History
The Nestorian diocese of Shigar was founded in the sixth century, probably to counter the growing influence of the Jacobites in the region. The full name of the diocese was Shigar and Beth Arabaye, and it covered the desert region to the north of Sinjar, where there were several Nestorian monasteries. Six Nestorian bishops of Shigar are attested between the sixth and the fourteenth centuries. The first of these bishops, Bawai, is mentioned in 563. The last, Yohannan, was present at the consecration of the patriarch Timothy II in 1318. It is not clear when the diocese of Shigar came to an end. The Shigar region seems to have had a small Nestorian community up to the seventeenth century, and may even have had a bishop from time to time. A metropolitan 'Glanan Imech' (possibly Maranemmeh), of 'Sciugar' is mentioned in the report of 1607, and may have been a bishop of Shigar. According to a Yezidi tradition, the last Nestorian 'metropolitan' of Sinjar died around 1660, and the region's few remaining Nestorian Christians become Yezidis. It is difficult to say whether there is any truth in this tradition.Nestorian monasteries and villages in Beth Arabaye
The Beth Arabaye region lay between Mosul and Nisibis. Its main centres were the towns of Balad (modern Eski Mosul) and Shigar (Sinjar), both of which had Nestorian bishops, and therefore presumably Nestorian communities, as late as 1318. At an earlier period there were Nestorian communities in the villages of Kfar Zamre (the seat of a Nestorian bishop in 790), Awana (home of the monk Ahron, founder of an eighth-century monastery near Balad), and Beth Ushnaya (mentioned by Amr as the scene of a miracle in 1201); there was a Nestorian monastery of Bauth not far from Kfar Zamre (mentioned also by Amr in 1201); and there were several Nestorian monasteries in the immediate vicinity of Balad, including the sixth-century monasteries of Mar Ishozkha (mentioned in the ''History of Rabban Bar Idta'') and Mar Denha (mentioned by Amr), the monasteries of Mar Pethion, Rabban Ahron and Rabban Joseph (mentioned around the end of the eighth century inBishops of Shigar
An itinerant bishop in the Shigar region named Main, previously a general in the Persian army, is attested between 374 and 411, but no bishops from the Shigar region attended any of the fifth- and sixth-century synods. A regular Nestorian diocese for Shigar is not attested until the second half of the sixth century. The bishop Bawai of Shigar is attested in 563. The bishop Shemon of Shigar is attested towards the end of the tenth century. The bishop Mushe of Shigar was present at the consecration of the patriarchNotes
References
* * Assemani, J. S., ''Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana'' (4 vols, Rome, 1719–28) * * Fiey, J. M., ''Assyrie chrétienne'' (3 vols, Beirut, 1962) * * * * Wallis Budge, E. A., ''The Book of Governors: The Historia Monastica of Thomas, Bishop of Marga, AD 840'' (London, 1893) * Wallis Budge, E. A., ''The Monks of Kublai Khan'' (London, 1928) * * {{Dioceses of the Church of the East Dioceses of the Church of the East Dioceses of the Assyrian Church of the East Church of the East in Iraq Christian organizations established in the 5th century