A selective calendar of documented dates. Source calendars, historical context and uncertainty matter more than filling every day.
A date opens a story
On this day
Documented anniversaries, with the date evidence kept in view.
Today uses Europe/London time. Historical dates follow their cited source; early calendars are not silently converted.
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Sourced anniversaries for this date
No anniversary is documented for this date in our collection. Here are the next three.
UN action against the trade in looted Iraqi and Syrian heritage
The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2199, addressing terrorist financing and the illicit trade in cultural property from Iraq and Syria. The measure connected the protection of archaeological collections with the wider response to conflict.
This is the date of the Security Council action, not a date for every destruction or theft of an Iraqi artefact.
Dated 12 February 2015; the Council adopted resolution 2199 and required measures against the trade in unlawfully removed cultural property from Iraq and Syria.
Pope Francis remembered war victims in Mosul
During his visit to Iraq, Pope Francis prayed for war victims in Mosul’s Church Square. His address discussed displacement, the loss of Christian communities and the importance of rebuilding relationships among the city’s residents.
The published address identifies Hosh al-Bieaa in Mosul and Sunday 7 March 2021; it discusses displaced Christian families and renewal.
Sweden’s parliament voted on genocide recognition
The Riksdag approved a motion calling for Swedish recognition of the 1915 genocide affecting Armenians, Assyrians/Syriacs/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks. The parliamentary record identifies both the adopted decision and its date.
The entry describes a parliamentary vote. It does not treat that vote as proof of a later Swedish government policy or merge the named communities into one identity.
The official decision record gives 11 March 2010 and says parliament urged the government to recognize the genocide of the named communities.
Armenia’s National Assembly condemned the Greek and Assyrian genocide
Armenia’s National Assembly adopted a declaration condemning the genocide of Greeks and Assyrians carried out by Ottoman Turkey. The legislature’s published text provides a direct record of the declaration and its adoption date.
This anniversary concerns the adoption of a declaration in 2015, not a precise day for the earlier genocide.
The official declaration gives adoption date 24.03.2015 and explicitly condemns the genocide of Greeks and Assyrians by Ottoman Turkey.
The UN adopted a resolution on heritage during armed conflict
The Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2347 on cultural heritage in armed conflict. Its response to destruction and trafficking placed endangered archaeological sites, religious buildings and collections within an international protection framework.
This is a wider international heritage milestone relevant to Assyrian sites, not a resolution exclusively about Assyrians.
The resolution record states that the Council adopted it on 24 March 2017 at its 7907th meeting; it concerns destruction and trafficking of cultural heritage.
The official meeting report records unanimous adoption and describes the heritage-protection scope.
UNESCO launched Unite4Heritage in Baghdad
UNESCO launched Unite4Heritage at Baghdad University, inviting young people to oppose the destruction and pillage of cultural heritage. The campaign responded to attacks on Iraqi collections and sites, including Nimrud and Mosul Museum.
The first-party launch announcement is dated Saturday 28 March 2015 and identifies Baghdad University, the campaign and the destruction of Iraqi heritage.
Jacob of Edessa died at Tell Ada
Jacob of Edessa died after returning to Tell Ada to collect his books and students. His work in grammar, biblical revision and translation connected Syriac learning with Greek scholarship and influenced later generations of writers.
The historical date is reproduced as given by the specialist biography; it is not silently converted to a proleptic Gregorian date. His birth remains approximate.
The specialist biography places his return to the bishopric in 708 and explicitly gives his death as 5 June at Tell Ada; it describes his scholarly work.
A Catholic–Syriac Orthodox joint declaration
Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas issued a joint declaration in Rome. They affirmed shared Christological faith and discussed practical cooperation while acknowledging obstacles to full communion between their churches.
The Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East are distinct churches. The declaration is not a church merger or a statement assigning ethnic identity to their members.
The primary declaration concludes 'Rome, 23 June 1984' and sets out shared faith, cooperation and remaining limits to full communion.
Toma Audo’s life and scholarship were cut short
Toma Audo, bishop of Urmia and Salamas, was killed during the First World War persecutions. His work included a Syriac lexicon, a Neo-Aramaic grammar and translations that remain important to the history of language scholarship.
The date is for Audo’s death, not a single date for all First World War violence in Urmia or the wider region.
The biography explicitly gives 27 July 1918 for his assassination and lists his lexicon, Neo-Aramaic grammar and translations.
