Zinda 1 February 2006

My Trip to Iraq, 25 Years Later

Dr. Ephrem - Isa Yousif
France

I went on a journey in Iraq to take part in an international symposium. The Minister for the Culture and the Kurdish Institute of Paris had organized this conference titled “Democracy in the Middle-East”. My trip took place from Thursday, 17 November through Wednesday, 30 November, 2005. With the other conference attendees, I flew a Kurdistan Airlines plane from Frankfurt, Germany, flight number 776, to Erbil in north Iraq.

It is 4 hours flight from Frankfurt to Erbil, a city located in a vast and fertile plain, 350 km from Baghdad. It is bounded by a tributary of the rivers Tigris and the Great Zab, and in the west by the cities of Mosoul, Dohuk, and Zakho.

We landed in the early morning. The sky was bright, of the color rossette grey. Surprised, I saw a green airport, flowered with various roses and flowers. Fragrances of childhood... When we landed, it was as if all the past had come back to meet me. Our delegation was officially welcomed by the Minister for the Culture, Sami Chourach, who served us a cup of tea and some “baklavas” in the large lounge bar of the airport. Then, we went directly, in official procession, to Sheraton Hotel, opened in 2004, where we took some rest in our rooms. A concrete wall, for reasons of safety, surrounded this hotel.

Erbil, an old city, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

I stayed in bed, but could not sleep; I was touched emotionally. I recalled the prestigious history of the town of Erbil, which goes back to 5000 years B.C. In the Sumerian writings, it is known as Urbillum, in the Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions as Arba Illu ("The four gods"). It had an important religious temple dedicated to the goddess Ishtar. Erbil survived all the capitals of old Assur. The Persian Emperor Darius III, in 331 BC, was defeated in the battle of Arbella by Alexander of Macedonia.

It is thought that the city was evangelized in A.D. 2nd century, and in A.D. 4th century became the center of an episcopate.

In 642, the Muslims conquered Erbil. Later on, in 1258, the Moguls invaded the city. Then, Turkomans, Persian Safavids, Ottomans dominated it. In November 1918, British Army entered Erbil. The governorate of Erbil was established.

Today, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Hewler for the Kurds, Erbil shelters the Kurdistan Parliament and it is ruled by Masoud Barzani.

The afternoon of Friday, I benefited from my spare time to visit the citadel, the "Qala", with the Director General of Antiquities, Kana’an Mufti, a courteous and pleasant man. Built out of bricks on a tel, the Qala rises to 30 meters and dates back to over 6000 years BC. It has a round shape, contains old relics, but it has not yet been researched fully. It is inhabited by 800 families and divided in three districts. Many of the 506 houses are damaged, but some were restored in artistic styles of architecture and offer, at first sight, steps, worked doors and balconies, carved shutters, coloured stained-glass windows, beautiful ceilings, rich decorations. Delightful verandas, supported by marble pillars, and small courtyards with planted trees.

Map of Iraq. The places described in this travelog are within the area marked by a square.

A museum exhibits priceless old carpets. The French Arts Center Arthur Rimbaud was inaugurated recently. Mathieu Saint-Dizier directs it. The house dates back to the Othoman period. It is beautiful, but lacks equipment. While strolling in the lanes of Qala, I went along the front of an imposing Mosque capped by a dome, and then I visited the Bath Citadel, built in 1775 A.D. This impressive citadel deserves to be registered quickly with the UNESCO, for a serious renovation.

I went down in Erbil city, constructed on a circular level around the Citadel. Standing west of the Citadel, I admired the minaret attributed to “amir” or sultan Mudhaffaruddin Kokburi (+ 1132). Made of brick masonry with gypsum, it stands on an octagonal base, and the spiral minaret rises to 21.,5 meters, but the head is gone.

