Batnaya

Batnaya ܒܛܢܝܐ
Batnaya is located in Iraq Batnaya
Coordinates: 36°32′15″N 43°7′24″E / 36.53750°N 43.12333°E / 36.53750; 43.12333Coordinates: 36°32′15″N 43°7′24″E / 36.53750°N 43.12333°E / 36.53750; 43.12333{{#coordinates:36|32|15|N|43|7|24|E|region:IQ-NI_type:city |primary |name= }}
Country	Iraq
Governorate	Ninawa
District	Tel Keppe
Population [1]
• Total	5,000 - 10,000
Time zone	GMT +3

Batnaya (Syriac: ܒܛܢܝܐ) is an Chaldean town in northern Iraq located 14 miles north of Mosul and around 3 miles north of Tel Keppe.

The name Batnaya is of Syriac origin derived from either "Beth Tnyay" meaning "The House of Mud" or "Beth Tnaya" meaning "The House of Assiduity."

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 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 the past Batnaya used to be famous for making matting from the reeds its people used to cultivate in the valley of al-Khoser river. Currently, some of its inhabitants are cultivating different kinds of crops while others are involved in non-agricultural trades.

In 1944 the Mar Qeryaqos Church was built on the ruins of a monastery by the same name believed to have been built early 15th century. A second but smaller church Mart Maryam was built in 1966, while the church of Mar Gewargis was mentioned in an inscription dating 1745.

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 Chaldean villages that belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church, Batnaya's 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.

During the 17th and 19th centuries, the town had about 900 Chaldeans; 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 Chaldean and belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church.

The Provision of municipal services to the village and monastery through the supply of two tractors for harvest & agriculture, and a dumper to collect garbage as well as employment of laborers to clean the access roads in the village. The village is on the border of the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" and Iraqi Kurdistan, so it often flip flops between the Kurds and Terrorist ISIS.

• Originally based on an article by betnahrain.net , licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, used with permission.
• http://www.ishtartv.com/en/viewarticle,35878.html

v t e Nineveh plains region in northern Iraq
Main settlements	Al-Hamdaniya District Bakhdida Bartella Karemlesh Bashiqa Bahzani Tel Keppe District Tel Keppe Alqosh Batnaya Tesqopa Baqofa Sharafiya Shekhan District Ain Sifni Dashqotan Qasrok Ba'adra
Ancient Mesopotamian sites	Balawat Shibaniba Nimrud Dur-Sharrukin Tell Arpachiyah Tepe Gawra
Religious sites	Mar Mattai Monastery Rabban Hormizd Monastery Lalish Mar Oraha Monastery Mar Behnam Monastery Naqortaya Monastery

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