Literary History of Assyrians – Volume 1

Literary History of Assyrians is the major work of Dr. Pera Sarmas (1901-1972) and remains an important source for the history of modern Assyrian literature. Sarmas was born in the village of Adah and studied at the Lazarist and American mission schools in Urmia and Tabriz. In 1923 he came to the United States to study medicine at the Loyola University of Chicago from which he obtain his B.S. (1927) and M.D. (1932) degrees. He returned to Iran and enjoyed a distinguished career as doctor while also playing an important role in the Assyrian literary renaissance that emerged in Iran after WWII. In addition to his 3-volume history of Assyrian literature, he also produced a modern Assyrian translation of the Laughable Stories of Bar Hebraeus, a dictionary, and an important work on Assyrian identity and nationalism entitled “Who are we?.” Volume 1 provides a general introduction covering Akkadian, Syriac and modern Assyrian literature. The contents of this volume is entirely in the Assyrian language.