streets were
named for the ancient gods of Bet-Nahrain- Marduk Street,
Shamash Street,
Adad Street and so on. The most important street
was the so-called
Processional Way, running north and south through the
Old City four or five
hundred yards from the river. Its true name was
"The Street on Which May
No Enemy Ever Tread."
Processional Way was paved with limestone, sand, and asphalt.
Along this
street, wagons bearing the images of the gods were wheeled
during religious
processions. These parades seem to have been the
Babylonians' main public
amusement. In the city of Ashur, the processional
way had a pair of
grooves in the pavement for the wheels of the sacred
wagons, to assure the
gods a smooth, safe ride. This was the world's
first railroad track.
Eight fortified gates were embedded in the inner wall
of Babylon. The
center gate on the northern side was the famous Ishtar
Gate, the grandest
structure of its kind. It comprised a square tower of
brick, about 70 feet
high. Cutting through this tower was a vaulted
passage, which could be
closed off by two pairs of huge wooden doors. On the
northward side of the
gate, stood two tall and two smaller towers. The
entire structure was
finished with enameled bricks, blue on the towers and
green and pink on the
connecting walls decorated with brightly colored animals,
driving away
supernatural forces.
Come through the Ishtar Gate; don't be afraid! See, you're
standing at the
paved Processional Way now. The two high brick-walls,
decorated with
life-sized lions in bright enameled brick relief, are
majestic- aren't
they? Red-maned yellow lions and yellow-maned white
lions. To your right
are the walls of the fortified section of the city. They
extends from the
Processional Way to the Euphrates. Wow, look at
the palaces, the barracks,
and the humongous administrative offices. Imagine
this place when if was
brimming with people, everyone speaking Akkadian, all
of them proud to be
Bet-Nahranaye.
Slowly walk back and turn around! There, aren't they amazing?
I'm always
at a loss for words when I see them. That's right, they're
the famous
Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Trees and shrubs
are planted atop a pleasure house. The roof over
the gardens is
waterproofed by layers of asphalt and sheet lead.
The word "hanging" or
Assyrian "telye" can be misleading as if the gardens
were suspended by
chains or cables. They should really be called
"raised" or "elevated."
A little further up is the famous bridge over the river
Euphrates. Except
for Sennacherib's aqueduct at Jerwan, this 380 feet long
bridge is the
oldest stone bridge of which there is any record.
It was built by King
Nabopolasser. It stood on seven piers of baked brick,
stone, and timber. A
drawbridge is taken up at night to keep outsiders from
using the bridge.
Let's walk south through the Processional Way. I said
"walk" not run! You
almost missed the Ziggurat of Etemenanki. Did you
ever think it was this
beautiful? As high as a 30-story building
back home and hued in all
different colors of rainbow. To your left are the
houses where the
civilians live. Some of those homes are four stories
high. Let's turn
right on Adad Street and walk toward the river.
I always dream of a day
when I bring my newborn to this river and baptize her
in these holiest of
all waters. That over there is Esagila, the
temple of Marduk. If we walk
a little further you'll notice that it's really an L-shaped
building. It
occupies a square about 500 feet on each side.
Greek historian, Herodotos,
said that the 18-foot statue of Marduk, housed inside
Esagila, was of solid
gold. Our Babylonian parents used to carry it through
this same
Processional Way during the New Year's Festival of Akitu,
much like the
processional of the Assyrian floats through the streets
of Chicago on Kha
b'Neesan Day. In 482 B.C. King Xerxes of Persia attacked
this beautiful
city and tore down the great walls. Babylonians
were never again able to
defend themselves against their enemies. That's why Xerxes
did it and as a
souvenir he took the golden statue of Marduk to his Persian
palace and
melted it down for his treasury.
