Assyrian New Year

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Assyrian New Year Facts

• In antique Assyria, the New Year festival was celebrated for 12 days. Antique objects such as cuneiform tablets have shown that this celebration was the most significant event of the year.
• After the formation of Turkey, the Assyrian New Year along with the Nowruz were debarred as public celebrations. Assyrians in Turkey were first permitted to publicly celebrate Kha b’ Nisan in 2005.
• The Assyrian New Year has a few names. Kha b’ Nisan or Ha b’ Nisin, means the “First of April”, while Resha d’Sheta translates to “Head of the year” in Assyrian. Akitu, the Akkadian name for the Assyrian New Year is also commonly used. The Assyrian New Year is a spring festival celebrated on April 1.
  
• The Assyrian New Year was the biggest festival in the antique Assyrian and Babylonian Empires.
  
  

Assyrian New Year Top Events and Things to Do

• Assyrians celebrate the Assyrian New Year frequently by holding family parties, picnics, parades, and parties. It’s not unusual to see men and women together wearing traditional clothes and dancing in parks for hours, or families holed up in cultural centers enjoying many hours of poetry. This party is recognized as the Re sha d’sheta for Assyrians in Iraq and throughout the diaspora.
• A beautiful tradition where Assyrian girls fold flowers and herbs which are then suspended from the roof, known as Diqna d’ Nisan, meaning "Beard of April/Spring".

Assyrian New Year's Day References and Related Sites