Monday, April 06, 2020

The Assyrian New Year has been canceled in Syria.

CHALDO-ASSYRIAN WATCH: Assyrian new year canceled in Syria amid fear of coronavirus outbreak (Rana al-Ahmde, Al-Monitor). HT AINA.

The Akito (or Kha b-Nisan) normally occurs on 1 April and the celebrations last for some days. I noted it once some years ago here.

I only just found out that this holiday is a modern revival of the ancient Mesopotamian spring New Year, the Akitu Festival, on which more here and links.

Cross-file under Syriac Watch. For more holy days affected by the pandemic (pretty much all of them in April), see here.

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