Later a stiff Persian taxation caused the people of Babylon
leave this
place. Even the Babylonian priests could no longer
afford to repair their
decaying buildings. Much like the Assyrian churches
throughout the
Christian period, the Babylonian temples crumbled into
nothingness. Let's
sally on away from the inner city and get closer to the
narrow alleys,
where the Babylonian children played and sang the Sumerian
school rhymes.
Let's end our journey here and head back home away from
home!
Now let me show you some pictures! These are the
photographs of the gates
and towers built on the ruins of Babylon by a modern
conquerer. He's
trying unsuccessfully to identify himself as the new
monarch of Babylon.
But all he has done is to erect some new structures upon
the ruins of the
old. Ironically it is said that the Assyrian engineer-king,
Sennacherib,
had placed posts along the Processional Way on which
was inscribed "Royal
Road. Let No Man Lessen It." He had decreed that any
violator should be
slain and his body impaled on a stake before his house.
All seven
conquerers of the world that have passed through the
gates or ruins of
Babylon- the Medes, Persians, Macedonians, Arabs,
Mongols, British, and
Germans- have been impaled on the iron pole of history.
Saddam, the new
ruler of Babylon, is no exception. Until the Golden
Statue of Marduk is
returned to the great temple of our conscience, all intruders
will continue
to regret their parade along the Processional Way of
our forgotten people's
homeland.
Wilfred Alkhas
Zenda
[Information on the technology advances of ancient Babylon
was adapted from
"The Ancient Engineers" by Sprague de Camp, 1993]
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G O O D
M O R N I N G B
E T - N A H R A I N
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NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SHAQLAWA MURDERS CASE
An Assyrian International News Agency Press Release (Chicago)
March 1, 1997
aina@wwa.com
Regarding the most recent killing of the two Assyrians
in Shaqlawa, the
Kurd who was found murdered, has been identified as Mohamed
Babakir. He was
the kidnapper of the daughter of Lazar Matti, the Assyrian
who, along was
with his son Havel Lazar, was butchered by the Kurdish
mob. However, it is
generally agreed that the families had met years ago
and resolved the
matter. There was reportedly no remaining animosity between
them. The local
government has not begun any investigation into the initial
killing or the
subsequent massacre.
Additionally, the father was born in 1943 and the son
in 1972. To his
credit, Barzani came to Shaqlawa and reportedly condemned
the killings.
In addition, in his statement, he acknowledged recent
acts of violence,
burglaries, and arson by Kurds against Assyrian homes
and shops in the
Shaqlawa area. He noted a pattern of intimidation
on the part of Kurds
in the area. As usual, though, neither he nor the local
government have
taken any concrete steps to investigate and seek justice
in this case of
extrajudicial killings. The Kurds have never punished
one of their own
when the victims have been Assyrian. It is generally
believed that the
recent rhetoric is simply that. Only international pressure
from
organizations and governments can help to reduce these
acts of persistent,
recurrent, and premeditated terror.
SADDAM HAS KILLED OVER 250,000 SHIITES SINCE GULF WAR,
GERMAN TV REPORTS
(ZNUP: London) The Kuwait News Agency says a German TV
program has accused
Iraq's government of killing a quarter-million people
in southern Iraq
since the Gulf War. The report from Bonn says President
Saddam Hussein's
forces target Iraq's Shiite minority in the southeastern
marshes with
chemical weapons that ensure the people cannot reestablish
their villages.
The agency says the program documented the environmental
damage that
government forces have inflicted on the marshes near
the Iranian border,
including the effects that chemical arms have had on
children. The
report was monitored in London. An escaped woman prisoner
told the program
guards in Iraqi jails interrogate Shiite women by day,
then torture them by
night with hose beatings and electric shocks. The broadcast
aired after the
U.S. State Department said Wednesday that Hussein still
intended to
dominate the Gulf region and was hiding weapons to enforce
that ambition.
TURKEY'S PRIME MINISTER SIGNS SECULARISM LIST
(ZNUP: Ankara) Turkish news media says Prime Minister
Necmettin Erbakan has
signed a list of recommendations on secularism drawn
up by the military.
