Antiochian Greek Christians

Antiochian Greek Christians

الروم الأنطاكيون

Ρωμιοί της Αντιοχείας
Total population
Estimated 1.5 million
Regions with significant populations
 Syria 520,000[1] - 700,000[2]
 Lebanon 500,000[1][3][4][5]
 United States 74,527[6]
 Australia 37,500
 Turkey 18,000[7][8]
 Canada 10,000
Religions
Christianity (Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and Melkite Greek Catholic Church)
Languages
Vernacular:
Arabic (Levantine Arabic)
Turkish (in Turkey)
Liturgical:
Greek and Arabic[2]
Diaspora:
English, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Antiochian Greek Christians, also known as Rûm, are an Arabic-speaking ethnoreligious Christian group from the Levant region. They are either members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch or the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and they are native to the Levant. More specifically, the territories of Western Syria, northern and central Lebanon, and the southern Turkish province of Hatay, which includes the city of Antakya (ancient Antioch)- one of the holiest cities in Eastern Christianity. Many of their descendants now live in the global Middle Eastern Christian diaspora.

The designation "Greek" only refers to the use of Koine Greek in liturgy,[9] and the majority of Antiochian Greek Christians therefore identify themselves as Arab.[10][11][12] However, According to Greek historian Pavlos Karolidis writings in 1908, they are a mixture of Macedonian Greek settlers, Roman-era Greeks, and Byzantine Greeks (Rûm).[13] Karolidis was attempting to refute the Russian claims that they were of Aramaic origin.[14] However, even during the First Crusade era, most of them were referred to as Syrians ethnically and Greeks only in regard to religious affinity: only the inhabitants of Antioch city were thought to be Greek ethnically.[15] The Antiochians also include Ghassanid Arabs,[16] and are not considered ethnic Greeks by most modern scholars.[17] Genetic evidence revealed no noticeable or significant genetic differentiation between the Greek Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholic Christians and the Maronites, Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, and Druze of the region.[18] With Arabic becoming the lingua franca in the Levant today, they have become an Arabic-speaking Christian community, primarily speaking Arabic in its Levantine variant, with those within present day Turkish territory speaking Turkish.

History

Hellenistic Era

Syria was invaded by Alexander in 333 B.C. and Antioch was founded by one of his generals.

Roman Era

Syria was annexed by the Roman Republic in 64 B.C., by Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War.[19] Christianity spread in the region and dominated by the Fourth century.

Byzantine Era

Throughout the Middle Ages, Antiochians, as well as other Byzantine Greeks self-identified as Romaioi or Romioi (Greek: Ῥωμαῖοι, Ρωμιοί, meaning "Romans") and Graikoi (Γραικοῖ, meaning "Greeks"). Linguistically, they spoke Byzantine or Medieval Greek, known as "Romaic"[20] which is situated between the Hellenistic (Koine), and modern phases of the language.[21] Antiochians, perceived themselves as the descendants of classical Greek.,[22][23][24] the political heirs of imperial Rome,[25][26] and followers of the Apostles.[22] Thus, their sense of "Romanity" was different from that of their contemporaries in the West. "Romaic" was the name of the vulgar Greek language, as opposed to "Hellenic" which was its literary or doctrinal form.[27]

The homeland of the Antiochians, known as the Diocese of the East, was one of the major commercial, agricultural, religious, and intellectual areas of the Empire, and its strategic location facing the Sassanid Empire and the unruly desert tribes gave it exceptional military importance.[28] The entire area of the former diocese came under Sassanid occupation between 609 and 628, but was retaken by the Emperor Heraclius. Until its irreversible lost to the Arabs after the Battle of Yarmouk, and the fall of Antioch.

