Dayro d'Mor Abay

Mor Abay Monastery

The Mor Abay Monastery, dedicated to a Persian saint, has a disputed founding date, with some sources citing 370 CE and others the 6th century. The monastery is also know as the Monastery of Mart Maryam, the Mother of God, Mor Abai the Elder and his disciple Mor Abai, Mor Theodotus and his disciple Mor Yawsep, and Mor Shabbai and his disciple Mor Dimet.

The monastery, located north of the village of Qelleth on Koros Mountain near the monasteries of Mor Theodute, Mor Shabay, and Mor Dimet, is considered a "mother-monastery" to these other sites, as they are mentioned in its colophon and are in close proximity.

The biography of Mor Abay survives in Garshuni texts from the 15th-16th centuries. The biography of Mor Theodute (d. 698), though the earliest surviving text is from the 12th century, mentions that this saint stayed at the monastery. The monastery also had a connection to Dayr al-Zaʿfaran around 1155. A priest from Mor Abay was appointed as the bishop of Dara between 1002-1031, and the monastery itself served as an Episcopal See from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Bishop Yohannan of Mardin, known for his construction projects, likely oversaw the first medieval additions to the monastery.

The monastery was renovated by the abbot Rabban Musa between 1249 and 1256. It once housed sixty monks but became ruined at the end of the 18th century. Today, only its ruins remain, which include three inscribed slabs written in Estrangelo script. Mar Abhai, a bishop of Nicaea, was a monk here before founding the Ladders Monastery.

Status: Abandoned in Ruins