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'''Batnaya''' ({{lang-syr|ܒܛܢܝܐ}}) is an [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyrianChaldean]] town in northern [[Iraq]] located 14 miles north of [[Mosul]] and around 3 miles north of [[Tel Keppe]].
== Etymology ==
== History ==
Batnaya used to be called "Beth Madaye" meaning the "House of the Medes" where it's believed that a group of the Medes who followed the Assyrian Chaldean monk Oraham (Abraham) settled there around the seventh century. It's also believed that Christianity reached Batnaya around that time.
Batnaya was attacked by the army of [[Nader Shah]] in 1743 who destroyed the village extensively and is believed to have killed half of its inhabitants.
In Batnaya are several inscriptions, one dating to 1545 by Darweesh bin Yohanan from the village of Aqreen is entitled "Prayers for the Dead", another one is a complete bible inscribed in Syriac by the priest Ataya bin Faraj bin Marqos of [[Alqosh]] dating 1586.
As with all the other currently Assyrian Chaldean villages that belong to the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], Batnaya's Assyrians Chaldeans used to follow the [[Church of the East]] until the sixteenth century, when the efforts of the Catholic Church came to fruition and the Church of the East was divided. However, as is the case with all the other villages of the [[Nineveh Plains]], Catholicism did not gain ground till around mid 18th century.
==Population==
During the 17th and 19th centuries, the town had about 900 AssyriansChaldeans; in 1995, the town grew to about 3,000 people. Today, it exceeds over 6,000 people and is rising. All the people in the town are Assyrian Chaldean and belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church.
==Modern day Batnaya==
==References==
[[Category:Populated places in Nineveh Governorate]]
[[Category:Assyrian Chaldean settlements]]