Arab Conquest

Further Information:Muslim conquest of the Levant, Arab-Byzantine Wars

The Arab conquest of Syria (Arabic: الفتح الإسلامي لبلاد الشام) occurred in the first half of the 7th century,[29] and refers to the conquest of the Levant, which later became known as the Islamic Province of Bilad al-Sham. On the eve of the Arab Muslim conquests the Byzantines were still in the process of rebuilding their authority in the Levant, which had been lost to them for almost twenty years.[30] At the time of the Arab conquest, Bilad al-Sham was inhabited mainly by local Aramaic-speaking Christians, Ghassanid and Nabatean Arabs, as well as Greeks, and by non-Christian minorities of Jews, Samaritans, and Itureans. The population of the region did not become predominantly Muslim and Arab in identity until nearly a millennium after the conquest.

Map detailing the route of Muslim invasion of central Syria.

In Southern Levant

The Muslim Arab army attacked Jerusalem, held by the Byzantines, in November, 636. For four months the siege continued. Ultimately, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, agreed to surrender Jerusalem to Caliph Umar in person. Caliph Umar, then at Medina, agreed to these terms and traveled to Jerusalem to sign the capitulation in the spring of 637. Sophronius also negotiated a pact with Caliph Umar, known as the Umariyya Covenant or Covenant of Omar, allowing for religious freedom for Christians in exchange for jizya, a tax to be paid by conquered non-Muslims, called "dhimmis".[31] While the majority population of Jerusalem during the time of Arab conquest was Christian,[32] the majority of Palestine population about 300,000-400,000 inhabitants, was still Jewish.[33] In the aftermath the process of cultural Arabization and Islamization took place, combining immigration to Palestine with the adoption of Arabic language and conversion of the part of local population to Islam.[34]

Rashidun Caliphate

According to the historian James William Parkes, during the 1st century after the Arab conquest (640–740), the caliph and governors of Syria and the Holy Land ruled entirely over Christian and Jewish subjects. He further states that apart from the Bedouin in the earliest days, the only Arabs west of the Jordan were the garrisons.[35] The Arab garrisons were kept apart in camps, and life went on much as before for the local population.[29] The taxes instituted were the kharaj – a tax that landowners and peasants paid according to the productivity of their fields – as well as the jizya – paid by non-Muslims in return for protection under the Muslim state and exemption from military service. The Byzantine civil service was retained until a new system could be instituted; therefore, Greek remained the administrative language in the new Muslim territories for over 50 years after the conquests.

Umayyad Caliphate

The relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were good. The Umayyads were involved in frequent battles with the Byzantine Greeks without being concerned with protecting themselves in Syria, which had remained largely Christian like many other parts of the empire.[36] Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments. The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious tolerance that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiya's popularity and solidified Syria as his power base.[37][38]

Abbasid Caliphate

In 969, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, John VII, was put to death for treasonable correspondence with the Byzantine Greeks. As Jerusalem grew in importance to Muslims and pilgrimages increased, tolerance for other religions declined. Christians were persecuted. Churches were destroyed. The sixth Fatimid caliph, Caliph Al-Hakim (996–1021), who was believed to be "God made manifest" by the Druze, destroyed the Holy Sepulchre in 1009. This powerful provocation started the near 90-year preparation towards the First Crusade.[39]

Ottoman Period

Historically, Antiochians were considered as part of the Rum Millet (millet-i Rûm), or "Roman nation" by the Ottoman authorities.

Greek War of Independence

As soon as the Greek revolution commenced, Rûm throughout the Empire were targeted for persecutions, and Syria did not escape Ottoman Turkish wrath.[40] Fearing that the Rûm of Syria might aid the Greek Revolution, the Porte issued an order that they should be disarmed.[40] In Jerusalem, the city’s Christian population, who were estimated to make up around 20% of the city's total[41] (with the majority being Rûm), were also forced by the Ottoman authorities to relinquish their weapons, wear black, and help improve the city's fortifications. Greek Orthodox holy sites, such as the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, located just south of the city of Tripoli in Lebanon, were subjected to vandalism and revenge attacks, which in fact forced the monks to abandon it until 1830.[42] Not even the Greek Orthodox Patriarch was safe, as orders were received just after the execution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople to kill the Antiochian Patriarch as well, however, local officials failed to execute the orders.[43]

