A rubbing reproduction of the eighth century Nestorian Monument in China that honored Assyrian Christian missionaries will be unveiled during a special public ceremony in the California State University, Stanislaus Vasché Library this Friday, September 26. A 6 p.m. reception will start off the program which is free and open to the public, followed by the 7 p.m. unveiling in the Library’s second-floor West Reading Room where the artifact will be displayed.
CSU Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani and Library Dean Carl Bengston will join local Assyrian leader Lazar Piro to make opening remarks at the program. Featured speakers will be Dr. Sam Ayoubkhani, who donated the artifact to the University, and Mrs. Turan Tuman, who will speak about the history of the monument and its historical significance to Assyrian Christians.
The Nestorian Monument was erected in 781 A.D. during the Tang Dynasty to commemorate the acceptance of Christianity in China by Assyrian missionaries nearly 150 years earlier. An Assyrian man named Olopun had translated the Holy Bible into Chinese during that time. Churches were built all over China and the monument bore lengthy Chinese and Syriac inscriptions composed by an Assyrian priest from Persia named Adam in recognition of the Assyrian Christian missionaries who came to China.
The mounted and framed monument rubbing will be displayed at the Library along with other Assyrian artifacts that include a rare Assyrian Christian book collection donated by the Rev. Eshoo Sayad and a pair of bronze sculptures of King Ahurbanipal and Queen Shamiram, the last great rulers of Assyria during the 6th and 7th centuries B.C.
CSU Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani and Library Dean Carl Bengston will join local Assyrian leader Lazar Piro to make opening remarks at the program. Featured speakers will be Dr. Sam Ayoubkhani, who donated the artifact to the University, and Mrs. Turan Tuman, who will speak about the history of the monument and its historical significance to Assyrian Christians.
The Nestorian Monument was erected in 781 A.D. during the Tang Dynasty to commemorate the acceptance of Christianity in China by Assyrian missionaries nearly 150 years earlier. An Assyrian man named Olopun had translated the Holy Bible into Chinese during that time. Churches were built all over China and the monument bore lengthy Chinese and Syriac inscriptions composed by an Assyrian priest from Persia named Adam in recognition of the Assyrian Christian missionaries who came to China.
The mounted and framed monument rubbing will be displayed at the Library along with other Assyrian artifacts that include a rare Assyrian Christian book collection donated by the Rev. Eshoo Sayad and a pair of bronze sculptures of King Ahurbanipal and Queen Shamiram, the last great rulers of Assyria during the 6th and 7th centuries B.C.