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Abstract
One of the most prolific writers on the Assyrians of the Church of the East was the Anglican missionary William Ainger Wigram (1872–1953), who worked for the Archbishop of Canterbury's Mission to the Assyrian Christians from 1901 to 1912. His range of well-illustrated books on the history of the Church of the East and the life of the contemporary Assyrians played an important role in bringing the plight of the Assyrians to the attention of the general public, especially in Great Britain, but at the same time, his advocacy was deeply implicated in colonial re-interpretations in service of geopolitical and military interests in the region. Different from Protestant or Catholic missionary authors, Wigram’s advocacy for the Assyrians was grounded in a grand historical scheme which validated their ancient Christian credentials alongside their national roots in a prestigious classical world, with the Assyrians as one of the oldest civilized nations that emerged in the ‘cradle of civilizations’ that is Mesopotamia. Whereas the implicit and explicit humanitarianism of Wigram’s advocacy yielded no concrete results for the Assyrians in Iraq, his books nevertheless contributed to the creation and dissemination of concepts of nationhood among Assyrians and non-Assyrians alike.
Abstract
One of the most prolific writers on the Assyrians of the Church of the East was the Anglican missionary William Ainger Wigram (1872–1953), who worked for the Archbishop of Canterbury's Mission to the Assyrian Christians from 1901 to 1912. His range of well-illustrated books on the history of the Church of the East and the life of the contemporary Assyrians played an important role in bringing the plight of the Assyrians to the attention of the general public, especially in Great Britain, but at the same time, his advocacy was deeply implicated in colonial re-interpretations in service of geopolitical and military interests in the region. Different from Protestant or Catholic missionary authors, Wigram’s advocacy for the Assyrians was grounded in a grand historical scheme which validated their ancient Christian credentials alongside their national roots in a prestigious classical world, with the Assyrians as one of the oldest civilized nations that emerged in the ‘cradle of civilizations’ that is Mesopotamia. Whereas the implicit and explicit humanitarianism of Wigram’s advocacy yielded no concrete results for the Assyrians in Iraq, his books nevertheless contributed to the creation and dissemination of concepts of nationhood among Assyrians and non-Assyrians alike.