Monastery of Khanushya

Monastery of Khanushya

The Monastery of Khenushya (also pronounced Konishia or Khnoshia) was located on Mount Sinjar in the Sinjar region. Historical references to the monastery date back to the middle of the sixth century AD. The site served as a prominent monastic and intellectual center from which several notable clergy and scholars emerged. Prior to 667 AD, the scholar Severus Sebokht sent two letters to Sergius, the abbot of the Monastery of Kenushia in Sinjar, providing an explanation of two articles by Gregory of Nazianzus.

The monastery played a key role in the administration and episcopal appointments of the Syriac Orthodox Church across the East.  In 788 AD, after the death of Maphrian Denha II, Monk Paulus, who served as abbot of the Monastery of Kenushia, was consecrated as Maphrian of the East at Tikrit by Patriarch Athanasius III. Maphrian Paul administered his office for twenty-nine years until his death in 817 AD, during which he reconciled internal factions in Takrit following a prior schism and established Eastern church rituals, hymns, and customary practices.

The monastery also featured prominently in liturgical developments for the Syriac Orthodox Church. In 786, when Rabban David Bar Paulus and his student Zacharias returned to the Monastery of Khanushya from lands west of the Euphrates, they brought one hundred and seventy church hymns composed by Mor Severus that had not previously been present in the East. They introduced these canons and collections into local practice so that the hymns could be sung daily at the conclusion of the night service, while also adding a psalm and the Lord's Prayer after the Trisagion ("Holy are You, O God") during night, morning, and noon prayers.

The Monastery of Khenushya served as a gathering place for the Eastern episcopacy and produced several bishops for various regional sees and tribal communities. Eastern Syriac Orthodox bishops assembled at the monastery to deliberate on complaints filed by the flock against Younan, Bishop of Kirkuk. After Younan refused to stand trial before the Synod of the East, the assembly expelled him from his see and selected John al-Khabuniti,, sending him to Patriarch Athanasius IV to be appointed Maphrian of Takrit. The Monk David Bar Paulus studied at the monastery at the beginning of the  ninth century

Monks from Khenushya were also appointed to oversee diverse dioceses throughout the region. Bishop Habib, a former monk of the Monastery of Kenushia, served as a tribal bishop in the diocese of Ana and Taghlib, succeeding Bishop Thomas of Tikrit during the patriarchate of Dionysius of Tell Mahre (818–845 AD). Additionally, during the patriarchate of John V (847–874 AD), a monk from the Monastery of Kenushia named Sulayman was ordained as Bishop of Najran (near Aqula) and the Banu Ma'ad. Historical accounts regarding Mor Youhannaon, Metropolitan of Mardin and Kafrtuth under Patriarch Quriaqos (793–817 AD), note his upbringing at the Monastery of Kenushia in the Sinjar region, where he was raised before revitalizing the Monastery of Mor Hanania (the Monastery of Saffron).