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The remote beginning of our story is to be found not far from where the last remnant still lingers—in Mesopotamia, along the frontier of the Roman Empire and the land of the Persian King of Kings; just as they are now again a frontier people, where the abominations of Turkish governors meet the vileness of their Persian colleagues. The background of the Nestorian Church is the political history of Mesopotamia and the lands around, till they become the national Christian Church of Persia. Since most people have rather a cloudy idea of what was happening in these lands, it may be as well to begin with an outline of their general history.

Through all changes the people, the indigenous population which was the prey of the two great Empires, was foreign to both. It is Semite. Since Aramaic in various dialects became the common language of Western Asia (roughly since the second Babylonian Empire) they have talked one of its many dialects. We now call Aramaic by the Greek name Syriac. If we class people by the inaccurate but convenient test of the language they use, we shall count these as Syrians, more nearly as East Syrians. In the period with which we have to deal the classical language of Mesopotamia and Syria was the dialect of the city of Edessa, from, which are derived those of the Eastern and Western Syrians. This Syrian nationality and language remains the common factor through all political changes. If we go back far enough we find the remote ancestors of our Nestorians subject to the first Babylonian Empire ( 2500–1600), disputed by Egypt (they seem fated to be a frontier folk); then they were absorbed by the great Assyrian power ( 900–600); for a short time by the second Babylonian Empire ( 600–550); then by Persia under Cyrus ( 550–331). But all this is still remote from our story. The conquests of Alexander the Great ( 336–323) introduce an important new element,