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Taşköy (Arabic: اربو; Kurdish: Erbo;[2] Syriac: ܐܪܒܘ, romanized: Arbo)[3][a] is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Nusaybin, Mardin Province in Turkey.[6] The village is populated by Assyrians and had a population of 33 in 2021.[7][1] It is located atop Mount Izla in the historic region of Tur Abdin.[8]
In the village, there are churches of Mar Dimet and the Mother of God.[9]
It has been suggested that Arbo (today called Taşköy) was an important settlement in Late antiquity.[10] The monk-priest Shim’un (Simon) son of Sholem of Arbo at the Mar Malke Monastery (fl. 1214) and the deacon Mas’ud Turkoman of Arbo (fl. 1314) were renowned calligraphers.[11] According to the account of the priest Addai of Basibrina in c. 1500 appended to the Chronography of Bar Hebraeus, Arbo survived Timur's invasion in 1401 (AG 1712) by the intercession of Dioscorus Behnam Shatti, metropolitan bishop of Beth Risha, after he had appealed directly to Timur's son Mīrānshāh to spare his village and had received a kerchief as a sign of his decision.[12] However, Arbo, including the Monastery of Mar Shim’un (Simon), was destroyed alongside Nisibis and the villages of Hbab and Ma’are by Malik al-Adel, the governor of Hasankeyf, in 1403 (AG 1714).[13]
Iyawannis Barsoum of the Zuqaqi family of Arbo was metropolitan bishop of Jazira (fl. 1415–1457).[14] Yuhanna Addai of Arbo (d. 1432) was metropolitan bishop of Mor Gabriel Monastery.[15] Dionysius Malke I of the Zuqaqi family of Arbo was metropolitan bishop of Ma’dan in 1450 and died in 1465.[16] Philoxenus Ibrahim of Manim’am, metropolitan bishop of the diocese of Arbo, Nisibis, M’arē, and Kartwoytō, also known as the diocese of Beth Risha, is attested in 1454 (AG 1765).[17] He had been ordained by Ignatius Qoma, patriarch of Tur Abdin, and was transferred to the diocese of Amid in 1455.[18] The priest Yusuf of Arbo and Rabban Barsoum of Arbo are recorded amongst the monks residing at the Mar Malke Monastery in 1476.[19] Ignatius Saba II of Arbo was patriarch of Tur Abdin in 1482–1489.[20]
Iyawannis II, metropolitan bishop of Beth Risha, was killed at Arbo by the emir of Cizre in 1505 according to a Syriac memro (metrical ode) written by a priest from Habsnas.[21] Gregorius Behnam Ḥabīb of Arbo was metropolitan bishop of Jerusalem from 1590 until his death in 1614.[22] Yuhanna Addai of Arbo (d. 1723) was ordained as a bishop by Ignatius Denha, patriarch of Tur Abdin.[23] The Monastery of Mar Shim’un near Arbo was inhabited by five monks in 1738.[24] Ignatius Barsoum of Arbo, previously metropolitan bishop of the Mor Malke Monastery, was patriarch of Tur Abdin in 1740–1791.[25] Ignatius Aho of Arbo and Ignatius Isaiah of Arbo both served as patriarch of Tur Abdin in 1791–1816.[26] There were nine priests at Arbo in 1825.[24] Severus ʿAbd al-Nūr of Arbo claimed to be patriarch of Tur Abdin in 1834–1839.[27]
The village was attacked by the forces of Bedir Khan Beg of Bohtan and Mir Sayf al-Din in November 1839 and a number of villagers, including one priest and one deacon, were killed whilst Arbo was set on fire.[24] The rooms of the Church of the Mother of God and the small altar of the Church of Mar Dimet were destroyed and tombs were exhumed.[24] Bedir Khan Beg reportedly rode his horse over the remains of a church destroyed by his men at Arbo.[28] The monk Dawud of Arbo is attested at the Monastery of Mar Awgin in 1853.[29]
Most of the Assyrians who settled at Girefshe and Qewetla originated in Arbo.[30] The Syriac Catholic bishop Gabriel Tappouni recorded that the village was populated by about 600 Assyrians in 100 families and were served by one priest in 1913.[31] In 1914, it was inhabited by 300 Assyrians, according to the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation.[32] It was administered as part of the kaza (district) of Midyat.[32] The village was located in the diocese of the Mor Malke Monastery.[31] Amidst the Sayfo, the Assyrians of Arbo took refuge at the Mor Malke Monastery and the Mor Eliyo Monastery.[33] The village had a population of 304 in 1960.[5] There were 304 Turoyo-speaking Christians in 40 families at Arbo in 1966.[5]
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The following is a list of the number of Assyrian families that have inhabited Arbo per year stated. Unless otherwise stated, all figures are from the list provided in The Syrian Orthodox Christians in the Late Ottoman Period and Beyond: Crisis then Revival, as noted in the bibliography below.[34]
- 1915: 70
- 1966: 40
- 1978: 40
- 1979: 33
- 1981: 24
- 1987: 10
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