ion
to be called after the name of a stranger. But most uneducated people
glory in being called Nestorians. The true origin of the Nestorians was
in the old Assyrian nation. The Assyrians were descendants of Arphaxad
the son of Shem.

THEIR PLACE.

They originally dwelt in or near the cradle of mankind, in eastern
Mesopotamia, Assyria and Syria. At times their empire extended nearly
to Babylon and Nineveh and the great empire of Assyria was established.

LANGUAGE.

All Assyrian scholars believe or suppose that the original language
spoken before the confusion of tongues was Assyrian, while some other
scholars believe it was the Hebrew language. It is believed that in
time it will be generally agreed that Assyrian was the original
language. It is evident that Abraham was a descendant of Aber, grandson
of Arphaxad, third son of Shem. The Assyrian language was spoken in
purity until the time of Abraham. When he left his parents by command
of God to dwell in Canaan and Egypt it is an inevitable truth that
Abraham spoke the language of his Assyrian parents. But when he dwelt
in Canaan and Egypt his speech became mixed with words of those
languages. The Old Testament was written by this confused language of
Assyria and Egypt which was called holy language. Therefore we see
names in the Old Testament both of Assyrian and the mixed language of
Abraham.

CHAPTER II.

THEIR HISTORY.

St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew from the twelve apostles, and the St.
Eddi and St. Maree from the seventy apostles have been called the
apostles of Assyria. Their first patriarch was St. Maree whose
residence was in Ktispon on the river Tigris which was for a long time
capital of the Sassanites dynasty. St. Maree expired in A.D. 82. After
his death his disciples went to Jerusalem and chose Abriz as their
patriarch. He served from A.D. 90 to 107. After Abriz from A.D. 130 to
132, Abraham, a relative of the apostle James, became their patriarch.
His successor was James, a just man, and a relative of the Virgin Mary,
mother of our Lord. Akhad Abowoy became their patriarch from 205 to
220. During this period there was a severe war between the Romans and
Persians. The latter then ruled over Persia, Assyria and Babylonia. The
patriarch of Jerusalem, a subject of Rome, advised the Assyrians who
were under the Parthians to elect a patriarch who was a subject of the
Parthians. The Parthians ruled over Persia from 220 B.C. until 226 A.D.