Nusaybin

Coordinates: 37°04′30″N 41°12′55″E / 37.07500°N 41.21528°E / 37.07500; 41.21528
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Nisibis
)
Nusaybin
Clockwise from top: Sakarya Caddesi and Barsı Parkı in central Nusaybin, Nusaybin city hall, the neighboring border zone to Syria, Church of Saint Jacob of Nisibis, Zeynel Abidin Mosque
Map showing Nusaybin District in Mardin Province
Map showing Nusaybin District in Mardin Province
Nusaybin is located in Turkey
Nusaybin
Nusaybin
Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 37°04′30″N 41°12′55″E / 37.07500°N 41.21528°E / 37.07500; 41.21528
CountryTurkey
ProvinceMardin
Government
 • KaymakamErcan Kayabaşı
Area
1,079 km2 (417 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)[1]
115,586
 • Density110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code
47300
Area code0482
Websitewww.nusaybin.bel.tr
www.nusaybin.gov.tr

Nusaybin (pronounced [nuˈsajbin]) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey.[2] Its area is 1,079 km2,[3] and its population is 115,586 (2022).[1] The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal affiliation.[4]

Nusaybin is separated from the larger Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli by the Syria–Turkey border.[5][6]

The city is at the foot of the

dux mesopotamiae). Jacob of Nisibis, the city's first known bishop, constructed its first cathedral between 313 and 320.[7] Nisibis was a focus of international trade, and according to the Greek history of Peter the Patrician, the primary point of contact between Roman and Persian empires.[7]

Nisibis was besieged three times by the

Sasanian army under Shapur II (r. 309–379) in the first half of the 4th century; each time, the city's fortifications held.[7] The Syriac poet Ephrem the Syrian witnessed all three sieges, and praised Nisibis's successive bishops for their contributions to the defences in his Carmina Nisibena, 'song of Nisibis', while the Roman caesar Julian (r. 355–363) described the third siege in his panegyric to his senior co-emperor, the augustus Constantius II (r. 337–361).[7] The Roman soldier and Latin historian Ammianus Marcellinus described Nisibis, fortified with walls, towers, and a citadel, as "the strongest bulwark of the Orient".[7]

After the defeat of the Romans in

Julian's Persian War, Julian's successor Jovian (r. 363–364) was forced to cede the five Transtigritine provinces to the Persians, including Nisibis.[7] The city was evacuated and its citizens forced to migrate to Amida (Diyarbakır) – which was expanded to accommodate them – and to Edessa (Urfa). According to the Latin historian Eutropius, the cession of Nisibis was supposed to last 120 years.[7] Nisibis remained a major entrepôt; one of only three such cities of commercial exchange allowed by Roman law promulgated in 408/9.[7] However, despite several Roman attempts to recapture Nisibis through the remainder of the Roman–Persian Wars and the construction of nearby Dara to defend against Persian attack, Nisibis was not returned to Roman control before it was conquered in 639 by the Rashidun Caliphate during the Muslim conquest of the Levant.[7]

Under Sasanian rule and after, Nisibis was a major centre of the

monasteries of the nearby Tur Abdin, led by the reforms of Abraham the Great of Kashkar, founder of the "Great Monastery" of Mount Izla, underwent substantial revival in the years after the Muslim conquest.[7] However, besides the baptistery known as the Church of Saint Jacob (Mar Ya‘qub) and built in 359 by bishop Vologeses, little remains of ancient Nisibis, probably because of ruinous earthquake in 717.[7] Archaeological excavations were conducted in the vicinity of the 4th-century baptistery in the early 21st century, revealing various buildings including the 4th-century cathedral.[7]

History

Antiquity

Stele of Shar-pati-beli, governor of Assur, Naṣibina, Urakka, Kahat, and Masaka. 831 BCE. From Assur, Iraq. Pergamon Museum

First mentioned in 901 BCE, Naṣibīna was an

Adad-Nirari II in 896.[9] By 852 BCE, Naṣibīna had been fully annexed to the Neo-Assyrian Empire and appeared in the Assyrian Eponym List as the seat of an Assyrian provincial governor named Shamash-Abua.[10]

It was under Babylonian control until 536 BCE, when it fell to the Achaemenid Persians, and remained so until taken by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE.