His signature late Wednesday ended his five-day standoff
with the strongly
secular Turkish armed forces. Some news reports said
Deputy Prime Minister
Tansu Ciller persuaded Erbakan to sign, despite his winning
office on a
platform of moving Turkey away from secular rule. Turkey's
high command had
drawn up the 20-point list in reaction to what they saw
as Erabakan's drift
toward rule by Muslim law, or sharia. The recommendations
included:
-- Close supervising of religious instruction
-- Outlawing Muslim groups
-- Enforcing bans on Muslim attire in government offices
Political analysts said these measures would cause considerable
political
difficulties for Erbakan among his Welfare Party supporters.
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S U R F S
U P !
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"The letter (who wrote it?) addressed to "Fellow Assyrians...."
said the
letter they are going to send to the State Department
is reproduced below,
but I did not see it. And a comment to pump up the volume
section: to end
in English is the root of the verb, in Assyrian is EQRA
and it is the third
person of the verb:
to end
khatem
to begin
shaareh
What you have for the Assyrian are gerunds (a verbal form
that functions
as a noun) I think we call them MLAT-SHEMA in Assyrian
(should check
with Robi Simono).
ending
khtamta
beggining
shaareta
Rita Pirayou
San Jose, California
[The message was sent from the Assyrian International
News Agency or AINA,
a Chicago-based group. At press time ZENDA has
not received any further
correspondence. Our reader is correct in analyzing
the different forms of
the verbs. It must be noted that all verbs mentioned
in the PUMP UP THE
VOLUME section are described in their non-root form or
in this case the
gerund form.]
**************
"It really breaks my heart to see well educated Assyrians
putting so much
energy into hurting each others , I just can not imagin
myself going to bed
and resting my head in peace knowing that I with something
I did have hurt
another Assyrian somehow someway. You the educated ones
are the best breed
of us, and this nation's hope for prosperity & wellbeing.
Instead of being
the creaters & worthy leaders of united
orgnizations, you are turning to
followers of some unworthy, selfish & careless people
who are doing so much
damage to this nation that the next generations of Assyrians
will suffer as
the result of their actions, a damage may be beyond repair
if we let this
to continue. The time is now to put these people where
they belong , the
time is now my friends to create that environment where
all Assyrians can
live together united so our children can be proud of
being Assyrians. And
God help us all if we just stood there & watched
this division tearing this
small nation apart."
Frederick Aprim
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S U R F E R S
C O R N E R
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ZENDA readers are invited to respond to the following
request(s) by either
directly writing to the author or sending a reply to
ZENDA.
***************************************************************************
NOVELIST SEEKS INFORMATION ON ASSYRIANS AND SAMARITANS
My name is Dale Blanchard, I'm a member of the Religious
Society of Friends
in the US. For several months I've been doing research
for a fictionalized
story I am writing about the woman at the well, John
4:1-42. Because she
was a Samaritan, and because Samaria had been taken over
in the centuries
preceding Christ's coming, I am searching for information
about the
Assyrians (pre-Christianity) and more specifically, the
beliefs and
practices of the early Samaritans. Would you have
any suggestion as to
where I could find such information? I've found a little
in the library,
but precious little. If you can help, I thank you in
advance. If not,
thank you for reading my message.
Dale Anne Blanchard
DaleAnne@aol.com
IN CANADA...
