The Nestorians and their Rituals/Volume 1/Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV.
Thus equipped, on the morning of Feb. 25th we issued forth from the eastern gate of Amedia, and descended into the valley on the north of the fortress called Robâra, or the Meadow, covered with orchards, and dotted over with small country houses now in ruins. From this pretty vale we wound round the base of the Tcah Meteenah by a tortuous and narrow foot-path until we got fully into the Geli Mezurka, so called from a Coordish village of that name situated higher up in the pass. A copious mountain torrent, supplied by the melting snows above, toppled through the deep gorge, forming in its rapid course many a miniature waterfall, by the sides of which grew festoons of wild flowers in rich abundance. The remains of a pavement are still visible throughout the pass, but even with this assistance we found the ascent difficult and toilsome. In somewhat less than two hours we reached the Seri Keri, a large sugar-loaf mountain in the opening of the Geli, and a little to the right a gigantic cliff called Latikâtha d'Khalâva, forming an immense wall round a level space which in by-gone days served as a summer retreat for the people of Amedia. These elevated spots are called "Zozân" by the Nestorians and Coords, and "Yaila" by the Turks. The Syriac word Zoma is not equivalent to Zozân, as Dr. Grant would have it; but means a temporary hut or tent put up in the Zozâns. The proper Syriac word for these summer retreats, which are common throughout central Coordistan, is Kuprâna.
A little beyond, and rising beside the narrow road which leads over the summits of the mountains, is an isolated rock which Ainsworth calls "Peri Balgah-si (the Honey place of the Fairies,)" whereupon he adds: "a belief in such things extending even to Coordistan." The real name, however, is Beri Balal Deena, or The Stone of Balal the Fool, connected with which is a common tradition not unworthy of being recorded. It is related of Emeer Mehdi the Coordish ruler of Hakkari some centuries ago, that in one of his warlike expeditions he laid siege to Amedia, and took possession of many villages in the surrounding district; the fortress, however, bravely resisted all his efforts to reduce it. Having taken an oath that he would not return home before he had become master of the place, he is said to have encamped seven years in the valley of the Supna, and to have planted vineyards and eaten the fruit of the same during the campaign. Finding that at the end of this time he was no nearer the accomplishment of his purpose, he made a solemn promise to the governor of Amedia that if he would only allow him and his suite to pass through the town he would instantly raise the siege, restore to him what he had conquered, and leave the country in peace. The condition having been accepted, Emeer Mehdi is said to have entered Amedia by the western gate, and in his progress through the bazaar one of his attendants seized upon an article of some value, which so enraged him that he ordered the offender to be killed on the spot. He then passed through the eastern gate, and after ascending Geli Mezurka, stopped at this isolated rock to refresh himself. Before proceeding on his journey he took off his cloak and fastened it to the rock, saying in Coordish:
Beri Balal Deena!
Kooblé ta hersé deena,
Tehoobé Shamboé oo Bahdeena.
Which translated literally runs thus:
O Stone of Balal the Fool!
The Kooblah of the three creeds,
Thou art the limit of Shamboé and Bahdinân.
In these lines the disappointed Emeer ridicules his fruitless efforts during a seven years' campaign by calling himself a "fool," under the name of Balal, a famous jester among the Coords, and then magnifies his own power by claiming to be the Kooblah of the three principal religions, i.e. Christian, Jewish, and Mohammedan. The Kooblah, or South, is the quarter to which the Moslems turn when praying, and is apparently used here to signify the centre or head. Shamboé is the Coordish name for Hakkari; and tradition relates that for a long time this stone actually formed the boundary between that country and the province of Bahdinân.
Three years after Emeer Mehdi had returned to the seat of his government, a wandering minstrel was sent from Amedia to obtain from him the removal of the cloak. He so far succeeded in pleasing the Emeer by his musical powers, that the latter promised to grant him any favour that he might ask. The minstrel begged for the cloak, and he was told to go and take possession of it.
Emeer Mehdi appears to have been a renowned chieftain in his day, if we may believe all the stories which are told of him by the natives. The large castle near the Jewish village of Beit-Tannoori, not far from Doori, the ruins of which are still extant, is said to have been destroyed by him when he laid siege to Amedia.
