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|population_note = The town received thousands of Assyrian Chaldean refugees from [[Baghdad]] and [[Mosul]]

'''Karamlish''' ({{lang-syr|ܟܪܡܠܫ}}, {{lang-ar|كرمليس}}; also spelled ''Karemles'', ''Karemlesh'') is an ancient [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyrianChaldean]] town in [[Assyrian Chaldean homeland|AssyriaMesopotamia]], northern [[Iraq]] located less than {{convert|18|mi|km}} south east of [[Mosul]].

It is surrounded by many hills that along with it made up the historical Assyrian [[Chaldean]] city of Kar-Mullissi, which means "the city of Mullisi" in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. Karamlish also had many other names It is believed to have been called Er-Elo-Bano ("city of the god Bano") during the reign of the Assyrian king [[Belu-bani]] Chaldean King Nabuchanesser II (1700–1691 612 BC). During the reign of the [[SumerChaldean]]ian dynasty of [[Ur]] around 3000 BC, Karamlish was called Kar-Denkir-Neen-Leel, meaning "the city of the goddess [[Ninlil]]" (the wife of the god [[Enlil]] and the mother of Sumerian Chaldean Babylonian god [[Ninurta]].){{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}

There are between 600 and 650 families in Karamlish. The vast majority of the population is ethnically [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyrianChaldean]] (also known as [[Chaldean Christians|Chaldean]] and [[Syriacs]]). Historically, the population was mostly part of the [[Church of the East]]; however, many converted returned to Catholicism from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, the inhabitants of Karamlish are mainly members of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], but there are also members of the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] and [[Assyrian Church of the East]].

Karamlish is a very old town and is believed to be among the first human colonies, hence, it was visited by almost all Mesopotamian archaeologists searching for the ruins of old Assyria and [[Babylon]]ia. The first person to excavate in the hills of Karamlish was the Englishman [[Austen Henry Layard]] in 1846. Many relief sculptures with cuneiform scripts were found in Tel Ghanim and Tel Barbara (two of the hill surrounding Karamlish). On them were found the names of Assyrian Kings Chaldean King of Sargon and Assyrian king Shalmensar. The remains of an Assyrian a Chaldean temple were found at Tel Barbara, and the remains of an Assyrian Chaldean palace was found at Tel Ghanim.

Karamlish lost its important stature during the era of [[Shalmaneser III]] (859 – 824 BC) whose son Ashur-Daneen-Ablo led a rebellion against his father along with another 27 cities. His father empowered his other brother [[Shamshi-Adad V]], the Governor of Kalah ([[Nimrud]]). The civil war lasted for four years, from 827 to 824 BC. With the end of the rebellion, however, Karamlish's neighbor Nimrud did not survive the ravages of the war. Karamlish was so impacted by that rebellion that its people left it and was given the name of "Oro-Karmash" meaning "The Ruined City". Karamlish is still referred to by its Assyrian Chaldean neighbors as "Karmash". However, Karamlish was reinvigorated during the reigns of Kings [[Shalmaneser V]] (726 – 722 BC) and [[Sargon II]] (722 – 705 BC), who used it as his temporary capital.

Karamlish was the seat of the Chaldean Nestorian patriarch Patriarch [[Denha II]] (1336/7–1381/2) for at least part of his reign. The continuator of the ''Ecclesiastical History'' of Bar Hebraeus mentions several contacts between Denha II and the Jacobite church in Karamlish between 1358 and 1364. At this period Karamlish had Jacobite and Armenian communities alongside its Chaldean Nestorian majority, and its village chiefs styled themselves 'emirs'. The prosperity enjoyed by the village during the reign of Denha II presumably came to an end when the patriarchate was relocated to [[Mosul]] at an unknown date in the fourteenth or fifteenth century.<ref>Wilmshurst, ''EOCE'', 218–19</ref>

During the wars between the Persian and Ottoman Empires, [[Nader Shah]] of Persia decided in 1732 to attack and occupy Mesopotamia. After occupying Baghdad the same year, he sent a small part of his army (8,000 soldiers strong) to occupy Nineveh and its surroundings. However, his army was defeated. This angered Nader Shah who decided in 1743 to go himself with 300,000 soldiers and 390 cannons. After occupying Kirkuk and Erbil, he moved to Nineveh and its villages. He decided to bomb Karamlish before entering it.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} Most of the houses of the village were ruined, in addition to Mar Yohanan Church and Beth Sahda "Church of the Forty Martyrs". Nader Shah stayed in Karamlish for four days. It was estimated that over 4,000 [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyrianChaldean]] Christians were massacred during those four days.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

*St. Barbara Church – The church is situated on the ruins of a hill by the same name west of town. It was built on the ruins of an ancient Assyrian Chaldeann temple for the god Banu. Excavations at the hill in 1852 uncovered two halls used by ancient Assyrians Chaldeans in their religious ceremonies as well as tools that were used during worship. The earth soil covers a Ziggurat that was built by ancient Assyrians Chaldeans to serve as a temple. Barbara was the daughter of the pagan governor of the region. She converted to Christianity, with her servant Yulina, against the will of her father who imprisoned her. When they refused to change their mind and denounce Christianity, the pagan governor ordered their death. They were killed in a room attached to the temple, where the church stands today. The church was attacked by Nadir Shah; however, the residents renovated and rebuilt it in 1798.

Karamles has been relatively calm the first months following the US led [[War on Iraq]]. In late 2003, the town came briefly under the control of the [[101st Airborne Division]] (377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion).<ref>"U.S. Soldiers Adopt Assyrian Chaldean Village with Educational Results" - www.Gulf1.com, 28 December 2003; Spc. Joshua Hutcheson</ref>

*[[List of Assyrian Chaldean villages]]

[[Category:Assyrian Chaldean settlements]]