Nebî Hûrî

General Information

Also Known As

Nebî Hûrî shrine, Mezara Nebî Hûrî

Type

Ziyareta

Nahiya (Subdistrict)

Şera

Village or Nearby Villages

Zêtûnekê, Ĥeftêr, Şêxorz, Şîlte'tê, Meydankê, Naza, Omer Simo

Religious Affiliation

Muslim

The Nebî Hûrî shrine (Kurdish: Mezara Nebî Hûrî) is a shrine of Zêtûnekê, Şêxorz, Meydankê, Naza, and Omer Simo. The same regional area also includes the citadel of Nebî Hûrî on Ĥeftêr's southern boundary and the bridge of Nebî Hûrî west of Şîlte'tê.

Map and Location

Coordinates: 36.735221, 36.953467

Source: https://akmckeever.substack.com/

Physical & Landscape Features

The shrine stands at the site of the ancient city of Cyrrhus, on a natural promontory overlooking the region, bordered by the deeply cut bed of the Saboun Souyou, a tributary of the Afrin River.4

  • Roman Bridge: The paved road through Dêrsiwanê reaches the castle of Nebî Hûrî and the archaeological Roman bridge, about one kilometer from Dêrsiwanê. The old bridge, Pira Nebî Hûrî, stands at Şîlte'tê's western edge.
  • Kaniya Germikê: Kaniya Germikê springs east of the Nebî Hûrî citadel in the valley and empties into the Sabûn Su river. Its water is described as warm.5

Dedicated Figure & Historical Roots

The site's Nebî Hûrî name is tied to a Roman mausoleum reused as the burial place of a legendary Muslim in the fourteenth century.1

A well-known religious narrative connects Hûrî with Uriah bin Hanan, one of Prophet David's commanders, who was said to have been killed in battle at the site and buried there. Other explanations connect Hûrî with an ancient mountain people of the Zagros and Taurus, or take Nebî Hûrî as a later form of Ahura Mazda and Nabu.2 The grave was also believed to be that of a Roman leader. After the conquest, Muslims considered the grave and mausoleum sacred. It became a revered shrine and was later attributed to a sheikh.3

The shrine itself was established in 1303 in the interior of the pyramid-roofed, hexagonal Roman mausoleum, and in 1314 Ala ad-Din ibn Altunbugha, the Mamluk governor of Aleppo, built a mosque at the site.6 The mosque standing in the courtyard of the mausoleum carries the date 1859 on its gate, and worshippers from the neighbouring villages attended it for Friday and holiday prayers.7

In the days after Turkish-backed forces captured the area in March 2018, the table representing the grave inside the shrine was overturned and garbage was strewn about the interior. Fighters reportedly ransacked the shrine looking for treasure.8 The Hatay Regional Directorate of Foundations took the tomb into repair in 2019, together with the Omer bin al-Xetab mosque in the Şiyê area, and announced the completed restoration in January 2021.9 The renovation drew criticism from the Directorate of Antiquities in Afrin, whose co-chair Salah Sino said Turkey manipulated the site to present it as Ottoman. The workers added a wooden balcony to the mosque and replaced its old pulpit with an Ottoman-styled one.10

Ritual Practices & Beliefs

In Ĥeftêr, communal Eid dining is a practice inherited from ancestors who used to gather at the shrine of Nebî Hûrî.

Before 2018, visitors attached small stones to a wall near the mosque, believing that this would grant their wishes, and tied colorful strips of fabric to the branches of the pomegranate trees in the graveyard.11

Transcripts

Dêrsiwanê (Afrin 366):

  • 00:28 – The host clarifies that the location is Nebî Hûrî.
  • 01:12 – The host plans the tour of the castle and the nearby Roman bridge.
  • 15:21 – The host points out the springs flowing near the site.
  • 28:31 – The spring water is described as warm.
  • 43:15 – The host and guests gather in the Horî valley below the citadel.

Videography

Dêrsiwanê (Afrin 366): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y834VSGqzgo

Bibliography

References

  1. Syrian-Lebanese Archaeological Expedition in Cyrrhus, "Cyrrhus (Syria)," in Archaeological Explorations in Syria 2000-2011: Proceedings of ISCACH-Beirut 2015 (Beirut, 2015), line 243. Quote: "Nebi Houri ... the Roman Mausoleum that was reused as a burial place for a legendary Muslim in the 14th century AD." ↩

  2. Mihemed Ebdo Elî, Çiyayê Kurmênc (Efrîn): Lêkolîneke Xaknîgarî ye tevahî (Efrîn, 2008), p. 155. Quotes: "it goes back to the name 'Uriah bin Hanan'" and "Huri is the name of an ancient mountain people." ↩

  3. Elî, Lêkolîneke Xaknîgarî ye tevahî, village Şêxorz entry. Quote: "the Muslims believed in the sanctity of the grave and the mausoleum, and it became a revered shrine." ↩