Remembering archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam
The British Museum dates Hormuzd Rassam’s death to 16 September 1910. Born in Mosul, he worked at Nineveh, Nimrud, Ashur and other sites. His career is inseparable from both Assyrian archaeology and the history of collecting under empire.
Excavation, export and museum ownership are different historical questions; this anniversary does not treat imperial collecting as uncomplicated rescue.
The museum identifies Rassam as an Assyrian Christian born in Mosul and contextualizes his work alongside Layard and the collection’s history.
Paul VI and Ignatius Jacoub III issued a common declaration
Pope Paul VI and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Jacoub III concluded their meeting with a common declaration. They described shared faith, encouraged further study and appealed for peace, justice and religious freedom.
This concerns relations between two churches, not a merger or a universal statement about the ethnicity of Syriac Orthodox Christians.
The primary declaration is explicitly dated Wednesday 27 October 1971 and addresses theological dialogue, peace, justice and religious freedom.
The British Museum opened its Ashurbanipal exhibition
The exhibition I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria opened in London. Its focus on Nineveh, royal imagery and learned collections offers a modern reception-history route into the evidence for the Neo-Assyrian empire.
This is a modern exhibition anniversary, not the date of Ashurbanipal’s birth, accession or death. Its public title reflects royal ideology, not a neutral historical ranking.
The museum again confirms the exhibition dates and connects the exhibition with an introduction to ancient Assyria.
The Catholic and Assyrian churches signed a Christological declaration
Pope John Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV signed a common Christological declaration at Saint Peter’s. The document affirmed shared faith and established a joint theological dialogue, while explicitly acknowledging that full ecclesial communion had not yet been restored.
A doctrinal declaration and dialogue process should not be described as the merger of the churches.
The signed primary document states 11 November 1994, names John Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV, establishes a Mixed Committee and describes remaining limits to full communion.
George Smith publicly presented the Gilgamesh flood account
George Smith read the flood narrative from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the Society of Biblical Archaeology. His presentation brought a text recovered from Nineveh to wider public attention and became a landmark in the modern study of cuneiform literature.
The lecture is a nineteenth-century event. It does not date the ancient composition, establish the flood narrative as an eyewitness account or make the Babylonian epic exclusively Assyrian.
The museum identifies the Flood Tablet and records its association with George Smith; this supports the artefact context, not the lecture’s day.
Without JavaScript, this selection is the dated 12 October 2026 edition. The collection is selective, not a complete calendar; uncertain ancient dates are not assigned a day.
All documented dates
Historical dates, not birthday reminders or claims of a universal commemorative calendar.
UN action against the trade in looted Iraqi and Syrian heritage
The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2199, addressing terrorist financing and the illicit trade in cultural property from Iraq and Syria. The measure connected the protection of archaeological collections with the wider response to conflict.
This is the date of the Security Council action, not a date for every destruction or theft of an Iraqi artefact.
Dated 12 February 2015; the Council adopted resolution 2199 and required measures against the trade in unlawfully removed cultural property from Iraq and Syria.
Pope Francis remembered war victims in Mosul
During his visit to Iraq, Pope Francis prayed for war victims in Mosul’s Church Square. His address discussed displacement, the loss of Christian communities and the importance of rebuilding relationships among the city’s residents.
The published address identifies Hosh al-Bieaa in Mosul and Sunday 7 March 2021; it discusses displaced Christian families and renewal.
Sweden’s parliament voted on genocide recognition
The Riksdag approved a motion calling for Swedish recognition of the 1915 genocide affecting Armenians, Assyrians/Syriacs/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks. The parliamentary record identifies both the adopted decision and its date.
The entry describes a parliamentary vote. It does not treat that vote as proof of a later Swedish government policy or merge the named communities into one identity.
The official decision record gives 11 March 2010 and says parliament urged the government to recognize the genocide of the named communities.
Armenia’s National Assembly condemned the Greek and Assyrian genocide
Armenia’s National Assembly adopted a declaration condemning the genocide of Greeks and Assyrians carried out by Ottoman Turkey. The legislature’s published text provides a direct record of the declaration and its adoption date.
This anniversary concerns the adoption of a declaration in 2015, not a precise day for the earlier genocide.
The official declaration gives adoption date 24.03.2015 and explicitly condemns the genocide of Greeks and Assyrians by Ottoman Turkey.
