The Assyrian king, Ashur the Great (who ruled from 1365 to 1330), married his daughter to a Babylonian, and he invaded Babylon after Kassite nobles there murdered his grandchild. Ashur's successors continued Assyria's war against the Babylonians and the Hurrians, and by around 1300 the Assyrians controlled all of Mesopotamia.
More Invasions
Between 1200 and 1000 BCE, nomads called Chaldeans pushed against the Babylonians and against the Assyrians. A camel breeding Bedouin people called Aramaeans from northern Arabia also marauded their way across Mesopotamia. The Chaldeans settled near what had been Sumer. The Aramaeans settled around the upper Euphrates River and in Syria and established numerous city-kingdoms. Assyria became exhausted from warring against the invaders. Its trade fell, but it held onto much of Mesopotamia and territory as far as the Caucasus Mountains. With the passing of generations, some Aramaeans maintained their nomadic ways and became the foremost traders in West Asia. Their language spread, and in the coming centuries Aramaic would be the most widely spoken language in West Asia – the language resorted to for diplomacy and business, and a language spoken by those called Hebrews.
Who are the Chaldeans?
The Chaldeans of Beth Nahreen (Mesopotamia which is current days Iraq, east Syria, and south east Turkey) are a live continuation of all the indigenous people of Mesopotamia whether their tribal names were Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Aramaeans. The language of the Chaldean people is Syriac, which is essentially Aramaic (a different dialect than that spoken by Jesus Christ) with a dose of Akkadian, the original language of the 
Assyrian, Babylonian and Chaldean tribes.
Assyrian, Babylonian and Chaldean tribes.Most of Iraq remained Christian, until the advent of Islam in the mid 7th century A.D. But even in those early years, not everyone converted to Islam. There were sizable numbers of Christians and pagans, as well as Jews. One of the contributing factors to the presence of several religions may very well have been the Koran itself. The Koran speaks reverently of the Torah and the Gospel, as well as the religious significance of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
In Iraq, a turning point in Christianity took place in 431 A.D., when the patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, differed with the rest of the Roman Catholic Church over specific dogmas concerning Christ's personhood. (As a Western parallel, the reader may refer to the example of Martin Luther versus Catholicism.) The Eastern sector was divided as a result of this split over church principles. Some continued to follow the Nestorian thought, while others elected, in 1552 (more than eleven centuries later), to abide by the teachings of Rome.
Today, there are still thousands among the Assyrians who are Christians but not Roman Catholics. Those who are Catholics belong to what is commonly known as the "Chaldean" Church.
Let us consider the historical perspective to better understand the use of the designation "Chaldean" for the Catholics of Iraq. In Babylon, and the Babylonian Empire, different tribes ruled at various times. Regardless of who ascended the throne, Babylon always remained the capital, also, as an empire, the term "Babylonian" remained intact.
The Assyrian Empire, especially under Sennacherib, stood indestructible for centuries. Sennacherib won every single battle he engaged in; a veritable military genius whom no one could destroy -- except Babylon. He was killed there in one of the Babylonian temples.
As history would have it, this Chaldean regime was the last to rule in Babylon. The last name of this empire was not eternally attached to the Chaldeans, therefore whoever spoke of the final state of Babylon found himself simultaneously speaking of the Chaldeans. The name "Chaldean", in this final stage, included both Babylon and Ninevah (Assyria).
The Chaldeans and Assyrians of the old were ethnically, culturally, and linguistically the same people divided along political and religious allegiances. Those tribes lived together under the last Mesopotamian national regime, that of the Chaldeans. They were now, perforce, all "Chaldeans" in the sense that the Chaldean Empire was their final name under one nation.
Many races came and went with the shifts of political rule. The Chaldeans, were the natives and the original people of the Mesopotamian lands that were non-intruders. Those who came into the country to rule and establish a new homeland cannot be properly described as Chaldeans. Current days Chaldeans/Assyrians only know Iraq, that compromises majority of Mesopotamia, as their homeland, while other ethnic groups living in Iraq such as Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen tend to trace their origins to other lands. An unfortunate reality that feeds the partial allegiance to the country, that's behind many of the political problems facing today's Iraq.
The two names, "Chaldean" and "Assyrian", are still widely used to indicate same nation and people. In the area of religion, "Chaldean" still applies to all Chaldean Catholics of Iraq who use the Syriac language and follow the teachings of Rome. The term "Assyrian" is used to identify the followers of the Church of the East, and has been employed as a name for the Church since 1986.
In 1445, the then-Nestorian Church in Cyprus indicated her wishes to join Rome, the pope accepted the letter of conversion from Bishop Timothawes of the Chaldeans in Tarshish and Cyprus who wrote Pope Eugene IV identifying himself as "Bishop Timothaeus of the Chaldeans..". On September 7, 1445, Pope Eugene IV accepted the conversion of the Chaldean community in Cyprus into Catholicism, and from then on the word "Chaldean" became the official term used to identify Chaldean Catholics by the Roman Church. Today, the Archbishop of Iraq's Chaldean Catholics goes by the official name of "The Patriarch of Babylon over the Chaldeans".
In conclusion, when in 1552 the major split in the Church of the East took place with many, in the church's homeland of Mesopotamia, converting to Catholicism, Rome simply extended the name of the Chaldean Church of Cyprus to cover all those new Catholic converts in Mesopotamia proper. That is, it followed the name used by the Nestorian Christians (descendents of the Babylonians and Assyrians of Mesopotamia) to identify themselves. Chaldean was the name of the last Mesopotamian regime, and the name used by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia to identify themselves, as well the name used by their neighbors to identify them. Assyrian continued to be used widely just as well by the people. History books speak of the usage of both Assyrian and Chaldean names to refer to the same people of Mesopotamia. The Armenians, the neighbors to the north, always used "Assyrians" to refer to the Mesopotamians, while Arabs, the neighbors to the south, used Chaldeans and Syriacs to refer to them. The Chaldean people also used the name "Suraya" which views differ to its origin. Some believing it to be a variation of Assyrian, while others believe it means Christians. In historical terms, Assyria ruled Mesopotamia for over a 1,000 years while the Chaldean regime lasted only 70 years.
The Chaldean Church consists of Middle Eastern Christians who use Syriac as their mother tongue. It is one of the eighteen Eastern Rites recognized by the Holy See in Rome. The head of the Chaldean Church today is Patriarch Mar Emanuel Delly, Patriarch of Babylon, who resides in Baghdad. Throughout the world, Chaldeans number more than one million. The greatest concentration of Chaldean Catholics today are in Mesopotamia
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