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Ain Sifni

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Ain Sifni
Shekhan
Ain Sifni is located in Iraq
Ain Sifni
Ain Sifni
Location in Iraq
Ain Sifni is located in Iraqi Kurdistan
Ain Sifni
Ain Sifni
Ain Sifni (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Coordinates:36°41′30″N43°21′00″E/ 36.69167°N 43.35000°E/36.69167; 43.35000
CountryIraq
RegionKurdistan Region(de facto)
GovernorateNineveh Governorate(de jure)
Dohuk Governorate(de facto)
DistrictShekhan District
Sub-districtAin Sifni
Population
(2014)[1]
•Urban
17,766
• Rural
6,355

Ain Sifni(Kurdish:ئێسفنێ,romanized:Êsivnê,[2][3]Arabic:عين سفني,[4]Syriac:ܥܝܢ ܣܦܢ̈ܐ,romanized:ʿAïn Sappāné)[5][nb 1]also known asShekhan(Kurdish:شێخان,romanized:Şêxan),[nb 2][11]is a town and subdistrict inNineveh Governorate,Iraq.It is located in theShekhan Districtin theNineveh Plains.

In the town, there is aChaldean Catholicchurch ofMarYousif, and a church of Mar Gewargis of theAncient Church of the East.[7][8][12]There are also sevenYazidireligious monuments, including mausoleums of Sheikh ‘Alî Chamse and Sheikh Hantuch,[13]and shrines ofSheikh Adi,[7]Nishingaha Peroz, and Sheikh Mushelleh.[14]

Etymology

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The Kurdish name of the town is derived from the plural form of "sheikh"(" holy man "in Kurdish), and thus translates to" [the land of the] holy men ",[7][10]whereas the Arabic name is interpreted to stem from Aïn as Safīna in reference to the Yazidi tradition that the town was the location of the construction ofNoah's Ark.[15]

History

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According to Yazidi tradition, Ain Sifni was the residence ofNoahand location of the construction ofNoah's Ark.[13]Ain Sifni is attested as a diocese of theChurch of the Eastin 576 AD, in which year its bishop Bar Sahde attended the synod ofCatholicosEzekiel of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.[16]The town served as the centre of the subdistrict of Bēth Rustāqa which, as a consequence of the spread of theSyriac Orthodox Churchin the district ofBēth Nūhadrāin the late sixth and early seventh centuries, was transferred to the district ofMarghāin the late eighth century.[17]

Ain Sifni likely remained mostlyChristianuntil the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries.[18]It is suggested that the mausoleum of Sheikh ‘Alî Chamse was constructed in the 15th century.[13]Ain Sifni or Sheikhan was the capital ofDaseni Emirate.The district of Ain Sifni was founded on 16 December 1924.[19]Assyriansof theBazclan ofHakkarisettled at Ain Sifni after theAssyrian genocidein theFirst World War,and were attacked by the Iraqi army during theSimele massacrein 1933.[20]Until the arrival of the Assyrians, Ain Sifni was populated only by Yazidis andJews.[13]The Chaldean Catholic church of Mar Yousif was rebuilt in 1960, replacing an older church built in 1946-1948.[7]By 1961, 180 Chaldean Catholics inhabited the town.[15]

The Yazidi population of Ain Sifni was forcibly relocated toMahadin 1975 by the Iraqi government as part of its policy ofArabisation,and the town was resettled by Arabs.[13]During the2003 invasion of Iraq,two Iraqi military installations near Ain Sifni were struck byUSairstrikes on 24 March.[21]Two battalions of the Iraqi 108th Regiment, 8th Infantry Division, were stationed at the town at this time.[22]The US bombing campaign against the garrison was ineffective, and an entire Iraqi battalion withdrew with no casualties.[22]On 6 April,ODAs051, 055, and 056 of the US10th Special Forces Groupand 300Peshmergasoldiers of the 12thSupay(battalion) seized the town, and 33 Iraqis were killed, 54 wounded, and 230 taken prisoner, and 1 Peshmerga casualty.[23]

