Table Of ContentALTERNATIVE HISTORIES: NARRATIVES FROM S
THE MIDDLE EAST AND MEDITERRANEAN a Sayfo
Series editor: Sargon Donabed
y
‘Western society is increasingly interested in being acquainted with the historical f
reality of the great tragedies of humanity. This has been one of the worst after the o
massive holocaust of the Jews during the Nazi era. Therefore, this work can be An Account of the Assyrian Genocide
considered a significant contribution to the subject.’
Professor Dr Efrem Yildiz, University of Salamanca
An account of the genocide against Assyrians in 1915 ABED MSHIHO NEMAN OF QARABASH
TRANSLATED BY MICHAEL ABDALLA
AND LUKASZ KICZKO
The Assyrian genocide is one of the forgotten atrocities of the 20th century. The
physical destruction was but one element; it also caused demographic shifts, loss of
territory, generational trauma and linguicide, along with cultural genocide/ethnocide T
R
and identity erosion. This text is one of the few surviving eyewitness sources, from a A
N
seminarian living in greater Tur Abdin (the southeast of today’s Turkish state). The S
L
perspective is one that is little known and less discussed. AA
TB
E
DE
Its translation and original annotation by a master of Syriac with an in-depth BYD M
knowledge of modern Assyrian history creates a unique opportunity for new and M
S
progressive scholarship. ICH
HI
H
A
EO
Key Features L A N
• A primary source document on the Assyrian genocide of the First World War BE
• Set in the context of the failing Ottoman state and rising Young Turk regime DAM
LA
• Includes Armenians and Greeks as well as Assyrians in one primary source LN
A
• Contains comments and interviews with perpetrators of events A Q
• The annotations provide information about sites, people and events NDA
R
LA
U
B
Michael Abdalla is a Professor at the University of Life Sciences and in the KAA
Department of Comparative Culture Research at Adam Mickiewicz University, SZSH
Pozna , Poland. K
ń IC
Z
K
Łukasz Kiczko is a translator and interpreter for Polish, English and German. O
Cover image: Dayr Zafaran ‘The Saffron Monastery’ – general view of interior and courtyard, April 1911
© Gertrude Bell Archive
Cover design: Andrew McColm
ISBN 978-1-4744-4750-8
edinburghuniversitypress.com ALTERNATIVE HISTORIES: NARRATIVES FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND MEDITERRANEAN
SAYFO – AN ACCOUNT OF
THE ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE
Alternative Histories: Narratives from the Middle East and Mediterranean
Series Editor: Sargon Donabed
This series provides a forum for exchange on a myriad of alternative histories
of marginalised communities and individuals in the Near and Middle East and
Mediterranean, and those of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean heritage. It also high
lights thematic issues relating to various native peoples and their narratives and – with
particular contemporary relevance – explore encounters with the notion of ‘other’
within societies. Often moving beyond the conventional statecentred and dominant
monolithic approach, or reinterpreting previously accepted stories, books in the
series examine and explain themes from intercommunal relations, environment,
health and society, and explore ethnic, communal, racial, linguistic and religious
developments, in addition to geopolitics.
Editorial Advisory Board
Professor Ali Banuazizi
Dr Aryo Makko
Professor Laura Robson
Professor Paul Rowe
Professor Hannibal Travis
Books in the Series (Published and Forthcoming)
Sayfo – An Account of the Assyrian Genocide
Abed Mshiho Neman of Qarabash
translated and annotated by Michael Abdalla and Łukasz Kiczko
Tunisia’s Andalusians: The Cultural Identity of a North African Minority
Marta Dominguez Diaz
Palestinian Citizens of Israel: A History Through Fiction, 1948–2010
Manar Makhoul
Armenians Beyond Diaspora: Making Lebanon their Own
Tsolin Nalbantian
Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory
Makram Rabah
The Art of Minorities: Cultural Representation in Museums of the Middle East and
North Africa
Edited by Virginie Rey
Shi‘a Minorities in the Contemporary World: Migration, Transnationalism and
Multilocality
Edited by Oliver Scharbrodt and Yafa Shanneik
Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria
Deanna Ferree Womack
edinburghuniversitypress.com/series/ahnme
SAYFO
AN ACCOUNT OF THE
ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE
ABED MSHIHO NEMAN OF QARABASH
Translated with an
Introduction and Notes by
Michael Abdalla and Łukasz Kiczko
Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish
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edinburghuniversitypress.com
© Abed Mshiho Neman of Qarabash, 1918
English translation © Michael Abdalla and Łukasz Kiczko, 2021
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
The Tun – Holyrood Road
12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry
Edinburgh EH8 8PJ
Typeset in 11/15 Adobe Garamond by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire,
and printed and bound in Great Britain
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 4744 4750 8 (hardback)
ISBN 978 1 4744 4752 2 (webready PDF)
ISBN 978 1 4744 4753 9 (epub)
The right of Michael Abdalla and Łukasz Kiczko to be identified as translators of this work
has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the
Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).