Hitherto we had met with little snow in the direct road, but now the face of the country was entirely covered with it. The five Coordish soldiers who had been sent with us for our protection made the poor Nestorians walk on before in order that by their superior weight, laden as they were with their packs, they might render the way less difficult for those in the rear. In some places the snow was more than twelve feet deep, and notwithstanding every precaution several of our party were repeatedly buried up to the waist. After stumbling on in this fashion for about an hour we had a fine view of the Berwari district before us, and of the Tyari in the distance. To our left stretched a pretty valley as far as the eye could reach, through which ran one of the tributaries of the Khaboor, and to our right flowed several streams which after joining the Bedu rivulet flow into the Great Zab about ten miles farther south. From the eminence on which we stood we conld also see Kalaat Koomri, the residence of the Emeer of Berwari while directly at our feet was the small Nestorian village of Hayyis.
Berwari is inhabited by Coords and Nestorians, the latter occupy fifteen villages containing about 200 families, with ten churches and as many priests, under the episcopal jurisdiction of Mar Yeshua-yau (whom Ainsworth incorrectly calls "Ishiyah.") The Romanists have not as yet penetrated thus far, nevertheless the Nestorian population in this district, like that of the Supna, is fast decreasing, owing to the tyranny of the Coords and the cruelties practised upon them by Abd-ool-Samid Beg the Emeer. Some additional remarks on the state of the Christians in Berwari will be found in the narrative of my second visit to these parts made in the spring of 1850.
After crossing the Gabet Nerk, which bounds the valley beyond Hayyis, we descended into a pretty meadow called Suaret Shukoorli, to the north of which rose another high hill which we traversed before reaching the two small Nestorian villages called Mâya and Derishk. Mâya lay in our way, and gladly would we have put up there for the night, but our guards bade us trudge onwards. Yielding to their prejudices we continued our journey by the side of a stream lined with poplars, and in one hour reached the large Coordish village of Bedu, situated at the extremity of a high and craggy range of hills and commanded by several forts. Bedu is the nearest village to the Tyari, and forms the limit of Mohammed Pasha's jurisdiction in this direction. It was some time before we could be accommodated with lodgings; but in the course of an hour a barn was cleared out for us, when one and all of the party gathered round a smoky fire to warm ourselves and dry our clothes which were wet through with the snow that had fallen during the day. In the course of the evening, and after they had been refreshed with a hearty supper, the guards began to sing for my amusement and their own. The subject was one of pastoral love and romantic chivalry, and the tones of the performers though wild were extremely sweet and pathetic. The song was kept up by two only, but the whole company joined in the chorus. Ever and anon my thoughts would wander to the Christians who dwelt among the fastnesses of the everlasting hills before me which seemed to bid defiance to the infidel invader; and in thinking of the message of peace and love which I was commissioned to carry to these long-neglected followers of Christ, I forgot, in hopeful musing upon the future, the toil of ten hours' walk through fields of snow and over rugged and precipitous mountains. Before the jovial guards had ceased their melody I was locked in a sound sleep from which I did not wake till the grey morn warned us that it was time to pursue our onward journey.
Feb. 26th.—We left Bedu at 7 a.m. with the wind blowing very cold, and the heavens threatening a storm. Our course lay first through a valley, on which the snow lay several feet deep, and in two hours reached the foot of an almost perpendicular ascent called Pyâri, covered with snow from its base to the summit. Here our toil began: after every few steps we were obliged to rest, taking the greatest care lest by some mishap we should lose our balance and thus be precipitated into the ravine below. When we reached the top, which it took us upwards of an hour to accomplish, we found ourselves as it were in a sea of snow: not a speck of earth nor the branch of a tree was to be seen, with the exception of a pile of stones raised upon an elevated spot to mark the direction of the road. Mountains upon mountains rose before and around us, and I could scarcely realize the fact that I was travelling to a habitable part of the world.—Such are the ramparts which have for ages secured the Nestorians of Tyari from the Moslem bondage and Roman domination, to which their brethren of the plains have so long been subjected; but which, alas! have now been crossed by the armies of the infidels who will rule them with a rod of iron.
