Sharanish is a village in

Dohuk Governorate Duhok Governorate (, , ) is a Governorates of Iraq, governorate in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital is the city of Duhok. It includes Zakho, near the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Şırnak Province, Turkey. It borders ...

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. It is located near the Iraq–Turkey border in the district of

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo (, , , , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing. Zakho is known for its celebrations of Newr ...

.it’s home to sindi Tribe.The village has two

Chaldean Catholic The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...

churches,

Mar Mar, mar or MAR may refer to: Culture * Mar (title), or Mor, an honorific in Syriac * Earl of Mar, an earldom in Scotland * Mar., an abbreviation for March, the third month of the year in the Gregorian calendar * Biblical abbreviation for the ...

t Shmune and Mar Kiriakos.

Etymology

According to local tradition, the name of the village is derived from an ancient princess named Shiranoosh.

History

Sharanish was formerly home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The nearby river was used as a

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

, and the community had its own graveyard. In the 18th century, Jews from Sharanish migrated to the Jewish village of Sandur. The synagogue was converted into the church of Mart Shmune. The church of Mar Kiriakos is purported to be over 400 years old. In 1913, 600

Chaldean Catholics The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...

inhabited Sharanish, and were served by one priest and two functioning churches as part of the diocese of Zakho. To escape the

Assyrian genocide The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish tribes during ...

, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the population of Sharanish fled with

Agha Petros Petros Elia of Baz (; 1 April 1880 – 2 February 1932), better known as Agha Petros (), was an Assyrian military leader and statesman, best known for his role during World War I. He is considered a national hero for the Assyrians and other ...

, and eventually returned after seven years. In the 1920s, the village was controlled by the Sindi tribe, and its '' agha'' (chief) Jamil resented

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

, and thus he ambushed and killed six policemen, likely former or active Assyrian levies, near Sharanish in April 1925. Sharanish was populated by 384

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

. The village was looted and destroyed by Iraqi soldiers and Zebari Kurds during the

First Iraqi–Kurdish War The First Iraqi–Kurdish WarMichael G. Lortz. (Chapter 1, Introduction). ''The Kurdish Warrior Tradition and the Importance of the Peshmerga''. pp.39-42. (), also known as the September Revolution (), was an armed conflict and major event of th ...

in 1961. Until the village's destruction, there were 80 households at Sharanish. The village was rebuilt as its inhabitants gradually returned and, by 1978, 2000 Assyrians in 160 families inhabited Sharanish with a school. The village was largely destroyed by the Iraqi army in 1987 during the

Al-Anfal campaign The Anfal campaign was a counterinsurgency operation which was carried out by Ba'athist Iraq from February to September 1988 during the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted rural Kurds because its pu ...

, and 80 families were displaced, and most fled to urban centres, such as

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

. Some villagers returned to Sharanish, but several people were killed by Turkish airstrikes in 1991 as part of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, and only 2 people remained by 1995. As a consequence of the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, Assyrians in urban centres suffered from attacks, and returned to Sharanish in the early 2000s. In 2005, the Hezel Foundation constructed 83 houses, a church, hall, and school. In 2015, 570 displaced people inhabited Sharanish, including a number of Yazidis, in addition to the village's population of 141 Assyrians. Sharanish was bombed by the

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...

on 17 January 2016 on the pretext of combatting the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK), and the village's population found temporary refuge in

. The village was further damaged by Turkish airstrikes from 22 to 24 March 2019. The village was also bombarded in 2019 by Turkish artillery on 29 March, and 6 April, with no casualties. Humanitarian aid was delivered to families displaced by the Turkish bombing in Sharanish by the Assyrian Aid Society in August 2019. The village was hit again by Turkish airstrikes in June 2021.

Notable people

Alphonse Mingana Alphonse Mingana (), born Hurmiz Mingana (; 1878 – 5 December 1937), was an Assyrian theologian, historian, Syriacist, orientalist and a former priest who is best known for collecting and preserving the Mingana Collection, a collection of ...

(1878–1937), Assyrian scholar

References

Notes Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Authority control Populated places in Dohuk Province Assyrian communities in Iraq Yazidi populated places in Iraq Historic Jewish communities in Iraq