7 Day Road-trip Across Syria (extra scene)

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[CAnthony]

There’s a thriving Middle-Eastern community in metro-Detroit that speaks Aramaic. We’re called the Chaldeans. Our families immigrated to the states from their villages in Baghdad, Iraq in the 1960s and 1970s. The Chaldean population in Michigan is now around 160, 000.

[hugs]

The loss of history and culture is so heartbreaking.

[kenshelby]

My grandfather is Assyrian (grandmother Lebanese) and he forced my mom to learn Aramaic everyday because he was so scared the language would never be passed on.

[dr.alisonschofield]

I'm a professor of Aramaic (Pronounced A-ra-MAY-ic). ***He said: "It's prohibited now to go up into the Monastery of Mar Sarkis, but it is the greatest monastery of the utmost holiness"*** (Monastery (Der) of St. Takla is of their patron saint in the "crack" in the rock above the city). I visited Ma'alula right before the civil war and recorded folks speaking (for my Aramaic students back in the States).

[laylasalahuddin]

this video made me cry, I grew up in Aleppo and left for the USA in 2009 before the war started. Seeing this video made me so sad to see the place I used to call home in ruins hurts. Thank you, Thomas, and the rest of the team for showing the world what Syria means to me.

[margarita_]

Chaldean here! We are Eastern Catholics originally from Iraq where Aramaic is the native language of our people. Most of us are dispersed throughout the world due to the diaspora that terrorism, war, and religious persecution has inflicted on our people. I’m a first generation Chaldean American and I natively speak Aramaic amongst my family and community! There are several dialects today of the language but it is very much alive and spoken within our communities (Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriacs) throughout the world and still today in most of our villages & cities in Northern Iraq.

Fun fact: In Ethiopia one of the main languages is Amharic which I’ve heard is similar to Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic. Also the fact that Aramaic and Hebrew are similar to each other as well - our alphabet and numbers are very alike! Of course this is due to them being in the Semitic branch of languages. Just goes to show that we are all connected as humans through history somehow :)

[jayjayable]

I am grateful for YouTube for giving people like yes theory the opportunity to explore and show the different sides of the world that a lot of people don't get to see. We sometimes are so focused at the little problems we face that we don't realise what other people are going through. Thank you yes theory for showing us these beautiful video's and keep it up 👍🏼

[pip]

It's heartbreaking to see the malicious damage caused by some people...

[michaelzaya]

There are groups of Aramaic speakers all around the world called Assyrians. They're the indigenous people of Iraq and parts of Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Turkey. There are about 2-5 million of us left in the world, although the exact figure isn't know, but about half the population was wiped out through genocide in the early 1900s. There are almost half a million of them located around the U.S (predominantly Arizona, Illiniois and Michigan) and quite a few in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and more.

It's a shame people don't know more about them, but fun fact Assyrians invented the wheel, the first civilisation, the first written book (The Epic of Gilgamesh), astrology, the 360 degree circle, the base 60 numerical system (60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute, etc.) and many forms of mathematics and so much more and they are barely recognised in todays society.

[FerociousPancake]

The interview with the older woman was so heavy. It’s been years and people are still tearing up talking about it. A true loss. So much so that I and many other viewers can even feel the grief through the video…

[michaelorlev]

I believe it's pronounced Aramaic in English. I've read Aramaic in my life, as many Jewish texts are written in Aramaic. Many Religious Jews can read it fluently, and there are some prayers in Aramaic too. I never knew there were people who still spoke it, and so close... So special. Thank you for sharing this with the world!

[kaylah]

I have watched this before but each time I rewatch these videos it brings me such sadness. Just imagine the place you call home, all the comfort it brings you, the surroundings of your home town and everything you know and love about it suddenly its destroyed and left in ruins. It is honestly something most of us will never live to understand. How blessed we are not to know the pain they must carry in their hearts. God I hope this world can change for the better. To think we still have war ruining the lives of so many people right now in 2024 is absolutely devastating.

[prashantbhatta]

I was watching Syrian episode in "Yes Theory" and this pops as next video. Thank you Thomas for all the efforts. Didn't know you have another channel though...

[jman]

When he said “This is Syria” you can feel the sadness in his voice. Wow.

[khloepatra]

That's heavy when people come to terms that *this is syria* just with that acceptance is painful to hear.

[ahmadalalwani]

Watching day to day life of my home from Canada feels super nostalgic. We have all the resources here yet we feel unhappy for some reason. Meanwhile, I felt more alive when we were in Syria even during the war and hardships.
Probably, we Syrians were built tough and can't take the comfort life as an easy option.
I'm lucky to live and tell about Maaloula and Homs and tell stories about my experiences in Syria before the war and during the war.

[bhavikpandya]

The topics and way of thinking and explaining things is just incredibly you guys are just amazing ❤❤

[damiolek]

Hearing Aramaic was beautiful! I enjoyed the part without translation too, so I could listen without reading and transport myself back thousands of years. Nice work! Thanks!

[annemacleod]

I’ve come from the YES Theory’s journey through Syria…so I was already feeling emotional but now even more so…this is heartbreaking. The destruction of homes, livelihoods, historical treasures….it is not okay, Touma…it takes a lot to be hope-filled when you see this. However, I have sensed tremendous resilience from the children and adults you met on this trip. Thank you for educating us. 🇳🇿🇳🇿🐑🐑NZ