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Dawodiya is an Assyrian village in Assyria in the Iraqi province of Dohuk in northern Iraq. Gara Mount bounds the Sapna valley to south and Matean Mount to the north. The valley stretches 25 kilometres in length and varies from 5 to 10 kilometres wide. Some references indicate that the village of Dawodiyaof existed in pre-Christian times while others suggest that it was built in the Middle Ages. While residents of Dawodiya, are not certain of the village's exact age, they assume it was several centuries ago when some Assyrian Christian families escaped the persecution of Ottoman authorities during their original occupation of Botan in southern Turkey. The British scholar Austen Henry Layard visited the village in the 1840s, spending one night there. In his writings he mentions that there were 200 families living in the village, a police station and a church. Layard also notes that Catholicism replaced the original denomination of those people who were the followers of the Assyrian Church of the East.〔Cited in Nora Kubie, ''The Road to Nineveh: The Adventures and Excavations of Austen Henry Layard'', Doubleday: 1964.〕 There are remains of the former police station established by the Ottoman authorities. Residents believe it was a fortified structure for the commanding officer of the Ottoman army in the region. == Mar Yokhannan Mamadanah (St. John the Baptist) Catholic Church in Dawodiya == Before its destruction along with the rest of the village’s houses and farms by Saddam Hussein’s regime in 1988 Anfal campaign, this Church was one of the oldest churches in the area. The churches in this area were unique in their design and antiquity. A typical church was typically large and separated by a thick wall (not less than one meter) from another smaller structure named after another saint. The entrance to the main church passed through the smaller part, which always would be located to the south of the church. The altar was located in the east end and was placed slightly higher and separated by a thick wall. An arched door was in the middle of altar walls. To the southern part of the altar room was the baptism room. The walls and ceiling of the church were built from stone and white mortar. The stones of which Saint John the Baptist was built were brought from nearby Mount Matean. The ceiling was arched but the roof surface was elevated because the outside walls were built to the same level as topmost of the arched ceiling so that walls and roof meet at same level outside. The roof was destroyed in 1961 when the residents of Dawodiya were forced to flee from their homes during the civil war. But in early 1970s the bishop of the diocese of Amadiya decided to rebuild the ceiling. Thus new roofing of reinforced cement was placed and new and larger windows were built as well as a dome, bell, fences and reception hall were added to the church. In 1988, the church and its old building and additions, could not withstand the destructive powers of dynamite, bulldozers and military might of the Saddam Hussein's regime. The church was flatted. Among the residents of the village who were ordained to priesthood are: Lazar from the Safar family, Hanna from the Somo family and Fillip from the Isaac family. The village has another student preparing in Baghdad to be ordained to priest. The village also produced many deacons who excelled in the Syriac language. Late Metropolitan Hanna Markho served in the village before his death. Currently Ayyad, a visitor priest clergy from Mangesh, serves in the village. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dawodiya」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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