In the aftermath of the fall ofPresidentSaddam Husseinin 2003, the Arab settlers fled Ain Sifni, allowing its former population to return.[13]In January 2005, it was reported that theKurdistan Democratic Partyblocked the delivery of ballot boxes to Ain Sifni, thereby ensuring its population was unable to vote in theIraqi parliamentary election.[24]TheKurdistan Regional Government(KRG) signed aproduction sharing contractwithHunt Oil Companyto extract oil near Ain Sifni in September 2007, despite the town being officially outside the control of the KRG, and has since been declared illegal by the Iraqi government.[25]The concession at Ain Sifni is estimated to have reservoirs of 900 million recoverable barrels of oil.[26]

A priest house and community hall for local Christians was constructed by theSupreme Committee of Christian Affairsby December 2012.[7]The town had an estimated population of 11,498 in 2013.[4]Most of the town's population of 16,000 people fled during theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant(ISIL)offensivein August 2014, and under 500 men remained to defend Ain Sifni under the leadership of mayor Mamo al-Bagsri.[10]Prior to the ISIL offensive, Ain Sifni was inhabited by 700 families, of which 80% were Yazidi, 10% were Christian, and 10% were Muslim.[13]Humanitarian aid was delivered to Ain Sifni by the Assyrian Aid Society in November 2014.[27]In October 2017, 560 Assyrians with 140 families inhabited Ain Sifni.[28]

By June 2018, the population had dropped to 200 families.[13]In November 2018, the refugee camp at Ain Sifni, which is inhabited by Yazidi refugees, was flooded by heavy rainfall.[11]The town was the residence of the Yazidi EmirTahseen Saiduntil he went into exile inGermany,where he died, and was buried at Ain Sifni on 5 February 2019.[29][30]Ain Sifni is largely populated by Yazidis,[31]most of whom speakKurmanjiKurdish.[32]

Geography

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Climate

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Ain Sifni has aMediterranean climate(Köppen climate classification:Csa).

Climate data for Ain Sifni
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 10.8
(51.4) 		12.7
(54.9) 		16.6
(61.9) 		22.3
(72.1) 		29.8
(85.6) 		36.7
(98.1) 		40.9
(105.6) 		40.7
(105.3) 		36.4
(97.5) 		28.7
(83.7) 		19.8
(67.6) 		12.7
(54.9) 		25.7
(78.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) 5.9
(42.6) 		7.5
(45.5) 		10.9
(51.6) 		15.9
(60.6) 		22.3
(72.1) 		28.0
(82.4) 		32.1
(89.8) 		31.6
(88.9) 		27.2
(81.0) 		20.5
(68.9) 		13.6
(56.5) 		7.7
(45.9) 		18.6
(65.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1.0
(33.8) 		2.3
(36.1) 		5.3
(41.5) 		9.6
(49.3) 		14.9
(58.8) 		19.4
(66.9) 		22.3
(72.1) 		22.5
(72.5) 		18.0
(64.4) 		12.4
(54.3) 		7.5
(45.5) 		2.7
(36.9) 		11.5
(52.7)
Averageprecipitationmm (inches) 126
(5.0) 		149
(5.9) 		138
(5.4) 		97
(3.8) 		35
(1.4) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		0
(0) 		1
(0.0) 		18
(0.7) 		74
(2.9) 		110
(4.3) 		748
(29.4)
Source:https://en.climate-data.org/location/934732/
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See also

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References

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Notes

  1. ^Alternatively transliterated as ʿAyn Sifni,[6]Ainsefni,[7]Ean Sefne,[8]or Ain Siphni[9]
  2. ^Alternatively transliterated as Sheikhan,[10]or Shekhan.[7]

