Church of Saint Thomas, Mosul
{{Short description|Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul, Iraq}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox religious building
|building_name = Church of Saint Thomas
|image = St. Thomas Church-Mosul.jpg
|caption =
|location = Mosul, Iraq
|geo = {{coord|36|20|27|N|43|07|31.5|E}}
|religious_affiliation = Syriac Orthodox
|architecture_type = Church
}}
The Church of Saint Thomas is a Syriac Orthodox church in Mosul, Iraq.{{cite web |url=https://www.mesopotamiaheritage.org/en/monuments/leglise-syriaque-orthodoxe-mar-touma-de-mossoul/|title=The Mar Touma Syriac-Orthodox church in Mosul|website=Mesopotamia Heritage|access-date=10 February 2022}}
History
The church is dedicated to Saint Thomas the Apostle and is believed to have been constructed on the site of the house that the saint resided in during his stay in Mosul.{{sfnp|Hann|Dabrowska|Townsend Greaves|2015|p=216}} The church is first mentioned in 770 as part of a grievance to Caliph Al-Mahdi.{{sfnp|Hann|Dabrowska|Townsend Greaves|2015|p=216}} The current structure suggests it was built in the 13th century.{{sfnp|Hann|Dabrowska|Townsend Greaves|2015|p=216}} The church was damaged during Shahanshah Nader Shah's siege of Mosul as part of the Ottoman–Persian War of 1743–1746, and was subsequently renovated in 1744 by Cyril George, metropolitan bishop of Hattakh, with the permission of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud I.{{sfnp|Barsoum|2009a|pp=26, 34, 39, 50}} It was later renovated again in 1848.{{sfnp|Barsoum|2009b|p=47}}
Amidst restoration work in 1964, the finger bones of Saint Thomas were discovered in the church.{{cite news|author=|script-title=ar:من الأرشيف: اكتشاف ذخيرة الرسول توما بيد مطران الموصل مار سويريوس زكا عيواص|url=http://www.syrian-orthodox.com/readnews.php?id=530|work=Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate|access-date=18 May 2018|language=ar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623164839/http://syrian-orthodox.com/readnews.php?id=530|archive-date=23 June 2017|url-status=dead}} On 23 December 2009, a bomb damaged the church, killed two men and injured five people.{{cite news |last=Ahmed|first=Hamed|date=23 December 2009|title=Iraqi Police: Bomb targets church in Mosul|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/iraqi-police-bomb-targets-church-in-mosul/|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=18 May 2018}} In the aftermath of the Fall of Mosul, the relics of Saint Thomas were taken from the church by Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Mosul,{{cite news |last=Arraf|first=Jane|date=31 March 2018|title=Iraq's Christians Remain Displaced This Easter|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/03/31/598503561/iraqs-christians-remain-displaced-this-easter|work=NPR|access-date=18 May 2018}} and transferred to the Monastery of Saint Matthew on 17 June 2014.{{cite news |author= |date=9 July 2014|title=Holy Relics of Saint Thomas transferred to the Monastery of St Matthew in Nineveh|url=http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/holy-relics-of-saint-thomas-transferred-to-the-monastery-of-st-matthew-in-nineveh/|work=OCP|access-date=18 May 2018}} The church was used as a prison by Islamic State insurgents until the city's liberation in 2017.
Burials
- Ignatius Isaac II, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch ({{reign|1709|1723}}){{sfnp|Barsoum|2009a|p=14}}
- Basil Matthew II, Syriac Orthodox maphrian of the East ({{reign|1713|1727}}){{sfnp|Barsoum|2009a|p=22}}
- Basil Lazarus IV, Syriac Orthodox maphrian of the East ({{reign|1730|1759}}){{sfnp|Barsoum|2009a|p=39}}
- Cyril Rizq Allah, Syriac Orthodox metropolitan bishop of Mosul ({{reign|1760|1772}}){{sfnm|Ignatius Jacob III|2008|1pp=126–127|Barsoum|2009a|2pp=101–102}}
- Cyril 'Abd al-'Aziz, Syriac Orthodox metropolitan bishop of Mosul ({{reign|1782|1816}}){{sfnp|Ignatius Jacob III|2008|p=128}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
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- {{cite book | last1 =Barsoum| first=Aphrem|date=2009a|title=History of the Syriac Dioceses|volume=1|publisher=Gorgias Press|translator=Matti Moosa|author-link=Ignatius Aphrem I|url=https://archive.org/details/history-of-syriac-dioceses.-aphrem-barsoum|access-date=26 June 2021}}
- {{cite book | last1 =Barsoum| first=Aphrem|date=2009b|title=The Collected Historical Essays of Aphram I Barsoum|volume=1|publisher=Gorgias Press|translator=Matti Moosa|author-link=Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum|url=https://archive.org/details/the-collected-historical-essays-of-aphram-i-barsoum|access-date=26 June 2021}}
- {{cite book |last1= Hann|first1=Geoff |last2=Dabrowska|first2=Karen|first3=Tina|last3=Townsend Greaves|date=2015|title=Iraq: The ancient sites and Iraqi Kurdistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9RNCgAAQBAJ|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=9781841624884 }}
- {{cite book | author1=Ignatius Jacob III|date=2008|title=History of the Monastery of Saint Matthew in Mosul|publisher=Gorgias Press|translator=Matti Moosa|author-link=Ignatius Jacob III|url=https://archive.org/details/history-of-the-monastery-of-saint-matthew-in-mosul-by-ignatius-aphram-barsoum-z-lib.org|access-date=25 May 2021}}
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{{Authority control}}
Category:Syriac Orthodox churches in Iraq
Category:Persecution of Assyrians by ISIL
Category:Islamist attacks on churches
Category:Attacks on churches in Iraq