Would you like to help in forming an Assyrian Student
Association at either
McMaster University or Mohawk College? Please contact
Christine Sarkis
McMaster: Contact Christine Sarkis at
sarkisc@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca
Mohawk: Contact Simon Malek at
ashour@ican.net
Volunteers are needed for the two-hour Assyrian Voice
of Canada radio
program. Contact Simon Malek at (905) 318-8283
or ashour@ican.net
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N E W S
D I G E S T
===========================================================================
POPE JOHN PAUL II's VISIT TO LEBANON
(ZNRU: Vatican City) Pope John Paul II will make a long-awaited
visit to
Lebanon on May 10-11, three years after cancelling a
planned trip for
security reasons in the wake of a church bombing. The
visit will be the
first by a Pope to the country in modern times. The Pope
would preside over
the ceremonial close of a synod of the Lebanese Church
held at the Vatican
in 1995 during his two-day weekend visit to Beirut. The
Vatican called off
a planned five-day Papal trip in May 1994 after the bombing
of a Maronite
church north of Beirut in which 11 Sunday worshippers
were killed and 59
injured. The Pope had been expected to visit the Biblical
cities of
Tyre and Sidon during the coming trip. The visit would
include a mass and a
meeting with young people. The Polish Pope, who
often speaks out in favor
of Middle East peace and dreams of visiting the Holy
Land by the year
2000, is expected to call for a comprehensive settlement.
The Vatican is
opposed to both the Israeli and Syrian military presence
in Lebanon.
IRAN'S MAY 23rd PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
(ZNRU: Tehran) Iran will hold the seventh presidential
elections since the
1979 Islamic Revolution on May 23 to elect a successor
to President Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani. Conservative Parliament Speaker
Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri
appears to be the front-running candidate in the elections,
in which
Rafsanjani is constitutionally barred from running after
serving two
consecutive four-year terms. Hardline conservative Mohammad
Mohammadi
Reyshahri, a former internal security minister, and former
Minister of
Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Khatami, who is
backed by radical
Islamist intellectuals, are among others who have announced
their
candidacy. Rafsanjani's centrist backers are still to
announce a candidate
in the polls to replace the outgoing president, whose
term ends August 3.
All Iranians, including Assyrians, aged 15 and older
in the country of
about 60 million are eligible to vote. The candidates
still have to be
approved by the Guardian Council, a body of lawyers and
Shiite Muslim
clerics that supervises elections.
INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF SYRIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS
(ZNRU: Paris) The Committee for the Defense of Democratic
Freedoms and
Human Rights in its annual report for 1996 notes that
the number of
political prisoners in Syrian jails rose to 2,800 in
1996, about a hundred
more than the previous year. The increase was the
first since 1989 in the
number of political prisoners in Syria, which had steadily
fallen for the
previous six years. The increase was due to the
arrest of more than 100
individuals during the year due to their political beliefs,
while just five
were released, said the Paris-based group. Those being
held included
Lebanese and Palestinians, as well as Syrians, it said.
Under martial law
in effect since 1963, Syrian citizens "do not have the
right to form
associations, organizations or political parties in order
to express or
defend their opinions." The Assyrian Democratic Organization
(Takasta), has
been operating under such conditions since its establishment
in the late
1950's.
GERMANY IMPOSES NEW IMMIGRATION
RULE ON FOREIGN CHILDREN
(ZNUP: Berlin) Under a new German rule, children under
16 from Turkey,
Tunisia, Morocco and former Yugoslavia now have to apply
for visas to visit
relatives in Germany and those already living in Germany
must obtain a
residence permit. The 2.2 million members of Germany's
Turkish community do
not have German citizenship, meaning their children now
have to apply as
"foreigners" for permits. The law equally applies on
all Assyrian children
from Turkey, both born in Turkey or those escaping Iran,
Syria and Iraq.
The government insists the measure was necessary because
foreigners were
abusing its previously relaxed stance on children visiting
relatives in
Germany by staying permanently. Protest organizers said
students in
Recklingshausen, Bielefeld, Aschaffenburg and Essen had
taken part in the
schools boycott.
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Z I G G U R
A T
===========================================================================
DIE "ASSYRER" WER SIND SIE?