Hellenistic period

The Seleucids re-founded the city as Antiochia Mygdonia (

Judah ben Bethera, who founded a famous yeshiva there.[11]

The Roman Near East under Pompey in 63 BCE, showing Nisibis in Parthian territory south of Roman Corduene

In 67 BCE, during Rome's first war with

Tigranes.[12]

Like many other cities in the

Jews during the Kitos War. After the Romans again lost the city in 194, it was once more conquered by Septimius Severus, who made it his headquarters and re-established a colony there.[14] The last battle between Rome and Parthia was fought in the vicinity of the city in 217.[15]

Saint Febronia
of Nisibis on colonnade

Late Antiquity

The newly excavated Church of Saint Jacob of Nisibis.

With the fresh energy of the new

Sassanid dynasty, Shapur I conquered Nisibis, was driven out, and returned in the 260s. In 298, by a treaty with Narseh
, the province of Nisibis was acquired by the Roman Empire.

During the Roman–Persian Wars (337–363 CE) Nisibis was unsuccessfully besieged by the

Sassanid Empire thrice, in 337, 346 and 350. According to the Expositio totius mundi et gentium bronze and iron were forbidden to be exported to the Persians, but for other goods, Nisibis was the site of substantial trade across the Roman–Persian frontier.[7]

Upon the death of Constantine the Great in 337 CE, the Sassanid Shah Shapur II marched against Roman held Nisibis with a vast army composed of cavalry, infantry and elephants. His combat engineers raised siege works, including towers, so his archers could rain down arrows at the defenders. They also undermined the walls, dammed the Mygdonius River and constructed dikes to direct the river against the walls. On the seventieth day of the siege, the water was released and the torrent struck the walls; entire sections of the city walls collapsed. The water passed through the city and knocked down a section of the opposite wall as well. The Persians were unable to assault the city because the approaches to the breaches were impassable due to floodwater, mud and debris. The soldiers and citizens inside the city worked all night and by dawn the breaches were closed with makeshift barriers. Shapur's assault troops attacked the breaches, but their assault was repulsed. A few days later the Persian lifted the siege.[16]

Nisibis was besieged a second time in 346 CE. The details of the second siege have not survived. Shapur besieged the city for seventy-eight days and then lifted the siege.[17]

In 350 CE, while the Roman Emperor Constantius II was engaged in a civil war against the usurper Magnentius in the West, the Persians invaded and laid siege to Nisibis for the third time. The siege lasted between 100 and 160 days. The Persian engineers tried several innovative siege technics; using the River Mygdonius to bring down a section of the walls, and creating a lake around the city and using boats with siege engines to bring down another section. Unlike the first siege, as the walls fell, Persian assault troops immediately entered the breaches supported by war elephants. Despite all this they failed to break through the breaches and the attack stalled. The Romans, experts at close-quarter combat, and supported by arrows and bolts from the walls and towers checked the assault and a sortie from one of the gates forced the Persians to withdraw. Shortly after the Persian Army, suffering heavy casualties from combat and disease, lifted the siege and withdrew.[18]

The Roman historian of the 4th century, Ammianus Marcellinus, gained his first practical experience of warfare as a young man at Nisibis under the magister equitum, Ursicinus. From 360 to 363, Nisibis was the camp of Legio I Parthica. Because of its strategic importance on the Persian border, Nisibis was heavily fortified. Ammianus lovingly calls Nisibis the "impregnable city" (urbs inexpugnabilis) and "bulwark of the provinces" (murus provinciarum).

Christianized, and he told them that he would not help them if they did not return to paganism.[19]

In 363 Nisibis was ceded to the

Jovian
allowed them only three days for the evacuation. Historian Ammianus Marcellinus was again an eyewitness and condemns Emperor Jovian for giving up the fortified town without a fight. Marcellinus' point-of-view is certainly in line with contemporary Roman public opinion.

According to

Persians of good lineage from Istakhr, Isfahan, and other regions settled at Nisibis in the fourth century, and their descendants were still there at the beginning of the seventh century.[20]

The

Abraham of Kashgar, the restorer of monastic life; and Archbishop Elijah of Nisibis
.