Then, I ventured in the old Great Bazaar, in the city center. It includes many studded wood panels and arched galleries dating from 19th century. Some are badly maintained. Sales clerks in the shops sell gold jewelry, fabrics, carpets, handicrafts and domestic utensils from Turkey, but also cheese, yogurt, honey, and tobacco.

I left the Great Bazaar; I sought a bookshop in the town and I found a gallery covered which sheltered several bookshops. I bought Kurdish and Arabic books. As the evening fell, my books under the arm, I went to dine out in a restaurant, constructed in contemporary design. I ate Erbilian Kababs, famed in all of Iraq.

Saturday and Sunday, the conference on “The Democracy in the Middle East” took place in the Kurdistan Parliament, a modern multi-storey building. The members of the delegation, the professors and the European elected officials made various speeches. All the speakers thought that a modern State can be built only on democratic principles, recognized internationally. The topic of my lecture was: "From the City-States to Democracy". I spoke about the first city-states into Lower Mesopotamia, the first codes of laws in the Sumerian and Babylonian empires, the democracy in Athens (Greece). I recalled the French Revolution, which brought a new progress in the formation of the democratic ideas and declared all men free and equal. I finished my speech on a note on the fate of Iraq, today, and in the coming years.

Monday morning, I went to the Salahaddin University. There, I faced the professors and the students and I lectured on the transmission of Greek philosophy to the Arabs, through the medium of the Syriac philosophers. The students were eager for knowledge, which touched me. After the lecture, some of them came to discuss the topic with me in more detail.

In the evening, in the hotel, I received a priest from Ankawa, Selim, a friend of childhood. He came to invite me to Ankawa, a Chaldean city of 15,000 inhabitants, near Erbil. We were both very moved to meet again.

In Ankawa the rents are very expensive. Much to my surprise, I saw many beautiful homes in the city. The St. Joseph Church, one of the eminent churches in Ankawa sub-district was built in 1978, in the ancient Babylonian design. It is located on Erbil-Ankawa main road.

George Mansour, the director of the new Ishtar Television, which had just started to broadcast for the Assyro-Chaldean-Syriac people, invited me, in Ankawa. He asked me to record a program in Arabic language about my books and the history of our people, called to maintain good relations with the Kurds, the Arabs and Turkmen.

Zakho, a picturesque city

The following day, I met my brother Brikha, who had just arrived from Australia. He led me directly in the car to Zakho. It is a city located about 120 km from Mosoul, 40 km northwest of Dohuk city, on the Turkish border. Hidden in a double loop of the Khabour River, it is the sub prefecture, which belongs to Dohuk Governorate.

I reached Zakho at night; the city was decorated with artificial palm trees brilliantly illuminated. By chance, electricity was not cut, as it usually is. How happy I was to meet again, in good health, my uncle Quto, 95 years old! He hugged me in his arms while weeping for joy. He told me that my cousin Patros, the Bishop of Zakho, had left Zakho to go to France. Hard luck!

Church in Ankawa

Thursday, early in the morning I walked in the city, a small city in the 1960s, but today, it is a significant trading center, populated by some 250,000 Kurds, Chaldeans, and Armenians. Sincerely, I did not recognize it; it had changed so much. Hotels, restaurants, houses with terraces, villas, emerged from the ground. In the gardens orange trees were planted which I had never seen there. A statue was set up in the main street, representing Salih Al-Youssify, a famous politician, related by friendship to the Kurdish chief Barzani. I strolled in congested streets, admired the seasonal fruits on the stalls of the well-stocked markets. I chose a beautiful pomegranate and opened it with my pocketknife. I ate some garnet-red grains. Very quickly, the memories submerged me and took me back to the past. I often went in Zakho with my father, a caravaneer, who bought goods there. The poor “khan” (inn) where we slept does not exist more, replaced by a modern hotel.

I crossed a bridge, arrived on a large and beautiful place dedicated to the Kurdish commander Issy Suar. His portrait was decorated with flowers. On several occasions, in years 69-72, I had met this right-hand man of Barzani, great general, excellent administrator, protector of the Muslims and the Christians.

