Akhi Gabriel Van Hoorick....

Shlama,

Thank you for your message on the Guestbook. I Hope you are reading this message.

You stated:

A friend of mine visited a month ago Iraq and near Mossul he also visited a monastery. In a wall of this monastery he discovered a cross and in the foot of that cross he remarked a small triangle from which the top disappears in the cross itselve. Could this cross be the cross of the four evangelists Yukhannan, Matthew, Luqa and Marcus from the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East?

This may be, depending on which monastery your friend visited.

This Cross design has been used by both the Church of the East and by the Syriac Orthodox Church, which by the way has a monastery named Mar Mattai near Mosul, Iraq (ancient Nineveh, Assyria.) Here is a picture of that Monastery:

If the monastery he visited was Mar Hermizd monastery (Dair d'Rabban Hermizd), then this belongs to the Church of the East....here are a couple of pictures:

Fk^rwbw 0ml4

In reply to message #0
 
Dear Paul,
Thank you veru much for your prompt reply. The monastery were these similar crosses (4 of them and from small to bigger)were found is called: "Convent of St.-Behnam the Martyr" (near Mosul)Iraq. Schlama !
Gabri�l/Antwerp Belgium

In reply to message #1
 
Shlama Akhi Gabriel,

Thanks for the reply. Dair Mar Behnam (Monastery of St. Behnam) is now in the possession of the Syriac Catholic Church, formerly the monastery belonged to the Syriac Orthodox Church.

It is 20 miles south-East of Mosul. 4 miles from the Ancient Assyrian city of Calah (Nimrud). Situated between the Tigris river and the upper Zab. Adjacent to the Khathar Elias Village

The monastery is surrounded with walls having doors embroidered with ancient Assyrian designs. Beside the monastery is the famous man-made cave, believed to have been dug during Assyrian times, with the tomb of Saint Bihnam.

Visitors to the cave are overwhelmed by the spiritual aura upon entering the dark and serene location which many believe brings Christians closer to God.

Inside the Monastery is one of the most valuable Syriac libraries existing today. The church is a historical treasure for the Christian Assyrian heritage containing many detailed carvings in Aramaic, Arabic, and Armenian dating to the early 12th century.

The monastery is named after the martyr Behnam, an Assyrian who was martyred by the Persian Shah Ardashir, son of Shapur (379-383.)

The monastery, after its establishment continued its work and contributed greatly to the Christian world under the care of the Syriac orthodox church. Sculptures in the church show that renovations were done in 1164, 1250-1261 AD.

Records show that the monastery suffered greatly during the period from 1743 - 1790 which is most likely due to the Nadr Shah (leader of the Kurds) attacks of the Christians in the region.

In 1790 was taken over by the Catholic Church and was managed for 8 years until the Syriac Orthodox church took it back. For some unknown reason, the monks of the Syriac Orthodox Church abandoned the monastery in 1819. The monastery changed hands again to the Syriac Catholic Church in 1839, which has cared for it to present time.

Fk^rwbw 0ml4

In reply to message #2
 
Dear Paul,
Thanks again Paul for your answer. You certainly are one of te most remarkable man I ever visited on the web. Are there any facts about Assyria that you can't answer? Our Assyrian community, here in Antwerp, ask me to sent you their greetings. I'm deligthed to have made such good friends by our Assyrians.This has made me a better man. Schlama Paul ! Gabri�l/Antwerp

In reply to message #3
 
Shlama Akhi Gabriel,

You give too much credit. I'm just ok at searching the internet for information most of the time!

Please give my regards to the community in Belgium, especially the children who are learning and preserving the Aramaic language. Please let me know if I can be of any help.

May God bless you all for your effort!

Fk^rwbw 0ml4