Wedding Songs

Traditional Assyrian Wedding Songs

Weddings are very important celebrations in all cultures. Assyrian weddings, for example, consist of many different elements and rituals. In the past, Assyrian weddings traditionally lasted a week and every day had specific rituals. Today, weddings usually last for 2 to 3 days.




A week before the wedding all women of the neighborhood and the in the family go to the bride’s house and make her a big honeymoon blanket. The needle is passed from one woman to the other and this way all guests sew a bit of that blanket. The young women dance around the bride and the old women sing songs and do the dabke.

Another wedding custom is known as khyapta d’khitna or zyapta d’khitna or shower of the groom. All the men in the neighborhood and those related to the groom go to his house, cut his hair and shave his face. Then, they scrub him from head to toe, thinking that by doing this they will wash away the evilness. During this ceremony are played old customary folk songs.

The bride leaving the home of her parents is called m’pulata d’chalo. Usually the groom’s family visits the bride to take her out of the house and to the church. Meanwhile, in the house, the women dance and sing traditional songs like lilyaneh, dola and zurna.

The wedding tradition where the bride and groom are blessed by a priest is called burakha. Nowadays, the burakha goes for about one hour. Traditions during the ceremony differ from village to village. In Baz, the groom is poked with a needle to ward off any evil spirits and in Tyari people make noise with scissors to ward off evil spirits. At the end of the burakha, dola and zurna are played while rice, candies and coins are thrown at the bride and groom.

Henna is a paint mixture prepared on the day before the wedding. The night before wedding all the ladies gather at the bride’s house, a bowl is filled with henna and whoever holds the bowl with the henna dances with it around the others. The bride is painted on her hands with traditional symbols.

A traditional Assyrian wedding ceremony can take up to 3 hours. During the ceremony, a crown is placed on both the grooms and brides head and they must drink a cup of wine containing the cross, the chain and the wedding bands. Two ribbons are tied around the bride and grooms arms and the maid of honors and the best mans arms.

Speaking about the entering of the couple in the reception hall, the singer will announce it and everyone will stand in two lines parallel to each other. When the newlyweds enter the hall, everyone dances around them until they are seated and the party begins.

Celebration music has a special place in the hearts of all Assyrians. Important singers for the Assyrian music industry are Ashur Betsargis, Evin Aghassi, Sargon Gabriel, Janan Sawa, Walter Aziz, Linda George, Jermain Tamraz and many others. Assyrian music shares similarities with Armenian music, Persian music, Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish music.

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