Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/East Syrian Rite Also known as the
Chaldean, Assyrian, or Persian Rite. History and Origin This
rite is used by the Nestorians and also by Eastern Catholic
bodies -- in Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Malabar -- who have
separated from them. The Syrian and Mesopotamian Catholics are
now commonly called Chaldeans, or Syro-Chaldeans; the term
Chaldean, which in Syriac generally meant magician or
astrologer, denoted in Latin and other European languages Syrian
nationality and the Syriac or Aramaic language (especially that
form of the latter which is found in certain chapters of
Daniel), until the Latin missionaries at Mosul in the
seventeenth century adopted it to distinguish the Catholics of
the East Syrian Rite from those of the West Syrian Rite, whom
they call "Syrians", and from the Nestorians. The last call
themselves "Syrians" (Surayi), and even "Christians" only,
though they do not repudiate the name "Nestorayi", and
distinguish themselves from the rest of Christendom as the