Dayro d'Mor Mushe

Dayro d'Mor Mushe

The Monastery of Mor Mushe, also known as the Monastery of Mor Mūshē the Black, is an abandoned and ruined site located near Kfraze village. It is believed to have been dedicated to a saint named Mor Mushe, who was likely a disciple of Mor Awgin.

Historical references to the monastery date back several centuries. Palmer, a prominent scholar, documented a detached inscription from 1085 and another from 1173 found in the antechamber of a large, rock-cut burial vault. The latter inscription was the epitaph of a writer and teacher named rabban Daniel. These inscriptions provide tangible evidence of the monastery's active use during the 11th and 12th centuries. An additional tombstone inscription was recorded by Wiessner, further confirming the monastery as a burial site. References to a "Monastery of Moses the Black" appear in manuscripts recorded by Patriarch Aphrem Barsoum, and a ruined monastery with this name is also noted by Shabo Hanna near Kharabe Khoriya. 

Historical records also provide insight into the monastery's financial status. An Ottoman tax register from 1566-1574 mentions a "Kilise-i Deyri-Musa" in the nahiye (district) of Tur 'Abdin. This institution paid an ispençe (a type of poll tax) of 400 akçe, which was equivalent to the poll tax of sixteen Christian men. This detail indicates that even in the 16th century, the monastery was a recognizable and taxable entity, suggesting its continued, though perhaps diminished, presence.

Status: Abandoned in ruins