Thread: Thumbs Gone Kerplunk

Originally Posted by Wintchase

Interestingly i just read about Assyria the other day. Talk about a tough go over in the middle east. When did your family come over the the US? I'll bet that is a story in itself..

Hello Wintchase,

The Assyrian empire flourished in Mesopotamia, the present-day Iraq. The empire fell in 612 B.C., when the capitol Nineveh was sacked and burned by the Medes and the Babylonians. The Assyrian people remained in the area, maintaining their nationality, and later converted to Christianity.

Ethnic and religious prejudices have been a nightmare for the Assyrians, who as I said are Christian, made even worse by the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Since the invasion thousands of Assyrians have fled to the neighboring countries, struggling for survival, where some of our young women have turned to prostitution because the family has no way of making a living. That is a sore subject with me, my dear friend, so I'll stop there.

I was named after King Ashur-Uballit I (1363-1328 B.C.). I was born in Baghdad, but spent my early teens in Tehran, Iran, and later my older brother and I immigrated to the U.S. I didn't know English when I arrived — and that was difficult — but I wasn't about to sit on my establishment and blow bubbles in the air. So I learned English.

Oh, yes, it's a long story, bitter-sweet, and maybe someday I'll write it.

Stay well.