After travelling for an hour and a half over this elevated tableland we reached the edge of the descent which leads directly to Asheetha. An immense peak, the base of which stretched down into the valley in which the village is situated to the depth of several thousand feet, and towered above our heads almost to an equal height, seemed to mock every attempt to traverse its snow-clad sides. It made one giddy barely to look down the precipice before us; but how we were to descend this awful cliff was still a problem which I could not solve. A narrow way formed in the deep coating of snow which covered the mountain, and so hardened by use that it seemed like a bed of ice, wound through the space between the bottom of the valley and the spot to which we had attained. Here the porters took off their burdens, tied them with a strong rope, and spread a felt upon the slippery road. Sitting down upon this with the rope held tightly in both hands, their knees bent, and their feet pressing upon the loads, it needed no impulse to set them a-going. No sooner had each seated himself than he slid down at a fearful rate, acquiring additional speed the farther he descended, and seeming ever and anon, as he was hurried down the zig-zag course, as if he would shoot out of the beaten track and be hurled into the deep ravines which bounded it on either side. The safe landing of my companions at the bottom of the valley hardly gave me confidence, and it was not without some secret misgivings that I sat me down to follow their example. Through some neglect I was not provided with a felt, and being unencumbered with baggage, my first essay had nearly proved fatal. Hardly had I seated myself than I slid off the pathway, and should inevitably have been buried in the ravine, had not one of the Coordish guards, who, at the time, was lying down in the snow, caught my foot and broken my fall. The second trial was more fortunate, but my readers may rest assured that I felt no little pleasure when I found myself walking on my feet not far from the village, although my hands were quite numb with the fruitless attempts which I had made to arrest my progress by grasping the loose snow. Such was our descent of the Râs Kadôma, and I sincerely advise any of my countrymen who may wish to visit the Tyari to choose a different season for the excursion.
On looking around I perceived that the valley threw off several lateral branches, on the sides of which the little town of Asheetha is built. The snow had been partially cleared off the ground, and flocks of sheep and a number of small black oxen were feeding upon thorns and dried shrubs which at this season are brought from the Berwari. Passing a stream over a rude bridge of planks we directed our steps to the Kalleita, or public room, where we were received and welcomed by Shammâsha (Deacon) Ishâk, Mar Shimoon's youngest brother, Kash' Aurâha the archdeacon, and a number of other Nestorians, who were seated round a comfortable fire holding a village conference. A carpet and quilt were spread for me in a corner of the room, and in the novel and interesting scene before me I soon forgot the danger of our morning's slide.
As our party were too much fatigued to think of starting on the morrow, it was decided that a messenger should be sent to invite the Patriarch to hasten his visit to Asheetha. This determination was come to in the evening by the villagers, and next day a priest set off for Chamba, eight hours farther north, where Mar Shimoon had taken up his temporary residence. In the meanwhile, and during the succeeding three days of our stay, I had a good opportunity of becoming acquainted with the social and political condition of the Nestorians of Tyari, the sum of which I shall now endeavour to lay before my readers, together with such experience of their character and customs as I acquired from the unfortunate refugees and captives who some months later found a home with me at Mosul.
The village of Asheetha takes its name, according to Dr. Grant, from the Syriac word Asheetha, an avalanche; but this is the more vulgar derivation. Kash' Aurâha informed me that in their books it is always written Shathista, a foundation, it being considered the first and largest village of Tyari, and the key of the province. Asheetha itself is divided into five quarters, called severally: Tcemmané, Tcemmané Tahteitha, Mâtha d'Umra-Khateebet, Isroor, and Merweeta, and contains a population of about 2500 souls. The people are in general robust and well-made, and till the ungenerous soil of their native hills with unwearying industry. The chief produce of the district is Prâghi, called by the Coords Gârez, Talik, and Khrurîa or Dhoorra, three kinds of millet or pannick, which, when ground, make the bread-flour in general use throughout this part of Coordistan. Very little wheat is raised throughout the Tyari or the Hakkari provinces; but rice is much more abundant. Scarcely any vegetables are grown at Asheetha; but cucumbers, melons, and beans, are common about Leezan and Minyânish. The walnut, pomegranate, and apricot, grow almost spontaneously in the valleys, and the mountain sides are covered with vineyards producing the most luscious grapes, from which the Nestorians extract a generous wine, and a thick juice resembling honey, and which when dried make excellent raisins. Wood is scarce about Asheetha, but further north the hills are covered with dwarf oak and other trees, and the valleys are lined with poplars. The chief employment of the people, beside the cultivation of the soil, is the care of their flocks, from which they derive their main support. Their butter they barter with the people of Berwari, and not unfrequently travelling merchants go from Mosul to purchase this commodity from them, and also honey which they have in abundance. In some parts of the Tyari large quantities of the gall-nut are gathered every year, and this also forms an important article of the mountain trade.
