The Nestorians and their Rituals/Volume 1/Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV.
Instead of dividing the items of information which I collected at Diarbekir during this and two succeeding visits, I shall sum up the whole in the present chapter, and shall endeavour to lay it before the reader in as interesting a form as possible.
Diarbekir, the ancient Amida, and still known to the Turks as Kara Amid, or Black Amida, on account of the colour of the basaltic rock in the vicinity from which the town is built, stands on the western bank of the Tigris and on the extreme border of Asia Minor. It does not appear to be mentioned in history before the fourth century of our era, when according to the Syriac chronicle of Edessa, as given by Assemanni, it was enlarged by the emperor Constantius, a.d. 349. During the numerous and protracted wars between the Romans and Persians, it became a place of considerable importance, the possession of which was several times warmly contested by the two rival powers who successively lost and regained it.
The principal relic of ancient art extant at Diarbekir is near the Great Mosque, to which it now forms a court, and is supposed to have been a Christian Church. It consists of an open area measuring 230 ft. by 115 ft., the eastern, western, and part of the northern walls of which are still standing. Along these is a double row of Corinthian pillars, one above the other, the lower measuring 18 ft. and the upper 10 ft. in height, both surmounted with rich friezes, upon which some fine ornamental Cufic inscriptions have been engraved. In the eastern wall, which appears to have served as the screen, is a fine Grecian arch; but no traces of the sanctuary remain; the part which it probably once occupied now forms a wing of the bazaar. In the western wall there is a similar arch occupying the place of the principal entrance. The northern wall of the modern mosque was most likely the southern wall of the church; but, if so, it has been plastered and filled up in order to correspond with the general character of the mosque, which is a plain building, with a sloping roof, and a square tower which tradition affirms to have been once a belfry.
Near the northern gate, called Bâb-ool-Jebel, we discovered the following fragment built into the wall upside down, a clear proof that it does not occupy its original position.
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Higher up, on the same side of the gate, is another inscription which is not in so good a state of preservation. It is as follows:
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The next is a Latin entablature which has been partially destroyed by a cannon-ball, and records the names of the emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian.
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Besides the above there are some fine specimens of Cufic inscriptions, and several rude figures of birds and lions engraved upon the city walls. Numerous fragments of pillars of black basalt, especially capitals, are also to be found in every street of the town. These are of the same material as well as order with those so common in the north of Syria, especially about Aleppo and Mumbej, the ancient Hierapolis.
The modern town, which is about four miles in circumference, is of a circular form, and is surrounded with a good wall fortified by several hundred turrets. In this are four gates facing the cardinal points of the compass, viz., Bâb-ool-Jebel, Bâb-Mardeen, Bâb-ool-Jedeed, and Bâb-oor-Boom. The environs on the northern and western sides are covered with graves, to the east flows the Tigris, and on the south are some extensive and pleasant gardens. Many of the houses are well built, and some of the entrances to the numerous mosques are fine specimens of elaborate Saracenic architecture. There is also a large Khan in the city, known as Hasan Pasha's, and now formed into a barrack for the troops. The khan is constructed of alternate layers of rectangular blocks of white and black stone, and is deservedly admired for its size and the symmetry of its parts. Many of the common dwellings, however, are built of rough stone overlaid with mud, and the streets are generally narrow and dirty in the extreme. The citadel and palace are situated to the northeast, and are separated from the rest of the town by a mud wall; the former is nothing more than a heap of rubbish, and the few cannon which defended it seemed totally unfit for use. The enclosure, besides the private residence of the pasha, comprises a mosque, several sumptuous tombs, and the ruins of an ancient church which now serves as a magazine.