The UN adopted a resolution on heritage during armed conflict
The Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2347 on cultural heritage in armed conflict. Its response to destruction and trafficking placed endangered archaeological sites, religious buildings and collections within an international protection framework.
This is a wider international heritage milestone relevant to Assyrian sites, not a resolution exclusively about Assyrians.
The resolution record states that the Council adopted it on 24 March 2017 at its 7907th meeting; it concerns destruction and trafficking of cultural heritage.
The official meeting report records unanimous adoption and describes the heritage-protection scope.
UNESCO launched Unite4Heritage in Baghdad
UNESCO launched Unite4Heritage at Baghdad University, inviting young people to oppose the destruction and pillage of cultural heritage. The campaign responded to attacks on Iraqi collections and sites, including Nimrud and Mosul Museum.
The first-party launch announcement is dated Saturday 28 March 2015 and identifies Baghdad University, the campaign and the destruction of Iraqi heritage.
Jacob of Edessa died at Tell Ada
Jacob of Edessa died after returning to Tell Ada to collect his books and students. His work in grammar, biblical revision and translation connected Syriac learning with Greek scholarship and influenced later generations of writers.
The historical date is reproduced as given by the specialist biography; it is not silently converted to a proleptic Gregorian date. His birth remains approximate.
The specialist biography places his return to the bishopric in 708 and explicitly gives his death as 5 June at Tell Ada; it describes his scholarly work.
A Catholic–Syriac Orthodox joint declaration
Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas issued a joint declaration in Rome. They affirmed shared Christological faith and discussed practical cooperation while acknowledging obstacles to full communion between their churches.
The Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East are distinct churches. The declaration is not a church merger or a statement assigning ethnic identity to their members.
The primary declaration concludes 'Rome, 23 June 1984' and sets out shared faith, cooperation and remaining limits to full communion.
Toma Audo’s life and scholarship were cut short
Toma Audo, bishop of Urmia and Salamas, was killed during the First World War persecutions. His work included a Syriac lexicon, a Neo-Aramaic grammar and translations that remain important to the history of language scholarship.
The date is for Audo’s death, not a single date for all First World War violence in Urmia or the wider region.
The biography explicitly gives 27 July 1918 for his assassination and lists his lexicon, Neo-Aramaic grammar and translations.
Remembering archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam
The British Museum dates Hormuzd Rassam’s death to 16 September 1910. Born in Mosul, he worked at Nineveh, Nimrud, Ashur and other sites. His career is inseparable from both Assyrian archaeology and the history of collecting under empire.
Excavation, export and museum ownership are different historical questions; this anniversary does not treat imperial collecting as uncomplicated rescue.
The museum identifies Rassam as an Assyrian Christian born in Mosul and contextualizes his work alongside Layard and the collection’s history.
Paul VI and Ignatius Jacoub III issued a common declaration
Pope Paul VI and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Jacoub III concluded their meeting with a common declaration. They described shared faith, encouraged further study and appealed for peace, justice and religious freedom.
This concerns relations between two churches, not a merger or a universal statement about the ethnicity of Syriac Orthodox Christians.
The primary declaration is explicitly dated Wednesday 27 October 1971 and addresses theological dialogue, peace, justice and religious freedom.
The British Museum opened its Ashurbanipal exhibition
The exhibition I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria opened in London. Its focus on Nineveh, royal imagery and learned collections offers a modern reception-history route into the evidence for the Neo-Assyrian empire.
This is a modern exhibition anniversary, not the date of Ashurbanipal’s birth, accession or death. Its public title reflects royal ideology, not a neutral historical ranking.
The museum again confirms the exhibition dates and connects the exhibition with an introduction to ancient Assyria.
The Catholic and Assyrian churches signed a Christological declaration
Pope John Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV signed a common Christological declaration at Saint Peter’s. The document affirmed shared faith and established a joint theological dialogue, while explicitly acknowledging that full ecclesial communion had not yet been restored.
A doctrinal declaration and dialogue process should not be described as the merger of the churches.
The signed primary document states 11 November 1994, names John Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV, establishes a Mixed Committee and describes remaining limits to full communion.
George Smith publicly presented the Gilgamesh flood account
George Smith read the flood narrative from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the Society of Biblical Archaeology. His presentation brought a text recovered from Nineveh to wider public attention and became a landmark in the modern study of cuneiform literature.
The lecture is a nineteenth-century event. It does not date the ancient composition, establish the flood narrative as an eyewitness account or make the Babylonian epic exclusively Assyrian.