Balaban, Nusaybin

The Syriac name of the village is derived from "biro" ("well" in Syriac).^[8]

Bīrgurīya (today called Balaban) was historically inhabited by Syriac Orthodox Christians.^[9] In the Syriac Orthodox patriarchal register of dues of 1870, it was recorded that the village had eight households, who paid thirty-five dues, and did not have a church or a priest.^[10] There were 300 Syriacs in 1914, according to the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation.^[11] Amidst the Sayfo, all of the Syriacs were murdered by Kurds from Kfar-Gawze.^[8] In 1966, the population was 455, including 140 Turoyo-speaking Christians in 20 families.^[3] By 2013, there were ten Syriacs in two families and two Yazidi families.^[12]