Author with Kurdish Parliament building in the background

The sun was shining. I went on the hillside, planted with poplars, fruit-trees, luxuriant vineyards. The orchards invested along the plain of Khabour.

An old, famous bridge, Dalal Bridge, built in stones, spans the Khabour. When I was a teen-ager, I went with my friends for a swim in the limpid waters of the river. Today, alas, the Dalal Bridge is badly maintained, the stones are falling over. It urgently needs to be restored. I regretted the neighborhood of a modern pub, and the proximity of ruins coming from an old Iraqi military bridge, almost stuck to the Dalal Bridge.

I was on the point of leaving when I saw with pleasure that the building work of the future University of Zakho had begun; those of Faculty of letters, of the Business School advanced very quickly. I dreamed to come one day to the inauguration, the opening of these temples of knowledge...

A main road runs towards the west and connects Zakho, and the Kurdistan region with Turkey. I saw files of trucks rolling, headlights blazing, towards the border. They were charged with foodstuff, drinks, building materials, oil cisterns. The prosperity of Zakho comes from this intense traffic and from a good administration.

Friday, I climbed up a mountain, I arrived to Dashta Takh, a little agglomeration built 10 km below the village of Sanate-- my village. I was surprised to see a large, advertising board, indicating that Dashta Takh was in full rebuilding, thanks to the good care of the Prime Minister Nejirvan Barzani, and of the Vice Prime Minister Sarkgis Agajan. Buiding works concerning new and modern houses had started. The Baath government, in 1976, deported many Christian families from here.

Ankawa

Nowadays, they stay in Zakho, or they arrive from Mosul and Baghdad. As soon as possible, they want to return to their homeland and live in peace and dignity, near the beautiful mountains. However, people may experience economic and social hardship.

During my travel in the region, I saw again this hopeful, advertising board at the entrance of several Christian villages, like Feshkhabour, Derabun, Karawela, Levo, Sharasnesh and others.

On other bank of the Hizel River, I distinguished the Turkish military station, surrounded of barbed wire to prevent the Iraqis crossing water and from passing to Turkey. The Turkish soldiers supervise the border day and night.

I could not climb at the village of Sanate where I was born, in the high mountanous gorges, because there was no road, and I should have made three hours of walk by narrows paths. I would so much have liked to see the ruins of my native house, given up for thirty years!

While going down to Zakho, I savored the nostalgia of Sanate. Later, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region, Sarkgis Agajan, promised me that at springtime 2006, work on rebuilding of my village and the driving road would begin. That may be true!

Saturday, I went to Dohuk, a city located between the mountain chains (Bekher and Shndokha) bordering Turkey and Syria from the north and west. In the 1960s, it was poor, populated by 80,000 inhabitants; today it exceeds 800,000. The city includes several creeds. Muslims, Christians, Yezidis live there. The city is proud of its beautiful mosques, its folk museum and university. The crown Prince of Monaco has just built a private school, open to the Christians and the Muslims. Surprised, I could admire splendid villas decorated with marble. The middle-class prospers here in a spectacular way, because the businesses, the trade, the tourism are going well. The gardens, where the fig trees grow, seemed smaller to me because of town planning. On a hill, west of Dohuk, the oldest church in the area, dating back to the 6th century A.D., was dedicated to Saint Ith Ilaha.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to return to Maltta Village, about 7 km from Dohuk and to admire Tal Malthaya rupestral Assyrian sculptures.

Author's village, Senat'e

During the weekend, with my brother, I took the road of Zawita, particularly beautiful with its magnificent forests of pines. I saw Anishka, a tourist site, renowned for its orchards and caves. I made a short stop in Sarsang, a nice town with cypresses, poplars, fruitful trees, waterfalls, a famous winter resort. In Sulav resort, I admired the cataract, which flows down the mountain.