On March 18, 1826 a flotilla of around fifteen Greek ships led by Vasos Mavrovouniotis attempted to spread the Greek Revolution to the Ottoman Levant. According to then-British Consul John Barker,[44] stationed in Aleppo, in a memo to British Ambassador Stratford Canning, in Constantinople. The Greek Revolutionaries landed in Beirut,[40] but were thwarted by a local Mufti and a hastily arranged defense force. Although initially repelled, the Greeks did manage to hold on to a small portion of the city near the seashore in an area inhabited by local Rûm. During which they appealed to the Rûm "to rise up and join them",[44] and even sent an invitation to the chief of the local Druzes to also join the Revolution. A few days later, on March 23, 1826 the regional governor Abdullah Pasha sent his lieutenant and nearly 500 Albanian irregular forces to exacted revenge for the failed uprising.[44]

Aleppo Massacre of 1850

On October 17–18, 1850 Muslim rioters attacked the Christian neighborhoods of Aleppo. In the aftermath, Ottoman records show that 688 homes, 36 shops, and 6 churches were damaged, including the Greek Catholic patriarchate and its library.[45] The events lead hundreds of Christians to emigrate mainly to Beirut and Smyrna.[46]

Damascus Massacre of 1860

On July 10, 1860 Saint Joseph of Damascus and 11,000 Antiochian Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christians[47][48] were killed when Druze marauders destroyed part of the old city of Damascus. The Antiochians had taken refuge in the churches and monasteries of Bab Tuma ("Saint Thomas’ Gate"). The Massacre was a part of the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war, which began as a Maronite rebellion in Mount Lebanon, and culminated in the massacre in Damascus.

First World War and the Ottoman Greek Genocide

During the First World War, Antiochians, alongside other Ottoman Greeks, were targeted by the Ittihadist Ottoman authorities in what is now historically known as the Ottoman Greek Genocide.[49] As a result, three Antiochian Greek Orthodox Dioceses were completely annihilated; the Metropolis of Tarsus and Adana, the Metropolis of Amida, and the Metropolis of Theodosioupolis. Those Antiochians living outside of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon were subject to the forced population exchange of 1923, which ended the Ottoman Greek Genocide. One modern Greek town, which is made up of Antiochian survivors from the population exchange is Nea Selefkia,[50] which is located in Epirus. The founders of Nea Selefkia were refugees from Silifke in Cilicia.

Modern

After the Syrian province of Alexandretta was given to Turkey illegally by the French Mandate powers in 1939, many Antiochian Greek Christians emigrated to Syria and Lebanon. Following 1960s, a new wave of immigration has drawn Antiochian Greek Christians to Western countries in particular to the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Liturgical traditions and folklore

Some typically Greek Ancient Synagogal priestly rites and hymns that originated in Antioch have survived partially to the present in the distinct church services of the Melkite and Greek Orthodox communities of the Hatay Province of Southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and the Holy Land.

Population and ethnocultural heritage

Service at the Catedral Ortodoxa de San Jorge in Colonia Roma, Mexico City. Part of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, it is under the auspices of Archbishop Antonio Chedraoui (es).
John Chrysostom.

In the narrowly defined geographic sense, according to a census conducted by the Patriarchate of Antioch in 1895, there were 50,000 Antiochian Greek Orthodox Christians in the Alexandretta Sanjak (Hatay Province) of Southern Turkey, compared to about 30,000 in the 1930s.[51] In 1995, their total population was estimated at 10,000.[7]

Genetically, the followers of Greek churches in the Levant are not significantly different genetically from the rest of the region's population.[18] Counting members of the surviving minorities in the Hatay Province of Turkey and their relatives in the diaspora, there are more than 1.5 million Antiochian Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic (Melkite) Christians residing in the Northern-MENA, the USA, Canada, Australia and Latin America today.

