Sayfo; Monastery of Mor Malke 

Monastery of Mor Malke 

This monastery is situated on a wide plateau across the Izlo Mountain range, and it is very well fortified and has three levels and a single entrance. The courtyard inside the monastery is small but the space outside the gate is huge and it is known as the "Camel's Court", built of stones and mortar. In the fourteenth century, this monastery used to be a bishop's see for the villages of Beth Rishe. At the beginning of WW1, the Bishop was Severos Saume and his family originated from Kfarze but he was born in the village of Beth Debe. When the events of Sayfo started, he was visiting the Za'faran Monastery, where the Patriarchal See was at the time and he remained there during the whole period of the persecutions.

In the monastery, many people gathered from many villages, Arbo, Arkah, Saydari, Harabemishka, Kafro, Beth Debe and from more villages of the plain who had fled the massacres and were afraid that the killers would return and finish them off. The one thing they wanted was to stay together so that they could resist better and help one another. After the Kurdish tribes and the Ottoman troops had been defeated and shamefully withdrawn from Hbob and Beth Debe, they did not dare start another attack at Mor Malke Monastery. The monastery did not have enough room for all the people who sought refuge there, so they erected tents outside the monastery and in the Camel's Court. Thus people managed to survive until the middle of October when the peace had been restored and that there was no danger, so everyone returned to their village.

When the enemies of Christians withdrew from Hbob and Beth Debe after it was apparent that what they intended to do did not work out, they went to see the district authority in Mardin and reported what had hap­pened, and that they could not kill the Syriac people in this area as planned. Therefore, the Mardin governor wanted to finish the killing plan by using a trick. He called on Bishop Elias Halule, who was staying at the Za'afaran Monastery at the time, and sent him to the villages around Beth Rishe and Raite, ordering him to tell the Syriac people in his diocese that they had to submit to the authorities and surrender their weapons. Otherwise, the Ottoman government shall subdue and annihilate them and once everybody handed in all their weapons, they could go home and do their own business. The bishop sent a messenger to Mor Malke Monastery, informing them of his arrival. They went out to meet him and he then told them about the governor's request and threats. However, they refused to surrender believing they would be killed just as they did when the other Christians who had believed their false promises. After that, the bishop returned to Mardin, and stayed at the Za'afaran Monastery.

When the Mardin governor saw that his trick had not worked, he tried a second time by sending a priest, named Dgedgi (Gewargis), to them, accompanied by a soldier. The priest came to Mor Malke Monastery with the same message as the bishop but the villagers refused the offer again. When the soldier saw how well everyone in the monastery was armed and ready for battle, he became very scared. When it was clear that further discussion was useless, they returned and reported that the monastery people did not want to surrender.