As a fortified frontier city, Nisibis played a major role in the

Roman-Persian Wars. It became the capital of the newly created province of Mesopotamia after Diocletian's organization of the eastern Roman frontier. It became known as the "Shield of the Empire" after a successful resistance in 337–350. The city changed hands several times, and once in Sasanian hands, Nisibis was the base of operations against the Romans. The city was also one of the main crossing points for merchants, although elaborate counter-espionage safeguards were also in place.[22]

Islamic period

The city was taken without resistance by the forces of the

Tughril in 1043. The city nevertheless remained an important centre of commerce and transport.[23]

In 1120, it was captured by the

Safavids. In 1515, it was taken by the Ottoman Empire under Selim I thanks to the efforts of Idris Bitlisi.[23]

Modern history

A monumental building in Nusaybin

On the eve of

Syrian Jacobites, Chaldean Catholics, Protestants, and Armenians were targeted.[25][26][27][28]

As agreed upon by the governments of France and the new Republic of

Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, Nusaybin lost over 60% of its population to the settlements there, most prominently Qamishli.[30]

Nusaybin was a place on the transit routes of

Jazira sometimes with the help of Bedouin smugglers, most headed for Israel.[31]
There had been a large Jewish community in Nisbis since antiquity, many of whom moved to Qamishli in the early 20th century for economic reasons. A synagogue in Jerusalem practises the Nisibis and Qamishli rites today.

21st century

Nusaybin made headlines in 2006 when villagers near Kuru uncovered a mass grave, suspected of belonging to

Turkish media not to report the discovery.[37]

The

Turkish Interior Ministry looked into dissolving Nusaybin city council in 2012 after it decided to use Arabic, Armenian, Aramaic, and Kurmanji on signposts in the town, in addition to the Turkish language.[38]

Tensions and violence

In November 2013, Nusaybin's mayor, Ayşe Gökkan, commenced a hunger strike to protest against the construction of a wall between Nusaybin and the neighboring Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Syria. Construction of the wall stopped as a result of this and other protests.[39]

On 13 November 2015, the town was placed under a

fighters were killed by security forces in the ensuing unrest.[40] By March 2016, PKK forces controlled about half of Nusaybin according to Al-Masdar News[41] and the YPS controlled "much" of it, according to The Independent.[42] The Turkish state imposed eight successive curfews over several months and employed the use of heavy weapons in defeating the Kurdish militants, resulting in large swathes of Nusaybin being destroyed.[43] 61 members of the security forces had been killed by May 2016.[44] By 9 April, 60,000 residents of the city had been displaced, yet 30,000 civilians remained in the city, including in the six neighborhoods where fighting continued.[45] YPS reportedly had 700–800 militants in the city,[45] of which the Turkish army claimed that 325 were "neutralised" by 4 May.[46] A curfew was in place between 14 March and 25 July in the majority of the town.[47] After the fighting ended in a Turkish Army victory, in late September 2016 the Turkish government began demolishing a quarter of the city's residential buildings. This rendered 30,000 citizens homeless and caused a mass evacuation of tens of thousands of residents to neighboring towns and villages. Over 6,000 houses were bulldozed. After demolition was completed in March 2017, over one hundred apartment towers were built. The Turkish government offered to compensate homeowners at 12% of the value of their destroyed houses if they agreed to certain relocation conditions.[48]

Economy

As a result of Turkish government policy to close all border crossings with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the city's border with Syria (i.e. the large Syrian city of Qamishli) has been closed, with claims that the cessation in smuggling has led to a 90% rise in unemployment in the city.[49]

Transportation

Nusaybin is served by the

Nusaybin Railway Station is served by two daily trains. The closest airport is Qamishli Airport five kilometers to the south, in Qamishli in Syria. The closest Turkish airport is Mardin Airport
, 55 kilometers northwest of Nusaybin.

Geography

A nature scene taken from the Beyazsu Dam in Nusaybin

Nusaybin is on the north side of the Syria-Turkey border, which divides it from the city of Qamishli. The

Muslims) consider to be the place where the ark of Nuh or Noah (who is regarded as a Nabi or Prophet in Abrahamic religions
) came to rest.

