Tur Abdin
Encyclopedia
Tur Abdin is a hilly region of south east Turkey
incorporating the eastern half of Mardin Province
, and Şırnak Province
west of the Tigris
, on the border with Syria
. The name 'Tur Abdin' is from the Syriac language
meaning 'mountain of the servants (of God)'. Tur Abdin is of great importance to Syriac Orthodox
Christians, for whom the region used to be a monastic and cultural heartland. The Assyrian/Syriac people of Tur Abdin call themselves Suroye and Suryoye and traditionally speak an Aramaic dialect called Turoyo.
, 6 km south east of Mardin
, in the west of the region. Built from yellow rock, the monastery is affectionately known as Dayro d Kurkmo in Syriac, Dayr al-Zafaran in Arabic
, or Deyrülzafarân in Turkish
: the Safron Monastery. Founded in AD 493, the monastery was the residence of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch from 1160 to 1932. Although the patriarch now lives in Damascus
the monastery still contains the patriarchal throne and tombs of seven patriarchs and metropolitans. Today the monastery is led by a bishop and a monk and some lay assistants, and is a school for orphans. The bishop of Mor Hananyo is also the patriarchal vicar of Mardin. His goal is to rebuild the monastery and to preserve the history of the Syriac Orthodox church. The Dayro d-Mor Hananyo is part of the UNESCO wold cultural heritage and was visited by numerous celebrities e.g. like Prince Charles.
In the centre of Tur Abdin, halfway between Midyat
and Cizre
, is Dayro d-Mor Gabriel
. Built in AD 397, Mor Gabriel monastery, is the oldest functioning Syriac Orthodox monastery. It is the residence of the Metropolitan Bishop of Tur Abdin, seven nuns, four monks and a host of guests, assistants and students. The monastery is charged with keeping the flame of Syriac Orthodox faith alive in Tur Abdin, for which it is as much a fortress as a church.
and the villages of Hah, Bequsyone, Dayro da-Slibo, Salah (with the old monastery of Mor Yaqub), `Aynwardo (with Mor Huschabo), Anhel, Kafro, Arkah (Harabale, with Dayro Mor Malke), Beth Sbirino, Middo (Miden), Kerburan, Binkelbe with Mor Samun Zayte and Azech were all important Syriac Orthodox places among with countless other villages. Hah has the ancient `Idto d'Yoldath-Aloho, the Church of the Mother of God.
During the First World War, 500,000 Assyrian/Syriac people were killed in the Assyrian Genocide
(called in Syriac Sayfo, simply 'the sword') and died alongside their coreligionists. In the last few decades, caught between Turks
assimilation policies against Kurds
, and Kurdish resistance, many Assyrians/Syriacs have fled the region or been killed. Today there are only 5000, a quarter of the Christian population thirty years ago. Most have fled to Syria
, Europe
(particularly Sweden
, Germany
, the UK and the Netherlands
), Australia
and the USA. However, in the past few years, a few families have begun to return to Tur Abdin.
The strong Assyrians presence of Tur Abdin have always been there, for example confirmed from Aramaic texts the Assyrians Šameš-zabad (128 e.Kr), Šameš-yāb (162 AD), Sattar-Bēl (195 AD), `Abed-Nabû (195 AD), Bar-Nanāya (195 AD), Nērgol-dammar (195 AD), Natūn-Šameš (195 AD) och `Aqab-Šameš (217 AD) all lived in Tur Abdin.
in Tur Abdin. Muslim
s angry about the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons
gathered in Estel, the new part of the city, and started to march towards the old part of Midyat (6 kilometers away), where the Christians live. The mob was stopped by the police before reaching Midyat
.
In 2008 a series of legal challenges were made against the monastery of Mor Gabriel, reported by the Assyrian International News Agency. Some local Kurdish villages sought to claim land on which the monastery had paid taxes since the 1930s as belonging to the villages, and made other accusations against the monastery. This led to considerable diplomatic and Human Rights action throughout Europe and within Turkey.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
incorporating the eastern half of Mardin Province
Mardin Province
Mardin Province is a province of Turkey with a population of 744,606. The population was 835,173 in 2000. The capital of the Mardin Province is Mardin...
, and Şırnak Province
Şırnak Province
The Şırnak Province is a Turkish province in southeastern Anatolia. It has a population of 430,109 . The population was 353,197 in 2000....
west of the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
, on the border with Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. The name 'Tur Abdin' is from the Syriac language
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...
meaning 'mountain of the servants (of God)'. Tur Abdin is of great importance to Syriac Orthodox
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....
Christians, for whom the region used to be a monastic and cultural heartland. The Assyrian/Syriac people of Tur Abdin call themselves Suroye and Suryoye and traditionally speak an Aramaic dialect called Turoyo.
Monasteries
The most important Syriac Orthodox centre in Tur Abdin is the monastery of Dayro d-Mor HananyoDayro d-Mor Hananyo
Deyr ul-Zafaran Monastery is an important Syriac Orthodox monastery near the city of Mardin in Turkey. The monastery is located in the area known as Tur Abdin, the motherland of the Assyrian/Syriacs. It is usually better known by its nickname, the 'Saffron Monastery' . This name is derived from...
, 6 km south east of Mardin
Mardin
Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.-History:...