Published with the support of the University of Edinburgh Scholarly Publishing Initiatives
Fund.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
List of Figures ix
Preface xi
About the Diary and its Author xv
Background of the Region xxiii
Spilt Blood, or the Tragedy of the Lambs of Christ
Diary of a Seminarian
1 From the Author 3
2 The Emergence and Spread of Christianity 8
3 Difficult Times – Persecution Suffered by Christianity in Various
Periods of History 18
4 Persecution in the Most Recent Times – the End of the
Nineteenth Century 39
5 The Year 1914 – the Beginning of World War I 51
6 My Diary 63
7 Eyewitness Reports – the Story of a Road Worker named Abed
Mshiho, who Saw the Most 77
vi | sayfo – an account of the assyrian genocide
8 The Christians of the City of Amida and its Subordinate Villages
– Executions and the Exodus of 1915 98
9 Extermination of Christians in the Villages of the District of
Mardin in 1914 118
10 The Sinjar Mountains Suffer on Behalf of Christians 135
11 The Fate of Christian Inhabitants of Other Localities 146
12 Positive and Negative Attitudes of Some Participants in the
Exterminations 168
Bibliography 177
Annex 1 187
Annex 2 192
Annex 3 209
Index 212
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to many people for the opportunity to translate and publish
the work of Abed Mshiho Neman of Qarabash. First of all I owe thanks to
my colleague, ‘Īsā Óannā of Augsburg, Germany, for providing me with a
photocopy of the original Syriac manuscript owned and published (1997)
by the Assyrian Democratic Organisation and for his enduring faith that
the Polish translation of the work of my teacher (and Mr Hanna’s) shall see
the light of day. Second, I would like to express my gratitude to Jan Bet
Șawoce of Södertälje, Sweden, the founder and head of the Mesopotamian
Library located at the Södertörn University, HuddingeStockholm, Sweden,
for his support and patience during this project. Thanks to his comprehensive
knowledge of the subject and his excellent orientation in the local geography
of the region with which the manuscript deals, and in which he was raised,
I was able to make use of his knowledge and of the rich library that he had
collected over the last twenty five years. In a joint and intense effort over three
days at the Mesopotamian Library, we were able to verify many of the names
and the people that are found in the manuscript.
The Polish version of the book was published in 2013 by the UNUM
publishing house in Kraków, and later republished and properly marketed
in 2015 by the Agape publishing house in Poznań. Thanks also to Professor
vii
viii | sayfo – an account of the assyrian genocide
Mirosław Rucki, who provided much input and assistance in the course
of this endeavour. Additionally, to Łukasz Kiczko, who suggested we also
translate an English version for wider readership, I am most appreciative.
Thanks, are also due to the Assyrian Youth Association of Sweden, in
particular Mr Johannes Beth Gabriel and Mr Hanibal Romanos for their
support. Also, to my colleague Abdulmesih BarAbraham, a native of ˝ūr
‘Abdīn, Turkey, who provided useful comments and footnotes, for which I
am most grateful. Much appreciation to all.
Michael Abdalla
Poznań, Poland, June 2019
The Assyrian Studies Association helped make this translation possible.
FIGURES
Maps
1 General map of the region xxiv
2 Inset of ˝ūr ‘Abdīn and its environs xxiv
Figures
1 Yusuf Akbulut, the sole priest in Diyarbakır at the Assyrian
cemetery in the centre of the town xxxii
2 The ruins of one of the ancient temples in the village of Óāª xxxv
3 The remains of cells, monasteries and churches on a high
mountain to the east of the monastery of Za‘farān xl
4 The ruins of an Assyrian farm in the village of Badebe xliv
5 The remains of cells, monasteries and churches on a high
mountain to the east of the monastery of Za‘farān 64
6 The bishop of the Mor Gabriel monastery with three monks from
Damascus and the author of the photographs 156
7 The village of ‘Ayn Wardo 200
8 The fortified church of ‘Ayn Wardo 200
9 Abandoned graves – the village of ‘Ayn Wardo 201
