ABSTRACT
This final chapter outlines the history and current status of the Chaldeans in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Since the 1990–1991 Gulf War, Jordan has been a home for Chaldean economic migrants and, since 2003, a centre for Chaldean refugees, with up to 30,000 moving to or through Jordan over ten years prior to further onward travel to the West.
The chapter provides the first attempt at accounting for the history of the Chaldeans in Jordan and looks more broadly at the context of the East Syriac presence in the Holy Land. This presence has existed in some form for much of the last 1,600 years with only the period c. 1700–1850 having seen their near total absence. Given the length of time in which the East Syriac tradition has been present, it is important to reintroduce this subject to scholarship and in the context of the book to balance the Iraqi-focused narrative with the Chaldean status in the wider Middle East.