Location

The highest concentrations of Antiochian Greek Christians still living in the Levant are found within the territories of Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.

In Syria, the Antiochian Greek Christians are mostly concentrated in Wadi al-Nasara (The Valley of the Christians), as well as the surrounding areas. Such as the cities of Mhardeh, Hama, and Homs. Smaller communities can also be found in Aleppo, Damascus, and Latakia.

In Lebanon, most Antiochian Greek Christians can be found in the Nabatieh, Beqaa Governorate, and North Governorates. Specifically in the Koura District, Zahle, and Akkar.

While those able to remain in Turkey are concentrated in the Hatay Province, a significant number of Antiochian Greek Christians have migrated to Istanbul. They now live in Antioch, Mersin, Iskenderun, the villages of Altinozu and Tocakli, a string of villages in Samandag, and the seaside town of Arsuz. A case of intercommunal violence with Turkish Muslims in Altınözü was reported in 2005. The events were allegedly sparked by sexual harassment of a Christian girl by a Muslim barber's apprentice.[52]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Christians of the Middle East: Country-By-Country Facts
  2. 1 2 OVERVIEW OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SYRIA
  3. ↑ "Minority Rights Group International - working to secure the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples".
  4. ↑ Lebanon – International Religious Freedom Report 2010 U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 14 February 2010.
  5. ↑ Lebanon - July-December, 2010 International Religious Freedom Report U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 1 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Krindatch, A. (2011). Atlas of american orthodox christian churches. (p. 44). Brookline,MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press
  7. 1 2 The Greeks of Turkey, 1992-1995 Fact-sheet by Marios D. Dikaiakos
  8. ↑ Christen in der islamischen Welt – Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (APuZ 26/2008)
  9. ↑ Senate (U S ) Committee on Foreign Relations (2005). Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, 2004. p. 575.
  10. ↑ John Myhill (2006). Language, Religion and National Identity in Europe and the Middle East: A Historical Study. p. 47.
  11. ↑ Anh Nga Longva, Anne Sofie Roald (2011). Religious Minorities in the Middle East: Domination, Self-Empowerment, Accommodation. p. 61.
  12. ↑ Werner Zips,Markus Weilenmann (2011). The Governance of Legal Pluralism: Empirical Studies from Africa and Beyond. p. 220.
  13. ↑ http://anemi.lib.uoc.gr/metadata/8/c/d/metadata-471-0000044.tkl?dtab=m&search_type=simple&search_help=&display_mode=overview&wf_step=init&show_hidden=0&number=10&keep_number=&cclterm1=&cclterm2=&cclterm3=&cclterm4=&cclterm5=&cclterm6=&cclterm7=&cclterm8=&cclfield1=&cclfield2=&cclfield3=&cclfield4=&cclfield5=&cclfield6=&cclfield7=&cclfield8=&cclop1=&cclop2=&cclop3=&cclop4=&cclop5=&cclop6=&cclop7=&isp=&search_coll[metadata]=1&&stored_cclquery=&skin=&rss=0&lang=el&ioffset=1&offset=1 Περί της εθνικής καταγωγής των ορθοδόξων χριστιανών Συρίας και Παλαιστίνης / υπό Παύλου Καρολίδου.
  14. ↑ David Ricks, Paul Magdalino (1998). Byzantium and the Modern Greek Identity. p. 20.
  15. ↑ Krijna Nelly Ciggaar, Herman G. B. Teule (2003). East and West in the Crusader States: Context, Contacts, Confrontations : Acta of the Congress Held at Hernen Castle in September 2000. p. 3.
  16. ↑ "Deir Gassaneh".
  17. ↑ Augustine Casiday (2012). The Orthodox Christian World. p. 93.
  18. 1 2 "Influences of history, geography, and religion on genetic structure: the Maronites in Lebanon". European journal of Human Genetics. 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  19. ↑ Between Rome and Jerusalem: 300 years of Roman-Judaean relations By Martin Sicker. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  20. ↑ Adrados 2005, p. 226.
