Dera Shish | |
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Coordinates: 37°19′36″N 42°47′58″E / 37.32667°N 42.79944°E | |
Country | Iraq |
Region | Kurdistan Region |
Governorate | Dohuk Governorate |
District | Zakho District |
Sub-district | Darkar |
Dera Shish (Arabic: دئيره شيش,[1] Kurdish: دێرشیش)[2][nb 1] also known as ʿŪmrā and ‘Ūmra Shghisha, is a village in Dohuk Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located near the Iraq–Turkey border in the district of Zakho.
In the village, there was a church of Mar Ephrem.[3] The Monastery of Mar Atqen was located near the village.[6]
The Monastery of Mar Atqen is mentioned in the 9th century Book of Chastity by Ishoʿdnaḥ.[6] In 1913, 200 Chaldean Catholic Assyrians inhabited Dera Shish, and were served by one functioning church as part of the diocese of Zakho.[7] In the Iraqi census of 1957, the village had a population of 361 people.[3] A significant number of inhabitants fled as a consequence of the First Iraqi–Kurdish War in the early 1960s.[3] Dera Shish was destroyed by the Iraqi government in 1975, displacing the remaining 50 families,[3] and the monastery was also demolished by Iraqi soldiers during the Al-Anfal campaign in 1987.[8]
By 2011, 8 families had returned to Dera Shish, and the Hezel Foundation had constructed 20 houses and a community hall, and developed the village's infrastructure.[8] As of 2016, the village is inhabited by 32 Assyrians.[9]