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{{Infobox settlement
|pushpin_map = Iraq
|pushpin_label_position =bottom
|pushpin_mapsize        = 250
|pushpin_map_caption    =Location in Iraq
|coordinates_region =  IQ
|official_name          = Simele
|other_name             = 
|native_name            = <small>
[[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]: {{lang|ckb|سميل Sêmêl}}</small>
|nickname               =
|settlement_type        = <!--For Town or Village (Leave blank for the default City)-->
|motto                  =
|image_skyline          = Sêmêl 2012 1.JPG
|imagesize              =
|image_caption          = Simele in 2012
|population        = 50,000
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = {{flag|Iraq}}
|subdivision_type1      = Autonomous region
|subdivision_name1      = {{flag|Kurdistan}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://krg.org/articles/detail.asp?lngnr=12&smap=03010300&rnr=140&anr=23911 |title=Kurdistan Regional Government |publisher=KRG |date= |accessdate=2012-05-21}}</ref>
|subdivision_type2      = Governorate
|subdivision_name2      = [[Dohuk Governorate]]
|latd=36|latm=51|lats=30|latNS=N
|longd=42|longm=51|longs=0.35|longEW=E
}}
[[Image:Assirijskaya cerkov.jpg|thumb|250ppx|Assyrian church named Umra d'Sahdeh (Church Of Martyrs)]]
[[Image:Iraqvillagesumail3.JPG|thumb|250ppx|Townhall Building]]

'''Simele''' or '''Sumail''' ([[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]: ''Sêmêl'', {{lang-syr|ܣܡܠܐ}}, [[Arabic]]:'''سميل''') is an historically [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] town located in the [[Iraq]]i [[Dohuk Governorate|province of Dohuk]] and part of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]].  The city is on the main road that connects [[Iraq]] to its neighbour [[Turkey]]. It is 14 kilometers west of the [[Dahuk, Iraq|city of Dohuk]].

== Etymology ==
The town was mentioned by [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] as "Simwel" which is though to be a corruption of the Syriac ''Simmala'' ({{lang|syr|ܣܡܠܐ}}) meaning "left".
Another possible origin could be the Syriac ''Shmaʻ ʼIl'' ({{lang|syc|ܫܡܥ ܐܝܠ}}), which means "listen lord".<ref>[http://www.ankawa.com/forum/index.php?topic=105353.0 مدينة سميل في التاريخ], Ankawa.com {{ar icon}}</ref>

== History ==
The town was converted to Christianity in the 2nd century and was later famous for its [[Syriac]] manuscripts. Its [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] inhabitants were belonged to both the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] and the [[Church of the East]].<ref name=ankawa>[http://www.ankawa.com/forum/index.php?topic=105353.0 مدينة سميل في التاريخ] Ankawa.com</ref>
Its Assyrians inhabitants were forced out of the town by the [[Yazidis]] who settled the town in 1800. They were in turn massacred by Mir Muhammad of [[Rowanduz]]. Later on Arab tribes started settling the area.<ref name=ankawa/>

Simele in the early 20th century was a very small [[Kurd]]ish village. An Assyrian community formed in Simele during [[World War I]] and the mass migration from the [[Hakkari]] region of [[Turkey]], due to the [[Assyrian Genocide]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]] against native [[Armenians]] and [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]].

=== Simele Massacre ===
{{Main|Simele Massacre}}
The [[Assyrian people]], who resided in Simele and its neighbouring area, were subjected to [[1933 Massacre of Sumail|a massacre]] on August 7, 1933, this time implemented by the Iraqi government. The massacre was the first state-sponsored massacre in Iraq's young history after the establishment of Iraq in 1921. An estimated 3,000 [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] died during the 1933 massacre,<ref>http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/iq350a.pdf &mdash; [[FIDH]] report on ethnic cleansing in Iraq, which describes the Sumail massacre in the second paragraph of page 17.</ref> most of them in the village of Simele. Thousands were forced to flee to [[Syria]] where they currently live in 33 villages of the [[Khabur River|Khabur]] plains, in the [[Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia|Al Jazeera]] region.

== People ==
The number of families in Simele &mdash; Kurdish and Assyrian &mdash; increased due to the geographical importance of the city and due to the destruction of smaller, nearby villages. Families were forced to migrate and to live in the larger cities and towns of the region.

Having migrated from the neighbouring villages, most Simeleian families depend on agriculture for their income. Many villages in that area have plenty of seasonal water plants, tomatoes, and other vegetables.  Many other people of Simele depend on trade as their source of income.

In 1992, [[University of Dohuk|Dohuk University]]'s College of Agriculture was founded in Simele.<ref>http://www.dohukuni.net/index2.php?p=colleges/colleges&m=menu_colleges</ref>

Around 170 Assyrian families currently live in the center of Simele. They are adherents of the two main denominations in the region: the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]] and the [[Assyrian Church of the East]]. The Chaldean Catholic church is named Mart Maryam (St. Mary the Virgin), while the Assyrian Church of the East church is named Umra d'Sahdeh (Church Of Martyrs) in the honor of the martyrs of the 1933 Simele Massacre. Around a dozen Armenian families live in the town as well.

==See also==
*[[List of Assyrian villages]]
*[[Simele massacre]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Cities in Iraqi Kurdistan]]
[[Category:Populated places in Dohuk Province]]
[[Category:Kurdish settlements]]
[[Category:Assyrian settlements]]
[[Category:Assyria]]
[[Category:District capitals of Iraq]]

{{Districts of Iraq}}