The Tyari produces neither flax nor cotton; these the villagers generally import from Julamerk or Amedia in exchange for their home-raised commodities. The wool of their sheep, however, affords employment to the females who work it into stuff's of different colours, figured socks, &c.; yet this does not prevent large quantities of a crimson and grey-striped woollen cloth, of which the dress of the mountaineers is chiefly made, from being imported from Garamoon, a Nestorian village to the west of Asheetha.
The male costume of the Nestorians consists of a wide pair of shalwar, or trowsers, bound round the waist by a running string, or fastened with a girdle, which also secures the end of a vest. Under these is a white cotton shirt, and above a coarse woollen coat, striped with white and black, and reaching to the loins. A conical felt cap, resembling in shape that worn by the Chinese, forms the common head-dress. Priests, however, and the more respectable laymen among them, wear a round cap of the same material, which is secured to the head by a small turban. All the men keep their hair close shaven, with the exception of two long locks on the crown, which are plaited with no little care, and in some cases suffered to hang down the back. The costume of the females is not unlike that which has already been described as worn by other eastern ladies, except in this, that they always go unveiled, and their head-dress consists of a simple muslin kerchief, thrown over the hair, and tied behind the neck.
Mechanics are in a very backward state among the mountain Nestorians: their carpentry is of the most clumsy description, and is almost confined to the fabrication of agricultural implements, which each peasant generally manufactures for himself. Of iron they have abundance in several parts of Tyari; this they smelt and beat out into rude plough-shares and such other tools as they require for tillage. The people of Asheetha, however, are famed for tempering steel, and the best packing needles used by the Coordish muleteers, are made in this village. There are several mines of lead at Doori, in the Berwari, and at Serspeedho, in lower Tyari, as also sulphur mines in other parts of the mountains, from which the Nestorians prepare their own bullets and gunpowder. Silversmiths they have none, and in fine, scarcely any other trades than those already mentioned are known among them. For the most part, each man is his own farmer's joiner and blacksmith, and his wife, besides attending to the domestic concerns of the family, acts as his help-mate in these several avocations.
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NESTORIAN HOUSE IN THE TYARI.
The style of building at Asheetha and throughout the Tyari country is very simple, each dwelling generally consisting of a long room serving the inmates for all the purposes for which we require several distinct apartments, and a part of this is in many cases partitioned off as a pen or fold for the sheep, and other cattle. Some few houses have a second story, the lower one being partly under ground, which serves as a warm retreat during the severity of winter. The roofs are all flat, which obliges the residents after a heavy fall of snow to lose no time in removing it. On account of the gnats and mosquitoes which nightly swarm in these regions during the summer, the villagers for the most part retire from their houses and sleep on scaffolds called arzâlé, consisting of a platform supported by four upright poles, and raised from sixteen to twenty feet above the ground. The climate of Tyari is salubrious, although the cold of winter and the heat of summer, especially in the valleys, are excessive. Intermittent fevers are common in these districts, but the people in general attain a good old age.
Dr. Grant has very strongly insisted on the Jewish physiognomy of the Nestorians of central Coordistan. From this opinion I must beg to differ: at Amedia I had frequent opportunities of seeing the two people face to face, and the difference in their features and general complexion appeared to me as great as exists between the descendants of Israel and any of the European races. The heads of the Nestorians are round, in which respect they resemble the Saxon family, whereas the Jews, even in these districts, preserve the high crown and the receding forepart, which distinguish them in every part of the globe. Then, again, light hair and hazel eyes are colours more common than any other among the Nestorians, whilst such are comparatively rare among the Jews, who have black hair and dark eyes wherever I have met with them. A striking difference, moreover, exists in the complexion of the two races, that of the mountain Nestorians being usually a ruddy brown, and that of the Jews, a pale brunette on a smoother skin.
