Asshur, Assyria, and Germany

Assyrian Relief from Nineveh, 645-635 B.C.

Finally, I am starting to share some information that I have put together in a new article titled Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History.

While most mainstream scholars seem to have little interest or belief in the subject, there is a lot of historical evidence that points to the ancient Assyrians as the ancestors of the modern Germanic peoples (this does not mean that there are not other types of Assyrians in the world, as many groups have ethnic and cultural diversity).

But first, let’s start with the Bible. One of the sons of Shem and grandson of Noah was named Assur/Ashur/Asshur:

1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood…21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. (Genesis 10:1,21-22, NKJV ).

The first century Jewish historian Josephus tied this son Asshur/Ashur in with Assyria as did the late fourth/early fifth century Catholic doctor and saint Augustine:

Shem, the third son of Noah, had five sons, who inhabited the land that began at the Euphrates, and reached to the Indian Ocean. Elam left behind him the Elamites, the ancestors of the Persians. Ashur lived in Ninevah; and named his descendants Assyrians, who became the most fortunate nation, beyond others. (Josephus. Josephus Complete Works. Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Chapter VI, Verse 4. Translated by William Whiston in 1867. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids (MI), 1960, p. 31)

Assur, father of the Assyrian…Of these nations the names have partly survived, so that at this day we can see from whom they have sprung, as the Assyrians from Assur…(Augustine. The City of God (Book XVI). Translated by Marcus Dods. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 2. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120116.htm>)

So, the term Assyria has long been considered to be a derivative term for descendant of Assur/Ashur/Asshur, grandson of Noah. Some Assyrian kings were named aversion of Ashur (Rines GE. The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Volume 2Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1918 Original from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Digitized Nov 9, 2007, pp. 428-439).

Around the 8th century B.C., God sent Jonah to the people of Ninevah. At that time, Ninevah was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and was one of the major cities in the world. While there, Jonah preached repentance (Jonah 3:1-4). And the people of that great city did repent then (Jonah 3:5-10). At least one 21st century discovery provides some evidence of the biblical Jonah (see James Tabor Seems to Have Found Old Jonah-Related Tomb).

The Assyrians sometimes moved and were in different areas. Around 530 B.C.:

Scylax of Caryanda names the coast of the Black Sea, from the Chalybians to Armene, westward of the promontory of Syrias, Assyria. Strabo states that these Syrians, who extended from the Taurus northwards as far as the Pontus; were named Leuko-Syrians, i.e. white Syrians. (Dunker M. The history of antiquity, Volume 1. Evelyn Abbott Publisher R. Bentley & son, 1877. Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Sep 12, 2007, p. 540)

Places like Pontus were in Asia Minor, typically referred to as the East by Latins/Romans.

Tacitus was a late first/early second century historian who apparently knew that the Germans at least claimed to have come from Asia Minor at one time:

When Tacitus informs us that the first act of a German on rising was ablution {washing}, it will be conceded, this habit was not acquired in the cold climate of Germany but must have been of eastern origin; as were the loose flowing robe, the long and braided hair, tied in a knot on the top of the head…Tacitus…knew their {German} claim to Asiatic origin, when he asks, “who would leave the softer abodes of Asia for Germany where nature yields nothing but deformity?” (Tod J. The annals and antiquities of Rajastʾhan: or the central and western Rajpoot states of India, Volume 1. Indian Publication Society, 1899. Original from Princeton University, Digitized Jan 15, 2010, p. 70)

Craig White reported that the above hairstyle “seems similar to the Assyrian hairstyle” (White C. The Great German Nation: Origins and Destiny. AuthorHouse, 2007, p. 96)

Apparently, Assyrians were considered to be of similar ethnicity to the Germans by some Arabs:

Medieval Arab authors say that the Assyrians are from the same source as the Germans…Barhebraeus, a Syria Bishop living during the twelfth century wrote that ‘The Germanikah are a people in Mosel (Nineveh) who came from Persia’…Arab tradition have the Germanikah as Assyrians. (Gemol M. Israelites und Hyksos. Leipzig, 1913, pp.88-90, as shown translated in White, p. 92)

History does show that the Assyrians conquered Persia (Malcom J. The history of Persia, from the most early period to the present time: containing an account of the religion, government, usages, and character of the inhabitants of that kingdom, Volume 1. J. Murray, 1829. Original from Oxford University, Digitized Jan 30, 2009, p. 509), hence Barhebraeus’ comments seem consistent with the old Arab beliefs.

