His Grace Mor Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region and their Dependencies Syriac Orthodox showing the ancient relics and parchments. Photo: Diocese of the Archbishop of Mosul and its Dependencies for Syriacs
Ishtartv.com
- christianpost.com
By Anugrah Kumar
Archeological workers restoring
the historic Syriac Orthodox Mar Thomas Church in Iraq’s capital Mosul, which
was heavily damaged by Islamic State fighters about four years ago, have
discovered about a dozen ancient relics and parchments connected to several
saints, according to reports.
The relics include manuscripts in
Syriac and Aramaic as well as six stone containers wrought with Aramaic
inscriptions, and some of them relate to Saint Theodore, Saint Simon, Mor
Gabriel, Saint Simeon, and other well-known figures, the U.S.-based persecution
watchdog International Christian Concern said.
One of the stone containers
carried an inscription relating to Saint Theodore, a Roman soldier born in the
province of Corum, Turkey, in the third century CE and beheaded for having
converted, The Jerusalem Post said, citing a report by AsiaNews.
Some containers are related to
Saint Simon “the Zealot,” a first century apostle of Jesus; Mor Gabriel, bishop
of the Tur Abdin hilly region situated in southeast Turkey from 593 to 668 CE,
the Post continued.
The discovery also include “relics
of Saint Simeon the Wise from the first century CE, who, according to Christian
tradition, welcomed the infant Jesus in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem; relics
of Saint John, one of the first apostles of Jesus, also known by his Hebrew
name Yohanan ben Zavdi, and relics of celebrated writer and Syrian Orthodox
Regional Primate Saint Gregory Bar Hebraeus, who served in the position from
1264-1286 CE,” it added.
“The discovery of the hidden relics at this
church is another encouraging development in the broad effort to restore and
protect Christian cultural heritage in Iraq after the damage done by the
Islamic State,” ICC added.
The watchdog noted that the
International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas,
collaborating with the Iraqi government, put $328,000 toward the project, which
began last year to repair the damage done by IS in the battle of Mosul.
“Reviving the Spirit of Mosul,” a restoration
plan by UNESCO, is also underway, ICC said, adding that it involves more than
$100 million.
“Perhaps workers will uncover more undiscovered
pieces of history as they sort through the archeological remains of
Christianity’s long history in Iraq,” ICC commented.
In 2017, Iraqi militiamen, who
took control of the ancient city of Hatra from Islamic State fighters, found
that the terror group had destroyed relics dating back more than 2,000 years.
Hatra is a UNESCO-listed World
Heritage site and considered an archeological jewel of Iraq and capital of the
first Arab kingdom.
“The sculptures and engraved images are
destroyed, but the walls and towers of the kingdom of Hatra remain standing,”
Voice of America quoted Marwa Rashid, a spokeswoman for Iraq’s Shi’ite Popular
Mobilization Forces militia, as saying at the time. “There are many holes and
scratches on the walls of the kingdom due to IS bullets.”
In a video released by IS after
Hatra’s occupation, its fighters were seen damaging sculptures with
sledgehammers and destroying images and artifacts on ancient walls with assault
rifles.
As per Iraq’s 1987 census, there
were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq, but their numbers dramatically decreased
to 141,000, according to a recent report.
|