Five kilometers from Sulav, I arrived to Amedia town (Amadiyah), a picturesque city, perched on a rock above 1400 meters altitude, surrounded by cold snow-covered heights. The town’s history goes back to the Assyrian Period. It opened to me its ancient gates, Bab Mosul and Bab Zebar decorated with old relief’s, and renovated by Sultan Othman Beg. The city looking like a fortress in 1700 to 1842, was the metropolis of the Kurdish Bahdinan Principality, directed by the Mirsayfdin family. Today, it shelters a see, a bishop’s palace.

I enjoy the fresh air, not dusty as in Erbil. I walked in the narrow streets, bordered by picturesque stone-built houses. The minaret, 30 meters high, was located in the middle of the city. It was perhaps built in the time of Sultan Hussein Wali.

In Amedia town as in Zakho, I did not find a bookshop. A solid culture needs to be developed here, the consumer goods, the welfare, are not enough to fill the heart of the man.

Alas! In the cities and villages of the region, people do not show respect for nature. Everywhere, I saw wrapping papers, bottles, boxes, thrown down, little rubbish dumps, which disfigured the splendid landscapes. I hope that people soon will take care of their beautiful environment.

I returned to Erbil via the mountain road which passed by Ain Sifne, a town inhabited by a majority of Yezidis, but also by Muslims and Christians. Situated 14 km from the town, one can see Lalish Temple, an ancient place, containing symbols that date back to ancient eras.

My trip ended. I enjoy it. During all these days, I had felt in security, because Peshmergas, Kurdish combatants now integrated into the Iraqi army, maintained the order in all the area. They checked up the men, the vehicles, the road axes; they laid down safety rules.

The Christians, Assyro-Chaldean-Syriacs, want to live there in stability and serenity, without fearing attacks, abductions of women or daily car bombing, as in Mosul and Baghdad.

The last evening, Ashur TV came to our hotel to interview me on the part of the Syriac philosophers in the transmission of Greek philosophy, and on the 11 Syriac Chroniclers who inform us about the Middle East history between the second and the fourteenth century A.D.

Later, Mrs. Soriya Isho, (Pascale Warda), President of the Assyrian Women's Union, and former Minister of Migration and Displacement, came to speak to me.

During the night, a large thunderstorm broke out, rain, flashes of lightning, which already carried me in spaces from another life.

At the airport, I thanked my brother who in the past few days had become a devoted guide. I took the airplane back to Frankfurt, while sighing. Could I have not waited 25 years to tread on paths of my country again! Soon, I hope to see Iraq prosperous, democratic, free, open, passionately fond of its Mesopotamian civilizations.

Dairaboun (Deir Abun)
The Strategically Important Assyrian Village

Fred Aprim
California

Dairaboun, or more accurately Deir Abun, is an ancient Assyrian village. The name is strictly Aramaic and means the "Monastery of the Fathers."

The village of Dairaboun (Deir Abun) is situated in the Dohuk governorate in northwestern Iraq. It is strategically located at the border areas of the three countries of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. These shared borders are usually called the Iraq-Syria-Turkey triad borders. Dairaboun is about 3.3 miles away from the Syrian borders and about 2 miles from the Turkish borders. The village is separated from Syria by the natural boundary of the Tigris River and from Turkey by the Khabor River.* The village of Dairaboun is about 12.1 miles away from the center of qadha (district) Zakho. It is two miles east of the village of Faish Khabor, lying just below the Jebel (Mount) Bekhair, a narrow range of mountains, which rise to about 4,000 feet.

Map showing the location of the Assyrian village of Dairaboun. Courtesy of Firas Jatou

In 1950, the Iraqi General Antiquity Department issued declaration # 2 in which it considered the hill of Dairaboun and its Christian cemetery as national historical sites. The declaration was published in issue # 2907 of 'al-Waqa'i'a al-'Airaqiya (Iraqi Gazette) newspaper.

