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'''Alqōsh''' , ({{lang-syr|ܐܠܩܘܫ}}, {{lang-ar|ألقوش}}) is an Assyrian a Chaldean town in northern [[Iraq]]. It is located (50 km) north of [[Mosul]].

Alqush has adorned the Bayhidhra mountains for more than twenty five centuries. The town glowingly reigns over [[Nineveh]]'s northern plateau known for its fertile soil and extends southward across the other Assyrian Chaldean towns, such as, Telassqopa ([[Tel Skuf]]), [[Baqofah]], [[Sharafiya]], [[Batnaya]], and [[Tel Keppe]].

Alqush traces its history back into the ancient [[Chaldean and Assyrian empireempires]] and perhaps even further. The earliest mentioning of Alqosh appears in [[Sennacherib]]'s era 750 BC as evidenced by the mural inside Sennacherib's palace that was discovered in Tel Kuyunjik/Qüyüjik (Sheep Hill in Turkoman) in [[Mosul]]. Behind this mural, the phrase "This rock was brought from Alqosh’s Mountain" is carved.

A number of sites within Alqosh still carry ancient Assyrian Chaldean names, for example, ''Sainna'' Neighborhood means the [[Moon]] Neighborhood and ''Bee Sinnat'' is a plain area south of Alqosh. Within approximately 2 miles (3 km), to the west of Alqosh, lies the well known ruin of Shayro Meliktha which is marked in the Iraqi ruins Map as a [[temple]] carrying a carving of [[Sennacherib]] aiming an arrow from his [[bow (weapon)|bow]].

* Shweetha D’Gannaweh (Sleeping Bed of the Robbers) is a hill to the north. Some of the experts interested in Alqush's history believe that Shweetha D’Ganaweh was a site for the Assyrian Babylonian god Sىin.

AalQoun, father of Nahum, was the son of a [[Hebrew]] family among thousands whom the Assyrian king Shelmenassar V, who reigned between 727 and 722 BC, brought to Alqosh. These Hebrews lived in [[peace]] with the Alqoshniye and even became [[prophet]]s such as Biblical Nahum. The interpretation that seems most logical relies on Marotha, the Alqusheian wise man from three centuries ago who asserted that the name Alqush is derived from Sîn, the god known as Siin, meaning "the greatest god". It was located at Shweetha D’Gannaweh, a hill north of Alqush. In this respect, Marotha relays what his ancestors have stated that those living in [[Nineveh]] would visit Alqush every [[Akitu]] (the Assyrian and Babylonian New Year) to replay the [[Enuma Elish]] which is the Sumerian Epic of Creation. They then would have a religious ceremony in honor of the [[moon god]] [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] and the image or icon of the god would be carried in a procession on their way back to Nineveh passing through the old Nineveh Alqush road.

To its south is an agricultural area known as Bee Siinnat is clearly derived from the word Siin. Forty days later the inhabitants of Nineveh would return the statue or icon of the god to its original place in Alqush. Based on the foregoing, we believe that the name Alqush is taken from the Assyrian Chaldean or earlier Sumerian name for god Siin/Alqush. Some Sumerologists claim that [[Inanna]], the Sumerian goddess of love and war, was also the offspring of the moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] or as he is was originally known ''Nanna''. Alqoshniye are still awaiting the day when excavations of Shweetha D’Gannaweh, will hopefully reveal new cultural artifacts from its Assyrian Chaldean or possibly even Pre-Assyrian Chaldean history.

Since its establishment, Alqush was a place for worshiping weather for the Assyrian local god El-Qustu or [[Judaism]] when various Hebrew peoples were brought by the Assyrian Chaldean army during the eighth and ninth century BC.

Since its establishment, Alqush was a place for worship. either for the [[Sumer]]ian god [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]], who was also worshiped at [[Urof Chaldeans]] as the Sumerian equivalent ''Nanna'', or for the god El-Qustu. Alqosh was also a site of worship for the Hebrew peoples when they were brought by the Assyrian Chaldean army during the eighth and ninth century BC{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}}.

Alqush became an important town for Eastern Christianity after the coming of the [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyrianChaldean]] monk Hirmiz who carved out a monastery out of the mountains of Alqosh. This abbey is called "[[Rabban Hormizd Monastery]]" and which was crafted in 640 AD at the outskirts of the Mountains of Alqosh. It was used as the Seat for many [[patriarchs]] of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]]. From this monastery came [[Yohannan Sulaqa]], who decided to unite with the [[Catholic Church]] in 1553 and established the [[Chaldean Church]].

Before that, all of the inhabitants of Alqosh, like their brothers in other Assyrian Chaldean towns, followed the [[Nestorian Church|Nestorian]] faith and were part of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]]. From 1610 to 1617, the Patriarchate of Alqosh, under Mar Eliyya VIII, entered in [[Full Communion]] with [[Rome]]. After this short-time union, from about the 1700 on, also Alqosh had a [[Chaldean Catholic Church|Catholic]] minority,<ref name="Frazee">{{cite book |last=Frazee|first=Charles A.|title=Catholics and Sultans: The Church and the Ottoman Empire 1453–1923 |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-02700-7|page=210}}</ref> and in 1771, the patriarch Eliya Denkha signed a Catholic confession of faith, but no formal union resulted till the reign of patriarch [[Yohannan Hormizd|Yohannan VIII (Eliya) Hormizd]] (1760–1838).

