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	Assyria
      \ã-'sir-é-ä\ n (1998)  
      1:  an ancient empire of Ashur   
	2:  a democratic state in Bet-Nahren, Assyria (northern 
	Iraq, northwestern Iran, southeastern Turkey and eastern Syria.)  
      3: 
    a democratic state that fosters the social and political rights to all of 
	its inhabitants irrespective of their religion, race, or gender  
      4:  a democratic state that believes in the freedom of 
	religion, conscience, language, education and culture in faithfulness to the 
	principles of the United Nations Charter —
      Atour synonym | 
  
  
    
          
        
          
          
            
              
              
				Ethnicity, Religion, Language 
              
              
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              Israeli, Jewish, Hebrew 
              
              
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              Assyrian, Christian, Aramaic 
              
              
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              Saudi Arabian, Muslim, Arabic | 
             
           
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			Assyrian
      	\ã-'sir-é-an\ adj or n (1998)  
      	1:  descendants of the ancient empire of Ashur  
      	2:   the Assyrians, although representing but one single 
			nation as the direct heirs of the ancient Assyrian Empire, are now 
			doctrinally divided, inter sese, into five principle 
			ecclesiastically designated religious sects with their corresponding 
			hierarchies and distinct church governments, namely, Church of the 
			East, Chaldean, Maronite, Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic.  
			These formal divisions had their origin in the 5th century of the 
			Christian Era.  No one can coherently understand the Assyrians 
			as a whole until he can distinguish that which is religion or church 
			from that which is nation -- a matter which is particularly 
			difficult for the people from the western world to understand; for 
			in the East, by force of circumstances beyond their control, 
			religion has been made, from time immemorial, virtually into a 
			criterion of nationality.   
			3:  
      	the Assyrians have been referred to as Aramaean, Aramaye, Ashuraya, 
			Ashureen, Ashuri, Ashuroyo, Assyrio-Chaldean, Aturaya, Chaldean, 
			Chaldo, ChaldoAssyrian, ChaldoAssyrio, Jacobite, Kaldany, Kaldu, 
			Kasdu, Malabar, Maronite, Maronaya, Nestorian, Nestornaye, Oromoye, 
			Suraya, Syriac, Syrian, Syriani, Suryoye, Suryoyo and Telkeffee. — 
			Assyrianism verb |