A  SACRED HUT BY THE RIVER

The storey of the first church in Iraq

By: ROBERT EWAN
 
As the mid afternoon Iraqi sunshine fades to an ochre glow the remains of the first church in Iraq stand defiantly aware of its unique place in history.

Koukhi was the first church established in Iraq. According to the "Acts of St. Mari”, one of the seventy two apostils of Jesus, he started his mission at Edessa (Turkey) and continued into the mountainous regions heading south for Seleucia (Iraq). In this Hellenic city, Saint Mari preached the gospel and performed several miracles by curing the sick. However, the pagans fearing for the demise of their religion complained against St. Mari to the Persian king Artaban.The king brought St. Mari before him and threatened him with dire consequences if he did not stop from preaching and proselytising. Additionally, the king tried to test his faith by asking St. Mari to cure his ill sister which was duly cured.St. Mari asked the king's sister to grant him the fire temple on the banks of river Tigris which he transformed to a church and became known as the church of Koukhi at about AD 80.
The name Koukhi is from the Aramaic word "Koukh" meaning hut or cottage, because there were many Christian farmers in this area who lived in huts. The building that St. Mari established was a large room used by parishioners for praying and celebrating feast days. In 280 Mar Papa established Koukhi as the seat of the Catholicos and later patriarch of the Eastern Church till the tenth century.

KOUKHI AND THE FORTY YEARS PERSECUTION

For The first three hundred years of Christianity, it was the Roman Empire that prosecuted the Christians. The Persians, especially the Parthians, were tolerant of minority groups and the Sassanids, in the beginning, were too busy fighting the Romans. Moreover, as long as the Roman emperors considered the Christians as enemies of Rome, the Persian emperors considered them friends of Persia. By the time of Shapur II who came to the throne in 309, Christianity became the main religion of the Roman emperors. Constantine the great even claimed a protectorate over all Christians everywhere and in 315 he wrote to Shapur II asking for the protection and favours for the Christians. The first edict of prosecution under Shapur II ordered all Christians to pay double tax as a contribution to the cost of war between Persia and Rome. The Patriarch of Koukhi Mar Shimun bar Sabbae was ordered to collect vast amounts of taxes. He refused to do so on the ground that his people were too poor to pay and that he was not a tax collector. His arrest and the destruction of all Christian churches were immediately ordered. He was offered freedom, not only for himself, but for all his people, if he would worship the sun only once. The intrepid bishop accepted death with some alacrity saying:“The sun went into mourning when it’s creator died”. The king begged by his memory of their personal friendship to yield, but the Patriarch remained firm, and on the morning of the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread in 339, along with five bishops and a hundred minor clergies, he sealed his testimony with his blood. Mar Shimun the last of the company to suffer martyrdom died for two of the noblest causes for which it is possible for man to suffer: his faith in God and his duty to his people.

Mar Shimun was succeeded by Shahdoast at the seat of Koukhi, he was later arrested alongside one hundred and twenty eight of his companions. They were tortured for five months and were executed by beheading. Barbashmeen (nephew of Mar Shimun) succeeded Shahdoost, he was ordained clandestinely as the Patriarch in a secret location after he served for several year he was arrested with sixteen companions and were imprisoned for eleven months .They were martyred in 349.  After this incident Koukhi wallowed in the murk of its sole and remained leaderless for nearly forty years. The Sassanid destroyed all Christian places of worship and Koukhi was not spared the Christians were forced to worship in secrecy till the violence subsided and they rebuild their church.

In 363 Jovian, the Roman Emperor, signed a treaty with Shapur II .By this treaty, Mesopotamia and Armenia came under the control of Persia. Temporary peace was established. In 409, The Persian king Yazdegard by an edict of toleration brought an end to the persecution of the Christians. The peace brought about by the edict helped the Christians to re-organize themselves. It is estimated that 16,000 Christians perished in this carefully calibrated persecution.