Citations

  1. ^Ali Sindi; Ramanathan Balakrishnan; Gerard Waite (July 2018)."Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Demographic Survey"(PDF).ReliefWeb.International Organization for Migration.p. 72.Retrieved5 September2021.
  2. ^"سەرەکى".پارێزگەھا دھوك(in Arabic).Retrieved11 January2023.
  3. ^Pirbari, Dimitri; Grigoriev, Stanislav.Holy Lalish, 2008 (Ezidian temple Lalish in Iraqi Kurdistan).p. 20.
  4. ^ab"'Ayn Sifnī ".World Gazetteer.Archived fromthe originalon 9 February 2013.Retrieved11 April2020.
  5. ^Chabot 1902,p. 110;Fiey 1975,p. 791.
  6. ^Carlson, Thomas A. (9 December 2016)."ʿAyn Sifni".The Syriac Gazetteer.Retrieved11 April2020.
  7. ^abcdefg"Shekhan (Ainsefni)".Ishtar TV.16 December 2012.Retrieved11 April2020.
  8. ^ab"Mar Yousif church – Eansefne".Ishtar TV.10 November 2011.Retrieved11 April2020.
  9. ^Smith, Jessie (23 February 1999).A Compendious Syriac Dictionary.Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 247.
  10. ^abcSoguel, Dominique (12 August 2014)."A sanctuary for Iraqi Yazidis – and a plea for Obama's intervention".The Christian Science Monitor.Retrieved11 April2020.
  11. ^ab"ŞÊXAN - Li kampa Kurdên Êzidî lehî rabû û avê da bin 30 çadiran".Rudaw Media Network(in Kurdish). 23 November 2018.Retrieved19 December2019.
  12. ^"Mar Gewragiz church – Ean Sefne".Ishtar TV.29 October 2011.Retrieved11 April2020.
  13. ^abcdefgh"The Yazidi mausoleums in Ain Sifni".Mesopotamia Heritage.Retrieved24 November2020.
  14. ^Kreyenbroek (1995).
  15. ^abFiey (1975),p. 791.
  16. ^Chabot (1902),p. 368.
  17. ^Morony (1982),pp. 14, 43.
  18. ^Wilmshurst (2000),p. 203.
  19. ^"Basic information about Shekhan District"(PDF).Christian Aid Programme in Iraq.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 25 April 2012.Retrieved7 October2014.
  20. ^Donabed (2015),p. 116.
  21. ^Harding, Luke; Howard, Michael (25 March 2003)."Bombing raids signal start of mountain offensive".The Guardian.Retrieved11 April2020.
  22. ^abFinlayson (2005),p. 75.
  23. ^Finlayson (2005),p. 78.
  24. ^"Assyrians Prevented By Kurds From Voting in North Iraq".Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.31 January 2005.Retrieved24 November2020.
  25. ^Lando, Ben (25 August 2011)."Hunt Oil knew KRG oil deal in disputed territory".Iraq Oil Report.Retrieved11 April2020.
  26. ^Helman, Christopher (13 September 2012)."Newest Iraqi Gusher Could Make Texas Oilman A Billionaire".Forbes.Retrieved11 April2020.
  27. ^"Within The Activities Of AAS-Iraq In Providing Aid To The Displaced Families From Mosul & Nineveh Plain".Assyrian Aid Society.4 November 2014.Retrieved11 April2020.
  28. ^"Population Project".Shlama Foundation.Retrieved19 August2021.
  29. ^"Prince of IS-ravaged Yazidis buried in Iraq".Qantara.de.6 February 2019.Retrieved11 April2020.
  30. ^"What you did not know about Iraq's Yazidi minority".Al Arabiya.11 August 2014.Retrieved11 April2020.
  31. ^Elî, Nasir (13 March 2019)."Sheikhan: Where Kurdish men go for a second wife".Rudaw Media Network.Retrieved11 April2020.
  32. ^Salih, Mohammed A; Wilgenburg, Wladimir van (5 August 2014)."Iraqi Yazidis: 'If we move they will kill us'".Al Jazeera.Retrieved11 April2020.

Bibliography

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