Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes

[Paul Younan]

Ancestors on my father's side of the family were from Zacho and moved into other areas with Assyrian. At some point in time my family took up refuge with Assyrians, namely the Nochiya. Jews from Zacho speak a slightly different Aramaic (Judeo-Aramaic, which is a neo-Aramaic dialect), very similar to Christian Aramaic but some of the words are different to keep them separate, as Jews from Zacho and the general area say. Unfortunately, many Jews from Zacho are referred to as "Kurds" <!-- s:angry: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/angry.gif" alt=":angry:" title="Angry" /><!-- s:angry: --> which is entirely inaccurate. My great grandfather speaks of a certain "qasha" in his journals who never made him "reform our tradition and tongue" (i.e., change his faith and dialect) and "encouraged us to preserve it in whole for generations to come." Amen!

Akhi Yaaqub,

Here are some Jewish songs from Zakho in neo-Aramaic:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=x7_nzXEElqU (this one is a lament over the continuing captivity of the Israelites)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8gWgPNNrY