Siltan Şêxmûs

General Information

Also Known As

Sheikhmous 'Anzali shrine, Siltan Şêxmûs shrine, Sultan Sheikh Mous Shrine, Şêx Mûs, Şêxmûs, Ziyareta Şêx Mûs, شيخموس عنزلي

Type

Ziyareta

Nahiya (Subdistrict)

Reco

Village or Nearby Villages

Celemê, Gewenda, Ĥec Xelîl

Religious Affiliation

Yezidi

Siltan Şêxmûs is a shrine in the Meydanî plain, associated with the villages of Celemê, Gewenda, and Ĥec Xelîl in the Reco sub-district.

Map and Location

Coordinates: 36.78398, 36.722921

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

Physical & Landscape Features

The shrine stands in the middle of a cemetery in the Meydanî plain, surrounded by oak trees, with massive ancient stone columns scattered about that recall Roman and Byzantine buildings.1 It sits south of the village of Gewenda, and the columns spread over about two hectares of ground, resembling the ancient monuments of Çiyayê Şêrwan, the southern section of Çiyayê Lêlûn.4

Dedicated Figure & Historical Roots

An Ottoman inscription on the shrine's door, dated 1882 AD, names the patron as Şêxmûs Anzalî. The TirejAfrin survey relates the epithet "Anzalî" to the Yezidi Anzal sanjak and to Sheikh Ibrahim al-Anzali, a Yezidi sheikh, suggesting Şêxmûs may have been his follower.2

Villagers in the area tell that Şêxmûs was a shepherd from the environs of Şiyê who was falsely accused of adultery in his village and sentenced to death, and that before the sentence was carried out he asked to be buried in the Meydanî plain. Four men carried his coffin to the plain, and as they set it down at the foot of the mountain a boulder rolled from the peak, circled the coffin, and stopped beside it, so they buried him at that spot. On their way home the carriers were transformed into pigs near the village of Qere Baba, and a pass in the area is still called the Pigs' Passage in memory of the event. Miraculous signs were believed to appear beside the grave from time to time, and the local people built the maqam, the memorial shrine, over it more than a century and a half ago to honour the man killed for a sin he did not commit.5 Dr. Mihemed Ebdo Elî, the historian and geographer of the Afrin region, suggests that Şêxmûs may have been a Yezidi sheikh of the Qatani line among the sheikhs of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Anzali, who lived at the site as a Sufi devotee, died there, and was buried in the same place, after which the people took his grave as a shrine.6

After Turkish-backed forces took the area, the shrine was damaged and looted and its grave dug open on June 16, 2018, and in February 2019 many of the surrounding oak trees were chopped down. Satellite imagery from November 2018 to May 2019 shows the grove around the shrine shrinking.7 On the night of July 27, 2020, unknown men carried out extensive destruction at the shrine, stole its contents, and burned it. Fighters of the Faylaq al-Sham militia controlling the area had circulated videos days earlier describing the shrine as a center of polytheism and unbelief. That report gives the shrine's name as Bint al-Hassan while identifying the buried patron as Şêxmûs Anzalî.8

Ritual Practices & Beliefs

The shrine is blessed by the local people, who often name their children Şêxmûs after its patron.3 People visit it on Fridays and on religious holidays and offer sacrifices beside it, hoping its patron will help them recover from their illnesses.9

Bibliography

References

  1. TirejAfrin, "Major Shrines in the Efrîn Region," https://www.tirejafrin.com/site/mazarat.htm. Arabic quote: "تقع هذه الزيارة في سهل ميدانيات وسط مقبرة. تحيط بها أشجار البلوط. وفي الموقع أعمدة حجرية أثرية ضخمة منتشرة، تذكرنا بالأبنية الرومانية والبيزنطية." English translation: "This shrine is in the Meydanî plain, in the middle of a cemetery, surrounded by oak trees. At the site are massive ancient stone columns scattered about, reminiscent of Roman and Byzantine buildings." ↩