According to Iraqi National Museum documents (516 and 1334), the site the Dairaboun was mentioned during the Neo-Assyrian period (911 – 612 B.C.), in the Seleucid period (312 – 248 B.C.), and in the Islamic period. It could have been known between these two periods, i.e., during the Roman Empire, as well because there is a spring in the village known as 'Aina d' Romaye (Roman Spring). This is very likely since this region of modern northern Iraq was in early Christianity part of the Roman Empire. In A.D. 115, Roman Emperor Trajan made the Adiabene region (most of modern northern Iraq) a Roman province and called it Assyria.

The locals often find numerous archeological remains from antiquity in and around the village hill. Still, not enough efforts are made to excavate the site. During early Christianity, several manuscripts mention Dairaboun, including, for example, one manuscript dated 1671 (documented by Prof. S. P. Brock) by a believer named Maryam for the church of the village.

From the advent of Christianity, the region west of Zakho, including Dairaboun, was under the jurisdiction of the Church of the East diocese of 'Amadiya. The Dairaboun region falls generally in what is known as Gazarta (Jazira), one of the oldest dioceses of the Church of the East under the name of Bet Zabdai. Bet Zabdai was included in the province of Nisibin at the Synod of Isaac in 410 A.D. The region of Gazarta began to fall under the Catholic influence towards the end of the eighteenth century. There were churches that belonged to the Church of the East in the villages of Basurin and Diaraboun in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. In 1850, the Chaldean diocese of Gazarta included the towns of Gazarta, Zakho, and five villages in the Khabor Valley (west of Zakho). By 1913, most of that region became Catholics, and thus Chaldeans, under the Diocese of Zakho, which included Dohuk and villages such like Mansorriya, nine villages in the Khabor Valley and around Jabal (Mount) Judi to the west of Zakho. However, six Khabor Valley villages of Faish Khabor, Taqian, Nahrawan, Girik Bedro, Tel Qabin, and Wasta remained under the Church of the East. Of course, some became Protestants, due to the influence of American missionaries.

One of the most interesting documents about Dairaboun is available at the Chaldean Catholic Church archives in Baghdad. The Aaq Qoyonlu (White Sheep) Turkoman dynasty of Central Asia ruled for a short time many parts of modern Iraq until A.D. 1508. There is an official agreement dated A.D. 1491 between the White Sheep dynasty and Church of the East Patriarch Mar Shimun (1480 – 1502). The agreement grants the patriarch complete ownership of the Dairaboun spring and the farm around it and to do with that entire region what he wished. The boundaries of the granted land is described as from Khatoon dome shrine in the south, White Mountain and the Taqian property to the East, the Khabor River to the north, and Faish Khabor (first mentioned in the seventh century in the Chronicles of Se'ert or Sa'art) and the Bajdah property to the west with all the water, mills, rocks, lands, trees, springs, rivers, and everything mentioned or not mentioned within these boundaries.

After the genocide of the Assyrians during and after World War I, the inhabitants of the village of Umra (in the Goyan district, northeast of Zakho), known as Dernaye, and then of Mansoriyya, and later the inhabitants of Barahanji (all these village are in the Botan Island, known earlier as Beth Zabday) resettled in the area between the hill and Bani Deri in Dairaboun. Three years later, the village broke up into three groups. The first and the biggest group lived in the village section where three quarters of it was owned by Sabri Yousif al-Jizrawi and Aziz Yaqo owned the other quarter. The second group, from Umra and Mansoriyya, lived in the Khanki village (north of Khabor) in the Syrian territories. The third group, mainly Barahanjs, lived in the village of Qroola in the northeast side of Dairaboun on the Turkish borders, which belonged to Aziz Yaqo as well.

