Beth al-Nahrain

Dr. Sabah Yacoub, Saad Murad, Dr. Adhid Miri, Weam Namou, and Roy Gessford.

Second Annual Writers of Mesopotamia Conference

By Adhid Yousif Miri, PhD

The Chaldean Community Foundation, in partnership with the Chaldean Cultural Center in West Bloomfield (Shenandoah Country Club), took the initiative to host the second annual Mesopotamian Writers Conference (Beth al-Nahrain) on Saturday, November 11 in the Wireless Vision Gymnasium located in the Chaldean Community Foundation building in Sterling Heights.

This gathering was attended by several participating writers and guests interested in literature, poetry, culture, and heritage. The symposium covered different topics, and participating writers made brief presentations. Roy Gessford, who has been studying the Aramaic language for years, talked about developing new writers in the Aramaic-speaking community. Saad Murad spoke about writing about the Yazidi genocide and survival. Weam Namou, executive director of the Chaldean Cultural Center, addressed the legendary women of Mesopotamia. Dr. Sabah Yaqoub spoke about certain aspects of Arabic poetry, and Dr. Adhid Youssef Miri shared the experience of writing, the importance of education, and the Chaldean identity.

Roy Gessford

Roy Gessford is the author of Preserving Chaldean Aramaic, an English teacher, publisher, Aramaic educator, public speaker, and founder of Let the Light Shine Through Publishing, which he founded for the purpose of sharing knowledge with others and encouraging aspiring authors to submit and print completed language manuscripts.

In his presentation, Roy discussed in detail the practical steps and studies that he took to educate himself and enhance his strong desire to preserve the precious Aramaic language, which he considers the mother of all languages. He believes the history of humanity has been intertwined with this language since ancient times.

Gessford highlighted his passion and love for languages and explained the reasons that started his personal journey to learn the Aramaic language (which according to Roy is an endangered language worth saving) through an experimental project to teach the Aramaic language in cooperation with Chaldean Father Michael Bazzi in San Diego, California.

In 2013, he began publishing Bazzi’s books that deal with heritage and linguistic topics such as modern and classical Aramaic, Chaldean, the village of Tel Kaif, and the speakers of variations of Aramaic languages such as Chaldean, Syriac, Assyrian, Hebrew, Arabic, Nabataean, and other Semitic languages.

Gessford concluded by summarizing his findings and made recommendations for future researchers and academics to encourage students and those interested in learning the Aramaic language to contact him directly.

Saad Murad

A journalist and human rights activist, Saad Murad has the passion and ambition to highlight the plight of the Yazidis in Iraq and hopes to bring change and develop awareness about the genocide of the 21st century. He currently serves as a board member of Yazda (the International Yazidi Organization) and the Yazidi Cultural Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. Previously, he held pivotal roles as Director of Media and Communications at Yazda and as Media and Administrative Director for Yazidi activist and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nadia Murad.

Saad provided a detailed perspective not only about his work, his personal journey—a testament to his resilience, having survived the 2014 genocide in Sinjar during ISIS attacks on Yazidis. He presented a comprehensive and clear historical picture of the extent of the Yazidi tragedy that resulted from ISIS campaigns and the ongoing decrees in Sinjar and Tal Afar, as well as tragedies that resulted from the massive killings in Yazidi villages and people as well as victims of captivity and what they were subjected to at the hands of ISIS members after they took control of the area in August 2014.

Murad was an eyewitness and victim of that tragedy and listed evidence and pictures which included a set of compelling documents of the genocide, the mass graves of women, children, and the elderly.

He stated that although government forces expelled the organization from the judiciary in November 2015, the conditions still lack security and stability because of rivalry between the armed groups in the Nineveh Plain region. This reflects negatively on the services and the faltering reconstruction campaigns, which leads to the reluctance of the displaced citizens to return to their homes.

“The federal government in Baghdad is ineffective,” said Murad. “We have repeatedly asked our government to support survivors and their families without success. The displacement camps are hours away from Sinjar, and these camps represent an extension of the genocide that is tearing apart the entire fabric of Yazidi society. An entire generation of Yazidis remains without access to appropriate education, job opportunities, or basic rights such as personal privacy and freedom of belief. They need government aid and compensation.”

There are about 3,000 Yazidis based in the state of Nebraska and a small group living in the city of Lansing, Michigan.

Weam Namou

Weam is the Executive Director of the Chaldean Cultural Center, an author of 16 books, and an award-winning film director of two feature films. The first is a documentary called The Great American Family, and the second is a feature film called Pomegranate. She is also the winner of the Eric Hoover Award and an ambassador for the Authors Guild of American Books, which is the largest and oldest book organization in the United States. Namou’s articles and poetry have been published in national and international journals, and as a keynote speaker, she has given readings, lectures, and workshops in libraries, schools, and universities.

