Sayfo; Village of Qala’at Marra

Village of Qala’at Marra

The village of Qala’a Marah is known in Syriac as Hesno d’Athto, which translates to the Fortress of the Women. It is situated on the slope of a green hill approximately two kilometers east of the city of Mardin, positioned directly between Mardin and the Za’faran Monastery. The site was originally constructed atop the ruins of an important Roman fortress that served as a cornerstone of the regional defensive system. Historical records from 607 A.D. indicate that during an attack by the Persian King Chosroes, the Byzantine inhabitants of the citadel fled, prompting local monks to take possession of the fortress. The citadel was later destroyed between 1123 and 1150 by Husam al-Din Timurtash, the Artukid lord of Mardin, to prevent it from being captured by Zangi, the lord of Mosul.

Qala’at Marah was an important center for the production of high-ranking Syriac Orthodox clergy despite the general shrinkage of the village over time. Maphryono Basilius Ibrahim II, who held office from 1496 to 1499, Patriarch ‘Abd Allah I, who reigned from 1520 to 1556, Patriarch Yaqub II, who presided over the church from 1847 to 1871, and Patriarch Abdulmassih II, who reigned from 1895 to 1903, were all born in this village. The village also produced several other notable figures, including Shim’un, the metropolitan of Amid, and the priest Dawud Qashafo, an expert in astrological knowledge who died in 1485.

While broader massacres devastated the Mardin region during the Hamidian massacres, specific details for Qala’at Marah remain concentrated on its clerical contributions and its status as an entirely Syriac-inhabited settlement.

The Sayfo genocide from 1915 to 1924 marks a significant period of displacement and destruction for the inhabitants of Qala’at Marah. Before the onset of the massacres, the village was populated by approximately 800 Syriac Christians, including Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, and Syriac Protestant families. The primary active place of worship in the village was the Church of the martyr Mor Jirjis (St. George), which was located to the west of the village wall, was renovated in 1885, and was served by two priests: Father Elia and Father Daoud. Two other ancient ecclesiastical buildings existed: the church of the martyr woman Mort Shmuni the Maccabee, located to the southwest of the village, and the church of Mor Iyawannis, located to the east. By the early twentieth century, both the Shmuni and Iyawannis churches were reduced to ruins.

Following the arrest of Christian community leaders in Mardin on June 3, 1915, and the subsequent massacre of the first prisoner convoy on June 10, 1915, panic spread to the surrounding villages. On June 11, a group of women went to Mardin and informed Bishop Qorilius Girgis and the notables of the community that the Kurds were threatening the village and its people with death. They were advised to return to the village and tell everyone to flee with their belongings and take refuge in Deir al-Za'faran. Although Kurdish leaders heard of this and attempted to reassure the Christians regarding their safety, the inhabitants refused and insisted on going to the monastery. Approximately 700 Syriac inhabitants from Qala’at Marah and the nearby village of Benebil abandoned their homes and fled to the Za’faran Monastery for safety, bringing their own weapons and ammunition to prepare to resist the Ottoman Turkish authorities who were organizing a military storming of the patriarchal seat.

On June 13, a group of about forty-five men from Qala’at Marah left the monastery and headed back to their village to transport what remained of their belongings. They were accompanied by two Turkish guards who were assigned to protect the monastery. Kurdish forces attacked the village men and killed them, as the two guards were unable to protect them. Only two of the men survived and fled to Mardin; one of them, Gewargis (Gergees), went to the Protestant hospital and was healed.

When the residents of Qala’at Marah residing at the monastery heard about the martyrdom of these men, they returned to the village in rage. They took the bodies of the victims, put them in sacks, and carried them to the church to pray over them and bury them. The Kurds shot at them with rifles on the way back, but they returned safely to the monastery.

On June 24, a commander in what was known as the Fifty groups came to the Deir al-Za'faran Monastery. He arrested 450 of the residents, forcibly removed them from the monastery, and transported them to Mardin to be included in the labor force. Among them were five Armenian men who had fled from the village of Firan, whom the commander separated and killed along the way. He included the remaining men among the laborers working on the main roads. After a few days, these detainees escaped and began returning one by one to the monastery by bribing the officials in charge of them. However, when they arrived at the monastery, the same commander heard of their return, came to the site, and ordered that each man pay him a monthly bribe.

Due to the severe siege, the hardship on the monastery, and the large number of refugees and residents, the monastery was struck by a great epidemic, and many people died. Many others fled and scattered in the wilderness, moving from one place to another until some of them reached Mount Sinjar. Following the genocide, the village houses in the Mardin region were often occupied by Muslim refugees from Van and Bitlis, leaving the original properties in a state of ruin.