The church of Koukhi was rebuild again by the Mongol Patriarch Yaballaha I between  415-420, financed by the generous grants from emperor Taudosious II.It was further remodelled and extended by Patriarch Mar Abbae I between 550-551. Patriarch Mar Abbae issued a decree that all future Patriarchs must be ordained in Koukhi.The church was in constant use and several church Synods of the Eastern Church were held in Koukhi and up to 25 Patriarchs were buried there the first being Apres(121-123 ) the last being Hananeshoo II in 779.

MAJOR CHANGES

In the middle of the eight century the Abbasids took control of the Arab empire. The Abbasid Caliphate was based on them being descendants of the uncle of Muhammad and being part of the Quraysh tribe. They used Shi’a resentment, Khorasanian movements and appeals to the ambitions of the newly conquered Persian aristocracy to overthrow their predecessors, the Umayyads.They considered themselves the inheritors of two traditions: the Arab-Islamists, bearers of the mantle of Muhamed, and Persians, successors to the Sassanid monarchs. The ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate led to the Islamic Golden age, sometimes known as the Islamic Renaissance lasting till the 13^th centuary.During this period the Muslim world became the unrivalled intellectual centre for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge.

On July 766 Caliph Abu Ja’far Al-Mansour built the city of Baghdad. He believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islamic empire. Within a generation of it’s founding, Baghdad became the hub of knowledge and commerce and it was likely the largest city in the world with several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak .The Patriarchs at Koukhi realised that they were far away from the centre of power and influence, made a strategic decision of moving the seat of the Eastern church to Baghdad. The seat was relocated from koukhi to Baghdad by one of the greatest Patriarchs of the Eastern Church, Timothy I. He believed that understanding the Abbasside rule and mentality was vital for the church and its growth. He was convinced that the church had to play an important part in the growth of the society in Baghdad through its medics, philosophers and translators. By the middle of the sixth century the mustard seed of Khoukhi had spread into Egypt, Syria, and Arabian Peninsula, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, Mongolia and China.

Despite moving the Patriarchal seat to Baghdad Koukhi remained at the heart of the Eastern Church. It was a traditional habit of the newly ordained Patriarch to visit the shrine of St.Mari and to be ordained in Koukhi and then return to Baghdad.

THE MONGOLIAN INVASION

After the Crusades from the west that shook the stability of the Islamic world during the 11^th Century, a new threat came from the East during the 12^th century: the Mongol invasion. In 1257, the Mongol ruler Mongke Khan resolved to conquer the Abbasid Caliphate. He conscripted one out every ten fighting men in the empire for the invasion force. This force, by one estimate 150,000strong was probably the largest ever fielded by the Mongols. In November of 1257, under the command of Hulaguu and the Jalayir general Koke Ilge and the Chinese commander Guo Kan in vice command set out for Baghdad. The army laid siege to the city starting January 29.On February 10, Baghdad surrended.The Mongols swept into the city on February 13 and began a week of massacre, looting, rape and destruction. This destruction reached Koukhi and the surrounding areas. The Mongols created fear and havoc where ever they ruled. The patriarchal seat was transferred to Irbil (northern Iraq) and then it was relocating continuously to different places.Koukhi, alongside several bishoprics, was destroyed and as time went buy it became a treasure drove of memories. Most of the buildings collapsed bit by bit and were covered with sand and  Koukhi it went into a deep sleep waiting to be awakened.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES 
 Several Iraqi and foreign archaeological missions often tried to discover the ancient monuments of Mesopotamia. During the attempts to discover the city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, both a German mission (1927-1932) and an Italian mission (1964) carried diggings in the area and were able to discover Koukhi.   The church is located on the right side of the road passing the Doura slaughterhouse (south east of Baghdad) through the farms and then to the area of Jubori Arabs. About 25 kilometres from the slaughter house there is a cross road leading to a hill. This hill which is about 12 meters high is known as the hill of "The daughter of the judge”. If a person stands on top of the hill he will be able to see the remnants of the church.

The present state of the church remains pitiful and devoid of life. The road leading to the church is a narrow rugged road difficult for cars to pass. People have to walk for 1.5 Kilometre to the location of the church. The remains are covered with wild bushes and trees with their leaves crackling listlessly.

When the long day wanes and the slow moon climb the ruins glare remonstrant over the Iraqi landscape, wallowing in the murk of its sole.