Assyrian Bishop Calls for Friendship With Israel Based on Shared History and Biblical Roots

Mar Awa Royel, the first American-born Assyrian bishop in history, has expressed a desire for friendship between Israel and the Assyrian people. Born David Royel in Chicago, Illinois on July 4, 1975, His Grace Mar Awa, Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East, presides over the Diocese of California. He emphasizes Israel’s stability, global influence, and modern statehood in the Middle East, noting that the nation has withstood the test of time.

The bishop highlights a shared history between Assyrians and Israel, citing prophecy in the Book of Isaiah as a biblical foundation for their desired brotherhood. He has led several church-organized pilgrimages to Israel, underscoring the historical and spiritual connections between the Assyrian Church of the East and the land of Israel.

Although the Assyrian Christian community in Israel is small, the Assyrian Church of the East once shared a part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre until 1853. Many records and Assyrian manuscripts are now held by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Israel. Bishop Royel also reflects on the pre-Israel era, when Assyrians and Jews in Iraq shared cultural and linguistic ties. Even after the Arab Muslim conquest, Assyrians continued to speak their native language.

The Nash Didan, an Aramaic-speaking Jewish community in northern Iraq, is closely related to Assyrians. Estimated at around 300,000 in Israel, the Nash Didan trace their origins to Jews who fled during the Babylonian Exile and did not return after Cyrus II of Persia’s decree. Assyrian and Nash Didan dialects are linguistically similar, reflecting a shared heritage.

Bishop Royel describes the Targumim, Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible, as influential in Assyrian Church doctrine. These texts are the antecedents of the Old and New Testaments used by the Assyrian Church of the East. Queen Helena of Adiabene, an Assyrian who converted to Judaism in the 1st century C.E., lived in Jerusalem and contributed to the Second Temple, observing Jewish precepts diligently.

Assyrian churches themselves reflect a blend of synagogue and Jerusalem Temple worship, a unique feature not found in other Christian denominations. This fusion underscores the deep historical and spiritual connections between Assyrian Christians and the land of Israel.

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