Tawus

General Information

Also Known As

Tawus shrine, Kinîsa Tawus, Kofak, Kimar temple, معبد كيمار

Nahiya (Subdistrict)

Efrîn

Village or Nearby Villages

Kîmarê

Religious Affiliation

Yezidi, Christian

Tawus is a ruined church or temple at Kîmarê, which the villagers name for the peacock carved on its stone.1

Map and Location

Coordinates: 36.422439, 36.898828

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

Physical & Landscape Features

The building stands at the eastern edge of the village with most of its foundations and its apse. At the top of its arch a cross and a sun disc are flanked by two peacocks, and an inscription near the door dates the building to the year 572.2 Nidal Yousef, writing for eSyria, describes the surviving apse, with two peacocks around the cross at the top of its arch and an inscription recording its construction in 573. It stands near the houses of the village, north of the site of Kîmarê's hermit column and its base.3

Dedicated Figure & Historical Roots

Marwan Barakat, in his history of Mount Lêlûn, considers the building likely to be a Yezidi temple, since Yezidi temples carry equal-armed crosses, sun discs, and images of the peacock on their doors, the Yezidi religion venerating Melek Tawus. He notes that a family of the Yezidi religion still lives in the village, and that a hundred years ago all of Kîmarê followed the Yezidi religion before its recent conversion to Islam.4

Dr. Sebastian Maisel, author of Yezidis in Syria, gives the shrine's name as Kofak. He describes it as built on the foundations of a Byzantine temple, with a cross, a sun, and a peacock inscribed on its gate and a second inscription dating the building to the year 572, in a village that was one of the largest Yezidi villages of the area a hundred years ago.5

Transcripts

Kîmarê (Afrin 366):

  • 50:11 – A villager identifies the ruin as a church and points out the peacock carving that gives it the name Tawus.

Videography

Kîmarê (Afrin 366): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skx8fB6syT8

Bibliography

References

  1. Afrin 366, "Kîmarê," YouTube video, at 50:11 and 50:17, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skx8fB6syT8. Kurdish quotes: "Belê kinisî ye, ya wira. Kinisî ya..." "Tawus e, seke vî alî tawus heye, vî alî wurt e wekî rû ye." English translation: "Yes, it is a church, that one there. It is a church..." "It is Tawus; look, on this side there is a peacock, and on this side in the middle there is something like a face." ↩

  2. Marwan Barakat, جبل ليلون في مرآة التاريخ (Dar Abd al-Mun'im Nashirun, 2006), quoted in Nidal Yousef, "'كيمار'.. وآثار من عصور مختلفة" [Kimar: Remains from Different Eras], eSyria, November 25, 2009, https://www.esyria.sy/2009/11/كيمار-وآثار-من-عصور-مختلفة. Arabic quote: "يوجد في الطرف الشرقي من القرية معبد ما زال قائماً بأغلب أساساته وحنيته ويوجد في أعلى قوسها صليب وقرص شمس يحيط بهما طاووسان، يعود تاريخ هذا المعبد إلى العام /572/ م ويتضح ذلك من خلال الكتابة الموجودة قرب الباب." English translation: "At the eastern edge of the village there is a temple still standing with most of its foundations and its apse. At the top of its arch is a cross and a sun disc surrounded by two peacocks. The temple dates to the year 572 AD, as is clear from the inscription near the door." ↩

  3. Yousef, "'كيمار'.. وآثار من عصور مختلفة." Arabic quote: "أما الكنيسة الأخرى فلم يبق منها سوى حنيتها وفي أعلى قوسها صليب حوله طاووسان وفيها كتابة تذكر تاريخ تشييدها في العام /573/ م وتقع هذه الكنيسة قرب الدور السكنية وشمال موقع العمود وقاعدته." English translation: "As for the other church, nothing remains of it but its apse; at the top of its arch is a cross with two peacocks around it, and it carries an inscription recording the date of its construction in the year 573 AD. This church is near the residential houses, north of the site of the column and its base." ↩

  4. Barakat, جبل ليلون في مرآة التاريخ, quoted in Yousef, "'كيمار'.. وآثار من عصور مختلفة." Arabic quote: "ويُرجّح أن يكون معبداً يزيدياً لأنّ المعابد اليزيدية توجد على أبوابها صلبان متساوية الأطراف وأقراص الشمس وصور لطائر الطاووس فالمعروف أنّ الطائفة اليزيدية تقدس الملك طاووس، علماً أنه توجد في القرية عائلة تعتنق الديانة اليزيدية حتى اليوم وقبل مائة عام كانت قرية 'كيمار' كلها تعتنق الديانة اليزيدية ثم اعتنقوا الإسلام مؤخراً." English translation: "It is likely a Yezidi temple, because Yezidi temples have on their doors equal-armed crosses, sun discs, and images of the peacock bird, and it is known that the Yezidi community venerates Melek Tawus. It should be noted that there is in the village a family that follows the Yezidi religion to this day, and a hundred years ago the whole village of Kimar followed the Yezidi religion, and then they embraced Islam recently." ↩

  5. Sebastian Maisel, Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017), 218. Direct quote: "A shrine called Kofak that was built on the foundations of a Byzantine temple has a cross, a sun, and a peacock inscribed to its gate. Another inscription dates the building back to the year 572." Direct quote: "About hundred years ago it was one of the largest Yezidi villages in the area, but over the years most families converted to Islam with a few exceptions like the Nabo family." ↩