  2. TirejAfrin, "Major Shrines." Arabic quote: "وقد نقشت على باب المزار كتابة عثمانية تعود إلى عام 1300هـ/1882م، تذكر بأن صاحب المقام هو ( شيخموس عنزلي ). وحول الاسم (عنزلي)... والعنزلي من شيخ إبراهيم العنزلي أحد مشايخ الإيزديين. ولربما لقب شيخموس بالعنزلي لكونه من أتباع شيخ أبراهيم العنزلي." English translation: "An Ottoman inscription on the shrine's door, dating to 1300 AH / 1882 AD, states that the patron of the maqam is 'Şêxmûs Anzalî.' Regarding the name 'Anzalî'... 'Anzalî' relates to Sheikh Ibrahim al-Anzali, one of the Yezidi sheikhs. Perhaps Şêxmûs was given the epithet 'Anzalî' because he was a follower of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Anzali." ↩

  3. TirejAfrin, "Major Shrines." Arabic quote: "تقع الزيارة وسط قرى ميدانيات، وهي مباركة لدى الأهالي، وكثيراً ما يسمون أولادهم باسم صاحبها المسمى شيخموس." English translation: "The shrine is among the Meydanî villages, blessed by the locals, who often name their children after its patron, called Şêxmûs." ↩

  4. Nidal Yousef, "مزار 'سلطان شيخموس'.. المخيلة الجمعية تبارك الأمكنة" [The Sultan Sheikhmus Shrine: The Collective Imagination Blesses Places], eSyria, April 17, 2014, http://esyria.sy/sites/code/index.php?category=community&filename=201404170355424&p=stories&site=aleppo. Arabic quote: "يقع مزار 'سلطان شيخموس' في 'سهل ميدانا' وتحديداً إلى الجنوب من قرية 'كاوندا' التابعة لناحية 'راجو' ووسط المقبرة هناك، تحيط بالزيارة مجموعة من أشجار البلوط. ... في الموقع أيضاً مجموعة من الأعمدة الحجرية الضخمة المنتشرة على مساحة حوالي 2 هكتار من الأرض، تشبه هذه الأعمدة الأثرية الأبنية الموجودة في 'جبل شيروان' الأثرية، الذي يؤلف القسم الجنوبي من 'جبل ليلون'، وهي تعود إلى العهود الرومانية والبيزنطية." English translation: "The Sultan Sheikhmus shrine is in the Meydan plain, specifically to the south of the village of Kaunda in the Rajo sub-district, in the middle of the cemetery there; a group of oak trees surrounds the shrine. ... At the site there is also a group of massive stone columns spread over an area of about 2 hectares of ground; these ancient columns resemble the buildings of the ancient Jabal Shirwan, which forms the southern section of Jabal Lêlûn, and they date to the Roman and Byzantine eras." ↩

  5. Yousef, "مزار 'سلطان شيخموس'." Arabic quote: "يروي القرويون في المنطقة أن 'شيخموس' وهو صاحب المقام كان من نواحي مدينة 'شيخ الحديد'، وكان يعمل راعياً للأغنام في منطقته وقد اُتهم باطلاً بارتكاب الزنى في قريته، فحُكم عليه بالقتل، وقبل تنفيذ الحكم به أوصى أن يتم دفنه في 'سهل ميدانيات'. ... في تلك اللحظات تدحرجت صخرة من أعلى قمة الجبل ودارت حول النعش ثم توقفت بجوارها، فقام هؤلاء الرجال بدفن الجثة في ذلك الموقع. ... بعد أن دفنوا الجثة عاد هؤلاء الرجال إلى قريتهم 'شيخ الحديد'، وفي الطريق مسخهم الله إلى خنازير وقد كان ذلك بالقرب من قرية 'قره بابا' التابعة لناحية 'راجو'، ولا يزال هناك في المنطقة ممر يطلق عليه الناس اسم 'ممر الخنازير' تذكيراً بتلك الحادثة. يعتقد القرويون وسكان المنطقة المجاورة للمزار أنه كانت تظهر بين الفترة والأخرى كرامات بجوار القبر؛ لذلك قام الأهالي هناك ببناء مقام على القبر وذلك منذ أكثر من قرن ونصف القرن، وبذلك قاموا بتكريم المتوفى في قبره، الذي اتهم بالزنى باطلاً وقتل من دون ذنب اقترفته يداه." English translation: "The villagers in the area relate that Sheikhmus, the owner of the maqam, was from the environs of the town of Sheikh al-Hadid, and worked as a shepherd in his area. He was falsely accused of committing adultery in his village and was sentenced to death, and before the sentence was carried out he asked to be buried in the Meydan plain. ... At that moment a boulder rolled down from the top of the mountain, circled the coffin, and then stopped beside it, so the men buried the body at that spot. ... After they buried the body the men returned to their town Sheikh al-Hadid, and on the way God transformed them into pigs; this happened near the village of Qara Baba in the Rajo sub-district, and there is still a pass in the area that people call the Pigs' Passage in memory of that event. The villagers and the people of the area around the shrine believe that miraculous signs appeared from time to time beside the grave; for this reason the people there built a maqam over the grave more than a century and a half ago, honouring in his grave the deceased who was falsely accused of adultery and killed for a sin his hands did not commit." ↩