In her lecture, Namou reviewed the history, achievements, and innovations of a group of Mesopotamian women. She explored their role in multiple fields of knowledge such as writing, philosophy, literature, poetry, arts, perfumes, and beer-making, along with other innovations that changed the course of life and society in Mesopotamia.

On the societal side, Namou indicated that opportunities were available for Sumerian women to learn and play musical instruments in temples, enter monasteries, and to dedicate themselves to worship.

The Sumerians invented writing on the clay tablet. Mesopotamia in Iraq brought us the first letter, the first teacher, and the first to take special care with youth education, believing that “learning in childhood is like engraving in stone”. Teaching writing in Sumerian society meant moving towards education and taking advantage of opportunities. This also gave women a prominent position in Sumerian society, which gained the attention of men and later led to the prosperity of the Sumerian civilization by preserving inherited societal traditions in which women played an important role and strengthened their status in society.

Namou explained that “the culture of any society is characterized by the solid or soft ground on which women stand,” meaning that culture has a direct role in the process of educating women and society.

Dr. Sabah Yacoub

A graduate of the College of Medicine in Baghdad with a postgraduate degree from the United Kingdom, Dr. Sabah Yacoub has a keen interest in poetry and literature. Over the years, he held editorial positions in medical journals, authored four poetry collections, and wrote articles on various aspects of life. He continues to write in social media, newspapers, and magazines. In 2014, he established the Chaldean Cultural Forum in Windsor, Canada.

Dr. Sabah’s presentation covered the history of Arabic poetry and linguistic development from the era of pre-Islamic times through the Umayyad, Abbasid, and modern eras. He spoke about the types of poems produced during these stages, such as classic, modern, and freestyle verse.

Dr. Sabah believes “poetry is an idea, an inspiration, and a beautiful musical rhythm.” He read examples of verses from great poets such as Imru’ al-Qais, al-Mutanabbi, Elijah Abu Madhi, Badir Shakir al-Sayyab, Ma’arouf al-Rusafi, al-Jawahiri, Mohammad Saleh Bahr Al-Olum, and Mudhaffar al-Nawab. He also covered Christian poets throughout the ages (before and after Islam) such as the contemporary Chaldean Jesuit monk, pioneering writer, historian, and theologian Louis Sheikho (1859 – 1927 AD).

Dr. Sabah displayed his published work in Arabic and English, including Poetry Quatrains, Flashes of the Present Pain, Bobble Braids, and Chaldeans When Do We Rouse.

Dr. Adhid Miri

As a contributing writer to the Chaldean News, my writings focus on the importance of preserving heritage, education, culture, Chaldean identity, community, and the history of Mesopotamia and Iraq.

A former university professor, I was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1948. Since arriving in the United States in 1981, I have been an active member of the Iraqi American community and served as President of the Chaldean-Iraqi American Society of Michigan (Southfield Manor-Shanandoah Club) from 2003 to 2005. Currently, I am a Project Director at the Chaldean Community Foundation, which is the non-profit arm of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce in Michigan.

In my presentation, I had the opportunity to speak about: the past, present, and future of the community; the importance of continuity and building on current successes; developing a brand and community identity in the diaspora; and the role of institutions and duty of leaders, which requires the participation of everyone in the Iraqi diaspora community.

I emphasized that this unified societal brand and identity, which is rooted in education and prevalent in society, is not owned by anyone in the community, but rather is the trust and responsibility of everyone. The importance of elevating the identity of our society into one that is strong and built on the pillars of science, knowledge, and the granite foundations of our culture and historical identity, just as we were in the homeland, cannot be understated.

The community must develop a strategy and integrate its efforts to benefit from the strengths of our numbers, raise our profile position among influential people, benefit from corporate support and philanthropists, and increase local and federal community recognition.

During the symposium, guests were able to conduct personal interviews with the lecturers, purchase some books and publications, ask questions, and review their books. Other highlights included lawyer Murshid (Marshall) Karmo, who spoke about his published books and writings; Nabil Rumaya, who spoke about his book An Iraqi Journey in the American Diaspora; and Deacon Salem Jiddo, who added his own commentary.

The conference was attended by a large group of people interested in knowledge and culture, as well as fellow writers and media personnel, including Mr. Namiq Nadhum, President of the Chaldean Writers and Writers Union, Mrs. Dr. Maha Al-Rayes/Yacoub, and Janan Youssef from the Resurrection Channel in San Diego.