Voices from the Diaspora: The Beth Nahrain Conference

Roy Gessford, one of the show’s organizers.

By Weam Namou

On Saturday, November 5, the Chaldean Cultural Center held a half-day conference for writers of Mesopotamian ancestry at Shenandoah Country Club. The seven featured writers included Roy Gessford, an Aramaic scholar who proposed the idea of the conference. “This community has been persecuted at a level that most Westerners could never understand,” he said. “They no longer have a homeland.”

As executive director of the CCC, I embraced Gessford’s idea, feeling strongly that it is through storytelling, education, and these kinds of gatherings that the community will be able to preserve and document its history, culture, and language. Such events will help inspire us and others to better understand and appreciate our heritage.

“As a child, I read a lot of books by Jewish authors who were non-writers,” said one of the speakers, Jacob Bacall, author of several books about Chaldeans in Michigan. “I was inspired by them to write books.”

Bacall pointed out that we are losing our presence in the Middle East, which we consider the origin of our birth, adding, “In order for us to preserve our identity, it’s important to preserve our language and stories.”

Asmaa Jamil, Mahir Awrahem, Khairy Foumia, Weam Namou, Ann Esshaki, Jacob Bacall, and Thamur Hindo.

Bacall gave the example of Shamoun Dabish, a man who documented a lot of valuable information out of love and passion for his community even though he did not get paid for it.

Mahir Awrahem talked about how people can use technology and social media to teach Sureth. He authored Alap Beth and teaches Aramaic at University of Detroit Mercy, the Chaldean Cultural Center, Holy Martyrs Church, and online.

“I fell in love with my language at age 12 when I heard my parents and grandparents pray and read at our house’s courtyard in Tel Keppe,” he said. He later learned how to read and write the language in five days by dedicating five minutes a day to it.

Awrahem listed the reasons why the language is dying, which include outside factors such as multiple wars and the Arabization that forced everyone in the country to speak and read only Arabic. Parents in the United States are not talking to their children in Sureth, even though he has seen many kids thirsty to learn the language. He suggested “killer” ways to use technology to learn Sureth: via video chats; listening to language classes during car rides; watching YouTube videos; and listening to children’s songs.

Thamur Hindo, author of The Holy Bible and Archaeology of Mesopotamia, talked about his experience as a civil engineer who managed and accomplished numerous building and road projects in Iraq. He was also appointed to complete construction projects in the heart of the archaeological site of the ancient city of Babel in the late 1980s. Being proud of his heritage and civilizations that are “recorded in the texts of the Holy Bible,” he felt the call to write his book, which took 18 years to complete.

Thamur talked about several biblical references to Assyria and Babylonia, the Deluge, the Great Flood, Nebuchadnezzar, and ancient cities such as Uruk, adding, “It is impossible to deny concrete evidence of the archaeological discoveries and hard to disapprove the authenticity of the word of God in the Bible. As a matter of fact, we are obligated to accept the reality of both accounts entirely, including all future predicted prophesies of the Bible, and all documented missions of many gods and the achievements of kings and legendary figures of Mesopotamia.”

Deacon Khairy Foumia noted that while Awrahem learned Aramaic in 25 minutes, it took him a little longer – two hours. He was taught by Father Michael Bazzi. Foumia’s topic was about the life of Patriarch Joseph Marouf II from Nestorian to the Catholic Church. It is partly based on one of his books, titled An Episode in History of Telkeppe and Yousif II Patriarch of Chaldean. The book was initially intended to be an article about Patriarch Yousif (Joseph), who passed away in 1712.

“When I tried to publish it as an article in Bayn Al Nahrayn Magazine, Father Habbi said, ‘It’s too long. Either reduce it or make it a book.’ I said I don’t know how to reduce it, but I can add to it. So, because of Patriarch Yousif, I decided to write about Tel Keppe too, and the project grew.”

As an author myself, I had the opportunity to talk about the history of women in ancient Mesopotamia, based on my book Mesopotamian Goddesses. About a 100 years ago, the existence of female deities began to emerge when archaeologists found discoveries that revolutionized peoples’ understanding of women’s roles in that region.

Ann Esshaki, who earned an M.A. of Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University, read from her book Kaldani, a poetry book about the genocide and diaspora of Chaldeans. Her poem Baking Bread won the hearts of many attendees.

The conference was a success, as much for the authors as for the attendees. We are not alone.