Sayfo; Monastery of Za'faran

Za'faran Monastery: Sanctuary and Siege During Sayfo

The Za'faran Monastery (also known as Deyrulzafran, Dayro d-Kurkmo, Dayro d-Mor Hananyo) is  located a few kilometers east of Mardin. The Za'faran Monastery held profound historical and spiritual importance for the Syriac Orthodox Church, serving as the patriarchal seat since 1293 and being seen as a "second Jerusalem" due to its concentration of religious buildings. Its oldest structures date back to the sixth century.  It played a pivotal role during the Sayfo in 1915 as both a spiritual center and a sanctuary for Syriac Christians.

Historically, the monastery also functioned as a social hub, providing a place of "recreation" for Christians from Mardin and surrounding areas on Sundays, where they could gather freely. It also offered care for the blind, insane, and outcasts of their community.

As news of massacres spread, particularly from nearby villages like Ma'sarte and Bafayya, the monastery became a crucial place of asylum for Syriac Christians. Around 700 people from Qal’at-Mara and Benebil initially fled there, and it eventually housed over a thousand refugees.

The monastery itself came under siege and direct assault. While the attack on the nearby village of Benebil began around June 9 or 10, 1915, the monastery was assaulted starting around July 4, 1915. The attackers comprised large groups of Kurdish tribes (including Ghamrian, Reshmel Muhallemi, Amrian, Qabala, and a Dashit subtribe led by Khalil Ghazale), and Ottoman soldiers.

The initial contingent of 50 Ottoman soldiers, led by a commander named Farhan, was sent to guard the monastery but treacherously accepted a bribe of 200 gold dinars from the Kurds to hand over the monastery for killing and plunder. However, a second force of 100 soldiers arrived, sent by the governor of Mardin at the request of Mor Qurillos Gurgis. These soldiers expelled the corrupt 50th Corps and the attacking Kurds. Syriac defenders, including refugees, fired from the rooftops. During the siege, Mr. Al-Hashu, the father of Deacon Shafiq, bravely smuggled food into the monastery for his family and other Christians sheltering inside, despite the surrounding Kurdish militias.

The siege, which encompassed the monastery and nearby villages like Benebil, persisted until October 1915. During this prolonged period, epidemics within the overcrowded monastery claimed the lives of approximately half of the refugees. Many villagers attempting to reach the monastery, particularly from Benebil, were murdered en route.

Ottoman guards at the monastery initially refused entry to some refugees, leading three men to climb over the walls, only to be arrested by the chief of guards, Nuri Badlisi, and sent for execution.

Approximately 70 men from Benabil, after hiding in caves, managed to return and re-enter the monastery by bribing the guards with 35 liras, and continued to pay monthly bribes for three months. However, a new chief of guards later arrested them, subjected them to forced labor, and most were subsequently killed.

After the siege was lifted in October, many families from Benebil escaped towards Jebel Sinjar, a traditional place of refuge.

The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate itself was vacant after Patriarch Ignatius Abd`allah II died in November 1915 until a new patriarch, Ignatius Elias III, was consecrated at Za'faran in 1917.

Crucial direct accounts of the Sayfo events at Za'faran exist. Abedmshiho Naman Qarabashi (1903–83), a student at the monastery at the time, kept a diary detailing these events, later published as "Dmo Zliho" ("Shed Blood") and it’s one of the very few A contemporary colophon found in a liturgical manuscript copied at the monastery in October 1915 also provides an invaluable historical note about the mass killings in the Mardin area, including the attack on the monastery.

Bishop Philoxenos Yuhanon Dolabani, a monk at Za'faran from 1908, later compiled catalogues of Syriac manuscripts which may contain more information about the Sayfo. Historically, the monastery's valuable library was often subjected to pillaging, with ancient manuscripts reportedly used for rifle loading or kindling by Kurds.