Alqosh Between Past and Present

Men gather at the gate of a social club in Alqosh c. 1980s.

Celebrating the history of this ancient city

By Ghazwan Alyass

The ancient Chaldean town of Alqosh is a town in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq, a sub-district of the Tel Kaif district situated 45 km north of the city of Mosul. The locals of Alqosh are Chaldeans who since the 18th century adhere to the Chaldean Catholic Church.

To discuss the antiquity of its history, the authenticity of civilization, the beauty of heritage, the sources of thought and culture, the roots of language, the decoration of its letters, and unique treasures of its people’s knowledge, our words must be directed at its attributes, which epitomizes all its reputation and titles.

There are many opinions and interpretations of the origin of its name, but we have drawn a clear conclusion that is beyond doubt. We identify it today with its beautiful geographic location, lying on the slope of the mountain that bears its name. When one wanders through its neighborhoods and alleys, its features begin to emerge and fully realizes that we are standing before a history full of distinction at all levels.

The depth of Alqosh’s archeological history extends thousands of years. The presence of historic sites and the excavation of its surroundings reveals a host of treasures. Every stone in it has a story, a tale, or a religious landmark, such as the shrine of the Prophet Nahum, the Church, and School of Mar Mikha, and the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd, which stands well preserved at the top of nearby Mount Alqosh overlooking the town and the agricultural fields below. These sites provide sufficient evidence of the town’s authenticity, visible history, and accessibility, and are considered a major tourist attraction to this day.

Location and History

Alqosh is one of the oldest sub-districts of Iraq, as it was the center of the district before the formation of the modern Iraqi state in 1921, where on December 27, 1918, Boutros Shimon Adamo was appointed the first director of the district. It is administratively linked to dozens of surrounding villages and towns and affiliated with the Tel Kaif district within the Nineveh Governorate. In addition to being the center of the district, this town is considered an important Christian religious center as it hosts the episcopal see of the Chaldean Diocese of Alqosh.

Alqosh is a very ancient Chaldean town whose history goes back more than 1,000 years BC due to the presence of the shrine of the Prophet Nahum who predicted the fall of Nineveh. Alqosh is a Chaldean word made up of two parts: Ail - Qosht, meaning the strong god. The town’s economy and people’s living conditions are based on agriculture, farming, trade, weaving, and pastures for sheep and cows. It is surrounded by vast large agricultural lands, fertile fields, wide threshing areas, vineyards, and trade.

To understand and share this great archeological history and geography, and learn more facts, we engaged one of the sons of Alqosh to clarify the picture and convey to the readers interesting details about its most important archaeological sites, places, and prominent personalities. We interviewed Deacon Samir Zori, a local man known for his in-depth knowledge and high-level artistic, cultural, and historical talents and abilities.

Deacon Zori is a prominent linguist, a scholar of the Chaldean language, and skilled in the distinct art of calligraphy. Zori began to narrate his valuable information and stories by highlighting the fact that Alqosh has unique ancient archaeological sites, including:

Shweetha Da-Ganawy: Chaldean words meaning the “bed of strangers.”

Masna’ai: An ancient monument carved in the middle of the mountain as an altar for “idols.”

Kouba Da-Maya:  The “water cave,” is a large and wide cave carved into the mountain and contains a small spring of water suitable for drinking.

Kirra: Meaning “to stand,” it is a manual work in the form of a circular hill believed to be an ancient observatory established after the fall of Nineveh at the hands of the Chaldeans led by King Nebuchadnezzar. The Chaldean kings ruled Nineveh after its fall in the year 612 BC.

Qarzi: A small and somewhat low mountain range, its height is about 50 meters above the Qasha neighborhood and separated from the main mountain by a wide valley. Two generations ago, several houses were built on it, but have since disappeared.

In my opinion, the name should be pronounced “Karzi” with the letter Kaf and not Qaf because it has no meaning in Chaldean. However, it is believed that Karzi means “the one who calls” as it is a high and likely location when events occur, whether happy, sad, or frightening. The caller climbs this range to call the residents of Alqosh to be careful.

The Temple of the Prophet Nahum the Qoshite

A very ancient Jewish temple site was established before the arrival of Christianity in Alqosh. Nahum’s shrine is close to the shrine of his sister Sarah. His parents and grandfathers were prisoners of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib.

The temple was designed in the form of a tomb similar to the rest of the tombs of the prophets. His name is written in the Holy Bible, the Old Testament, which predicted the fall of Nineveh forever in 612 BC.

One of his many prophecies was that Nineveh is a pool whose water has dried up, and “woe to the city of blood! Your rulers are dead, O King of Assyria, your nobles have departed you, your people are scattered in the mountains, and no one is gathering them. Everyone who hears your news claps their hands at you and your calamity.”

