Merki, Iraq

Merki
مدينة مرياقي
Town

Mar Mattai monastery lies above the village in the mountains to the north, and is therefore a feature of the village

Merki is a Syriac-Assyrian village located in Hamadaniya District of Ninawa Province located below The Mar Mattai monastery on mount Maqlub. The village was founded by Syriac Orthodox Christian refugees from Tikrit in 1089, who fled to the Mar Mattai Monastery, establishing this village in the valley below the Monastery.[1] The village and Nineveh Plains region was later bolstered by other Syriac refugees from Tikrit due to Mongol raids in 1295 and Timurs genocide of Christians in the early 1400s.[2]

Merki is a prosperous agricultural village, with the cultivation of olives being their specialty. The village has several hundred houses, and a large historic church which was recently restored.[3] As of 2016, Merki is now the only remaining Syriac town, city or village in the Nineveh plains which isn't occupied by ISIS.[4]

See also

Sources

  1. ↑ Gibb, H. A. R. (2000). "Takrīt". In Kramers, J. H. Encyclopaedia of Islam 10 (Second ed.). BRILL. pp. 140–141. ISBN 9789004112117.
  2. ↑ Rassam, Suha (2005). Christianity in Iraq: Its Origins and Development to the Present Day. Gracewing Publishing. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-0-85244-633-1.
  3. ↑ http://www.ishtartv.com/en/viewarticle,35661.html
  4. ↑ http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/12/09/1600-year-old-iraqi-monastery-shelters-christians-islamic-state/

Coordinates: 37°02′N 43°06′E / 37.033°N 43.100°E / 37.033; 43.100


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