Rabban Hormizd Monastery
Encyclopedia
Rabban Hormizd Monastery is an important monastery
of the Chaldean Church. It is carved out in the mountains about 2 miles from Alqosh
, Iraq
, 28 miles north of Mosul
. Founded on about the 640 AD, it has been the official residence of the patriarchs of the Eliya line of the Church of the East
from 1551 to the 18th century, and after the union with Rome in the early 19th century, it became a prominent monastery of the Chaldean Church.
The monastery is named after Rabban Hormizd
(rabban is the Syriac
for monk) who founded it in the seventh century.
. It flourished until the 10th century. Already before the end of the 15th century the Rabban Hormizd Monastery served as the patriarchal burial site. Yohannan Sulaqa was monk of the Rabban Hormizd Monastery before to travel to Rome
to became the first Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church
.
Between 1551 and the 18th century the monastery became the official residence of the patriarchs of the Eliya line of the Church of the East
, which was the oldest and largest patriarchal See of the Church of the East, the only one existing patriarchal line before the Sulaqa's 1553 split. Nine patriarchal graves, from 1497 to 1804 are still located in the corridor that leads to the cell of Saint Rabban Hormizd.
On about 1743, due to pestilence and to the attacks of the Kurds, the monastery was left unmanned. In 1808 the Chaldean Catholic Gabriel Dambo (1775-1832) revived the abandoned monastery, rebuilt it, collected a number of pupils vowed to poverty and celibacy and installed there a seminary. At first this initiative was opposed by Yohannan VIII Hormizd, then Archbishop of Mosul, even if it was supported by the patriarchal administrator Augustine Hindi
. Patriarch Joseph Audo
, before to be appointed bishop of Mosul
, was himself a monk of Rabban Hormizd monastery.
Gabriel Dambo was murdered in 1832 by the soldiers of Mohammed Pasha, the Kurdish emir of Rawandouz
. In 1838 the monastery of Rabban Hormizd and the town of Alqosh was attacked by the Kurds of Soran
and hundreds of Christian Syrians died and in the 1843 the Kurds started to collect as much money as they could from Christian villages, killing those who refused: more than ten thousand Christians were killed and the icons of the Rabban Hormizd monastery defaced.
The library
of the convent of Rabban Hormizd was rich in Syriac
manuscripts. In 1828 many of these manuscripts were looted and broken up by Moussa Pasha, who had imitated the emir of Rawandouz in revolting against the Turks
. In 1868, 147 volumes, manuscript and printed, suffered the same treatment from Ismael Pasha, the successor of Moussa Pasha. The monks went on anyway to buy and copy manuscripts, thus forming an important library.
, who visited Rabban Hormizd Monastery in 1890, describes the monastery with these words:
decided to replace it and in 1859, with financial assistance from the Vatican
, built a new monastery of Notre Dame des Semences (Our Lady of the Seeds) in a safer plain site near Alqosh
, about one mile from the ancient monastery. The new monastery quickly replaced Rabban Hormizd as the principal monastery of the Chaldean Church, and most of the monks moved to the new location.
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of the Chaldean Church. It is carved out in the mountains about 2 miles from Alqosh
Alqosh
Alqōsh or Alqūsh is one of the most famous Assyrian towns of the mainly East Syrian rite in Iraq. It is located north of Mosul. The name Alqosh is derived from an Akkadian name Eil-Kushtu, where "Eil" means God and "Kushtu" means righteousness or power...
, 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....
, 28 miles north 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...
. Founded on about the 640 AD, it has been the official residence of the patriarchs of the Eliya line 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...
from 1551 to the 18th century, and after the union with Rome in the early 19th century, it became a prominent monastery of the Chaldean Church.
The monastery is named after Rabban Hormizd
Rabban Hormizd (Saint)
Saint Rabban Hormizd, or Rabban Hormizd the Persian, was a monk of the Nestorian tradition who lived in the seventh century Iraq...
(rabban is the Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
for monk) who founded it in the seventh century.
History of the Monastery
Because of the fame of Saint Hormizd, the monastery he founded became extremely important for the Church of the EastChurch 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...
. It flourished until the 10th century. Already before the end of the 15th century the Rabban Hormizd Monastery served as the patriarchal burial site. Yohannan Sulaqa was monk of the Rabban Hormizd Monastery before to travel to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to became the first Patriarch 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...
.
Between 1551 and the 18th century the monastery became the official residence of the patriarchs of the Eliya line 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...
, which was the oldest and largest patriarchal See of the Church of the East, the only one existing patriarchal line before the Sulaqa's 1553 split. Nine patriarchal graves, from 1497 to 1804 are still located in the corridor that leads to the cell of Saint Rabban Hormizd.