Christian Alqosh

Alqosh embraced Christianity in the first century when Mar Mikha al-Nuhadri came to it, Alqosh became Christian and had the Church of Mar Korkis.

Alqosh was exposed to many disasters, including the Mongols and Tatar invasions in the fifteenth century, and this is proven by the presence of the Mongol Tatar cemetery on the road to the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd and in the time of Tamerlane in the thirteenth-century, Tahmasp Quli Khan and Nader Shah in the fifteenth century.

It was exposed and subject to persecution in 1832 by Prince Muhammad al-Awaar (the one-eyed), nicknamed Mirakur. Anba Gabriel Danbo, the head of the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd, was martyred there, along with several monks and large numbers of Alqosh people.

Alqosh and other Christian towns suffered from the Simele Massacre, which caused a large migration into Alqosh. The Simele Massacre, also known as the Assyrian Affair, was committed by the Iraqi army led by General Bakr Siddqi during a campaign systematically targeting the Assyrians in and around Simele in August 1933. The number of deaths was estimated by British officials at 600. Some Assyrian estimates are higher, positing that as many as 6,000 were killed and over 100 Assyrian villages were destroyed and looted.

The town was also affected by regional conflicts and wars in northern Iraq between the Baath regime, and the Kurdish people, the movement of ISIS to the region, and the fall of the Baath regime.

Two centuries ago, there was a migration from Alqosh to Mosul, Baghdad, Basra, and Europe. It is said that Patriarch Youssef Audo, when he visited France, met an elderly woman married to a Frenchman of Al-Qoshi origin, but it was not known exactly which family she belonged to.

During the last few decades, immigration continued to America, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Al-Qoshies in the diaspora continue to cling to their Chaldean identity and traditions in dress and customs in addition to their Christian faith.

The name Alqosh is famous worldwide, because it is the town of the Prophet Nahum Alqoshi who was mentioned in the Bible, and the first school was established to teach the Chaldean language and Chaldean script since the arrival of Mar Mikha in the fifth century AD. It is also famous for its calligraphers, writers, and poets.

Alqosh Old Neighborhoods

The town of Alqosh is located north of Mosul and south of Dohuk. It is the center of a district affiliated with the Nineveh Governorate.

Alqosh has three old neighborhoods: the Qasha neighborhood, located east of the town, the Sina neighborhood, which is located west of it, and the Tahttani (i.e. lower-level neighborhood), which is located south of the Qasha and Sina neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are separated by an alley named after the neighborhood. These names are Chaldean words. The areas expanded and had new neighborhoods.

Rauma: This is Alqosh cemetery, a Chaldean word meaning a high place, located east of Alqosh. It is a high and wide hill that the people of Alqosh used as a cemetery for their dead. Its geographic existence is natural and ancient, however, its use as a cemetery was likely since the times when the people of Alqosh converted to Christianity. This date goes back to the fourth century AD when Mar Mikha came to Alqosh and Alqosh church was full of people, priests, and deacons. The cemetery was divided into the original Alqosh clans according to age. It contains old graves from the twelfth century AD until 2015 when a new cemetery was built west of Alqosh.

Samir Zori also described his memories and records in collecting information about the old Alqosh market, saying: “The old Alqosh market is located in the middle of Alqosh town and has several alleys to reach it: an alley from Qasha neighborhood from the east of the market, two alleys from Tahttani neighborhood south of the market, and two alleys from the west Sina neighborhood. It is a well-organized and beautiful market consisting of shops, which are of equal size and divided into several adjacent sections, most of which are for grocers, butchers, carpenters, blacksmiths, craftsmen, cloth merchants, and shops selling dairy, milk, and cheese.”

Within the market, there are three wholesale Khans (warehouses). Most of the shops and inns are owned by the Chaldean Church of Alqosh, some are owned by Our Lady of the Chaldean Monastery, and some are owned by well-known families in Alqosh.

The market of this town has played an important role for decades, as a commercial center for many years, where various goods brought by merchants from distant areas were traded, exchanged, and sold. In this market, the process of bartering goods such as fruits and vegetables was carried out in exchange for wheat and barley.

Shrines

As for the shrines, Deacon Zori said: “Many churches and shrines were built in Alqosh, the first of which are: Mar Korkis Church in the third century AD; Mar Mikha al-Nuhadri Church and School in the fifth century AD; the famous Monastery of Rabban Hormizd was founded in the seventh century AD; the Monastery of Our Lady Lady Mary, Keeper of Crops in the eighteenth-century AD; Mar Qardakh Church and Shrine; Mar Shimon Shrine, which is probably old, was built in the name of Mar Shimon Bar Sabaei, the Chaldean Patriarch during the time of Shapur II in the third century AD; Mar Shimoni Shrine; Mar Youssef Shrine; Mar Sahdona Shrine; Mar Zadika Shrine;  and Mar Yohannan Shrine”

Mar Mikha Church and School

This church was probably built at the beginning of the fifth century, around 414 AD, and its location did not change but was expanded, and a school was built to teach children and youth the Chaldean language, Christian education, and hymns.