The same cause which has turned the current of trade from Tocât has also operated to deprive Diarbekir of much of its former importance as a commercial city; nevertheless it appeared to be in a thriving state. Provisions of all kinds are cheap, and fruit abundant, especially melons, which attain to so large a size that two sometimes form a mule-load. I was not a little surprised during my second visit to see in the bazaar large piles of vegetable rhubarb, which is used here as an acid in cookery. Mrs. Badger could not resist her home associations, and determined to test its qualities; so a rhubarb pudding was made, and our host was not a little surprised to see us eat it with sugar. The principal export of the place is silk, the cultivation of which has been introduced within the last few years, and is manufactured and sent from hence to all parts of Coordistan. Turkish and Coordish are the two languages generally spoken by the inhabitants, Arabic being but little known. The population of the place is more than half Moslem, including Turks, Arabs, and Coords; of the Christians I shall speak more in detail.
According to the last census, the Armenians of Diarbekir number 1700 families, with two churches, a Bishop, and thirty priests; there are besides several villages of the same rite in the vicinity of the town. The churches, one of which has been lately rebuilt, are spacious edifices, and connected with each is a school in which 300 children receive regular instruction in ancient and modern Armenian. Bishop Egop being absent, I had a long interview with his archdeacon and with many of the priests, who were anxious to hear of our Church and people. They were surprised to learn that we had bishops in England, and that in other important respects we differed from the Independents.
Until lately the papal Armenians worshipped with the Chaldeans, but they have now built a splendid church. They number about seventy-five families with two resident priests, and their numbers are said to be on the increase.
The Greeks have a small church in the town, consisting of a transept, in which are the tombs of S. Cosmas and S. Damian to whom the church is dedicated, and a semi-circular nave surmounted by a dome. On my first visit there were only fifteen members of this rite left, all the rest, to the number of fifty families, having submitted to Rome. The orthodox Greeks were then left without any spiritual guide, if we except an occasional visit from a priest who came from Kabban Maaden, whilst the Romanists made all haste to secure their ground by taking possession of the church, and by sending a bishop to look after the interests of the new converts. The Greek Patriarch succeeded in reclaiming the church, and I am happy to say that within the last three years, the dissenting bishop and most of his flock have returned into the bosom of the Greek Church.
The Chaldeans of Diarbekir number 120 families, with a bishop and three priests; there are also a few of the same rite in the adjoining villages of Tcarookhia and Ali Pasha. The old church, which was rebuilt twelve years ago, is enclosed within two courts, (in one of which is the episcopal residence,) and is a good substantial building. Like most of the other churches here, the nave is nearly square, and is divided into three aisles. The sanctuary is separated from the nave by a screen containing three arches, one in front of each of the three altars [that is, the Altar, properly so called, the Prothesis, and the Table in the Diaconicon] generally to be found in the Eastern churches. In the old Armenian church at Diarbekir there are no less than seven altars. A part of the nave is set apart for the female portion of the congregation, who are separated from the men by a partition of lattice-work. In the new Armenian Church more attention has been paid to ecclesiastical architecture. The three entrances, before which is a spacious portico, a deacon informed me were intended to represent the three cardinal virtues, repentance, faith, and obedience; the double row of four pillars, the four evangelists; the twelve lower painted windows, the number of the Apostles; and the twenty-four upper windows, the Prophets. A square railing in front of the principal altar serves for a sanctuary, and the font is generally placed near the prothesis.
We interchanged visits with Mutran Botros, the Chaldean Bishop, who was very polite to us, and readily answered all our questions. He is of Nestorian origin, and was sent to Borne when young, and educated at the Propaganda. Like most of the Chaldeans at Diarbekir who are descendants of the old Nestorians, he is a zealous supporter of the papacy, and it was once thought that he would have been raised to the patriarchate instead of Mutran Zeyya of Salamast. On inquiring whether he spoke French, he replied in the negative, giving as a reason that he happened to be at Bome just after Napoleon's retreat, and that the Italians were so prepossessed against any thingFrench, that he was not permitted to study their language. He informed me that the tombs of the Chaldean Patriarchs Joseph II. III. and V., of whom more will be said hereafter, were in a cemetery without the city walls. Joseph I. and IV. were buried at Rome.
