Ashur and Assyria

HYMN OF ASHUR’S LIONS

(Slow drums. Low male voices.)

O Ashur, lord of the high heavens,

Father of crowns, shepherd of kings,

You set the scepter in our hands of bronze,

You called Assyria to rise.

(Chant grows louder.)

Rise! Rise! Land of rivers!

Rise! Rise! People of stone!

Verse I – The March

From Nineveh’s gates we poured like fire,

Spears like forests, shields like night.

The enemy trembled at the dust of our feet,

At the thunder of hooves on the plain.

Cities fell like clay jars struck by fate,

Walls cracked at the king’s command.

By Ashur’s word, by the king’s breath,

The world learned our name.

Chorus (All voices)

Ashur! Ashur!

Great is the lord who leads us!

Assyria stands, the four winds bow,

The lion roars, the earth remembers!

Ashur! Ashur!

The king is strong, the land is whole!

From sunrise to sunset’s edge,

Assyria lives forever!

Verse II – The March to War

Bronze-clad ranks in ordered lines,

Sunlight split on spear and sign.

Drums like thunder shook the land,

Fate marched forward, hand in hand.

Cities locked their gates in dread,

Kings grew pale, their courage fled.

Before our steps the ground gave way,

Before our gaze the brave grew clay.

Verse III – The Battle

We struck like storms from heaven torn,

Steel at dusk, blood at morn.

Shields were crushed and banners burned,

Lessons taught and never learned.

Those who ran were chased by night,

Those who stood were broken outright.

By Ashur’s word, by royal hand,

We carved our law across the land.

Chorus

Ashur reigns! The king stands tall!

Assyria answers destiny’s call!

By sword and law, by brick and flame,

The world shall fear the Assyrian name!

Verse IV – The King’s Deeds

But hear the works that outlast war,

Deeds that echo forevermore.

I raised the temples, old and new,

Set gods in order, rites held true.

I cut the canals through stubborn ground,

Made dead earth drink, made grain abound.

I fed the poor, I weighed each plea,

Justice stood and bent to none but me.

Verse V – The King’s Glory

I filled the cities with craft and song,

Set right the weak, restrained the strong.

Walls I raised, gates I sealed,

Treasures counted, lands revealed.

The wise were honored, scribes were fed,

Truth was carved where lies lay dead.

Under my rule the roads were clear,

The farmer slept without fear.

Chorus

Ashur reigns! The king stands tall!

Assyria answers destiny’s call!

By sword and law, by brick and flame,

The world shall fear the Assyrian name!

Verse VI – The Eternal Oath

As long as stars their courses keep,

As long as rivers cut the deep,

So long this song shall be proclaimed,

So long Assyria stands unnamed by shame.

Curse the one who breaks this line,

Bless the one who guards this sign.

Written in clay, sealed by flame,

Ashur and Assyria are one name.

TRANSITION CHORUS – FROM EMPIRE TO LAND

Not only crowns, not only wars,

Not only kings of bronze and law.

When armies sleep and banners fall,

The land still speaks, the land still calls.

From stone to field, from height to plain,

Ashur’s breath remains the same.

Hear the hills, the waters say:

Assyria lives in us today.

Verse VII – Hakkari (The Mountains)

From Hakkari’s spine where the cold winds bite,

Where stone is law and the air is fight,

The tribes were forged in cliff and scar,

Each ridge a wall, each pass a war.

Mariz clothes, black caps tight-bound,

Steel learned silence, faith learned ground.

The mountains named them, peak by peak:

Assyrian first, before all speech.

Hakkari Refrain (Shouted)

Ḥa-ka-ri! Ḥa-ka-ri!

Ashur ilāni!

Qala d’ Atur!

Hakkari Refrain (Shouted)

Ḥa-kar-ri! Ḥa-kar-ri!

Ashur Resh ilāni!

Qala d’ Atuur!

Verse IX – Urmia (The Waters and Orchards)

From Urmia’s lake and orchard spread,

Where water feeds the living bread,

Vines climbed stone, wheat caught sun,

Labor and song were joined as one.

Schools and presses, hymns and trade,

A thinking people the land itself made.

Here Assyria spoke with mind and hand,

A nation grown, not merely planned.

Urmia Refrain (Melodic)

Urr-Mii-Yaa! Urr-Mii-Yaa!

May-Yā d’ Kḥay-Yē,

Atuur Rab-Bāa!

Ur-mi-a (Melodic)

Ur-mi-a! Ur-mi-a!

May-yā d’ Kḥayyē,

Atuur Rabbā!

Verse X – Nineveh Plain (The Heartland)

From Ni-ni-wah’s plain where rivers bend,

Where road meets field with no clear end,

Stone & Mudbrick towns and open sky,

Where empires rose and learned to die.

Here history breathed in measured grain,

Here memory slept beneath the plain.

If Assyria has a beating core,

It drums in earth from shore to shore.

Ni-na-wah (Deep, Steady)

Nī-na-wah! Nī-na-wah!

Libbā d’ Athuur!

Ar‘ā qadīšta!

Verse VIII – Tur Abdin (The Sacred Hills)

From Tur Abdin’s hills where bells cut air,

Where prayer wears stone through patient care,

The churches rose like anchored flame,

Holding God and Assyria in the same name.

Hands carved crosses, time carved faces,

Words stayed pure in hidden places.

Empires passed, the land stayed true,

Faith stood guard where roots grew through.

Tur Abdin (Sustained)

Tur-Abdin! Tur-Abdin!

Šlama u-Hayyē,

Atur qamā!

(Final Verse – ALL VOICES)

From mountain spine to open plain,

From bell and book to field and flame,

Four regions, four voices, one decree:

We are Assyria!

The land is us!

We do not fade!

Ashur reigns!

Assyria stands!

We are Assyria!

The land is us!

We do not fade!

Ashur reigns!

Assyria stands!