The same author adduces it as a corroborative evidence of the Jewish origin of the Nestorians, that Old Testament names are of constant occurrence among them. I requested Kash' Aurâha, while I was at Asheetha, to write me down promiscuously all the Nestorian names that he could remember. In a list of eighty which he drew up, I find only ten Old and twelve New Testament names applied to males, the rest being of a later date, and many common to the Coords as well as to the Nestorians of this region; and among an equal number of female names, there are not more than eight taken from Holy Scripture. Now this ratio of biblical appellatives is to be met with among all the Mohammedans and Christians of Turkey, and I have no doubt is exceeded in some of the northern parts of the United States. The Doctor's own Christian name was Asahel, that of Dr. Smith and the Rev. Mr. Hinsdale, two other American missionaries at Mosul, Azariah and Abel, and that of Mr. Hinsdale's son Abel Abdallah.
The language spoken by the Nestorians of the mountains is a corrupt Syriac, and varies considerably in different provinces. This dialect, which is generally called Fellehi in the plains and Soorith (Syriac) in Coordistan, is mixed up with many Arabic words in the villages around Mosul, with Coordish in the Tyari and Hakkari, and with Persian in and about Ooroomiah. The two former understand each other better than they do those of the latter district, and several of the clergy complained to me, when I visited the country in 1850, that the vulgar dialect of the New Testament lately published by the American missionaries at Ooroomia was more difficult for them to comprehend than the classical Syriac which is printed with it in a parallel column. The ancient Syriac is not understood by the lay mountaineers, and very few of the ecclesiastics, I regret to say, know more than simply how to read it. It is in this language, however, that all their rituals are written, from which it necessarily results, that the intellect at least can be but little profited by an attendance upon the services of the church. I have met with a religious treatise or two in the vulgar dialect, but these are held in no esteem, and are scarcely ever used. Epistolary communication is kept up by a few of the clergy who frequently mix up much that is vulgar with the classical Syriac. The same observations apply to the Chaldeans of Mosul, who only speak the Arabic, yet their services, with the exception of the Epistle and Gospel, which are now read in that language, are carried on in the ancient Syriac. The Chaldeans in the villages around Mosul are in a like case with the mountain Nestorians, speaking the same dialect, or nearly so, and understanding scarcely anything of what is read in their churches.
The Nestorians of central Coordistan are, generally speaking, very simple and ignorant. Deploring this state of things among them, Kash' Aurâha said to me one day: "What can you expect? The poor people have scarcely ever seen anything but the heavens above, and the earth beneath them." The only books which they possess, are the church rituals, and I have not heard of a single author at present existing among them. To be able to read the service books, and write a tolerable hand is considered the very acme of education, and this is all that is required in candidates for holy orders. While at Asheetha I had an opportunity of seeing the Archdeacon give this kind of instruction to several youths, who were destined to become deacons. Five sat down round a psalter, placed upon a low stool, in such a way, that to two at least the book was upside down. The best reader led the way, and the rest followed his voice and finger as he pointed to the place where he was reading. The Archdeacon would occasionally stop and explain the meaning of a difficult passage or word which he supposed they could not understand; but this scarcely interrupted him in his copying or transcribing, in which occupation he spends most of his time. The same course is pursued in other villages, in none of which, however, is there so capable an instructor as Kash' Aurâha, and as schools are unknown among them, the reader may easily imagine how gross must be the ignorance of these neglected mountaineers.
I cannot better describe the moral condition of the Nestorians in central Coordistan, than by quoting the language of Mr. Ainsworth, whose remarks on this subject, prove that he had made a just estimate of their character: "It has been advanced by the most eminent traveller of the present age (De Humboldt), that certain climates, more especially Alpine districts, where but a brief interval of sunshine alternates with storms, and where the ruggedness of nature begets sternness and moroseness in mankind, are most favourable to the propagation of a religion of asceticism and monastic seclusion. But here, in the heart of Coordistan, where snow-clad rocks perpetually frown down upon secluded vales,—where giant precipices seem almost to defy mankind to venture upon intercommunication,—where waters, instead of meandering through flowery meads, pour in resistless torrents over their stony beds,—where clouds unknown at certain seasons in the plains, almost perpetually obscure the fair face of the heavens, or dwell upon the mountain tops,—and where the universal aspect of nature is sterile, forbidding, and austere,—the benign influence of a kindly religion, and the simple forms of a primitive church, have preserved a people from self-sacrifices, unavailing to God and injurious to society. The Nestorian Church neither inculcates seclusion nor celibacy among its clergy; its only purification is fasting, so strongly enjoined on all Christians; and, in order that in this point their patriarchs, whose dignity is hereditary, may be without stain, they are not allowed to partake of fleshmeat either before or after their ordination.