Some Assyrians were described as having black or dark hair, while Sir William Smith reported of the Northern Germans:

The Germans were a branch of the great Indo-Germanic race, who, along with the Celts, migrated into Europe from the Caucasus, and the countries around the Black and Caspian seas, at a period long anterior to historical records. They are described as a people of high stature and of great bodily strength, with fair complexions, blue eyes, and yellow or red hair. (Smith W. A smaller classical dictionary of biography, mythology, and geography. Harper, 1877. Original from Harvard University, Digitized Jan 24, 2008, p. 175)

The above consistent with historical Church of God teachings (e.g. McNair R. America and Britain in Prophecy. Global Church of God, San Diego, 1996; Winnail D. Modern Nations and God’s Ancient Plan. Tomorrow’s World Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 4. July-August, 2006).

Various Church of God researchers believe that the Assyrian peoples migrated into central Europe in ancient times. Notice what the following two Church of God researchers have written:

After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the Roman historian Pliny mentioned a tribe of the “Assyriani” among the Scythian peoples in the Crimea north of the Black Sea (Natural History, Bk IV. XII. 81)…Researcher Leon Poliakov notes the ancient Bavarian account that the people of Bavaria came into central Europe from the region of Armenia by the Black Sea (The Aryan Myth, p. 76). Considering this information, it is not surprising to find medieval Arab writers describing the Germans as “Assyrians” (Israelites und Hyksos, Germol, pp. 89–90). The links between Germany and Assyria can be found, and are neither far-fetched nor imagined. (Winnail D. Resurgent Germany: A Fourth Reich? Tomorrow’s World Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 5, Sep-Oct 2007, pp. 16-20, 29)

The ancient city of Germanicopolis was located in Cilicia, in southeastern Asia Minor according to Ammianus Marellinus, book 1, § 27. It belonged of old to the Hatti. Cilicia is mentioned several places in the Bible. Paul was born in Cilicia (Acts 21:39 and 22:3). Now look at a map of Europe. We find that one of the eastern provinces of pre-World War II Germany is called SILESIA! — spelled slightly different, but pronounced the same! The name of Cilicia in Asia Minor was simply transplanted to Eastern Germany by the Hatti who migrated from Cilicia to Silesia, then to the Rhine. Silesia is only a modern spelling! (Hoeh H. Germany in Prophecy. Plain Truth, January 1963, p. 17)

The Catholic saint Jerome (late fourth/early fifth century) may have indicated that the descendants of the biblical Asshur (Genesis 10:22) which seems to be Assyria (Radmacher Concordance in. Nelson Study Bible, p. 11), ended up in parts of Europe, like Germany:

He that lets is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near…The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes of Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules, Saxons, Burgundians, Allemanni and— alas! For the commonweal!— even Pannonians. For Assur also is joined with them. The once noble city of Moguntiacum has been captured and destroyed. In its church many thousands have been massacred. The people of Vangium after standing a long siege have been extirpated. The powerful city of Rheims, the Ambiani, the Altrebatæ, the Belgians on the skirts of the world, Tournay, Spires, and Strasburg have fallen to Germany: while the provinces of Aquitaine and of the Nine Nations, of Lyons and of Narbonne are with the exception of a few cities one universal scene of desolation. (Jerome. Letter CXXIII to Ageruchia, Chapter 16. Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001123.htm>).

