Baqofah

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Children of Baqofa

Baqofa (or Baqofah) is a very old Chadean-Assyrian village located 15 miles north east of Mosul and less than two miles from the village of Batnaya. Its roots go back to the Assyrian era.

The name Baqofa is of Aramaic origin and is made of two syllables "Beth Qopa" which means "House of Rods" or could also mean "Beth Qofa" meaning "Place of the Skull". It is thought that Baqofa was a standing province during the late Assyrian period.

Cuneiform scripts and ancient painted pottery were found by French archaeologist Victor Place, who excavated one of the two hills surrounding Baqofa in the year 1852. It is thought that a massacre took place there, or that the geology of the mountains in that area resembles a skull.

1 People
2 Turbulent history
3 Christianity
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] People

The people of Baqofa are Assyrians belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church. The language they speak ,Sourith, is Neo-Aramaic, with a Chaldean dialect to it. In addition to speaking Aramaic, the majority of the inhbitants also speak Arabic and some speak the Kurdish language. Today, approximately 600 people live in the village of Baqofa, with about 80 houses built around the turn of the twentieth century. Their houses are made up of mud bricks, cement, and ancient stones from the Assyrian ruins scattered in and around the village.

Baqofa sits in the middle of fertile land, so it is no surprise that the people of Baqofa are farmers growing wheat, melons, and other crops. Breeding of livestock is also a major practice of the people, because they can not depend solely on farming. Animals can produce milk, meat and other products necessary for sustaining life in the village. Nowadays, the majority of the people of Baqofa live outside of the village, with many living in Baghdad, and many others outside of Iraq scattered around the globe, mostly in Europe, North America, and some in Australia.

[edit] Turbulent history

Over the years, Baqofa has had its share of good and bad times, as is the case with most of the Chaldean villages around Nineveh.

The savage attacks of the Mongols, Persians, and the Kurds had devastating effects on the village and the people living in it. It is thought that the people of Baqofa were constantly traveling in and out of the village because of these attacks. In 1436 and again in 1508, Baqofa was attacked by the Mongols, which caused the death of hundreds of its people, the destruction of its infrastructure and the burning of its crops. In 1743, the Persian King Nader Shah attacked Baqofa, which also resulted in the death of hundreds of its inhabitants. Those who were able to survive did so by fleeing to the mountains. Baqofa also had its share of the hatred directed by the Kurdish Governor of Rawandows, nicknamed "Merkor", whose legendary hatred for Christians and Chaldeans is well known. In 1833, Merkor attacked Baqofa and the surrounding villages, savagely killing hundreds of its inhabitants, kidnapping the women and children.

Despite all the suffering this village has gone through, it continues to stand to this day.

[edit] Christianity

Baqofa has one church named after the martyr Mar Gewargis. The last time this church was reinvigorated was in 1868. This church contains an artistic piece of European origin of end of 19th century. Also, the cemetery of the village contains a small chapel dedicated to Saint Shmony. The church of Mar Gewargis contains 18 Syriac religious inscriptions, the oldest among them dates to 1565. Baqofa gave birth to a famous son, Bishop Ogein Manna, the author of "Seekers Guide to Aramaic" which he published in 1900, which was reprinted in 1975 at the bequest of the current Chaldean Patriarch, Mar Raphael BeDaweed. Bishop Manna has another two major works, "The Grammatical Rules of Aramaic", and "Aramaic Literature". Bishop Manna died in 1928 in Mosul.