Altıntaş, Midyat

The village is inhabited by Kurds of the Dermemikan tribe and by Assyrians who belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church and speak Turoyo, a dialect of Neo-Aramaic.

Altıntaş
Neighbourhood
Altıntaş Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 37°26′38″N 41°31′42″E / 37.44389°N 41.52833°E / 37.44389; 41.52833
Country	Turkey
Province	Mardin
District	Midyat
Population  (2021)	214
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)

In the village, there are churches of Yoldath Aloho, Mor Yohannon, Mor Abrohom, and Mor Izozoel. There is also the ruins of the churches of Mor Eliyo and Mor Malke. The monastery of Mor Moses was located nearby the village, which was constructed by 1085 AD.

The village had a population of 214 in 2021.

The Turkish name of the village comprises two words, "altın" ("gold" in Turkish) and "taş" ("stone" in Turkish), therefore Altıntaş translates to "gold stone". The Syriac name of the village is derived from "kfar" ("village" in Syriac).

 

It was attested that Emperor Anastasius I Dicorus (r. 491–518) had constructed a church at Kfarze, however, the historian Andrew Palmer argues this was fabricated to add historicity. The church of Mor Izozoel at Kfarze was likely constructed in the late 7th century AD. The village is first mentioned in 935 AD (AG 1246), as attested by an inscription to commemorate the construction of the outdoor oratory (Syriac: Beth Slutho) at the church of Mor Izozoel. The church of Mor Izozoel was looted by Kurds in 1416, and led to the loss of an icon of the church's patron saint.

The Kurdish rebel Izz al-Din Scher (Kurdish: Yezdanşêr), a relative of Emir Bedir Khan Beg of Bohtan, attacked Kfarze in 1855, which resulted in severe damage to the church of Mor Izozoel and the death of many of the village's inhabitants, including four priests. The village was visited by the British archaeologist Gertrude Bell in 1909 and 1911. During the Assyrian genocide, upon receiving news of an impending Kurdish attack, most of the village's Assyrian population fled to Inwardo whilst those who remained were killed. The survivors later returned to Kfarze in 1922. Part of the nave vault of the church of Mor Izozoel collapsed during the First World War or immediately after, and was restored in 1936. A significant number of the village's Assyrian population emigrated abroad to Germany, Belgium, and France in the late 20th century.

The following is a list of the number of Assyrian families that have inhabited Kfarze per year stated. Unless otherwise stated, all figures are from the list provided in Eastern Christianity, Theological Reflection on Religion, Culture, and Politics in the Holy Land and Christian Encounter with Islam and the Muslim World, as noted in the bibliography below.

The following is a list of Kurdish families that have inhabited Kfarze per year stated:

Notes

• 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.
• Barsoum, Aphrem (2008). The History of Tur Abdin. Translated by Matti Moosa. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
• Biner, Zerrin Ozlem (2019). States of Dispossession: Violence and Precarious Coexistence in Southeast Turkey. University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Brock, Sebastian (2021). "The Syrian Orthodox Church in the twentieth century". Eastern Christianity, Theological Reflection on Religion, Culture, and Politics in the Holy Land and Christian Encounter with Islam and the Muslim World (PDF). Living Stones of the Holy Land Trust. pp. 155–181. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
• 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.
• Csató, Éva Ágnes; Isaksson, Bo; Jahani, Carina (2005). Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion: Case Studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415308045.
• Fiey, Jean Maurice (2004). Lawrence Conrad (ed.). Saints Syriaques (in French). The Darwin Press.
• Gaunt, David; Bet̲-Şawoce, Jan; Donef, Racho (2006). Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I. 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.
• Sediyani, İbrahim (2009). Adını arayan coğrafya (in Turkish). Özedönüş Yayınları. ISBN 9786054296002.
• Sinclair, T.A. (1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume III. Pindar Press. ISBN 9780907132349.
• Tan, Altan (2018). Turabidin'den Berriye'ye. Aşiretler - Dinler - Diller - Kültürler (in Turkish). ISBN 9789944360944.

 

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