| Type: | neighbourhood |
| Alayunt | |
| Province: | Mardin |
| District: | Dargeçit |
| Population Total: | 247 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
Alayunt or Alayurt (; syr|Arbaye) is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Dargeçit, Mardin Province in Turkey.[1] The village is populated by Kurds of the Erebiyan tribe and had a population of 247 in 2021.[2] It is located in the historic region of Tur Abdin.
In the village, there are churches of Mar Saba and Mar Jirjis.
The Church of Mar Saba at Arbaye (today called Alayunt) is believed to have been constructed in the eighth century. In 1914, the village was inhabited by 250 Assyrians, according to the list presented to the Paris Peace Conference by the Assyro-Chaldean delegation. There were 30 Assyrian families in 1915. The Assyrians adhered to the Syriac Orthodox Church. Amidst the Sayfo, Kurds led by Ali Musa of Dayvan murdered most of the Assyrians and destroyed the Church of Mar Saba. The Church of Mar Jirjis was rebuilt in the 1940s. The village had a population of 295 in 1960. There were 215 Kurdish-speaking Christians in 32 families at Arbaye in 1966. It was abandoned by the Assyrians in 1978.
NotesCitations
. Ritter. Hellmut. 1967. Turoyo: Die Volkssprache der Syrischen Christen des Tur 'Abdin. 1. Franz Steiner Verlag. de. Hellmut Ritter.