Alayunt, Dargeçit
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Alayunt | |
|---|---|
  Alayunt Location in Turkey | |
| Coordinates: 37°33′40″N 41°39′25″E / 37.561°N 41.657°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Mardin |
| District | Dargeçit |
| Population (2021)[1] | 247 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Alayunt or Alayurt (Kurdish: Arbayê; Syriac: Arbaye)[2][a] is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Dargeçit, Mardin Province in Turkey.[5] The village is populated by Kurds of the Erebiyan tribe and had a population of 247 in 2021.[1][6] It is located in the historic region of Tur Abdin.[7]
In the village, there are churches of Mar Saba and Mar Jirjis.[8]
Arbaye (today called Alayunt) was historically inhabited by Syriac Orthodox Christians.[9] The Church of Mar Saba at Arbaye is believed to have been constructed in the eighth century.[10] In the Syriac Orthodox patriarchal register of dues of 1870, it was recorded that the village had 26 households, who paid 43 dues, and did not have a priest.[11] In 1914, the village was inhabited by 250 Syriacs, according to the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation.[12] Amidst the Sayfo, Kurds led by Ali Musa of Dayvan murdered most of the Syriacs and destroyed the Church of Mar Saba.[10] The Church of Mar Jirjis was rebuilt in the 1940s.[13] The village had a population of 295 in 1960.[4] There were 215 Kurdish-speaking Christians in 32 families at Arbaye in 1966.[4] By 1987, there were no remaining Syriacs.[14]