Sun worshipers who converted to the Syr. Orth. faith around the 6th cent.,
according to later testimonies. From the 14th cent. onward, they lived in
and around [
Amid
](https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Amid) and [
Mardin
](https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Mardin). They must
have been looked upon with suspicion from the 14th until the 16th cent., for
they resorted to obtaining at least eight bulls from various patriarchs and
maph. testifying to their membership in the Syr. Orth. faith. The first
testimony that survives is given by Patr.
[
Abrohom II
Gharīb
](https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Abrohom-II-Gharib) dated 25 July 1436, from which many later testimonies draw
their text. The Shamsi followed the liturgical rites of the Syr. Orth., but
had their own social traditions. Probably until the 19th cent., they did
not intermarry with others. They used to bury their dead with furniture and
personal belongings, especially weapons, gold and silver, in their own
cemeteries. In the mid-19th cent., they started marrying other Syr. Orth.
There were around 70 families of them in Amid and Mardin in the period of
World War I, and they had their own Church (Virgin Mary) in Mardin. A few
families survive in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and the US.