By 1780, most of the inhabitants Chaldeans of Alqush accepted the union with the Catholic Church. There are also people in Alqosh who adhere to their original [[Assyrian Church of the East]] faith.

According to the [[testimony]], written in a letter by the Qasha Habash Bin Jomaa from 1746, he describes; "... first they attacked [[Karamles]] and stole its Chaldean peoples valuables and kidnapped many of its children and women. They then did the same to the inhabitants of [[Bartella]] they killed many of her men, stole their valuables, and also kidnapped its children and women. They did the same to the people of Tel Keppe and Alqush, however, many of those two neighboring villages took refuge at the Monastery of Rabban Hirmizd. There they were surrounded by the soldiers of Nader Shah who attacked them and then massacred them. There they committed horrendous crimes that I just don't have the stomach to describe!"

In 1832, Alqush was attacked by the Kurdish Governor of [[Rowanduz]], nicknamed "Merkor" whose hatred for Assyrians Chaldeans is well known. He killed over 400 of its Chaldean inhabitants. Merkor attacked Alqosh again on 15 March 1833 and killed another 172 of its men, not counting children, women, and strangers (according to church records).

* In 2014, the fighters associated with the [[Terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) or [[Terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Terrorist Islamic State]] (IS) came close to Alqosh. Almost all of the people fled Alqosh; however, many men and youths did not leave Alqosh due to a desire to protect their town. The Islamic state did not manage to take the town, and in return many people have came back, and with the Islamic states recent invasions, some Christian refugees from neighboring towns as well.

In February 2010, The attacks against Assyrians Chaldeans in Mosul forced 4,300 Assyrians Chaldeans to flea from Mosul to the [[Nineveh plains]] where there is an Assyrian a Chaldean majority population. A report by the United Nations stated that 504 Assyrians Chaldeans at once migrated to Alqosh. Many Assyrians Chaldeans from Mosul and Baghdad since the post-2003 Iraq war have fled to Alqosh for safety. There is no actual official census for Alqosh, but many estimate the population between 2,500 and 20,180.<ref>[http://www.fredaprim.com/pdfs/2004/Alqosh.pdf]</ref>

"Alqoshniye" speak [[Syriac]], a dialect of [[Chaldean Neo-Aramaic]], the ancient language spoken by [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]].

The popular clothing for men is identical to that of the [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] peoples. It is believed that the men of Alqush adopted this clothing at the end of the nineteenth century as they gradually abandoned their historic clothing which was long pants and "zaboon". Instead of the [[turban]], they would throw braids. Their features and clothing brings them close to their Assyrian Chaldean practices.

As for women, their clothing originality extends to the history of [[Mesopotamia]]. Some signs of the Hatra's kingdom clearly appear in the ''posheya'' (Assyrian Chaldean headscarf) that adorns the head and in the Mazer worn by the women. The Assyrian Chaldean signs in the Alqushian female would appear in the long braids made of wool that extend to her ankle after connecting it to the woman's original braids. The Alqushean women exaggerated wearing golden and silver ornaments around their neck and ear and in her Poosheya that used to cover her head, that was decorated with colorful beads. The forehead was surrounded with a golden belt that skirts this ''posheya'' front the front side whereas black strings dangle from both sides. The skirted part of various colors and decorations would cover the woman's body from the front after it hangs from the shoulder to extend to the two knees.

Alqush, like so many other [[Iraq]]i cities which depended on its own [[economy]] and resources, had a high percentage of illiteracy, but that does not prevent having a long standing educational movement represented by Mar Mikha Al Nuhedri School at the beginning of the fifth century. The efforts of priests and [[deacons]] who stressed teaching the Chaldean Neo-Aramaic language and its literature and many of them left their writings. Some of those names are:

The residents of Alqush are Assyrians Chaldeans belonging to the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]. Alqosh of course also houses many individuals who adhere to their own philosophies.

Towards the beginning of the sixties, Alqosh of Chaldeans was introduced to modern agricultural machinery such as tractors, harvester-threshers (reapers), along with new methods of treating and curing plant epidemics. However, irrigation are still a problem in the area, and farming still relies on rain. Currently, many farms now belong to the government and are deputized to their owners to use them, as most were taken during Saddams control.

In 2009, the Assyrian Democratic Movement installed a new sewage system for the town. In late 2011 CSAPC supported an electricity tower for the town, which is now fully installed for the people. In 2012 September the KRG carried out large scale projects in the town worth 12.5 billion dinars. The length of the Hungarian-stretch of the mountainside go far north of Alqosh all the way to the south, into the street leading to the industrial district leading to 1500 meters of the stretch. The basic purpose of the projects is to maintain Alqosh of environmental pollution, which will collect water cleaning, washing, and rain in the winter in one channel to serve the latter outside Alqosh away from the population in addition to getting rid of the negative effects of heavy rains in the winter, which before washed away soil and rocks into the streets of Alqosh.

*[[Barwari]]—an Assyrian —a Chaldean tribe also situated in Northern Iraq*[[Tyari]]—an Assyrian —a Chaldean tribe in the [[Hakkari province]], Turkey, which borders the northern bounds of Iraq

[[Category:Assyrian Chaldean geography]][[Category:Assyrian Chaldean settlements]]