Mardin and Its Cultural Elements

Turkchem 16 Nov 2021 50 4 dk okuma

TURKCHEM

We continue our Mardin feature from our previous issue. With its 3,000-year history, Mardin houses numerous cultures and historical monuments. With its mosques, monasteries, churches, and distinctive architecture, Mardin is a cultural treasure. In our feature exploring this treasure, we included historical structures and the ancient city of Dara within the city.

Church of the Virgin Mary and Patriarchate

Built as a church in 1860, the structure is now used as a museum. The church features acoustic sound design, with the patriarch's seat and pulpit adorned with wooden craftsmanship. It stands out with its elegant appearance. The Patriarchate was constructed in 1895. It was transferred to the Ministry of Culture in 1988. After restoration, it has been used as a museum since 1995. Part of the Old Patriarchate building was demolished during expansion work carried out in 1914-1915.

Deyrulzafaran Monastery

Deyrulzafaran Monastery is among the most renowned historical structures of Upper Mesopotamia. It is located 5-10 minutes from Mardin. The monastery, which served as a religious education center for the Syriac Orthodox community, dates back to the 4th century. The monastery remains one of the important centers of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated on the site of a Sun Temple belonging to the Shamis, who worshipped the sun, and an area used as a fortress by the Romans. Metropolitan Saint Hananyo had major renovations carried out from 793 onward, and the monastery was known by his name for a time. Due to the saffron plant cultivated in the surrounding area, the monastery's name later became Saffron Monastery (Deyrulzafaran). The name Deyrulzafaran comes from the Arabic words "deyr," meaning monastery, and "zaferan," meaning saffron. The monastery is a fine example of architecture with its domes, arched columns, wooden carvings, and stone decorations in both interior and exterior spaces. The monastery contains three places of worship from various periods and also houses the tombs of 52 Syriac Patriarchs. Within Deyrulzafaran Monastery are the Shamsi Temple, Mor Honanyo Church, Church of the Virgin Mary, Mor Petrus Church, Saints' Cemetery, Divanhane, and monk cells.

Mor Gabriel (Deyrulumur) Monastery

Founded in 397 CE, the place of worship continues to function as one of the world's oldest active monasteries. The sacred center of the region is located in Yayvantepe village, 22 kilometers from Midyat. The monastery is one of the renowned and major structures of the Syriac Orthodox community. The mosaics in the main church are among the most splendid examples of Byzantine art from eastern regions that have survived to the present day. The dome, dated to the first half of the 6th century, is thought to have been built for a baptistery. In addition to the Main Church, the complex includes three other churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Forty Martyrs, and Mor Simeon, the monastery's founder. The Church of Mor Simeon contains an octagonal memorial tomb known as the tomb of Egyptian monks and three burial chambers.

Ancient City of Dara

According to the accounts of ancient and medieval historians such as Evagrius, Malalas, Agapius, and Abu'lFarac, it is assumed that Persian King Darius III (336-330 BCE) died in his battle against Alexander the Great (336-323 BCE), and the place was subsequently named Dara, with the name's origin traced back to this location. Regarding the origin of the name Dara, according to 13th-century Syriac historian Abu'l Farac (Bar Hebraeus), Greek King Alexander the Great and Persian King Darius fought here, and Darius died here. For this reason, this place was named Dara.

Important Structures Found in the Ancient City of Dara – Multi-Story Gallery Tomb Structure

In the rock necropolis area, it is a three-story tomb structure carved entirely into the bedrock. The upper level of the structure, planned in a rectangle-like form in the north-south direction, features a corridor/balcony extending along the western, southern, and eastern edges. The monumental entrance to the north of the structure features religious scenes along with floral decorations on its pediment. This gallery tomb, which depicts the "breathing of life into souls and resurrection" from the Holy Scriptures in the scene of Ezekiel (the Prophet who raises the dead), is assumed to have been constructed in 591 CE by returning Eastern Romans after their exile, dedicated to the Eastern Roman people killed in battle by the Sasanians following the 573 invasion. In excavations conducted in 2009, hundreds of human bones were uncovered in the lower level of the structure, and it was determined that these people were gathered in this tomb for the day when they would be resurrected as in Ezekiel's miracle.

Cemetery Area

The extensive hills on the western side of the city were used as a stone quarry for the city's construction in the early 6th century CE. Following the clean rock faces created by stone cutting, the area was converted into a cemetery. On the extensive hills extending to the west of the city, deep and wide valley-shaped rock cemetery areas were created by carving out natural rock masses. Three different types of tombs are found in this area. These are rock tombs (6th-8th centuries), sarcophagus-type tombs (6th-8th centuries), and simple sarcophagus tombs (8th-14th centuries). The chamber tombs carved into rocks at Dara reflect characteristics of pagan burial culture. This is because pagan cultural characteristics continued to influence the Christianized population for many years. Despite converting to Christianity, the people of Dara continued to use these chamber tombs with multiple burials and pagan traditions for some time. Paganism is a belief system whose roots extend to the world's ancient nature religions and is the general term for these religions. A person belonging to these religions is called pagan. For Romans, sarcophagus-type tombs were the places of souls in the afterlife. The spirit of the deceased would dwell and be protected in this place. Roman-period sarcophagi were shaped by this understanding. With the institutionalization of Christianity, burial in simple sarcophagus tombs began.