On January 20, 2022 daesh (Isis) captured a prison in Al Hasakah, Syria. This area is under Kurdish control. For the following two days the Kurds fought without stopping. I am told some of the fiercest fighters from Kurdistan fought. Bullets fell like rain. They did not even stop to eat. The Kurds managed to recapture some of the escapees. The Democratic Syrian Army and US forces came to help eventually. This battle has inspired this blog.
Video from Abu Saleh of attack from daesh on Al Hasakah
Many people do not know who the Kurds are. By most accounts there are about 30 million Kurds worldwide. This is quite surprising given the history of the people. Some scholars claim that the Medes and the Kurds are the same people. But the Armenians would argue the same. This nation shares a history with the Jews and Christians that is thousands of years old. This history includes wars, suppression, betrayal, and propaganda. This is where my interest lies. We do read about the Medes in the Bible. They are present at very critical points in Jewish and Christian history.
It is the Assyrian King Shalmanessar III (858-824 BC) who refers to the Medes as the people of the land of 'Mada'. It is assumed that they came from the Indo-European lands (between India and Europe) settling in the Mesopotamian plains around the 17th century BC. In this blog I will maintain the Medes as a separate group of people as much as possible. There is a lot of conflicting accounts of history. The identity of the Medes is difficult to find as they are confused with other empires, Babylon, Media, Persia, and Assyria. Added to this, the rough history of the region can make people groups simply disappear.
CONNECTING THE MEDES WITH OTHER PEOPLES
The Persians:
There are some who think that the Medes were Persians, assuming they were completely absorbed into Persia. This would be after Cyrus allied the two nations, the Medes and Persia. But Persia is not mentioned on the Day of Pentecost as a nation. The Medes are. Elam which was part of Persia is identified separately.
The Medians:
From a Biblical perspective the Medes and the Medians can be the same at a point in time. The group of people on the Day of Pentecost represented all the people of all the lands. If the Medians were a separate people then they would have been mentioned. Further to this, Herodontus writes that the Median empire has four tribes: the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, the Magi. It would seem as the Bible is referring to the Medes possibly including the Medians.
From the Britannica Encyclopedia I see some clarity as it states that the Armenians were 'incorporated' into the Median empire and 'annexed' to the Medes by Cyrus II in 550 BC. The references to the Median empire as the same as the Medes can only be accurate after this time. Further to this, it explains how the Armenians now identify with the Medes along with the Kurds. This is expected as in 609 Urartu in the Armenian Highlands was captured by either Media or the Medes. But by 550 BC, Urartu would be annexed or joined to the Medes.
The Armenians:
Scholars cite Herodontus (known to mix fables with fact) and Strabo (historian) in tracing the Medes as descendants of Japheth. This would mean they spoke the Aryan language which is associated with Farsi. This later is called Persis then Persian. Some scholars have criticised the integrity of Strabo. Here is the funny thing. Strabo used accounts by others when it came to Mesopotamia, Syria, Israel and the Red Sea. However, when it comes to describing customs, practices, religious differences, political statutes, industrial and agricultural activities, he gave his own information. His observations are then first hand and mostly credible.
Strabo wrote (taken from Routledge Companion to Strabo; pg 96):
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| For more about Armenia click here |
- the Armenians claimed to be descendants of the Medes
- the Armenians, Medes and Persians shared similar religious practices
- frontier Armenians were similar to Syrians and Arabs
- there is a distinction between those who live in the Armenian plains and those in the Armenian Mountains
- those living in the Armenian Mountains were uncivilised
Some Kurds believe they are descendants of the Medes. The Kurds helped Turkey to commit genocide of the Armenians in the early 1900s. History and political influences in the ME has caused much division and enmity. Today the Turks are killing the Kurds.
The Kurds:
It was said that the Medes made up the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East (R.J.M. Gurney.) This would be at the time of the prophet Daniel. If the Medes are the Kurdistan people then there is a huge flaw in how the history of the Kurds is being told and recorded. One such account that would have to be questioned would be a BBC article, Who are the Kurds? (October 15, 2019) in which it states, 'they never obtained a permanent nation state'.
The name of Kurds came when conversion to Islam was forced on the people living in the land between the two rivers in the 7th century AD. The Medes were also the people known for living between the two rivers since the 17th century BC. But it is difficult for me to understand how the name 'Medes' was completely converted to 'Kurds' in such a short period of time By short I mean they are referred to as the Medes up to the first 100 years AD in the Bible. This was a time when records of civilisations were being kept. That's 600 years of Medes history disappearing.
In 401 BC, there are references to empires of Mesopotamia with names that sound similar to the Kurds or Kurdistan. 'Stan' is part of the farsi language to mean 'land of'. There were similar names to Kurdistan too. Kardouchoi was referenced by a Greek historian, about 100 years after the Medo-Persian alliance was formed. It would be strange to simply forget the Medes as a people even if they were absorbed by Persia. But it does raise a question for me. Are the people of the plains and those of the mountains the same? Is it possible the Medes were of the Mesopotamian Mountains and the Kardouchoi those of the plains?
The Kurds were said to come to the Mesopotamian Mountains around the 7th century AD. This would mean the Kurds are not descendants from any of the peoples living in that area. Again this is confusing since the name could be taken from the people known and recorded in the region with similar names starting with 'K'. Where did the Kurds come from then? I have been focusing on the Medes so much that I almost missed this question.
If the Kurds were the Medes, would it be possible to maintain a separate identity from the time of the alliance? To this day the Kurds maintain that they are different. For any group to claim to be the Medes they would have to maintain a link with them for the last 1900 years. One clear link between the Kurds and the Medes, is the occupation of the land between the two rivers. Where is the evidence showing the end of the Medes. What event marks the point where the Medes end and the Kurds begin? 600 years between are still missing.
More recently, in the early 1900s there was an issue of borders and history. This further complicates the history of the Kurds and the Medes. Politics played a huge part in this situation of course! In looking at the issues arising out of the border situation for the Kurds similarities with the Medes:
- they live in the same region, Mesopotamian Plains and Mountains,
- both have a history with Iran which was part of the Persian empire,
- they both maintained a separate identity,
- they are known to this day as the people between two rivers.
Today we accept the Kurds as a tribe in Turkey, in Iran, in Iraq and in Syria. This is where I get uncomfortable. Even if they were not the Medes, there was a separate Kurdish people. If the Kurds are an Indo-European people it would explain why they are said to look different to the others of the Middle East. The question then is why are the Kurds treated the way they are by all four of the nations?
In more recent years the Kurds came to our news coverage after the rising and spread of extremism. Some might know them as the resistance fighting against daesh (isis). Some would know them as a people fighting for independence in the Middle East (ME). Some may know them as forming a large part of the immigrants in Europe. Most would simply know them as believers of Islam. They are all that and much much more.
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| More history on Kurdistan can be found here |
The United Nations agreed to an independent state of Kurdistan in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres. But for reasons unknown to most of us, they were divided up as a people, relocated and placed under four other nations. No one seems to know how Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria ended up with such a responsibility which they proved to be unworthy off. Kurds are indigenous to the Mesopotamian plains or mountains. Why was there a 1923 Treaty of Lausanne?
The more I learn about the Medes the more I am filled with wonder that they are such a huge part of Biblical history. From my research, I conclude that the Kurds are the most qualified people to make the claim of being the descendants of the Medes, a once powerful nation. I agree that Armenians can claim that they are descendants to the Medes due to being captured by them as well. But the Kurds as a people have a stronger case.
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