SYRIA: Syriac–Assyrian villages in Khabur celebrate the Feast of St. Shamoun Barsabai

TEL TAMR, Syria — On 19 August, as is customary every year, the Assyrian villagers of Tel Khareta, Tel Balua’a, and Abu Tineh in the Tel Tamr countryside celebrated the Feast of St. Shamoun.

Tel Tamr is the central hub of the predominantly Syriac–Assyrian Khabur River Valley in North and East Syria.

St. Shamoun is considered one of the martyrs of Christianity, born near the city of Taysfoun (Madaein), in the 4th century AD. He is considered a martyr and saint of the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East.