Assyrian and Aramaic
Assyrians are the easternmost Christians of the Middle East. Their ancestral home centers on Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. Today they continue to live in the region that includes parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria and in global diaspora. The largest Assyrian communities may be found in the United States and Europe.
Spoken Aramaic is still alive among Assyrians and Jews originating from the location of the historic Aramaic-speaking regions of antiquity. Aramaic, an endangered language, is the oldest continuously written alphabetical language in the world. Syriac, a rich literary language used in church liturgies, for more than a millenium, helped in the transmission of scientific knowledge from Greek into Arabic.
Two presentations in Aramaic may be heard on this website: the lecture by Vladimir Moghaddasi in the lectures section, and the video about the exhibit that Ramina Jajoo delivers introducing the exhibit at ASU.
Many thanks go to the descendants of the Joseph/Yuseff family, many of who still live in Santa Clara County.
Many thanks go to Rabi Yosep Bet Yosep who helped preserve the letters for many years until their value was recognized for this exhibit and for archiving at UC Berkeley.
Many thanks go to the Assyrian Foundation of America for providing major seed funding for this project.
museum Information
570 E. Remington Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Ample Free parking available at Museum
Admission is Free.
Sunday, April 3 to June 5, 2022
Museum hours: Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays 12pm - 4 pm