Karamles
Encyclopedia
Karamlish is an ancient Assyrian
town
in Iraq
located less than 18 miles (29 km) south east of Mosul
, and has been occupied by Assyrians for 5000 years.
It is surrounded by many hills that along with it made up the historical Assyrian city of Kar-Mullissi, which means the "City of Mullisi" in Akkadian
. Karamlish also had many other names It is believed to have been called "Er-Elo-Bano", meaning the City of the God Bano, during the reign of the Assyrian King Belu-bani (1700-1691 BC). During the reign of the Sumer
ian dynasty of Ur
around 3000 BC, Karamlish was called Kar-Denkir-Neen-Leel, meaning the City of the Goddess Neen-Leel (the wife of God En-Leel and the mother of Sumerian Goddess Neen-Norta.)
(also known as Chaldean
and Syriacs
). Historically, the population was mostly part of the Church of the East
; however, many converted to Catholicism from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, the inhabitants of Karamlish are mainly members of the Chaldean Catholic Church
, but there are also members of the Syriac Orthodox Church
and Assyrian Church of the East
. There is a very small minority of Arab
Muslims in Karamles, whose presence is relatively new.
ia. The first person to excavate in the hills of Karamlish was the Englishman Austen Henry Layard
in 1846. Many relief sculptures with cuneiform scripts were found in Tel Ghanim and Tel Barbara (two of the hill surrounding Karamlish). On them were found the names of Assyrian Kings of Sargon and Shalmensar. The remains of an Assyrian temple were found at Tel Barbara, and the remains of an Assyrian palace was found at Tel Ghanim.
Karamlish lost its important stature during the era of Shalmaneser III
(859 – 824 BC) whose son Ashur-Daneen-Ablo led a rebellion against his father along with another 27 cities. His father empowered his other brother Shamshi-Adad V
, the Governor of Kalah (Nimrud
). The civil war lasted for four years, from 827 to 824 BC. With the end of the rebellion, however, Karamlish's neighbor Nimrud did not survive the ravages of the war. Karamlish was so impacted by that rebellion that its people left it and was given the name of "Oro-Karmash" meaning "The Ruined City". Karamlish is still referred to by its Assyrian neighbors as "Karmash". However, Karamlish was reinvigorated during the reigns of Kings Shalmaneser V
(726 – 722 BC) and Sargon II
(722 – 705 BC), who used it as his temporary capital.
Alexander of Macedonia and the Persian Emperor Darius III ended with the defeat of the latter and the ushering of the Greek reign over the Near East. Karamlish at the time was called Ko-Komle (which meant in Aramaic "The Camels' Square") after the death of most of the Camels of the Persian Emperor Daryos Dara I around the city due to their exhaustion. Hence, historically the Battle of Karamlish is known as the Battle of Ko-Komle.
(1336/7–1381/2) for at least part of his reign. The continuator of the Ecclesiastical History of Bar Hebraeus mentions several contacts between Denha II and the Jacobite church in Karamlish between 1358 and 1364. At this period Karamlish had Jacobite and Armenian communities alongside its Nestorian majority, and its village chiefs styled themselves 'emirs'. The prosperity enjoyed by the village during the reign of Denha II presumably came to an end when the patriarchate was relocated to Mosul
at an unknown date in the fourteenth or fifteenth century.
of Persia decided in 1732 to attack and occupy Mesopotamia. After occupying Baghdad the same year, he sent a small part of his army (8,000 soldiers strong) to occupy Nineveh and its surroundings. However, his army was defeated. This angered Nader Shah who decided in 1743 to go himself with 300,000 soldiers and 390 cannons. After occupying Kirkuk and Erbil, he moved to Nineveh and its villages. He decided to bomb Karamlish before entering it. Most of the houses of the village were ruined, in addition to Mar Yohanan Church and Beth Sahda "Church of the Forty Martyrs". Nader Shah stayed in Karamlish for four days. It was estimated that over 4,000 Assyrian
Christians were massacred during those four days.
Historians kept the memories of many churches and monasteries of the Church of the East (Nestorian) in Karamlish intact. These ancient churches include the monasteries of Mar Giwargis (St. George), Mar Yonan (St. Jonah), Mar Youkhanna (St. John), and Dair Banat Maryam (the Monastery of St. Mary's Daughters). The last two have long been forgotten; meanwhile, Mar Yonan became the grounds of a school in the early twentieth century.
Below is a list of the known monasteries and churches in Karamles:
(377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion).
The town has shown strong support to the Assyrian Democratic Movement
during the parliamentary and local elections in 2005, 2007 and 2010. The town has also received thousands of Christian refugees from other parts of the countries after recent waves of violence against them.
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in 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....
located less than 18 miles (29 km) south east 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...
, and has been occupied by Assyrians for 5000 years.