, in the west of the region. Built from yellow rock, the monastery is affectionately known as Dayro d Kurkmo in Syriac, Dayr al-Zafaran in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, or Deyrülzafarân in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: the Safron Monastery. Founded in AD 493, the monastery was the residence of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch from 1160 to 1932. Although the patriarch now lives in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
the monastery still contains the patriarchal throne and tombs of seven patriarchs and metropolitans. Today the monastery is led by a bishop and a monk and some lay assistants, and is a school for orphans. The bishop of Mor Hananyo is also the patriarchal vicar of Mardin. His goal is to rebuild the monastery and to preserve the history of the Syriac Orthodox church. The Dayro d-Mor Hananyo is part of the UNESCO wold cultural heritage and was visited by numerous celebrities e.g. like Prince Charles.
In the centre of Tur Abdin, halfway between Midyat
Midyat
Midyat is an originally Assyrian/Syriac town in Mardin Province of Turkey. The ancient city is the epicenter of a centuries-old Assyrian/Syriac enclave in Southeast-Turkey, widely familiar under its Syriac name Tur Abdin. A cognate of the name Midyat is first encountered in an inscription of the...
and Cizre
Cizre
Cizre is a town and district of Şırnak Province in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, located at the border to Syria, just to the north-west of the Turkish-Syrian-Iraqi tripoint....
, is Dayro d-Mor Gabriel
Dayro d-Mor Gabriel
Dayro d-Mor Gabriel is the oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world...
. Built in AD 397, Mor Gabriel monastery, is the oldest functioning Syriac Orthodox monastery. It is the residence of the Metropolitan Bishop of Tur Abdin, seven nuns, four monks and a host of guests, assistants and students. The monastery is charged with keeping the flame of Syriac Orthodox faith alive in Tur Abdin, for which it is as much a fortress as a church.
History
The town of MidyatMidyat
Midyat is an originally Assyrian/Syriac town in Mardin Province of Turkey. The ancient city is the epicenter of a centuries-old Assyrian/Syriac enclave in Southeast-Turkey, widely familiar under its Syriac name Tur Abdin. A cognate of the name Midyat is first encountered in an inscription of the...
and the villages of Hah, Bequsyone, Dayro da-Slibo, Salah (with the old monastery of Mor Yaqub), `Aynwardo (with Mor Huschabo), Anhel, Kafro, Arkah (Harabale, with Dayro Mor Malke), Beth Sbirino, Middo (Miden), Kerburan, Binkelbe with Mor Samun Zayte and Azech were all important Syriac Orthodox places among with countless other villages. Hah has the ancient `Idto d'Yoldath-Aloho, the Church of the Mother of God.
During the First World War, 500,000 Assyrian/Syriac people were killed in the Assyrian Genocide
Assyrian genocide
The Assyrian Genocide refers to the mass slaughter of the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac population of the Ottoman Empire during the 1890s, the First World War, and the period of 1922-1925...
(called in Syriac Sayfo, simply 'the sword') and died alongside their coreligionists. In the last few decades, caught between Turks
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
assimilation policies against Kurds
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
, and Kurdish resistance, many Assyrians/Syriacs have fled the region or been killed. Today there are only 5000, a quarter of the Christian population thirty years ago. Most have fled to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(particularly Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the UK and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the USA. However, in the past few years, a few families have begun to return to Tur Abdin.
The strong Assyrians presence of Tur Abdin have always been there, for example confirmed from Aramaic texts the Assyrians Šameš-zabad (128 e.Kr), Šameš-yāb (162 AD), Sattar-Bēl (195 AD), `Abed-Nabû (195 AD), Bar-Nanāya (195 AD), Nērgol-dammar (195 AD), Natūn-Šameš (195 AD) och `Aqab-Šameš (217 AD) all lived in Tur Abdin.
Recent conflicts
On 10 February 2006 and the following day, large demonstrations took place in the city of MidyatMidyat
Midyat is an originally Assyrian/Syriac town in Mardin Province of Turkey. The ancient city is the epicenter of a centuries-old Assyrian/Syriac enclave in Southeast-Turkey, widely familiar under its Syriac name Tur Abdin. A cognate of the name Midyat is first encountered in an inscription of the...
in Tur Abdin. Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s angry about the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
gathered in Estel, the new part of the city, and started to march towards the old part of Midyat (6 kilometers away), where the Christians live. The mob was stopped by the police before reaching Midyat
Midyat
Midyat is an originally Assyrian/Syriac town in Mardin Province of Turkey. The ancient city is the epicenter of a centuries-old Assyrian/Syriac enclave in Southeast-Turkey, widely familiar under its Syriac name Tur Abdin. A cognate of the name Midyat is first encountered in an inscription of the...
.
In 2008 a series of legal challenges were made against the monastery of Mor Gabriel, reported by the Assyrian International News Agency. Some local Kurdish villages sought to claim land on which the monastery had paid taxes since the 1930s as belonging to the villages, and made other accusations against the monastery. This led to considerable diplomatic and Human Rights action throughout Europe and within Turkey.
See also
- BarwariBarwariBarwar 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:...
- MardinMardinMardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.-History:...
- Syriac Orthodox ChurchSyriac Orthodox ChurchThe 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....
- Mt. Izla
External links
- Midyat Photos
- The Diocese of Linz Eastern Christian Initiative and the Friends of Tur Abdin
- Maps of Tur Abdin
- Webmagazine Shlama
- Margonitho - Syriac Orthodox Resources (see Churches & Monasteries, History and the Rev Stephen Griffith Reports from Tur Abdin)