As the 1933 massacre of Assyrians was looming in Iraq, two battalions of Iraqi army infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, one section of mountains artillery were brought to Dairaboun. It became the headquarter camp of the army that was awaiting the return of malik Yaqo, malik Louko and the hundreds of Assyrians on August 4, 1933, who crossed to Syria earlier. When the Assyrians crossed the Tigris River to surrender, the Iraqi Army fired upon them. The Assyrians retaliated by attacking the army camp at Dairaboun, claiming casualties at both sides. As the Assyrians withdrew back to Syria being unable to return to their homes in northern Iraq and as fighting ceased, the Iraqi army initiated the horrifying massacre of the Assyrian civilians. Kurdish and certain Arab tribes took part in the looting of many Assyrian villages. Dairaboun was one of the villages that were on the Iraqi army list to be bombed and destroyed because of the presumed assistance it presented to the Assyrian movement during the events. However, Patriarch Yousuf Emmanuel II (1900 – 1947) interfered and saved the village from destruction.

The Church of Dairaboun. Courtesy of Nicolas Al-Jeelo

In 1936, Dairaboun had to be rebuilt next to the Church of Christ's Heart after a mysterious fire consumed most of the homes in the old village. In early 1940s, and due to its strategic location, Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gailani ordered to modernize the village through a serious reconstruction project. He deployed engineers and construction crews to build the village in its present location. During the 1940s, more Assyrian refugees returned to the village. This time it was mainly those who have escaped to Russia during WWI. Some of these refugees were volunteers in the Russian Army, such as Gharib Malko, Sliwa Morad, Essa Yousif, and others. During the British Mandate in Iraq, many enlisted in the Assyrian Levi force. These included: Shukri Garabet, Nimr Darweesh (a Yezidi), Sabri Polous, Mansour Mansour, Waro Oraham, Yaqo Ablahad, Shlimon Gharib, Nissan Rizzo, Barkho Yaqo, Toma Mousa, Shabo Khoshaba, Elia Giwargis, Giwargis Essa, Hanna Essa, Toma Isaac, Barkho Nissan, Yousif Sawmi, and others.

Inside the Church of Dairaboun. Courtesy of Nicolas Al-Jeelo

During the Kurdish armed rebellion and the battles in northern Iraq that started in 1961, the Assyrians were forced in many occasions to flee their homes and take refuge in other villages or in caves in nearby mountains despite the fact that they were not involved in the conflict. On one occasion in early 1960s, Kurds raided Dairaboun at night and looted all its weapons. In 1963, the Syrian army entered the village under the pretext of chasing Kurdish militia, pulled all male teenagers and men, led them outside the village, and tortured them severely. Then the Syrian army poured gasoline around them as they laid beaten and unable to walk intending to burn them alive. Fortunately, certain Iraqi military personnel in the region arrived and convinced the Syrians that these villagers were peaceful citizens and had no part in the Kurdish attacks in Syria, which destabilized the region. Finally, in 1974, the Iraqi government ordered all the inhabitants of Dairaboun to evacuate the village similarly to what it did with all villages on the Syrian-Iraqi border strip. The region was transformed to a military base. The Assyrians of the Dairaboun moved to Zakho, Baghdad, and many of them from there to the West.

The population of Dairaboun continued to dwindle after the 1933 Assyrian massacre. According to the 1947 Census, Dairaboun had a population of 536 people, 231 males and 305 females. Due to immigration, the 1957 census the population dropped to 400. After the 1958 revolution, others moved to Baghdad. In 1974, Dairaboun had 120 families (around 700 people).

The Assyrian Christians of the village of Dairaboun before the Iraqi government's forced evacuation in 1974 were:

1. Afram Yousif Khosho
2. Isaac Barkho
3. Eilo Hani
4. Andrawos Morad
5. Ibrahim Aazar
6. Elia Giwargis
7. Issac Mousa
8. Iskandar Yousif
9. Ayoub Shukri
10. Polous Khano
11. Bolo Shlimon
12. Polous Jibbo
13. Pauly Barkho
14. Benyamin Khano
15. Potros Murad
16. Potros Nisan
17. Potros Danho
18. Potros Oshana
19. Bakos Dawood
20. Potros Essa
21. Barkho Yaqo
22. Bahho Shabo
23. Barkho Nisan
24. Potros Aazar
25. Danho
26. Dawood Oshana
27. Dawood Khano
28. Dawood Yaqo
29. Hitler Yousif
30. William Sliwa
31. Hanna Yousif
32. Hanna Potros
33. Hanna Khodeda
34. Hanna Murad

