shranish.com

Shranish is a small village at a distance of 23 Km, North West of the city of Zakho on the Turkish border. It is the centre of the district of Al-Sindy, which consists of 67 mid-sized villages.

Shranish is considered the most beautiful resort in that region, where coal is found and subterranean water is abundant (from the book: Iraq, past and present; by Abd Al-Razzaq Al-Hasany – Beirut, 1958, page 61-261), and the book (Guide to Archaeological and Civilization Habitats – Third Journey - by Taha Baqir and Fuad Safar – Baghdad, 1966, page 55).

On 15/11/1954, an archaeological excavation of the village took place. Among the historical areas that were documented at the time within file number 1562 and 68, were (the caves of the village of Shranish) as settlements for ancient humans, and the site named ( Catherine), which is a cave and a grave: from the book (Archaeological sites in Iraq – Department of Archaeology – Baghdad, 1970, page 271).

Shranish is built upon the foot of Mount Khantour and Qala (fort). It is surrounded by high mountains from all sides, and is very high above sea level. It is distinguished by a heavy winter, when snow falls continuously throughout a few months, whereas in summer, it enjoys a pleasant climate.

There are numerous historic witnesses that confirm the antiquity of this village. There are two churches, the Church of Mar Quryaqos dating back to 400 years, and the Church of Mart Shmony, which is considered to be so ancient that no one knows when it was built, because its history goes back to times prior to Christianity. It is said that this church followed the Jewish religion.

Furthermore, many ancient coin pieces have been found, dating back to a few royal dynasties of ancient history, including the Persian era. It is claimed that Shranish was once a kingdom known as Anosh, which is the name of the daughter of the Persian king. There are lots of age-old graves spread throughout many sites, proving that it was inhabited through different historic phases. Many ancient ruins have been found in various sites, and so have a few fortifications built from huge rocks for defence purposes.

The village is famous for growing a variety of fruits and other agricultural produce. Its inhabitants have pursued the occupation of weaving traditional wool clothing (scarf and mesh).

Shranish enjoys a lively position where the road passes through it to many villages within the vicinity of Al-Sindy district, and further to Turkish areas. Thus it was vulnerable to Kurds of the Al-Gowey tribe residing in nearby Turkish lands. It was burned three times during the eighteenth century, but its steadfast people held onto their forefathers’ land and rebuilt it every time it was subjected to destruction. In 1987, the village was completely devastated. Not even its ancient churches could escape the campaign to destroy the villages during the reign of Saddam Hussein.

2005 is considered to be the year of rebirth of this village, when 50 houses were built and the number is on the increase as many of its inhabitants residing in Baghdad and other cities have started returning to its fold again as did their forefathers before them. There are more than 350 families of the village’s original inhabitants spread all over Iraq, Australia, Canada, USA, Sweden and other overseas countries.

There is certainly a lot for history to tell its tale about this ancient spot which needs a lot of research and excavation to discover its historic treasures that will prove the authenticity of our people and their deep roots into the history of Northern Bet-Nahrain (Mesopotamia).

(Towards the later part of the last few decades, a number of houses were built at a distance of 3 Km from the original village, where some Jewish families used to live and immigrated to Palestine in 1948. There are a number of Kurdish families residing there too. This spot is known as Lower Shranish, yet the fields and orchards adjoining it belong mostly to the original people of the village of Shranish which is known as the Christian Shranish).