Assyrians and Chaldeans language shift

[Halgurd]

The original Assyrians of the Bronze Age spoke a dialect of Akkadian and they are known to have made the first empire in civilisation.
Modern day Assyrians speak Aramaic, which is related but different to Akkadian. The Arameans were a people at the time of the Assyrian Empire who emerged from the Levant, and not Mesopotamia. They were a separate people to the Assyrians and in fact they conflicted with each other on several occasions.

How is it possible then for the Assyrians of today claim such a heritage? I am not denying their history, I simply do not see the link between modern and ancient Assyrians. If I am wrong, then I would appreciate an answer to this.

A sub section of Assyrians today (though many of them claim they are a separate ethnic group) are the Chaldeans who were another ancient separate people and, like the Arameans, did not originate from Mesopotamia. They helped to rebuild Babylon after its destruction by the Assyrians. Modern day Chaldeans live in Iraq, but they speak Aramaic as well. A group of Chaldeans who claim a separate ethnicity to the Assyrians today claim heritage from the ancient Chaldeans, which perhaps may make more sense.

From a genetic point of view Assyrians are very much a people of the region. But I think the link to ancient Assyrians simply isn’t there. I am very interested in knowing other people’s perspective on this topic.

[Demhat]

All modern day Semitic speaking Christians in the Middle East appear to be Aramaen speakers. They are more likely descend of the Amorites which sacked Assyria and Babylon than the original Assyrians.

People don't realize that the Assyrian language is a East Semitic language, while what modern Assyrian Aramaics speak belong to the Northwest Semitic branch and falls under Aramaic. The difference is as huge as between Kurdish and Pashto.

For comparison sake modern Assyrian language is far closer to Arabic than to ancient Assyrian.

[FinalFlash]

Assyria was an empire for a very long time in antiquity so it's likely that they have absorbed different kinds of people into their gene pool all those thousands of years ago. The current group of modern day Assyrians do seem to be fairly homogenous albeit with minor genetic differences between various religious sects. Ie Chaldeans vs Nestorians

[Demhat]

Assyria was an empire for a very long time in antiquity so it's likely that they have absorbed different kinds of people into their gene pool all those thousands of years ago. The current group of modern day Assyrians do seem to be fairly homogenous albeit with minor genetic differences between various religious sects. Ie Chaldeans vs Nestorians

That is true but that wasn't actually the point, the point is that modern day Assyrian Aramaics speak a Aramaic language. And the fact that they genetically are almost indistinguishable from Aramaens only adds to the fact that they are in reality Aramaens (Amorite like origin).

[FinalFlash]

That is true but that wasn't actually the point, the point is that modern day Assyrians speak a Aramaic language. And the fact that they genetically are almost indistinguishable from Aramaens only adds to the fact that they are in reality Aramaens (Amorite like origin).

If so, then who were the ancients?

[Demhat]

If so, then who were the ancients?

The ancient Assyrians were an East Semitic speaking folk very influenced by Sumerian language too. We know from historic records that Amorites sacked Assyria and Babylon at some point. The ancient Assyrians literally build a wall to hold out the Amorites. But the Amorites still managed to came in and became part of the Assyrian cultural sphere.

The OG Assyrians seem to be dead and have been replaced by Aramaic speakers. with the exception of letting behind some genes here and there.

[Halgurd]

I wonder then how modern Assyrians got their name.

[FinalFlash]

The ancient Assyrians were an East Semitic speaking folk very influenced by Sumerian language too. We know from historic records that Amorites sacked Assyria and Babylon at some point. The ancient Assyrians literally build a wall to hold out the Amorites. But the Amorites still managed to came in and became part of the Assyrian cultural sphere.

The OG Assyrians seem to be dead. with the exception of letting behind some genes here and there.

Maybe. But unfortunately we don't possess ancient Assyrian DNA samples to compare them to their modern-day counterparts. That would be pretty interesting to see how similar or different they are to each other.

[Halgurd]

Chaldeans were even involved in the sacking of Nineveh, they were key in bringing down the Assyrian Empire which makes me even more suspicious of that link.

[Halgurd]

I wonder then how modern Assyrians got their name.

Maybe it evolved as an umbrella term for different Aramaic speaking Christian groups in the ancient Iranian and Roman provinces of Assyria/Asoristan?

I say this because there is not much mention of any group known as the Assyrians from the fall of the Babylonians until the beginning stages of the spread of Christianity. There seems to be a gap of continuity.