  21. ↑ Alexiou 2001, p. 22.
  22. 1 2 Kazhdan & Constable 1982, p. 12; Runciman 1970, p. 14; Niehoff 2012, Margalit Finkelberg, "Canonising and Decanonising Homer: Reception of the Homeric Poems in Antiquity and Modernity", p. 20.
  23. ↑ Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum 2003, p. 482: "As heirs to the Greeks and Romans of old, the Byzantines thought of themselves as Rhomaioi, or Romans, though they knew full well that they were ethnically Greeks." (see also: Savvides & Hendricks 2001)
  24. ↑ Kitzinger 1967, "Introduction", p. x: "All through the Middle Ages the Byzantines considered themselves the guardians and heirs of the Hellenic tradition."
  25. ↑ Kazhdan & Constable 1982, p. 12; Runciman 1970, p. 14; Haldon 1999, p. 7.
  26. ↑ Browning 1992, "Introduction", p. xiii: "The Byzantines did not call themselves Byzantines, but Romaioi—Romans. They were well aware of their role as heirs of the Roman Empire, which for many centuries had united under a single government the whole Mediterranean world and much that was outside it."
  27. ↑ Runciman 1985, p. 119.
  28. ↑ Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 1533–1534. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
  29. 1 2 "Syria." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 20 Oct. 2006 Syria -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  30. ↑ "Iran." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 20 Oct. 2006 Iran -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  31. ↑ Runciman, Steven (1951). A History of the Crusades:The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Penguin Books. Vol.1 pp.3–4. ISBN 0-521-34770-X.
  32. ↑ http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_VI_2002-Luz_pp133-154.pdf
  33. ↑ Israel Cohen (1950).Contemporary Jewry: a survey of social, cultural, economic, and political conditions, p 310.
  34. ↑ Lauren S. Bahr; Bernard Johnston (M.A.); Louise A. Bloomfield (1996). Collier's encyclopedia: with bibliography and index. Collier's. p. 328. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  35. ↑ James William Parkes, Whose Land? A History of the Peoples of Palestine (Penguin books, 1970), p. 66
  36. ↑ A Chronology Of Islamic History 570-1000 CE, By H.U. Rahman 1999 Page 128
  37. ↑ Middle East, Western Asia, and Northern Africa By Ali Aldosari Page 185
  38. ↑ The Tragedy of the Templars: The Rise and Fall of the Crusader States By Michael Haag Chapter 3 Palestine under the Umayyads and the Arab Tribe
  39. ↑ Charles Mills (June 1820). "Mill's History of the Crusades". The Eclectic Review. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  40. 1 2 3 Notes from the life of a Syrian by Antonius Ameuney. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  41. ↑ Fisk and King, 'Description of Jerusalem,' in The Christian Magazine, July 1824, page 220. Mendon Association, 1824.
  42. ↑ Balamand patriarchal monastery. antiochpatriarchate.org. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  43. ↑ ar:سورية وفلسطين تحت الحكم العثماني (كتاب)
  44. 1 2 3 Bedlam in Beirut: A British Perspective in 1826. University of North Florida. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  45. ↑ Eldem, Goffman & Masters 1999, pp. 70
  46. ↑ Commins 2004, pp. 31
  47. ↑ Shaw, Ezel Kural. History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1977
  48. ↑ New , York Times. Details of the Damascus Massacre, NYT, August 13, 1860
  49. ↑ http://www.greece.org/genocide/Blackbook.htm
  50. ↑ el:Νέα Σελεύκεια Θεσπρωτίας
  51. ↑ Peter Alford Andrews, Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1989, ISBN 3-89500-297-6
  52. ↑ (Turkish) Taciz yüzünden cemaatler dövüştü
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