The Monastery of Kukhta

The Monastery of Kukhta

The Monastery of Kokhta, also known as Kokhi Monastery, the Monastery of Mor Abraham, or Kokhyatha, was located on the slopes of Mount Maqloub (also called Mount Alfaf) near Mosul, Iraq. The site's physical remains can be identified at a location called Tell al-Deir (Hill of the Monastery), situated at the far northwestern end of Mount Maqloub, a ten-minute walk from the village of Taq Rasho (or Taq Hama) and northeast of the village of Barzi. The archaeological site features a perimeter of 750 meters with a square structure at its summit measuring 70 meters on each side and an entrance on the southeastern end. Pottery fragments and artifacts recovered from the site indicate that the structure was inhabited until the eleventh century AD.

According to traditional accounts, the monastery was founded by Yohannon (John), one of the 318 bishops who attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. He named the site Kokhta after the mother patriarchal residence in Seleucia-Ctesiphon (al-Mada'in). Yohannon resided at the complex alongside seven other bishops until his martyrdom during the forty-day persecution under the Persian king Shapur II (309–379 AD). Because of these shared foundational accounts, some historical traditions conflate the Monastery of Kokhta with the nearby Monastery of Barzi. However, the two were distinct entities: the Monastery of Barzi remained an active Nestorian center through the first half of the eighth century, whereas Kokhta had rejected Nestorian leadership and aligned with the Syriac Orthodox church tradition by the late fifth century. Because both sites were established near one another along the mountain slope—one higher up in the gorge and the other below—they formed a paired upper-and-lower monastic arrangement similar to other regional monastic complexes.

Historical records also clarify the distinction between the Monastery of Kokhta and the primary Monastery of Mor Mattai. While certain medieval marginalia, manuscript notes, and scribal additions grouped the names of Kokhta, Mor Zakkai, and Mor Abraham under the broader umbrella of Mar Mattai due to shared saints' relics, the two monasteries operated as separate institutions. Kokhta served for a long period as the residence for the bishops of Adiabene and later as the seat for the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Mosul, holding a position of high precedence in the East second only to the Maphrianate. In 1155 AD, the diocese of Mosul was temporarily merged into the Maphrianate, though it later regained its independent status.

During the fifth-century christological conflicts, the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Arbela (Erbil) sought refuge at the Monastery of Kokhta to escape the regional persecutions led by Barsauma of Nisibis. When Barsauma advanced through Bajrami and Arbela with Persian military backing, the Metropolitan fled into Mount Alfaf. Barsauma pursued him to the Monastery of Kokhta, forcing the resident monks to hide in the surrounding mountain caves. The abbot, named Barsoum, was captured along with twelve disciples, sent to Nisibis, and imprisoned. Barsauma then killed ninety priests at the Monastery of Bezonina.

Throughout the eighth and ninth centuries, the Monastery of Kokhta remained an active religious and intellectual center. In the eighth century, the monastery was governed by an abbot named Athanasius (Athanus), who was renowned as a prominent linguist. Around 786 AD, David of Beth Rabban penned a letter from the site. In 809 AD, a bishop named John of Kokhta was deposed and excommunicated following an internal dispute. The final explicit historical reference to the Monastery of Kokhta appears in the account of Ahudemmeh of Balad written in 936 AD, which confirms that the monastery was still functioning, providing aid to the faithful, and operating independently alongside the Monastery of Mar Mattai. Today, the ruins of the complex remain a place of local pilgrimage and blessing.