Erbil unites for Akitu: culture, history, celebration

Shafaq News/ On Monday, Erbil launched the fifth Syriac Culture Festival to mark Akitu, the Assyrian and Chaldean New Year.

The three-day event, organized by the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts, is taking place in Ainkawa, a Christian-majority district in the capital of the Kurdistan Region. The festival features traditional crafts, regional cuisine, and folkloric dances performed by participants from the Kurdistan Region and Syria.

According to organizers, the festival aims to preserve Syriac cultural identity and promote heritage through public celebration.

Observed annually on April 1, Akitu is considered one of the oldest recorded festivals in Mesopotamia, with origins tracing back to the fifth millennium BCE. It was historically marked by the Sumerians and Babylonians as a symbol of renewal and cosmic order.

The term Akitu comes from a Semitic root meaning “life.” Variants of the word remain in use across the region, including Rish Shatah in Sorth, meaning “head of the year.”

Syriacs are an ethnic and religious minority native to parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkiye, and Iran. They speak Syriac, a classical dialect of Aramaic, and maintain a distinct identity rooted in Christianity and ancient Mesopotamian heritage.

Despite displacement and declining population figures, Syriac communities continue to preserve their traditions through church activities, language preservation, and cultural events such as the Akitu festival.