  6. Yousef, "مزار 'سلطان شيخموس'." Arabic quote: "وربما لقب 'شيخموس' بالعنزلي لكونه من مشايخ الفئة القاتانية الإيزيدية من مشايخ 'شيخ إبراهيم العنزلي' وكان متصوفاً ومتعبداً هناك ثم مات ودفن في نفس المكان؛ فاتخذه الناس مزاراً يتبركون به." English translation: "Perhaps Sheikhmus was given the epithet al-Anzali because he was one of the sheikhs of the Yezidi Qatani line among the sheikhs of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Anzali; he was a Sufi and a devotee there, then died and was buried in the same place, and the people took it as a shrine by which they seek blessing." ↩

  7. 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: "On June 16, 2018 Bas News reported that 'pro-Turkish militias' associated with Operation Olive Branch damaged and looted the contents of the Shrine of Sheikhmous, located in a cemetery near the village of Gawando in the district of Rajo." Alexander McKeever, "Afrin: Incidents Of Desecration And Destruction Of Cultural Sites," Bellingcat, July 11, 2019, https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/07/11/afrin-incidents-of-desecration-and-destruction-of-cultural-sites/. Direct quotes: "Eight months later, in February 2019, photos and video surfaced showing many of the trees surrounding the shrine to have been seeming chopped down at random." "The shrinking grove of trees around the Sheikhmus shrine as seen by satellite November 2018 — May 2019 (imagery from Sentinel)." ↩

  8. Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria, "حرق مزار ديني آخر للإيزيديين في عفرين بعد سرقة محتوياته" [Another Yezidi Religious Shrine Burned in Afrin after the Theft of Its Contents], July 28, 2020, https://vdc-nsy.com/archives/37970. Arabic quote: "قام مجهولون بتخريب واسع في المزار المسمى 'بنت الحسن' في منطقة سهل ميدانيات وسط مقبرة. تحيط بها أشجار البلوط وفي الموقع أعمدة حجرية أثرية ضخمة منتشرة، تذكرنا بالأبنية الرومانية والبيزنطية ثم قاموا بحرقها. ... وقد نقشت على باب المزار كتابة عثمانية تعود إلى عام 1300هـ/1882م، وصاحب المقام هو ( شيخموس عنزلي ). ... والمنطقة يسيطر عليها مسلحون من ميليشيات ( فيلق الشام ) كانوا عناصره قد نشروا قبل أيام مقاطع فيديو وصور مع عبارات أنّ المزار هو مركز للشرك بالله والكفر والضلال ليتم حرقه لاحقا." English translation: "Unknown men carried out extensive destruction at the shrine called 'Bint al-Hassan' in the Meydan plain area, in the middle of a cemetery. Oak trees surround it, and at the site are massive ancient stone columns scattered about, reminiscent of Roman and Byzantine buildings; they then burned it. ... An Ottoman inscription dated 1300 AH / 1882 AD is carved on the shrine's door, and the owner of the maqam is Sheikhmus Anzali. ... The area is controlled by gunmen of the Faylaq al-Sham militias, whose members had published video clips and pictures days earlier with statements that the shrine is a center of polytheism, unbelief, and error, so that it would later be burned." ↩

  9. Yousef, "مزار 'سلطان شيخموس'." Arabic quote: "كباقي المزارات المنتشرة في المنطقة فإن السكان يزورون المزار أيام الجمعة من كل أسبوع والأعياد الدينية لتقديم الذبائح بجواره آملين أن يساعدهم صاحب المقام المدفون فيه في الشفاء من أمراضهم وعللهم." English translation: "Like the other shrines spread through the region, the inhabitants visit the shrine on Fridays every week and on religious holidays to offer sacrifices beside it, hoping that the owner of the maqam buried in it will help them recover from their diseases and ailments." ↩