On about 1743, due to pestilence and to the attacks of the Kurds, the monastery was left unmanned. In 1808 the Chaldean Catholic Gabriel Dambo (1775-1832) revived the abandoned monastery, rebuilt it, collected a number of pupils vowed to poverty and celibacy and installed there a seminary. At first this initiative was opposed by Yohannan VIII Hormizd, then Archbishop of Mosul, even if it was supported by the patriarchal administrator Augustine Hindi
Augustine Hindi
Mar Joseph V Augustine Hindi † was the patriarchal administrator of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1781 to 1827, since 1804 he considered himself Patriarch with the name of Joseph V and from 1812 to his death he actually governed both the patriarchal sees of Alqosh and Amid of the Church of the...
. Patriarch Joseph Audo
Joseph Audo
Mar Joseph VI Audo † was the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1847 to 1878.Joseph VI Audo was born in 1790 in Alqosh and in 1814 he became a monk of the monastery of Rabban Hormizd. He was ordained priest in 1818 and consecrated bishop of Mosul on the March 25, 1825 by the...
, before to be appointed bishop 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...
, was himself a monk of Rabban Hormizd monastery.
Gabriel Dambo was murdered in 1832 by the soldiers of Mohammed Pasha, the Kurdish emir of Rawandouz
Rowanduz
The town Rawandiz is a city of Iraq, which located in the sub-district of Soran, in the Arbil Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan, close to the Iranian border.The population in 2003 was 95,089...
. In 1838 the monastery of Rabban Hormizd and the town of Alqosh was attacked by the Kurds of Soran
Soran Emirate
Soran was a Kurdish emirate that was established in 1816. It ruled over the northeastern part of Kurdistan until it was removed by Ottoman troops in 1835. Its capital for most of that time was the city of Rawanduz....
and hundreds of Christian Syrians died and in the 1843 the Kurds started to collect as much money as they could from Christian villages, killing those who refused: more than ten thousand Christians were killed and the icons of the Rabban Hormizd monastery defaced.
The library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
of the convent of Rabban Hormizd was rich in Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
manuscripts. In 1828 many of these manuscripts were looted and broken up by Moussa Pasha, who had imitated the emir of Rawandouz in revolting against the Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. In 1868, 147 volumes, manuscript and printed, suffered the same treatment from Ismael Pasha, the successor of Moussa Pasha. The monks went on anyway to buy and copy manuscripts, thus forming an important library.
Description of the Monastery in 1890
E. A. Wallis BudgeE. A. Wallis Budge
Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.-Earlier life:...
, who visited Rabban Hormizd Monastery in 1890, describes the monastery with these words:
Rabban Hormizd Monastery is built half about half way up the range of mountains which encloses the plain of MosulMosulMosul , 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...
on the north, and stands in a sort of amphitheatreAmphitheatreAn amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
, which is approached by a rocky path that leads through a narrow defile; this path has been paved by generations of monks. The church is of stone and is of a dusky red colour ; it is built upon an enormous rock. In the hills round about the church and buildings of the monastery are rows of caves hewn out of the solid rock, in which the stern ascetics of former generations lived and
died.
They have neither doors nor any protection from the inclemency of the weather, and the chill which they strike into the visitor gives an idea of what those who lived in them must have suffered from the frosts of winter and the drifting rain. Some of them have niches hewn in their sides or backs in which the monks probably slept, but many lack even these means of comfort. The cells are separate one from the other, and are approached by narrow terraces, but some of them are perched in almost inaccessible places, and, unless other means of entrance existed in former days, could only have been approached by the monks crawling down from the crest of the mountain and swinging themselves into them.
I saw no marks of fire in any of the cells. Some cells have a second small cave hewn out behind the larger one which is entered through an opening just large enough for a man of average size to crawl through. The monks eat meat on EasterEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Day and ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
Day only, and their usual food consists of boiled wheatWheatWheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
and lentils, and dark coloured, heavy bread cakes. They drink neither wine nor spirits, and they have neither light nor fire. They drink rain water which they preserve in rock cisterns.
They are called to prayer by the ringing of a bell at sunset, midnight, day-break, and at certain times of the day. The number of the monks in 1820 was about fifty; in 1843 it was thirty-nine; in 1879—80 it was sixteen, and in 1890 it was about ten.
The new monastery
The monastery of Rabban Hormizd was too exposed to attack to remain a functioning monastery, and was also a symbol of a turbulent time. Patriarch Joseph AudoJoseph Audo
Mar Joseph VI Audo † was the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1847 to 1878.Joseph VI Audo was born in 1790 in Alqosh and in 1814 he became a monk of the monastery of Rabban Hormizd. He was ordained priest in 1818 and consecrated bishop of Mosul on the March 25, 1825 by the...
decided to replace it and in 1859, with financial assistance from the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, built a new monastery of Notre Dame des Semences (Our Lady of the Seeds) in a safer plain site near Alqosh
Alqosh
Alqōsh or Alqūsh is one of the most famous Assyrian towns of the mainly East Syrian rite in Iraq. It is located north of Mosul. The name Alqosh is derived from an Akkadian name Eil-Kushtu, where "Eil" means God and "Kushtu" means righteousness or power...
, about one mile from the ancient monastery. The new monastery quickly replaced Rabban Hormizd as the principal monastery of the Chaldean Church, and most of the monks moved to the new location.