Excavations begun in a small cave in a city in southeastern Turkey have led to an unexpected discovery.
The archaeological work began two years ago in the city of Midyat in Turkey’s Mardin province, within the framework of a program to clean and preserve historic streets and structures.
Midyat is an ancient city. It is known to have existed in the 9th century BC, after which it was conquered by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II. But there are suggestions that the city’s actual founding dates to the 3rd millennium BC, at the time when the Hurrians came to those lands, who later founded the state of Mitanni.
For long centuries the city remained Assyrian, with the exception of rare periods of conquest. Thus, in the 1st century BC, Tigran II conquered the surrounding lands, and they became part of Greater Armenia. Later, in the time of Emperor Trajan, they were considered the Roman province of Assyria.
From 150 BC to 250 AD, Midyat was part of the Kingdom of Edessa. During the spread of Christianity in Asia Minor, the Assyrians of Midyat very quickly adopted the new religion. This land is the cradle of the Syro-Persian Christian Church (the Assyrian Church of the East).
During the excavations in the underground city, altars, separate rooms of clearly religious character, food storage areas, water wells and corridors have been discovered.
Since the Assyrians’ adoption of Christianity, Midyat has been considered the most important center of that religion in the Middle East. Although the Assyrians long constituted the main part of the city’s population, Armenians and Greeks gradually settled in these places, who also quickly adopted Christianity.
