Yes - these would be the Chaldean Catholic Christians. The name Chaldean comes from one of the ancient groups that lived in Mesopotamia, an area now known as Iraq.
Chaldeans are not Arab. They have been Christians since the first century. Chaldeans traditionally spoke Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. Aramaic is still chanted in parts of their Divine Liturgy, as in that of the Maronite and Syro-Malankara Catholic Churches.
I didn't make my point well - what I was trying to express is that the Iraqis acknowledge that Christianity was there first. And they respect that.
I say this to get points across to the "all Muslims are evil terrorists" crowd.
“Chaldeans are not Arab. They have been Christians since the first century. Chaldeans traditionally spoke Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.”
There were also many Jewish-Christian congregations (also Aramaic-speaking) which existed in the region, up until the Islamic invasions.
And, at one time, the Kurds are thought to have been Christian (prior to a forced conversion to Islam).
“And Iraqis tell me that Christians were there first.”
“Yes - these would be the Chaldean Catholic Christians.”
I think the Assyrian and Syriac churches would rightly take you to task on this assertion.
Chaldean Catholics did not exist until the 15th Century. There were and are Nestorian and Non-Chalcedonian churches in the region. They did not generally have particularly strong ties to Rome. Most in the 5th Century had strained relations with the capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople.
Chaldean Catholics are members of a sui juris church in communion with Rome. This sui juris church was not formed until much later, officially in, I believe, 1830. Hence, the Chaldean Catholics were *not* the earliest Christians in the region, nor were they likely to have built the church in question. Considering the date, I would assume it was built by a group more sympathetic with the Nestorians.
Some think He spoke Hebrew.