Die "Assyrer" wer sind sie? Wo und wie leben sie? Das
sind Fragen, die mich
schon meinen ganzen Lebenslang beschaeftigten. Diese
Fragen zu beantworten
ist doch ein Kinderspiel und darum brauche ich doch keine
Buecher lesen,
dachte ich, denn ich bin schliesslich selst eine Assyrerin!!
Im Laufe meines Lebens lernte ich aber, dass ich mich
getaescht habe. Als
ich nach Deutschland kam und das erste Mal jemanden erzelte,
dass ich eine
Assyrerin bin, sah er mich so an, als ob er eine Verrueckte
vor sich haette
und meinte: ja, ja, schon gut, warum bist Du dann nicht
in einem Museum?
Als ich aber nicht aufgab und darauf beharrte, dass ich
es ernst
meine,betrachtete er mich so wie ein Objekt, das man
in einem Museum
betrachten wuerde. Denn er war davon ueberzeugt, dass
die Assyrer schon
lange ausgestorben sind, und dass man den Rest ihrer
reichen Kultur nur
noch in Museen, wie das Pergamon beobachten koennte.
Leider ist dies aber nich mein einziges Erlebniss geblieben.
Nach und nach
bin ich darauf gekommen, dass ich noch sehr viel zum
Nachholen hab. Ich
lernte weiterhin, dass ich noch sehr viel lesen und lernen
muesste, bevor
ich mich in der Oeffentlichkeit als Assyrerin aussern
und behaupten duerfte.
Ist es Dir auch mal so ergangen? Bist Du auch ein Assyrer,
eine Assyrerin,
der/die in Deutschland lebt? Moechtest Du Deine Erlebnisse
uns mitteilen?
Ich denke, dass dieser internationale Teil ZENDAs uns
eine gute
Moeglichkeit anbiettet, miteinder auch mal auf Deutsch
zu sprechen und von
einander zu lernen, uns ueber die Situation unsere Volkes
in Deutschland
auszutauschen, usw. Heir moechte ich deshalb mich bei
dem Zustaendigen, bzw
"ZENDA STAFF" bedanken.
Zum Schluss bitte ich um Verzeihung, da ich noch kein
Sofware habe, der es
mir ermoeglich die Umlaute ueber E-mail zu schicken,
muesste ich wie auf
Schreibmaschine schreiben, aber hoffentlich habe ich
ihn fuer das naechste
Mal.
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C A
L E N D A R
OF E V E N
T S
===========================================================================
Thru Mar 10
Art & Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British
Museum
National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
Admission: $10.00
Thru Apr 6 The Ain Ghazal
Exhibit
Smithsonian Institute
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington D.C.
AAA of Southern CA (818) 506-7577
Thru April 27
Masterpieces from the Pierpot Morgan Libray:
A collection of relics 3300 B.C. to 1800 B.C.
Cylindrical Seals
From Uruk, Akkadian, Babylonia and Assyria
California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Lincoln Park, San Francisco.
(415)863-3330
Thru Fall 1997 Ancient Mesopotamia: The Royal Tombs
of Ur
2650-2550 B.C.
Third Floor
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mar 12
Guardians of the Gate: The Assyrian Winged Colossi
Lecturer: A. Harrak
Near and Middle Eastern Civilization
University of Toronto
St. George campus
Toronto, Canada
8:00 p.m
Mar 16
A Program in Honor of Nimrod (Benva) Simono
Assyrian Church of the East Hall (Awana)
680 Minnesota Avenue
5:30 pm
Mar 25
The Discovery of a 3rd Millennium BCE Trading Post
in Northern Mesopotamia
A Hagop Kevorkian Lecture
Lecture by Dr. Michel Fortin
of the Department of History, Laval University, Quebec
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology
33rd and Spruce Streets,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
6 p.m.
Reception follows
Rainey Auditorium.
Free (215) 898-4890
Apr 9
Recent Excavations at Gordion, Turkey:
An Achaemenid Persian Imperial Town in Central Anatolia
Lecturer: T.C. Young, Jr.
Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto, Canada
8:00 p.m
Apr 11-13
Big Bear Ski Trip
Skiing, hiking, Mountain biking, etc.
Assyrian Student Union Big Bear Trip
Members $40 non-members $65
Includes lodging, transportation, and first night's food. There will be
Contact Sargon Gewargis: fishtale@juno.com
s8913705@mail.themall.net
Apr 24
Beginning of Settled Village Life in Eastern Anatolia
Dr. Michael Rosenberg
Associate Professor, University of Delaware
6:00 p.m.
Reception Follows
Rainey Auditorium
Free (215) 898-4890
May 4
"Near Eastern Archeology"
Speaker: Dr. Thomas E. Levy
University of California, San Diago
Location: Westchester, New York
Call Hugo Vandenwall Bake (914) 472-0874
May 5
"Near Eastern Archeology"
Speaker: Dr. Thomas E. Levy
University of California, San Diego
Location: Tufts University, Boston
Call Jodi Magness (617) 628-5000 x2680
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/classicsDept/aia.html
May 23-26
Assyrian State Convention of California
Turlock, California
May 24
A C N C '97
The Third Assyrian Community Networking Conference
The Assyrian State Convention of California
Turlock, California
Organized by The Assyrian Community Networking Society
Aug 26-Sept 2
Assyrian American National Convention
Hyatt Regency Dearborn
Fairlane Town Center
Detroit, Michigan
All Single,double,triple,quad rooms: $95 per day
Reservations: (313) 982-6880
Reservations must be made by August 7.
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E N T R A C T E
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Mar 21
Kha b'Neesan Cocktail Dance Party
Assyrian American Association of San Jose
San Jose Athletic Club
196 North 3rd Street (408) 292-1281
7:30 pm
Donation: $30.00
"Hot Hord d'oevres!"
No tickets sold at the door/no reservations
For tickets call:
Caroline Nasseri (408) 268-7990
Ellen Sayad
(408) 997-0392
Jaleh Atniel
(408) 927-8881
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I N T E L L I G E N T S I A
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CHICAGO
Assyrian Athletic Club Soccer Development Program
Ages 7-14
7:45-9:45 pm
Mondays
Weber Park Gymnasium
Western Avenue & Devon Street
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 1997-98
Syriac Classes Taught by Dr. J.F. Coakley
Elementary Syriac
Instructor: J. F. Coakley
Basic Syriac grammar and syntax
with selected readings from the Syriac Bible and
other early texts.
Readings in Syriac I
Historical and theological texts, and early poetry
Readings in Syriac II
Special attention to exegetical texts and to reading
manuscripts.
MODESTO
Assyrian Educational & Cultural Club at
Modesto Junior College
1:00 pm
Fridays
Founders Hall 108
Modesto, U.S.A.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD Assyrian Boy Scouts
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
9:30am to 12:30pm
Sundays
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
Assyrian Student Union
California State University, Northridge
Assyrian American Association of Southern California
Assyrian Club
5901 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood, California
6:00pm
Contact Sargon Gewargis @ fishtale@juno.com
(818) 891-3705 after 7:30 pm
SAN JOSE
Nisibin School
Assyrian Language Classes
Ages 5-14
10:00-1:00 pm
Saturdays
AAA of San Jose BETA
20000 Almaden Road
Raabie Nimrod Simono's Intermediate Grammar Class
AAA of San Jose BETA
ONLY IN MARCH
Class Days Vary (Contact ZENDA for more information)
Maestro Nebu Issabey's Nineveh Choir Practice
AAA of San Jose BETA
8:00 pm
Thursdays
TORONTO
Nisibis School
10:30-1:30
Saturdays
The Church of the East
Toronto, Canada
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A S S
Y R I A N S U
R F I N G P O
S T S
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Here are a few titles found in the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology:
ANCIENT CULTURES OF MESOPOTAMIA video collection:
Assurnasirpal--The Assyrian King
Babylon-The Gate of the Gods
Hatra
Mesopotamian Heritage of Islamic
Architecture
Sumerian Kingdom of Ur
For more information see The Rotch Library Visual Collections
website:
http://nimrod.mit.edu/depts/rvc/
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P U M P UP THE V O L U
M E
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English Modern Assyrian
Editorial
Sia/mo/na
[F]
Article mam/la
[F]
___________________________________________________________________________
F = Feminine M = Masculine
P = Plural
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B A C K TO THE
F U T U R E
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B.C. (1792) Some scholars believe
that this was the year Hammurabi, king of
Babylon rose to power on the basis of observations of
the planet Venus,
recorded in the reign of one king Hammurabi's successors.