"But if the influences of climate and soil, combined with the peculiarities of position with regard to neighbouring races of men, on the moral and intellectual development of the Nestorians, are modified in one direction by religion, it is much to be regretted that in another they have exercised full sway, allowing the passions too frequently to obtain the ascendant over morality and religion. The hardy mountaineer knows but a single step from the toils of travel or the chase to an expedition of war and extermination.[1]
"Thus the character of the Nestorian, besides perhaps retaining the impression of early persecution, has undoubtedly been affected by position, by the influences of nature, and by the vicinity of warlike and predatory tribes maintaining hostile creeds; but it is still more influenced by a very simple and easily remediable defect, namely, that with the forms and practice of worship they are not taught to understand the Gospel.
"In a country where none can read but the priests, it is most essential that attention should be given to the instruction of the people in the humanizing precepts so characteristic of and peculiar to Christianity. It is not the fault of the laity, for they are regular attendants at church, but of the priests solely; who partly chant and partly mumble through a liturgy of great beauty and excellence, and through the ennobling lessons of the New Testament, in so unintelligible a manner that no practical advantage can be derived therefrom. And it is to be remarked here that the old Syriac, in which the rituals and Testament are written, differs also much from the Syriac dialect at present used by the mountaineers. Certain prayers are familiar to all, but they have little moral effect. Many persons piously disposed retire to a corner of the church to pray in privacy, and I have often observed that such persons adhere also to the old oriental practice of frequent prostrations, a form not observed by the clergy; [the priests are directed to stand between the porch and the altar in the Nestorian rituals, as the ministers often do in our own church while the people kneel: within the sanctuary they often prostrate themselves:] but there is no plain distinct enunciation of the precepts and practice of our Saviour or of His Apostles. There is no sermon or lecture to expound difficulties of doctrine, to awaken reflection, or to sustain faith by convincing the intellect: thus the main body of Nestorians are only nominal Christians, and must remain so till assistance is sent to them from more favoured nations. Left to themselves and without education the people have deteriorated, and with the carelessness and ignorance of the laity have come laxity and superficiality among the clergy.
"It would be a great injustice, however, to these mountaineers, were I not to acknowledge that they are superior in intelligence and in moral worth to the inhabitants (Christians and Mohammedans) of the same classes in Anatolia, in Syria, and Mesopotamia. There are some forms of society, and many decencies of life belonging to improved civilization, that are omitted by the mountaineers; but there is no doubt that they are, as a race, more quick and impressible, more open, candid, sincere, and courageous, than the inhabitants of the afore-mentioned countries. Their bearing is erect, but without the swagger of the Turk; their eye firm, but without ferocity; their forehead ample and high, unclouded by suspicion and evil feelings.
"But this slight superiority over neighbouring nations gives them no claim to be looked upon as a people enjoying all the real benefits of the Church to which they belong; their general demeanour and tone, their implacability towards their enemies, and many points in the daily conduct of life, are not only not consonant with, but are severely reprobated by the religion which they profess to follow. The origin of the demoralization and of the religious and intellectual prostration of this remarkable people, was beyond the control of man, and was primarily connected with those many revolutions with which it has pleased the Almighty to visit eastern nations; but the present existence and continuance of this state of things is evidently to be attributed to the want of communication with other nations, and to the neglect of education among the clergy as well as the people; and it is sincerely to be hoped that the same day that these facts shall be clearly felt and fully appreciated, will see commence the future regeneration and humanization of one of the most interesting and most remarkable, yet little known people, that are to be met with on the earth's surface."[2]
To the above it may be added that the Nestorians are frugal and even parsimonious in their habits, and generally honest in their dealings with one another. Robberies are almost unknown in the mountains, and domestic and drunken broils are far less frequent among them than in our own country. Would that I could bear so favourable a testimony to them in other respects, but the truth forbids it. The Nestorians, though simple, are cunning, over-reaching, and covetous, and will tell falsehood after falsehood with such barefacedness that I doubt whether they consider lying a sin. Conjugal unfaithfulness and kindred crimes were scarcely heard of among them when I first visited the Tyari; but after the massacre of 1843, since which time many hundreds of Nestorians, male and female, have been brought into contact with the people of Mosul, a great change for the worse has taken place in this respect. The Turks, and I regret to say several Europeans whose character and office demanded far different conduct from them towards these unfortunate Christians, have been the principal agents in bringing about this deterioration of chastity. May God, in His mercy, avert the sad consequences of such wicked examples.