Having received letters from Mutran Behnâm to the Jacobite Syrians, we were hospitably welcomed, and treated with much attention by them during our stay. Mutran Girgis of Kharpoot, as well as all the clergy and principal laymen were invited to meet us at dinner, and to these I had abundant opportunity of explaining the doctrines and discipline of our Church, of which they were profoundly ignorant. They begged us to send them a few copies of our Prayer Book in Arabic, which I afterwards did, as also some other useful works printed by the Church Missionary Society at Malta. They had obtained possession of a polemical treatise written by the American Independents, in which several important doctrines common to us and all the Eastern Churches are impugned, and they were not a little pleased to hear that in these respects there was no difference between themselves and the teaching of our ritual.
We next proceeded to visit their church, which, like all the rest in this city, is situated in an open court into which we passed through a door not more than three feet high. Some say that this narrow entrance is intended to teach humility of mind to such as go to worship; but it is more likely designed to prevent the ingress of horses and other animals into the court-yard. The church, which is dedicated to the blessed Virgin, differs little from those already described. Within the Sanctuary are two thrones for the Patriarch and Bishop, and immediately adjoining the church is a square chapel, dedicated to S. James, in which the baptismal font is placed. Several large paintings, or rather daubs, deface the walls, one of which deserves to be noticed as well on account of the doctrines which it illustrates, as for the novelty of the figures which are introduced into it. The subject was the final judgment, in which an angel is represented as weighing the souls of the departed, whilst Satan in human form, painted black, with a long tail and two horns, is taking down into hell such as are found wanting, amongst whom were two conspicuous figures intended to represent Adam and Eve.9 In another part of the picture an angel is announcing to the righteous that the Lord has finally prevailed against the Serpent; and just above the fire are seven small figures which my informant told me typified the state of infants who die unbaptized.
I found the Jacobites here as elsewhere inferior to any of the native communities in general intelligence: their ecclesiastical affairs are very badly administered, and their bishops and priests far behind the clergy of all the other sects. But as I shall have to speak of them more fully hereafter, I shall on the present occasion restrain any further remarks on this subject.
On my second visit to Diarbekir I met with Mutran Abdool-Messiah, generally known to us as Athanasius, who was acquainted with Bishop Heber in India. He had gone over to the Romanists and returned again to his own community, and was then living at one of the Jacobite villages in the vicinity, of which there are several around Diarbekir. When I last passed through the town he had gone to his final home.
Diarbekir is not the seat of a Jacobite Bishop, but is under the immediate control of the Patriarch, who occasionally sends a Bishop to act as his delegate. There are about 250 Jacobite families in the city; the papal Syrians number forty families with two priests, who are under the jurisdiction of Mutran Antoore of Mardeen. The religious services of the latter are conducted in a private house.
Before leaving the city we had a visit from one of the Italian Capuchins, who have a convent here. He complained much of the treatment which he had received from the Armenians at Urfah, whither he had gone to create schisms among them, and where the Latin Monks have at length succeeded, through the influence of France, in building a new monastery. These men, like some other missionaries, seem to deem it a strange and very wicked thing that the native churches should resist the encroachment of Romanism or dissent.
The costume of the females at Diarbekir resembles that of Aleppo, and consists of a tight silk or satin dress, open in front, with long pendent sleeves, which is bound round the waist with a rich girdle. A small red cap, with a long tassel made to hang in front of the left shoulder, and a neat turban fringed with gold braid, over which a gauze handkerchief is lightly thrown, forms the common in-door coiffure. In the streets they go unveiled, enveloped in a large white or blue sheet, (I can call it by no other name, as my lady readers would not understand the native word tcertcef,) which envelops the whole person, and is drawn over the head or face as much as convenience or modesty may dictate. Wide yellow boots form part of the ordinary walking attire, but these are laid aside in the house for neat fantastic slippers, in the choice of which the Eastern dames are as fastidious as the most fashionable belles in Europe.
One word upon the general character of the people of this city. A popular Arabic adage when translated runs thus: "In Diarbekir there are black stones, black dogs, and black hearts." The latter attribute I declare to be set down in malice; for though perhaps less refined and cultivated in their tastes than the natives of Syria and Baghdad, they are equally courteous and hospitable, and happily free from a laxity of morals which I am sorry to say has been introduced into those parts chiefly by Europeans.