Dereiçi (Arabic: قلث; Syriac: ܩܠܬ, romanized: Qeleth)[2][a] is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Savur, Mardin Province in Turkey.[5] In 2023, the population was 187.[1] It is populated by Assyrians who speak the Mardin dialect of Arabic.[6] It is located by Mount Qoros in the historic region of Tur Abdin.[7]
Dereiçi | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Dereiçi Location in Turkey | |
| Coordinates: 37°32′54″N 40°57′38″E / 37.54833°N 40.96056°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Mardin |
| District | Savur |
| Population (2023)[1] | 187 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
In the village, there is a church of Mor Yuhannon.[8] The ruins of the monasteries of Mor Abay, Mor Theodotus, and Mor Dimet are also located near the village.[8]
History
editThe church of Mor Yuhannon at Qeleth (today called Dereiçi) was likely constructed in the late 7th century.[8] It was the only village in the Mhallami tract that remained Christian and did not convert to Islam.[9] It was part of the Syriac Orthodox diocese of the Monastery of Mor Abay until the death of its last bishop Isḥoq Ṣaliba in 1730, upon which the diocese was subsumed into the diocese of Mardin.[10] There were 120 Syriac Orthodox families at the village when it was visited by Reverend George Percy Badger in 1850.[11] Badger noted that they mostly spoke Arabic, as well as Kurdish and vernacular Syriac, and that the priests were illiterate.[12] Qeleth was attacked by Kurds in early November 1895 during the Hamidian massacres.[13]
In 1914, 2500 Assyrians inhabited the village, as per the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation.[14] Two-thirds of the village's population adhered to the Syriac Orthodox Church whilst one third was Syriac Protestant.[15] There was also Syriac Catholics.[16] Amidst the Sayfo, on 3 June 1915, Kurds arrived at the village and 25 militiamen came under the pretence of having received orders to keep guard there.[9] The village headmen Benjamin and his son were murdered as they returned to the village after having been taken to Diyarbakır.[9] On 10 June, the villagers barricaded themselves inside large buildings, and some with guns were able to defend their homes, but most were killed.[17] The Syriac Orthodox Christians who took refuge in their church were burned alive there.[18] The women and children were abducted, over 200 homes were completely devastated, and over 2000 people were believed to have been slaughtered.[17] The Syriac Orthodox priests Ibrahîm, Thomas, and Massud, and a monk named Abdallah were also amongst the dead.[18]
Qeleth was inhabited by 871 people in 1960, including 600 Syriac Orthodox Christians, and were served by one priest and one church.[4] The village's population declined in the 1970s due to emigration.[19] Villagers historically emigrated to Latin America but have more recently moved to Germany and Sweden.[6] In 1974, 20 Syriac Protestant families inhabited Qeleth.[20] By 2013, 14-15 Assyrians in 5-6 families populated the village.[6] There were only a few families remaining at Qeleth by 2018.[19]
References
editNotes
Citations
- ^ a b "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2023, Favorite Reports" (XLS) (in Turkish). TÜİK. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Carlson, Thomas A. (9 December 2016). "Qeleth - ܩܠܬ". The Syriac Gazetteer. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ Ritter (1967), p. 10; Sinclair (1989), p. 322; Travis (2018), p. 185; Kiraz (2011); Joseph (1983), p. 103; Barsoum (2003), p. 557; Courtois (2013), p. 146; Gaunt (2006), p. 424; Keser-Kayaalp (2022), p. 18.
- ^ a b Ritter (1967), p. 10.
- ^ Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ a b c Courtois (2013), p. 146.
- ^ Palmer (1990), p. XIX.
- ^ a b c Sinclair (1989), p. 322.
- ^ a b c Gaunt (2006), p. 248.
- ^ Kiraz (2011).
- ^ Courtois (2004), p. 9.
- ^ Courtois (2004), pp. 17, 20.
- ^ Jongerden & Verheij (2012), p. 337.
- ^ Gaunt (2006), p. 427.
- ^ Travis (2018), p. 185.
- ^ Jongerden & Verheij (2012), p. 324.
- ^ a b Gaunt (2006), p. 248; Travis (2018), p. 185.
- ^ a b Courtois (2004), p. 186.
- ^ a b Dr. Banu Pekol. "Monastery of Mor Abay" (PDF). Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ Joseph (1983), p. 103.
Bibliography
edit- Barsoum, Aphrem (2003). The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences. Translated by Matti Moosa (2nd ed.). Gorgias Press. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- Courtois, Sébastien de (2004). The Forgotten Genocide: Eastern Christians, The Last Arameans. Translated by Vincent Aurora. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- Courtois, Sébastien de (2013). "Tur Abdin : Réflexions sur l'état présent descommunautés syriaques du Sud-Est de la Turquie,mémoire, exils, retours". Cahier du Gremmamo (in French). 21: 113–150.
- Gaunt, David (2006). Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- Jongerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle, eds. (2012). Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915. Brill. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- Joseph, John (1983). Muslim-Christian Relations and Inter-Christian Rivalries in the Middle East: The Case of the Jacobites in an Age of Transition. SUNY Press. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- Keser-Kayaalp, Elif, ed. (January 2022). Syriac Architectural Heritage at Risk in TurʿAbdin (PDF). Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- Kiraz, George A. (2011). "Isḥoq Ṣaliba". Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press.
- Palmer, Andrew (1990). Monk and Mason on the Tigris Frontier: The Early History of Tur Abdin. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- Ritter, Hellmut (1967). Turoyo: Die Volkssprache der Syrischen Christen des Tur 'Abdin (in German). Vol. 1. Franz Steiner Verlag.
- Sinclair, T.A. (1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey. Vol. 3. Pindar Press.
- Travis, Hannibal, ed. (2018). The Assyrian Genocide: Cultural and Political Legacies (PDF). Routledge. Retrieved 30 October 2024.