It is surrounded by many hills that along with it made up the historical Assyrian city of Kar-Mullissi, which means the "City of Mullisi" in Akkadian
Akkadian language
Akkadian is an extinct Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian, an unrelated language isolate...
. Karamlish also had many other names It is believed to have been called "Er-Elo-Bano", meaning the City of the God Bano, during the reign of the Assyrian King Belu-bani (1700-1691 BC). During the reign of the Sumer
Sumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian dynasty of Ur
Ur
Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
around 3000 BC, Karamlish was called Kar-Denkir-Neen-Leel, meaning the City of the Goddess Neen-Leel (the wife of God En-Leel and the mother of Sumerian Goddess Neen-Norta.)
Population
There are between 600 and 650 families in Karamlish. The vast majority of the population is ethnically AssyrianAssyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
(also known as Chaldean
Chaldean Christians
Chaldean Christians are ethnic Assyrian adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church, most of whom entered communion with the Catholic Church from the Church of the East, which was already Catholic, but most wanted to stray away from the Catholic Church, causing the split in the 17th and 18th...
and Syriacs
Syriacs
Syriac may refer to:* Syriac alphabet* Syriac language* Syriac Christians* Syriac Christianity, the churches using Syriac as their liturgical language* Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people, adherents of Syriac Christianity-See also:...
). Historically, the population was mostly part of the Church of the East
Church of the East
The Church of the East tāʾ d-Maḏnḥāʾ), also known as the Nestorian Church, is a Christian church, part of the Syriac tradition of Eastern Christianity. Originally the church of the Persian Sassanid Empire, it quickly spread widely through Asia...
; however, many converted to Catholicism from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, the inhabitants of Karamlish are mainly members of the Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church
The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...
, but there are also members of the Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
and Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
. There is a very small minority of Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
Muslims in Karamles, whose presence is relatively new.
History
Karamlish is a very old town and is believed to be among the first human colonies, hence, it was visited by almost all Mesopotamian archaeologists searching for the ruins of old Assyria and BabylonBabylon
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...
ia. The first person to excavate in the hills of Karamlish was the Englishman Austen Henry Layard
Austen Henry Layard
Sir Austen Henry Layard GCB, PC was a British traveller, archaeologist, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, author, politician and diplomat, best known as the excavator of Nimrud.-Family:...
in 1846. Many relief sculptures with cuneiform scripts were found in Tel Ghanim and Tel Barbara (two of the hill surrounding Karamlish). On them were found the names of Assyrian Kings of Sargon and Shalmensar. The remains of an Assyrian temple were found at Tel Barbara, and the remains of an Assyrian palace was found at Tel Ghanim.
Karamlish lost its important stature during the era of Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II....
(859 – 824 BC) whose son Ashur-Daneen-Ablo led a rebellion against his father along with another 27 cities. His father empowered his other brother Shamshi-Adad V
Shamshi-Adad V
Shamshi-Adad V was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC.-Biography:He was the son and successor of Shalmaneser III, the husband of Shammuramat , and the father of Adad-nirari III, who succeeded him as king....
, the Governor of Kalah (Nimrud
Nimrud
Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris in modern Ninawa Governorate Iraq. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after the Biblical Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero .The city covered an area of around . Ruins of the city...
). The civil war lasted for four years, from 827 to 824 BC. With the end of the rebellion, however, Karamlish's neighbor Nimrud did not survive the ravages of the war. Karamlish was so impacted by that rebellion that its people left it and was given the name of "Oro-Karmash" meaning "The Ruined City". Karamlish is still referred to by its Assyrian neighbors as "Karmash". However, Karamlish was reinvigorated during the reigns of Kings Shalmaneser V
Shalmaneser V
Shalmaneser V was king of Assyria from 727 to 722 BC. He first appears as governor of Zimirra in Phoenicia in the reign of his father, Tiglath-Pileser III....
(726 – 722 BC) and Sargon II
Sargon II
Sargon II was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family...
(722 – 705 BC), who used it as his temporary capital.
The Battle of Karamlish 331 BC
This great historical battle between the GreekAncient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
Alexander of Macedonia and the Persian Emperor Darius III ended with the defeat of the latter and the ushering of the Greek reign over the Near East. Karamlish at the time was called Ko-Komle (which meant in Aramaic "The Camels' Square") after the death of most of the Camels of the Persian Emperor Daryos Dara I around the city due to their exhaustion. Hence, historically the Battle of Karamlish is known as the Battle of Ko-Komle.
Patriarchal seat of the Church of the East
Karamlish was the seat of the Nestorian patriarch Denha IIDenha II
Denha II was patriarch of the Church of the East from 1336/7 to 1381/2. Although no history of his reign has survived, references in a number of Nestorian, Jacobite and Moslem sources provide some details of his patriarchate....
