The Midyat City Project

In the academic literature, relatively little information can be found on the ancient city of Midyat. One of the most extensive articles about Midyat comes from Helga Anschütz, Die syrischen Christen vom Tur ‘Abdin: Eine altchristliche Bevölkerungsgruppe zwischen Beharrung, Stagnation und Auflösung (Augustinus-Verlag: Wurzburg, 1985), pp. 61-71; for a discussion of Midyat in Neo-Assyrian sources, see Karlheinz Kessler, Untersuchungen zur historischen Topographie Nordmesopotamiens nach keilschriftlichen Quellen des Jahrtausends v. Chr. (Wiesbaden, 1980), pp. 41-50.

The contribution of Anschütz, however, is only accessible to those who master the German language. In addition, at present both the text about Midyat as well as the book itself would be well worth a revision and an update. For her text contains a few minor errors and in the past decades lots of new developments have taken place. Also, literally hundreds of pages of extra information can be added to the section on Midyat in the book of Anschütz.

It is the intention of The Midyat Team to collect all kinds of information before we will publish our own detailed and illustrated essay about Midyat, which we will make available in different languages. Therefore, we would welcome the involvement in this small project of any individual who can share his or her knowledge about Midyat with the rest of the world.

Aramean laypeople, in particular the Midyoye, should not underestimate their own potential. For they have the great privilege, especially if they understand Aramaic, to ask their family, notably their (grand)parents, about Midyat, her history, her former inhabitants, etc.

You can send us whatever information you have per e-mail or you can discuss and post about it in our forum in the language of your preference: Aramaic, English, Swedish, German, Dutch or Turkish. Naturally we will verify all the information that will be sent to us before we make use of it. Our main focus is on the following topics; some of them may overlap each other.

1. Language. Linguistic forms peculiar to the Aramaic dialect of Midyat in comparison to its surrounding Aramaic speech forms; adages, sayings, proverbs and expressions; funny stories and jokes; old songs and lullabies; under this topic we also understand any kind of information that can be found on Midyat and Midyoye in ancient Aramaic manuscripts, especially in the colophons; etc.

2. Religion. Everything about religion of any faith practiced in Midyat, even if there were atheists it is interesting to know; data on religious buildings (e.g., date of their foundations, names, religious affiliation, etc.); data on religious groups (e.g., on the leadership, faithful, etc.); relationship between the religious groups in Midyat; etc.

3. History. Old legends, tales and stories; the origin of different families which came to Midyat; the role of historical persons before, during and after the Genocide (Sayfo); important developments in Midyat (e.g., the switch from the Arabic/Ottoman to the Turkish script in the schools, which some elderly people may have experienced and still remember; information about Turkish assimilation politics, like enforcing the Turkish language upon the citizens; or the impact of the Cyprus conflict on Midyat); biographies of individuals, both secular and religious, who have played a significant role in Midyat; again, anything that can be found in the oral traditions with respect to Midyat and Midyoye; etc.

4. Demography. We are interested to hear about the various districts (shawthawotho; sing. shawtho), including the lands and the vineyards that belonged to them, especially before the 1960s – this includes the names of the different families, whether big or small (e.g., shawtho b-Sai‘do or b-Challma); the secular and religious leaders (rishono, mukthar, agha) that lived in Midyat, as far back as possible; the number and names of non-Aramean families, including their position and rank; etc.

5. Professions. Midyat is famous for its various skills and professions (e.g., silversmiths) and we would like to hear about any kind of occupation in Midyat so that we might have an idea about the economy of Midyat.

6. Culture. Everything pertaining to cultural traits, like the Midyat cuisine (e.g., what foods and drinks characterized the town); folkloristic aspects, like old songs and clothing; games that were played by children and adults (that is, what did they do in their spare time); etc.

7. Architecture. Relevant information about distinctive architectural skills in constructions, whether religious or secular; the antiquity of these buildings and monuments; etc.

8. Diaspora. We would like to chart the demographic structure of all the Midyoye in the Diaspora (that is, we would be interested in the number and names of the families per country; names of Midyoye that have excelled in their new countries, whether in sports or in other professions); names of Midyoye who have been consecrated as clerics; etc.

N.B.: Scanned photos pertaining to any of the above subjects are always appreciated. If you do not have a scanner, perhaps you can send your photos to a postal address in your own country, for which you may contact us by e-mail. However, we will only select the nice photos. And the older, the better.

Thank you kindly in advance.