35. Hanna Jibbo
36. Hanna Potros
37. Hanna Essa
38. Hanna Sliwa
39. Yousif Sawmi
40. Yousif Khano
41. Yousif Yaqo
42. Yousif Raffi
43. Yaldo Talia
44. Yaqo Essa
45. Yaqo Sanna
46. Younan Giwargis
47. Yousif Mano
48. Yaqo Ablahad
49. Yousif Isaac
50. Yousif Saliba
51. Giwargis (Koki)
52. Giwargis Essa
53. Giwargis Sara
54. Giwargis Bambarak
55. Giwargis Yaqo
56. Kanon Elia
57. Kola Yousif
58. Lewis Murad
59. Murad Bolo
60. Moshe Younan
61. Mousa Khano
62. Marqos Barkho
63. Mansour Mansour
64. Mousa Younan
65. Mano Shabo
66. Murad Mansour
67. Minas Dawood
68. Maho Sawni

69. Matto Younan
70. Marqos Mammo
71. Nisan Razqo
72. Na'amo Kano
73. Nimo Khodeda
74. Nisan Razzo
75. Nisan Msor
76. Sawa Shabo
77. Sulaiman Sawmi
78. Seso Jambali
79. Aazar Toma
80. Awni Mousa
81. Aazar (Abu Giwargis)
82. Essa Khano
83. Essa Shabo
84. Essa Fatho
85. Essa Ayoub
86. Gharibo Potros
87. Sliwa Murad
88. Sliwa Isaac
89. Sliwa Zora
90. Raffi Shlimon
91. Rizqo Homi
92. Razzo Khoshaba
93. Shlimon Gharibo
94. Shoma Shabo
95. Shabo Khodeda
96. Shlimon Jibbo
97. Toma Isaac
98. Toma Mousa
99. Toma Moshe
100. Saeed Isaac
101. Youkhana Barbara
102. Mikha Giwargis
103. Khosho Rasho

The Yezidis in the village were:

1. Nimr Darweesh
2. Darweesh Bori
3. Qasim Darweesh
4. Nisko Kolo
5. Hasan Masto
6. Qasim Masto

7. Shaikh Samar Qado
8. Chammi
9. Hadi (Father of Sabri, Khodeda, and Kammo)
10. Nasri Darweesh
11. Seso (Juri's brother)
12. Masto Khalid

13. Ezdo Khalid
14. Kashto Yousif
15. Hasan Hasso
16. Nasir
17. Qarro

Some of these Yezidis did own agricultural lands while others did not and were simply farm workers. In the 1970s, many Yezidi families came from Sinjar to work in the fields especially the Tomato fields.

Today, and according to latest eyewitnesses who visited northern Iraq, the village is predominately Kurdish, who have continued to move in and take over Assyrian villages just as they have done with other Assyrian lands in northern Iraq.

* The Khabor River noted here is not the same as the Khabor River in Syria that runs parallel to the Iraqi-Syrian borders and pours in the Euphrates where Assyrian villages were built after the Simele massacre of 1933 in Iraq.

Sources:

Nazar Hanna al-Derani. Dairaboun: bayn al-madhi wa al-hadhir (Dairaboun: Between the Past and the Present). Iraq (no place and no date available).
David Wilmshurst. The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East: 1318-1913. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. Vol. 582, Tomus 104. Louvain: Peeters 2000.
Lt. Col. R. S. Stafford. The Tragedy of the Assyrians. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1935.
Fergus Millar. The Roman Near East: (31 B.C. – A.D. 337). 4th printing. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.