Dibek | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 37°12′29″N 41°26′42″E / 37.208°N 41.445°E | |
Country | Turkey |
Province | Mardin |
District | Nusaybin |
Population (2021)[1] | 45 |
Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Dibek, also known as Daskan,[2] (Arabic: بادبة; Kurdish: Badibê; Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܕܒ̈ܐ, romanized: Beth Debe, lit. 'House of the Bear')[3][4][a] is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Nusaybin, Mardin Province in Turkey.[7] The village is populated by Assyrians and Kurds and had a population of 45 in 2021.[1][8] The Kurdish population is Yazidi.[9] It is located atop Mount Izla in the historic region of Tur Abdin.[10]
In the village, there is a Syriac Orthodox church of the Mother of God.[11]
Beth Debe (today called Dibek) is attested in AD 776/777 (AG 1088) in an inscription, engraved by Cyril of Aynwardo, at the Mor Gabriel Monastery, in which it is recorded that stone which had been quarried at the village in 768/769 (AG 1080) by Zechariah of Aynwardo was transported to the monastery by his shawshbino (relative by sponsorship) Isaiah of Fofyath.[12] In the Life of Gabriel of Qartmin, Mor Gabriel of Beth Qustan (d. 648) is credited with having commissioned the stone.[4]
350 people from Beth Debe were killed by Hamza Beg in 1711.[13] Three Syriac Orthodox monks from Beth Debe were recorded in 1870, including one named Gawriyyah residing in the village whilst another called Danḥā was at the nearby Monastery of Morī Ya‘qūb, and the third monk Yūsef was abbot of the Monastery of Mar Awgin.[14] The Syriac Catholic bishop Gabriel Tappouni recorded that 250 Assyrians in 50 families populated Beth Debe in 1913 and were served by one priest.[15] The village was inhabited by 250 or 400 Assyrians in 1914, as per the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation.[b] In 1915, there were 40 Assyrian families.[17] They adhered to the Syriac Orthodox Church.[18]
Amidst the Sayfo, refugees from neighbouring villages fled to Beth Debe, including 20 families from Sederi, 20 families from Kharabe-Mishka, and some from Mor Bobo, and they built defensive barriers.[19] The villagers received weapons and ammunition from Sarokhano Agha, the temporary leader of the Chelebi faction of the Haverkan confederation, who also warned them the night before of the planned attack on Beth Debe.[20] In early August, the village was attacked by the Hajo, Ali Batte, Doman, Chumaran, Dayre, Surgechi, Bunusra, Omaran, and Alike tribes in addition to Qaddur Bey with the Nisibis militia whilst the villagers were reinforced by one hundred armed men from the Monastery of Mor Malke.[20] The battle lasted for fifteen days and nights until the Kurds retreated prior to the holiday of Saint Mary in mid-August and resulted in the death of 18 Assyrians and 30 Kurds.[20] The Assyrians at Beth Debe then took refuge at the Mor Malke Monastery following the Kurds' withdrawal.[20]
The village had a population of 356 in 1960.[6] There were 410 Turoyo-speaking Christians in 65 families at the village in 1967.[6] In 1987, only one Assyrian family inhabited Beth Debe, and by the following year there were no remaining Assyrians.[21]
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