Composition

There are 84

neighbourhoods in Nusaybin District.[50] Fifteen of these (8 Mart, Abdulkadirpaşa, Barış, Devrim, Dicle, Fırat, Gırnavas, İpekyolu, Kışla, Mor-Yakup, Selahattin Eyyübi, Yenişehir, Yenituran and Zeynelabidin) form the central town (merkez) of Nusaybin.[51]

Climate

Nusaybin has a semi-arid climate with extremely hot summers and cool winters. Rainfall is generally sparse.

Climate data for Nusaybin
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 11
(52)
13
(55)
17
(63)
22
(72)
30
(86)
37
(99)
41
(106)
40
(104)
35
(95)
28
(82)
20
(68)
13
(55)
26
(78)
Daily mean °C (°F) 6
(43)
7
(45)
11
(52)
16
(61)
22
(72)
28
(82)
32
(90)
31
(88)
27
(81)
21
(70)
13
(55)
8
(46)
19
(65)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 3
(37)
4
(39)
7
(45)
11
(52)
16
(61)
21
(70)
25
(77)
24
(75)
20
(68)
16
(61)
9
(48)
5
(41)
13
(56)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 51
(2.0)
30
(1.2)
35
(1.4)
26
(1.0)
16
(0.6)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
12
(0.5)
19
(0.7)
34
(1.3)
223
(8.7)
Average rainy days 8 7 7 5 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 41
Source: Weather2[52]

Demographics

Nusaybin is predominantly ethnically

Kurdish. The city's people have historically close ties with those of neighboring Qamishli, and cross-border marriages are a common practice.[53][54] The city also contains a minority Arab population.[55]

In early 20th century, Nusaybin was composed mostly of Arabs who came from Mardin, roughly 500 Jews, and some Assyrians, totaling to 2000 people. Likewise, Mark Sykes recorded Nusaybin as a town inhabited by Chaldeans, Arabs, and Jews.[56] The town was largely Arabic-speaking such that Kurdish families settling in the town eventually learned Arabic. The ethnic and linguistic demographics changed after mid-century. Jews migrated to Israel, and Assyrian population substantially decreased. After dense Kurdish migration in late 20th century, Nusaybin became a largely Kurdish-speaking and Kurdish town.[57]

Mother tongue,
Nusaybin District, 1927 Turkish census[58]
Turkish Arabic
Kurdish
Circassian Armenian Unknown or other languages
1,024 1,109 9,604 536
Religion,
Nusaybin District, 1927 Turkish census[58]
Muslim Christian Jewish Unknown or other religion
11,212 385 392 282

A very small Assyrian population remains in the city; what remained of the Assyrian population emigrated during the height of the

resumption of the conflict in 2016, only one Assyrian family reportedly remained in the city.[59][60]

Christianity

The interior of the Church of Saint Jacob in Nisibis

Nisibis (

Maronite Catholic Church.[61]

When the

Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch
).

Latin titular see

Established in the 18th century as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Romans). It has been vacant for several decades, having previously had the following incumbents, all of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank:

Armenian Catholic titular see

Established as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Armenians) in circa 1910. It was suppressed in 1933, having had a single incumbent, of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank :

  • Gregorio Govrik,
    Mechitarists
    (C.A.M.) (1910.05.07 – 1931.01.26)

Chaldean Catholic titular see: Established as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Chaldeans) in the late 19th century, suppressed in 1927, restored in 1970. It has had the following incumbents, all of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank :

  • Giuseppe Elis Khayatt (1895.04.22 – 1900.07.13)
  • Hormisdas Etienne Djibri (1902.11.30 – 1917.08.31)
  • Thomas Michel Bidawid (1970.08.24 – 1971.03.29)
  • Gabriel Koda (1977.12.14 – 1992.03)
  • Jacques Ishaq (2005.12.21 – ...),
    Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Babylon

Maronite titular see

Established as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Maronites) in 1960. It is vacant, having had a single incumbent of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank:

  • Pietro Sfair (1960.03.11 – 1974.05.18)

Notable people

See also

Notes

References

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Sources and external links