Betanure, also known as Beth Tanura and Bar Tanura , was a Jewish village located in the Barwari

Barwari

Barwar also known as Barwari and Barwari Bala, is a region situated in northern Dohuk Governorate in Iraq. The region is populated by Kurds although it was once mainly inhabited by Assyrians with a large Jewish minority.-History:...

 region in Duhok Governorate, northern Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

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History

The town was inhabited exclusively by Jews who claimed that their ancestors have lived there since the return from Babylon

Babylon

Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

, and who supported themselves by manual labour. In 1893 the community was pillaged by Kurds from the mountains, who killed two Jews and wounded others. The remainder fled to the neighbouring villages, and did not dare return to their homes until assured of the protection of the Vali of Mosul

Mosul

Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...

, which they secured through a letter from Moses ha-Levi, chief rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

 of Turkey.

The community consisted of 17 large families the 1940s. In 1951, the entire community emigrated en masse to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

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Language

The local dialect, known as the Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Betanure, is among the rarest and most seriously endangered varieties of neo-Aramaic spoken at the present time.