  4. Syrian-Lebanese Archaeological Expedition in Cyrrhus, "Cyrrhus (Syria)," line 130. Quote: "The city is situated on a natural promontory overlooking the entire region." ↩

  5. Elî, Lêkolîneke Xaknîgarî ye tevahî, water-source section, p. 24; Afrin 366, "Dêrsiwanê," at 28:31. Quotes: "Germikê spring: It springs from east of the Nebi Huri citadel in the valley"; "av germ e bira." English translation: "Germikê spring emerges east of the Nebi Huri citadel in the valley"; "the water is warm, brother." ↩

  6. Jamie O'Connell, "Incident Report Feature: Intentional Destruction of Religious Sites in Afrin," ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives, http://www.asor-syrianheritage.org/incident-report-feature-afrin-religious-sites/. Direct quote: "The shrine of Nebi Houri is dedicated to an Islamic saint. It was built in 1303 CE in the interior of a pyramid-roofed, hexagonal Roman-era mausoleum." Enab Baladi, "مدينة 'النبي هوري' أبرز المناطق التاريخية في عفرين.. تعرف عليها," February 19, 2018, https://www.enabbaladi.net/207991/. Arabic quote: "وفي سنة 1314 للميلاد بنى والي حلب علاء الدين بن ألطونبغا الحاجب المملوكي التركي جامعًا له فيها." English translation: "And in the year 1314 AD the governor of Aleppo, Ala ad-Din ibn Altunbugha al-Hajib, the Turkish Mamluk, built a mosque for it there." ↩

  7. Enab Baladi, "مدينة 'النبي هوري'." Arabic quote: "وفي الطرف الجنوبي الغربي للمدينة يوجد قبر لقائد روماني على شكل برج مسدّس وفي باحة المدفن مسجد مؤرخ في العام 1859 ميلادي يؤمه المصلون من القرى المجاورة في صلاة الجمعة والعيدين." English translation: "At the southwestern edge of the city is the tomb of a Roman commander in the form of a hexagonal tower, and in the courtyard of the tomb is a mosque dated 1859 AD, attended by worshippers from the neighbouring villages for Friday and holiday prayers." North Press Agency, "Turkey Ottomanizes old heritage sites in Syria's Afrin," August 30, 2021, https://npasyria.com/en/64236/. Direct quote: "a mosque dating back, as written on the gate of the mosque, to 1859 AD (during the Ottoman period)." ↩

  8. O'Connell, "Intentional Destruction of Religious Sites in Afrin." Direct quote: "The footage shows that the table representing the grave of Nebi Houri was turned on its side and garbage was strewn about the shrine. According to an ASOR CHI in-country source, FSA fighters allied with Operation Olive Branch ransacked the shrine looking for treasure." ↩

  9. Lale Köklü Karagöz, "Afrin'deki Ömer Bin Hattab Camii ve Nebi Huri Türbesi restore edildi," Anadolu Ajansı, January 16, 2021, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/dunya/afrindeki-omer-bin-hattab-camii-ve-nebi-huri-turbesi-restore-edildi/2112250. Turkish quote: "Suriye'nin Afrin bölgesinde bulunan tarihi Ömer Bin Hattab Camii ve Nebi Huri Türbesi'nin, Hatay Vakıflar Bölge Müdürlüğünce restorasyonu tamamlandı." English translation: "The restoration of the historic Omer bin Hattab Mosque and the Nebi Huri Tomb in Syria's Afrin region has been completed by the Hatay Regional Directorate of Foundations." Turkish quote: "Bunlardan bir tanesi Şeyh Hadid bölgesindeki Ömer Bin Hattab Camii, diğeri de Şerran'daki Nebi Huri Türbesi'ydi." English translation: "One of them was the Omer bin Hattab Mosque in the Sheikh Hadid area, the other the Nebi Huri Tomb in Sherran." ↩

  10. North Press Agency, "Turkey Ottomanizes old heritage sites in Syria's Afrin." Direct quotes: "Sino believes that Turkey manipulated the site in order to show it as dating back to the Ottoman era, since the Roman tomb is rich in Roman decorations and inscriptions, both the mosque and the khan are shown as simple and modern compared to the tomb." "In mid-2020, Turkey carried out other renovations in the mosque, wall, and khan, where they paved the yard again and added other new elements in the mosque including a wooden balcony, and they replaced the old pulpit with another Ottoman-featured one." ↩

  11. North Press Agency, "Turkey Ottomanizes old heritage sites in Syria's Afrin." Direct quote: "Before the Turkish occupation of the region, residents of Afrin used to visit Nebi Huri shrine and attach stones to a wall near the mosque, believing that this would grant their wishes. In the graveyard, pomegranate tree branches used to be filled with colorful fabric stripes that visitors used to tied up in order to make their wishes come true." ↩