Shamsi Clan George A. Kiraz Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute Syriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portal Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University The International Balzan Prize Foundation George A. Kiraz Sebastian P. Brock Aaron M. Butts Lucas Van Rompay Ute Possekel Daniel L. Schwartz David A. Michelson Data cleaning, editorial proofreading, and TEI editing by Ute S. Posssekel Data cleaning and initial valid TEI encoding by David Michelson XSLT transformations by Winona Salesky Data cleaning, editorial proofreading, TEI schema, and TEI encoding and editing by Daniel L. Schwartz Conversion to semantic XML by George A. Kiraz Electronic Edition Version 1.5 Published by Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA www.gorgiaspress.com for Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute Published with the collaboration of Syriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portal Published and hosted with the collaboration of the Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University

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2016-09-22-16:00
Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition George A. Kiraz Sebastian P. Brock Aaron M. Butts Lucas Van Rompay Ute Possekel Daniel L. Schwartz David A. Michelson Data cleaning, editorial proofreading, and TEI editing by Ute S. Posssekel Data cleaning and initial valid TEI encoding by David Michelson XSLT transformations by Winona Salesky Data cleaning, editorial proofreading, TEI schema, and TEI encoding and editing by Daniel L. Schwartz Conversion to semantic XML by George A. Kiraz Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage Sebastian P. Brock Aaron M. Butts George A. Kiraz Lucas Van Rompay Piscataway, N.J. Gorgias Press for Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute 2011 Copyright ©2011 by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute ISBN: 978-1-59333-714-8
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Shamsi Clan https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Shamsi-Clan http://syriaca.org/bibl/503 494 org Sun worshipers who converted to the Syr. Orth. faith around the 6th cent.. [Syr. Orth.]

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 and 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 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.

Sources Barsoum, in <abbr>PatMagJer</abbr> 3 (1936), 100–8, 137–45. (testimonies; republished in Barsoum, Manārat antakya al-suryāniyya [Aleppo, 1992], 114–30, and G. Y.  Ibrahim, Dulabani nasik mardin [Aleppo, 1999])
George A. Kiraz