Zafaran Monastery

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Deir az-Zafaran monastery

The monastery of Deir az-Zafaran ( Aramaic ܕܟܘܪܟܡܐ Kurkmo Dayro , Turkish Deyrüzzaferân Manastırı ), actually Dayro d-Mor Hananyo ( Syrian-Aramaic ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܚܢܢܝܐ), is a Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) monastery a few kilometers east of the southern Turkish city of Mardin in the Tur Abdin Mountains on the edge of the Great Plain of Mesopotamia .

Surname

In terms of folk etymology, Zafaran is associated with the Arabic word for saffron ; It is said that saffron was once mixed into the mortar so that it should always smell good in the monastery. In the Syrian Orthodox Church, the monastery is named after its second founder, the Bishop of Mardin and Kfartuta, Mor Hananyo (Ananias).

history

Under the monastery burial chapel is the oldest room in the monastery, it is undated, but was probably built a long time before the advent of Christianity. It is sometimes assumed that Assyrians were here as early as 2000 BC. Worshiped the sun god Šamaš ; this cannot be proven. At the top of the wall of the old temple there is a small opening that faces east, so that the sun was worshiped when it rises in the morning.

The origins of the Syrian Orthodox monastery go back to the 5th century AD; the late antique architectural ornamentation from this time is still clearly recognizable. There is evidence that the monastery, which was temporarily abandoned in the 7th century, was founded by Mor Hananyo in 792.

The monastery was the seat of the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church from 1160 to 1932 . From 1933, due to the difficult conditions in Turkey after the First World War, the headquarters were relocated to Homs and, in 1957, to Damascus .

Situation today

View from the monastery roof (2011)

Today the monastery is the seat of the Bishop of Mardin . The situation of the Syrian Orthodox Christians was not regulated in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne , so they are not recognized as a protected minority in Turkey . Around 60,000 parishioners lived in the Tur Abdin area until the 1960s, and in the 1970s and 1980s many families left the area because of the Kurdish conflicts that were taking place in the area and the difficult relationship with the Turkish state. At most 10,000 Aramaic Christians still live in Mardin and the rest of Tur Abdin .

The monastery is inhabited by the bishop Filüksinos Saliba Özmen , who is also the abbot, and by a monk (as of 2019). There is a boys' boarding school where Christian students who attend state schools in the morning are taught Aramaic language and liturgy in the afternoon , and there is an extensive library. The church bells ring daily. The monastery has been extensively renovated in recent years with the help of donations from the emigrated Christians and now shines in new splendor.

building

The monastery courtyard.

The area is surrounded by a high wall. The actual monastery consists of a large, rectangular, three-story building complex above the access road and was built in several stages. There is a Syrian inscription above the entrance . The monastery is supplied with fresh water through old canals from the mountains.

At the back of the courtyard there are three churches: The Marienkirche dates from the 6th century; the main church was supposedly donated by the Roman emperor Anastasius (491-518), has a pyramid-shaped roof and a belfry added later and houses the mausoleum-like burial chapel Beit Qadishe ("House of Saints") of the patriarchs. The main church has arches decorated in relief; The names of all the patriarchs since 792 are carved into the former throne of the patriarch. A service in Aramaic takes place here every day , in which not only the monks and students but also members of the Christian community of Mardin take part.

It is often assumed that there was a temple from pre-Christian Assyrian times under the burial chapel, as a window that has now been closed focused the first sunlight of the day and the sun goddess was worshiped in this way at that time, but this is a mere assumption so far, because the room has never been scientifically investigated (see above). The vault made of stone blocks is self-supporting and does not require any mortar. In the niches of the mausoleum above are the graves of seven Syrian Orthodox patriarchs and metropolitans .

The monastery has a limited number of clean, modest guest rooms, which are also open to tourists - but only after registration. In summer it is possible to sleep in the beds provided in the open air. The overnight stay is free, the monks are friendly and some speak German, and women are also welcome; but it is expected that you will then show yourself to be recognized within the scope of your possibilities by making a donation.

Behind the monastery some caves have been carved into the mountain, in the area there are other abandoned monastery ruins.

swell

Web links

Commons : Deyrulzaferan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Mor Filüksinos Saliba Özmen , accessed on September 28, 2019.
  2. ↑ Georg Pulling: Deyrülzafarân Monastery: The abbot and his only monk . Catholic Press Agency Austria, 23 September 2019.

Coordinates: 37 ° 17 ′ 58 ″  N , 40 ° 47 ′ 34 ″  E