<< Sumer and the Sumerians, Crawford >>
A.D. (1945) The Assyrian National Petition was presented
to the World
Security Conference at San Francisco.
<< The Assyrian National Question, Dadesho >>
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L I T E
R A T U
S
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A 5000-Year-Old "Father & Son: Discussion
"Where did you go?"
"I did not go anywhere."
"If you did not go anywhere, why do you idle about?
Go to school, stand before your school-father,
write your tablet, let your big-brother write your new
tablet for you.
After you have finished your assignment and reported
to your monitor,
come to me, and do not wander about in the street.
Come now, do you know what I said?"
"I know, I'll tell it to you."
"Come now, repeat it to me."
"I'll repeat it to you."
"Tell it to me."
"come on, tell it to me."
"You told me to go to school, recite my assignment, open
my schoolbag,
write my tablet, while my big-brother is to write my
new tablet.
After finishing my assignment, I am to proceed to my
work
and to come to you after I have reported to my monitor.
That's what you told me."
<< History Begins at Sumer, Kramer >>
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T H I S W E E K
I N H I S T O R
Y
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March 12, 1838: The first Assyrian school for girls,
with only four
registered students, is inaugurated in Urmie, Iran.
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B R A
V O
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SALMA HAYEK
Born in 1968 in Mexico Salma Hayek is a film star throughout
much of Latin
America. Salma (Assyrian "image") is of Lebanese
Assyrian-Maronite
descent, was educated by nuns and completed her studies
in International
Relations in Mexico City. As star of a Spanish-language
soap opera she
came to Hollywood in 1990 and began her acting career
in such films as
"Fled" with Laurence Fishburne and in Quentin Tarantino's
"From Dusk Till
Dawn." She was also in "Desperado" with Antonio
Banderas. She can be seen
this week (March 16) on cable TV as Esmeralda in TNT's
production of "The
Hunchback" (of Notre Dame). Salma is single and
lives in the Hollywood Hills.
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the D I R E C T O R
Y
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ZNAD (Assyrian Democratic Organization)
ZNAM (Archeology Magazine)
ZNAP (Associated Press International)
ZNBN (Bet-Nahrain Inc/ KBSV-TV "AssyriaVision")
ZNDA (Zenda: zenda@ix.netcom.com)
ZNMN (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNNQ (Nabu Quarterly)
ZNNV (Nineveh Magazine)
ZNRU (Reuters)
ZNSJ (San Jose Mercury News)
ZNTM (Time Magazine)
ZNUP (United Press International)
ZNUS (US News & World Report)
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W E L C O M
E T O Z E
N D A
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Zenda welcomes our new on-line subscribers from:
CORPORATE ACCOUNTS
Software Technologies
UNIVERSITY ACCOUNTS
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
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S A L
U T E
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Zenda wishes to thank the following individuals &
organizations whose
contributions appear in this issue:
Adrin Taksh
Berlin, Germany
Lorine Merza
San Jose, California
Esha Tamras
San Jose, California
and the following individual(s) for introducing ZENDA
to our new readers:
Ramin Daniels
San Jose, California
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