(1336/7–1381/2) for at least part of his reign. The continuator of the Ecclesiastical History of Bar Hebraeus mentions several contacts between Denha II and the Jacobite church in Karamlish between 1358 and 1364. At this period Karamlish had Jacobite and Armenian communities alongside its Nestorian majority, and its village chiefs styled themselves 'emirs'. The prosperity enjoyed by the village during the reign of Denha II presumably came to an end when the patriarchate was relocated to 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...
at an unknown date in the fourteenth or fifteenth century.
Karamlish as center of principality
During the fourteenth century, Karamles became the center of a principality, earning it fame. It was mentioned in several books as a trade center of immense importance. Among some of the governors during this period were:- Prince Masoud (1317)
- Prince Nasser El-Deen
- Prince Hassan (1358)
- Prince Matti (brother of Prince Hassan)
- Prince Beyazeed (1364)
- Prince Sahab Masoud (end of 14th century)
The destruction of Nader Shah
During the wars between the Persian and Ottoman Empires, Nader ShahNader Shah
Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander...
of Persia decided in 1732 to attack and occupy Mesopotamia. After occupying Baghdad the same year, he sent a small part of his army (8,000 soldiers strong) to occupy Nineveh and its surroundings. However, his army was defeated. This angered Nader Shah who decided in 1743 to go himself with 300,000 soldiers and 390 cannons. After occupying Kirkuk and Erbil, he moved to Nineveh and its villages. He decided to bomb Karamlish before entering it. Most of the houses of the village were ruined, in addition to Mar Yohanan Church and Beth Sahda "Church of the Forty Martyrs". Nader Shah stayed in Karamlish for four days. It was estimated that over 4,000 Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
Christians were massacred during those four days.
Churches and monasteries
Below is a list of the known monasteries and churches in Karamles:
- Mar Giwargis Monastery – This Monastery was built in the northern parts of town by a monk named Giwargis in late sixth century. It continues to stand today. However, it is believed that it was turned to a cemetery after the MongolsMongolsMongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
invasion.
- Mar Yonan Monastery – A monk named Yonan built this monastery in the seventh century. The monastery is mentioned in an unidentified Nestorian writer's manuscript in the fourteenth century. It is believed that it was abandoned after the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1743.
- Mar Youkhanna Monastery – There is nothing left of this monastery but a small hill known as the hill of monk Youkhanna (Tell rabban Youkhanna) situated in the southern parts of town. It was mentioned in A.D. 660 in the manuscript of Bar'aeeta, and it was populous in 1736 according to the manuscript of kitab dafanat al-Mowta (the book of the hidden treasures of the dead). It was destroyed completely during the invasion of Persian Nadir Shah on August 15, 1743.
- Dair Banat Maryam – It was attached to Mar Giwargis Monastery and served as a monastery for the nuns. The monastery suffered tremendously at the hands of the Mongols in the thirteenth century and in the eighteenth century at the hands of Kurdish Ismail Pasha of Rawandos. It was referred to by Charles Watson Bradt during his visit to Karamlish on June 2, 1758.
- The Church of the Forty Martyrs – The remains of this church are situated on a hill known as Beth Sahde (the Martyrs Home) southeast of the town. It was standing in 1236, when Karamles was attacked by the Mongols. It was destroyed by Nadir Shah in 1743.
- St. Barbara Church – The church is situated on the ruins of a hill by the same name west of town. It was built on the ruins of an ancient Assyrian temple for the god Banu. Excavations at the hill in 1852 uncovered two halls used by ancient Assyrians in their religious ceremonies as well as tools that were used during worship. The earth soil covers a Ziggurat that was built by ancient Assyrians to serve as a temple. Barbara was the daughter of the pagan governor of the region. She converted to Christianity, with her servant Yulina, against the will of her father who imprisoned her. When they refused to change their mind and denounce Christianity, the pagan governor ordered their death. They were killed in a room attached to the temple, where the church stands today. The church was attacked by Nadir Shah; however, the residents renovated and rebuilt it in 1798.
- The Church of the Virgin – The church is situated in the center of town. It is a small church but beautiful. It used to be the home of a lady who donated it to the public. It was established as a church in 1887 and enlarged in 1902.
- Mar Addai Church – The church is situated on the northern parts of town. It is currently the biggest and most modern churches in Karamles. Construction began in 1937 and after some delays it was consecrated in 1963.
Post Iraq War
Karamles has been relatively calm the first months following the US led War on Iraq. In late 2003, the town came briefly under the control of the 101st Airborne Division101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
(377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion).
The town has shown strong support to the Assyrian Democratic Movement
Assyrian Democratic Movement
The Assyrian Democratic Movement also known as Zowaa is an ethnic Assyrian political party in Iraq, and is currently the only Assyrian-based political party to be voting in the Iraqi parliament....
during the parliamentary and local elections in 2005, 2007 and 2010. The town has also received thousands of Christian refugees from other parts of the countries after recent waves of violence against them.