Midyat

Midyat lies at the centre of Tur Abdin in northern Mesopotamia, where routes between Mardin and Cizre and between Hasankeyf and Nisibis meet. The town and its surroundings have a long Syriac Christian history. The monastery of Mor Abrohom near Midyat developed around a site associated with the ascetic Abel, while a decorated Gospel lectionary made in 1227 is among the town's manuscript heritage.

A bishopric specifically for Midyat is mentioned in connection with the division that formed the Tur Abdin patriarchate in 1364. Four of the five patriarchs of Tur Abdin between 1584 and 1791 came from Midyat. Under Ottoman rule the town was also an administrative centre for the central part of the region, linking its religious institutions to a wider network of local government.