Syriac Inscriptions Found in Rock Tomb in Turkey

In a tomb cut of out of rocks in the village of Bahçeköy, Silvan district of Diyarbakir, Syriac-Aramaic inscriptions were found by archeologists from Dicle University. The inscriptions are in fact epitaphs on a gravestone of a priest called Monoha who was buried there. Dicle University Professor Irfan Yildiz conducted the archeological search and said that the Syriac inscriptions were the first of their kind found in the region.

The main tomb has two smaller tombs to its left and right. Yildiz showed the inscriptions to the Syriac Orthodox priest Gabriel Akyüz of the Mor Behnam Church in Diyarbakir for an initial check on linguistic origin and authenticity. According to priest Akyüz, the epitaphs read in Syriac-Aramaic that a priest called Monoha is buried in the tomb and call on everyone who reads the inscriptions to pray for the priest.

The rock tomb where the Syriac-Aramaic inscriptions were found is northeast of the Hasuni prehistoric caves located east of Silvan city in Diyarbakır Province. Professor Irfan Yildiz stressed that more research needs to be done on the archaeological site to determine the date of construction, its exact usage, and to decipher the Syriac inscriptions.