I shall conclude this chapter by making a few remarks on the names by which the Nestorians designate themselves, and in so doing shall take the liberty of correcting several statements on this subject made by Dr. Grant and later travellers. Dr. Grant in attempting to support his favourite hypothesis regarding the Hebrew descent of the Nestorians, writes: "The word Nazarean or Nsâra is specific in its application to the Nestorians, and is never applied to the Armenians or other Christian sects." The premises here laid down being fallacious, the author's conclusion necessarily falls to the ground; for, in the first place. Riddle[3] says that the Christians were styled "Nazareans" by the Jews, and from them by the Gentiles also, and in proof of this he adduces the authority of Epiphanius, Jerome, and Prudentius. He also distinguishes these Nazareans from a Jewish sect of the same name which existed at the same time. Nasrâni, moreover, is the common title for "a Christian" throughout the East at the present day, and more especially in Mesopotamia, the term being less general in Syria. The same appellative is the only one used on the northern coast of Africa to denote a follower of Christ, and in Malta also, where it was doubtless carried by the Mohammedans who took possession of that island in the ninth century.
Further, on our way to Amedia, and just as we emerged from the Suaretooka pass overlooking the Supna, Kasha Mendu observed to me: "There are many villages of Nsâra in this plain." On asking whether he meant Christians of his church, he replied: "Some are Nsâra Meshihayé and others Nsâra Frangayé." In this answer the priest gave the distinctive appellative of the two sects into which the Nestorians are at present divided. The Nestorians frequently use the term Meshihayé (i.e. followers of the Messiah,) when speaking of themselves, but generally add thereto the word "Nestorayé," when they wish to distinguish themselves from the Chaldeans who lay claim to the former title as their peculiar right, and never apply it to the Nestorians. These latter, on the other hand, seldom call the Chaldeans by any other name than that of "Frangayé," (Franks), the term "Catoleek " or Catholic, being scarcely ever heard among them. But even "Meshihayé " is an appellative less used by the Nestorians to denote those of their own sect, and Christians generally, than that of Soorayé (Syrians). Ask a Christian mountaineer what he is, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the reply will be: "I am a Soorayá." If asked to explain, he will most probably add "Meshihaya Nestoraya," or "Nestoraya" only.
From the above it will appear that these people are not so averse to being called "Nestorians" as some travellers have represented. There are indeed some among them who appear to prefer the latter title to that of "Meshihayé," probably because the Chaldeans so denominate themselves; in proof of which I shall adduce the case of a little Nestorian girl of Amedia who was under Mrs. Badger's care for several months. On her first arrival at Mosul a Chaldean asked her to what community she belonged. "I am a Nestoraya," was the reply. To which the other answered: "Why do you not rather call yourself a Meshihaya; for was not the Messiah greater than Nestorius?" "Very true," retorted the girl, "but even the gipsies who play upon the tambourine celebrate the praises of the Messiah, and cry out Isa! Isa! but they are not Christians on that account." In like manner in asking the Patriarch the proper application of these several terms, he replied: "We call all Christians Meshihayé, Christiané, Soorayé, and Nsâra; but we only are Nestorayé."
- ↑ Mr. Ainsworth might have added: "and from the solemnity of divine worship to the wild sports of the mountains." It was related to me as a fact that as one of the priests, (many of whom carry arms and all possess them,) was about to open the service, he saw from a window of the church, which overhung a precipice, a wild boar drinking at a stream in the valley below. Laying aside his robes, be said to the congregation: "My brethren, this our sacrifice of praise will remain where it is, but that," pointing to the boar, "will soon run away." Then seizing his rifle he descended the rocks, and after securing the prey returned to the church, where the people had patiently waited for him, and all went through the prayers as if nothing uncommon had happened.
- ↑ Ainsworth's "Travels and Researches in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia," &c. vol. ii. 281—285.
- ↑ Christian Antiquities, p. 135. § 2.