Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Aleppo, SANA_ Activities of the Syrian Heritage Festival (AKITO) marking the Syrian New Year 6769 started at the Aleppo-based Shahbaa Hotel.
The festival included an artistic exhibition which included a variety of paintings on the Syrian heritage and development of the calligraphy from Assyrian to Arabic.
The festival also included various popular folkloric activities, Syriac Choir, moulouya dances performed by al-Darweesh band and the traditional dances performed by the Karni Dance Ensemble, as well as a concert of Mwashahat and Qudood halabiye.
The Syrian New Year, known as AKITO, is considered one of the most important elements of the non-material heritage and the oldest written history in human civilization, member of the Executive Office of the Aleppo Governorate Council Zekra Hajjar said.
Akito is a sign of life, for the Akkadian means joy, in the Syriac and Aramaic it is pronounced as Hajj and means celebration while for the Babylonian it means the New Year, according to Hajjar.
She pointed out that this calendar is the most ancient calendar in the world preceding the Chinese and pharaonic calendar by at least 500 years.
The origin of the celebrations was the beginning of the spring as a symbol of goodness and giving and the greenness of the earth thousands of years ago BC in Bilad Ash-Sham and al-Rafidain.
In turn, Director of Aleppo Tourism Nayla Shahhoud said that the Syrian New Year narrates the civilization of Syria, which is the oldest calendar in the world, and that Syria is the cradle of civilizations and gave humanity all the good.
The festival sheds light on the Syrian heritage and Syria’s role in the human civilization, since AKITO represents the ancient Syrian calendar which dates back to 6769 years ago and celebrating AKITO is a message to the world that we are the builders of a civilization its history is even deeper than that.
Gh.A.Hassoun