Various other scholars have noted similarities between ancient Assyria and modern Germany:

Assyria is interesting on account of the close parallel between her methods and morals and those of modern Germany. In politics, Germany has been an imitator of Assyria. (Vestal SC. The maintenance of peace, or, The foundations of domestic and international peace as deduced from a study of the history of nations. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1920 Original from Harvard University Digitized Dec 15, 2008, p. 118)

Similarities between Assyria and Germany have been noted by several (Oswalt JN, Oswalt J. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1-39 New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986, p. 226)

Some others, like George Spiteri, also call modern Assyria as Germany (Spiteri G. Return of the Living Jesus Christ. Xulon Press, 2007, p. xxvii), but without going into much detail as to why.

A recent work that goes into the most detail about the similarities on this was published by Craig White and is titled The Great German Nation: Origins and Destiny (AuthorHouse, 2007). Without going into all the details, his book looks at ancient records and practices of the Assyrians, including certain archaeological records, to demonstrate his reasoning why Germans are, in the main, basically descended from ancient Assyrians.

In the first century AD, Pliny reportedly claimed that the Assyrians were north of the Black Sea (Winnail D. Resurgent Germany: A Fourth Reich? Tomorrow’s World Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 5, Sep-Oct 2007). Here is Pliny’s account in Latin and a google-computer translation into English:

Sed a Carcinite Taurica incipit, quondam mari circumfusa et ipsa qua nunc campi iacent; dein vastis attollitur iugis. triginta sunt eorum populi, ex iis mediterranei XXIII; VI oppida Orgocini, Characeni, Assyrani, Stactari, Acisalitae, Caliordi. iugum ipsum Scythotauri tenent; cluduntur ab occidente Cherroneso Nea, ab ortu Scythis Satarcis. in ora a Carcine oppida Taphrae in ipsis angustiis paeninsulae, mox Heraclea Cherronesus, libertate a Romanis donatum; Megarice vocabatur antea, praecipui nitoris, in toto eo tractu custoditis Graeciae moribus, Vpassuum ambiente muro. (Pliny the Elder. Natural History, Book 4, Chapter 85 (in Latin). http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/4*.html viewed 10/06/11)

A Carcinite Taurica begins, once the sea he was surrounded and the field itself which I am now lie then raised huge hills. and thirty of them are the people, of the Midland 23; Orgocini 6 towns, Characeni, Assyrani, Stactari, Acisalitae, Caliordi. the yoke itself Scythotauri hold the Nea CHERSONESE conclude from the west, from the rising of the Scythians, Satarcis. CRAB Taphrae from the towns on the coast in the midst of the narrow peninsula, just CHERSONESE Heraclea, freedom given by the Romans; Megarice was called before, the principal of brightness, of Greece was kept tract of all his character, encompassing Vpassuum the wall. (Computer-generated translation).

So, Pliny’s account seems to support the idea of ending up in Middle Europe. Simlarly, one of the oldest traditions of the Bavarians claim that they came to Central Europe by way of the Black Sea (White, p. 100).

There is also a very old legend that claims that the city of Trier in Germany was founded by an Assyrian leader:

For legend, going history better by more than 2000 years, ascribes the founding’ of Trier to Assyrian Prince Trebeta, who gave it his name, in 2053 BC. (Fodor E. Germany 1962. D. McKay, 1962 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Oct 12, 2006, p. 175; see also Treverorum A. British Quarterly Review, July 1875, pp. 1-3)

Hence, the idea that at least some of the Germans have Assyrian heritage has long been held and is not a new idea. Many mainstream scholars (while acknowledging the information about Trier), on the other hand, do not tend to look much before the time of the Roman Empire and teach that the Germans originally came from some part of Asia, but they generally do not try to connect Germany with Asshur or Assyria.

Yet, since everybody had to come from somewhere, it seems to make the most since that Asshur was at least one of the ancestors of the modern German peoples.

For details on those prophecies, check out the following:

Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? What is ahead for Europe?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North? Is the German Defense Minister one to watch? What do Catholic, Byzantine, and biblical prophecies suggest?
Resurgent Germany: A Fourth Reich? Who are the German peoples and where did they come from? What is Germany’s role in end time prophecy?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2012, 2013, or 2014? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Why does Daniel 9:26-27 seem to be referring to a peace deal confirmed by a European leader.