Zakho

Zakho (Kurdish: Zaxo‎, ; زاخۆ, Arabic: زاخو‎; Syriac: ܙܟܼܘ‎; Zāḫū) is a city, centre of the eponymous Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan, located a few kilometers from the Iraqi-Turkish border. The city has a population of 350,000.

It may have originally begun on a small island surrounded on all sides by the Little Khabur river, which flows through the modern city. The Khabur flows west from Zakho to form the border between Iraq and Turkey, continuing into the Tigris. The most important rivers in the area are the Zeriza, Seerkotik and the aforementioned Little Khabur.

In July 2010 Zakho became the seat of the University of Zakho. The university is one of the eleven public universities of Kurdistan Region.

Etymology

There are several theories concerning the derivation of the name "Zakho". Some Aramaic sources maintain that the name comes from the Aramaic "Zakhota" (victory), after the battle fought between the Romans and the Persians near the city, which resulted in a Roman victory. Another version maintains that the name comes from the Kurdish words "Zey- Khowin" ("river of blood"), possibly referring to the same battle.

Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Amadiyah and Zaku

Chaldean Catholic Diocese of Zakho is a diocese of the Chaldean Church in the second half of the 19th century and for most of the 20th century. The diocese of Zakho was merged with the Chaldean diocese of ʿAmadiya in 1987. In December 2001, a new bishop was consecrated. In July 2013, Zakho was suppressed to the Diocese of Amadiyah.

Background

The diocese of Zakho was founded in 1851. The diocese included some villages in the western Khabur valley and the mountains to the northeast of Zakho previously in the diocese of Gazarta, and several villages in the Dohuk district previously in the diocese of ʿAmadiya.

The Chaldean bishops of Zakho

The first Chaldean bishop of Zakho was Emmanuel Asmar (1859–75).

He was succeeded by Quriaqos Giwargis Goga, a monk of the monastery of Rabban Hormizd, who was born in Telkepe on 15 January 1820 and ordained a priest in 1855. According to Tfinkdji he was consecrated for Zakho on 25 July 1875 by the patriarch Joseph VI Audo, but a manuscript note gives the date of his consecration as 1 August 1875. In 1876 Quriaqos Giwargis Goga rebelled against the patriarch and installed himself in the village of Telkepe in the patriarchal diocese of Mosul, where he was supported by most of the village's priests. Following an appeal to the Vatican by Joseph Audo, the two rebels eventually submitted, and Goga was transferred to the diocese of ʿAmadiya in 1879.