During the time of Mar Mikha, his church was next to the Church of Mar Korkis and close to the shrine of the Prophet Nahum al-Qoshi from the west and on the same line where the houses of Alqosh were built (Qarzi) as we mentioned before.

The Church of Mar Korkis, the Church of Mar Mikha, and the Temple of the Prophet Nahum were built south of the houses of Alqosh. After some time, the people of Alqosh built houses in a row of these churches and on three sides: the east, the west, and the south, and they remain to this day.

Famous Figures in Alqosh

Ancient Alqosh produced famous figures, and due to the limited space, we limit listing the names of famous patriarchs and some of the old calligraphers, famous people, in various historical fields including religion, culture, politics, and arts.

We start from the twelfth century AD because the previous centuries did not record, or we could obtain ancient manuscripts to know historical figures due to hostile incidents, destruction, and persecutions.

Calligraphers

Isho the monk, a very skilled Chaldean calligrapher, has a manuscript in Chaldean writing with the magnificence of calligraphy on parchment (gazelle skin) of the Old Testament, consisting of 25 notebooks, which he completed in 1200 AD.

The skilled calligrapher and the beauty of his handwriting, Father Ataya Al-Maqdisi 1520.

The famous calligrapher Father Yaqoub Abdul-Masih Khazmi 1569 AD.

Calligraphers in Chaldean script from Beit Rabbi Raba (Shikwana) and calligraphers from Beit Homo (the Homo House).

Because of the limits of the number of words and pages for this journalistic investigation, the spotlight in this area was limited to religious figures only from the shepherds of the church in addition to what was mentioned by the skilled ancient calligraphers.

Patriarchs from Alqosh

Patriarchs of the Nestorian Chaldean Church: Timotheus II 1318 - 1332 AD; Dinha II 1332 - 1364 AD; Simeon II 1364 - 1407 AD; Simeon III 1407 - 1437 AD; Elia IV 1437 - 1437 AD; Simeón IV Al-Basidi 1437 - 1476 AD; Simeon V 1497-1501 AD; Elijah V 1502-1503 AD; Simeon VI 1504-1538 AD; Simeon VII 1538-1551 AD; Simeon VIII 1551-1558 AD, during his reign, the Nestorian Chaldean Church split into two parts, Nestorian and Catholic; Elijah VI 1558 - 1476 AD; Elijah VII 1576 - 1591 AD; Elijah VIII 1591 - 1617 AD; Elijah IX Simon 1617 - 1660 AD; Elijah X Yohanna Marukin 1660 - 1700 AD; Elijah XI Marukin 1700 - 1722 AD; Elijah XII Denha 1722 - 1778 AD; Elijah XIII Isho’yab 1778 – 1804; and Yohnan Hormizd VIII 1804 - 1838 AD.

These are patriarchs of the Chaldean Nestorian Church from the town of Alqosh from the house of the Abouna family (father’s family).

Patriarchs of the Chaldean Catholic Church: Patriarch Yohannan Shimon Sulaqa 1551-1553 AD; Patriarch Youssef Audo 1837-1878 AD; Patriarch Emmanuel Tomka 1900-1947 AD; and Patriarch Paul Cheikho 1958-1989 AD.

Plus, hundreds of bishops, priests, pastors, monks, and deacons are skilled in reading, writing, calligraphy, poetry, melodies, and memorizing difficult hymns.

Spreading abroad

Alqosh was not far from its sister Christian villages and towns that suffered in the homeland. It went through many tragic events and attempts by aggressors who intended to eliminate its civilizational, intellectual, cultural, and religious heritage.

However, despite everything that happened to it, its zealous sons rose stronger, drawing their strength, determination, and insistence from their faith and courageous history. However, the ferocity of events and successive policies of persecution led to the departure of many Alqosh families abroad, searching for a land in which to plant the seedlings of their values and history so that their children and grandchildren could reap beautiful fruits with a distinctive flavor that traces its origins back to their hometown of Alqosh.

Despite all the pressures, harsh conditions, political, and demographic changes, and the gradual shrinkage of its population over time, it has maintained its familiar bold historical features that have not been affected by the regional demographic changes so far.

The deep love and attachment of its expatriate sons to it led them to establish many associations and organizations overseas as the Alqosh community spread and established itself across the diaspora. Most of the principals and directors of these charitable, social, and cultural institutions chose to have names and signs related to the history of their town. They always repeat the saying, “Indeed, we do not live in Alqosh, but Alqosh will always live in us.”