In the village, there is a church of Mor Yuhannon.[8] The ruins of the monasteries of Mor Abay, Mor Theodotus, and Mor Dimet are also located near the village.[8]
History
The church of Mor Yuhannon at Qeleth (today called Dereiçi) was likely constructed in the late 7th century.[8] It was the only village in the Mhallami tract that remained Christian and did not convert to Islam.[9] It was part of the Syriac Orthodox diocese of the Monastery of Mor Abay until the death of its last bishop Isḥoq Ṣaliba in 1730, upon which the diocese was subsumed into the diocese of Mardin.[10] There were 120 Syriac Orthodox families at the village when it was visited by Reverend George Percy Badger in 1850.[11] Badger noted that they mostly spoke Arabic, as well as Kurdish and vernacular Syriac, and that the priests were illiterate.[12] Qeleth was attacked by Kurds in early November 1895 during the Hamidian massacres.[13]
In 1914, 2500 Assyrians inhabited the village, as per the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation.[14] Two-thirds of the village's population adhered to the Syriac Orthodox Church whilst one third was Syriac Protestant.[15] There was also Syriac Catholics.[16] Amidst the Sayfo, on 3 June 1915, Kurds arrived at the village and 25 militiamen came under the pretence of having received orders to keep guard there.[9] The village headmen Benjamin and his son were murdered as they returned to the village after having been taken to Diyarbakır.[9] On 10 June, the villagers barricaded themselves inside large buildings, and some with guns were able to defend their homes, but most were killed.[17] The Syriac Orthodox Christians who took refuge in their church were burned alive there.[18] The women and children were abducted, over 200 homes were completely devastated, and over 2000 people were believed to have been slaughtered.[17] The Syriac Orthodox priests Ibrahîm, Thomas, and Massud, and a monk named Abdallah were also amongst the dead.[18]
Qeleth was inhabited by 871 people in 1960, including 600 Syriac Orthodox Christians, and were served by one priest and one church.[4] The village's population declined in the 1970s due to emigration.[19] Villagers historically emigrated to Latin America but have more recently moved to Germany and Sweden.[6] In 1974, 20 Syriac Protestant families inhabited Qeleth.[20] By 2013, 14-15 Assyrians in 5-6 families populated the village.[6] There were only a few families remaining at Qeleth by 2018.[19]
In popular culture
Qeleth was a site of filming for the Turkish-language film Kapı, which features an Assyrian family who return to the village after 25 years.
References
Notes
^Alternatively transliterated as Keleth, Kellêt, Kellith, Killit, Killith, Kullith, Qēliḏ, Qelıth, Qelleth, Qellith, Qilleth, Qıllıt, and Qillith.[3]Nisba: Qıltōyo.[4]
