Baghdad: Dozens of ancient relics and parchments belonging to saints from Simon to St John were discovered in a church that had been damaged by the Islamic State in Iraq. The relics were found during recent restoration work at the Syrian Orthodox Church of Mar Thomas, Mosul which was completely destroyed by the militants back in 2014.
Six stone containers bearing Aramaic inscriptions of the Saints and several manuscripts in Syriac/Aramaic were discovered from the walls of this Syrian church.
The discovery of great historical, religious and cultural value confirms once again the bond of Christians with Iraq and, more generally, with the Middle Eastern region.
A first stone box bearing the inscription of Saint Theodore, a Roman soldier born in Çorum province in Turkey in the 3rd century who was beheaded after converting to Christianity. Others include Mar Thoma (St Thomas the Apostle) the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Mosul, St. Simon the Zealot, the Apostle, Mar Gabriel Bishop of Tur Abdin, Mar Qumi called Simeon, Mar John, Mar Gregorios Bar-Ebraya, the Maphrian of the East.
Of these relics, only the relic of Mar Thoma was taken away ahead of the 2014 destruction. The rest of the relics were not easy to take and remove as they were deposited deep within the walls and pillars of the church. It was believed that these relics were destroyed and lost forever when ISIS destroyed the church in 2014. On 04-June-2022, Mor Nicodimos Daweed, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Mosul was able to come back to Mar Thoma Church Mosul along with some priests and deacons and recover these relics.
Parchments written in Syrian/Armenian and Arabic wrapped and protected in glass bottles were also discovered in the church ruins.
The Syriac Catholic Saint Thomas (or 'Mar Toma') Church in Mosul is considered one of the oldest churches in the city. The church is dedicated to Saint Thomas the Apostle and is believed to have been constructed on the site of the house where the saint once resided in.
His remnants are believed to have been discovered on the site during a restoration project in 1964.
The church was first mentioned in historical records dating to AD770. In 2009, a bomb blast hit the church, resulting in human fatalities and irreparable damage to its former structure. The Church was then used as a prison by ISIS insurgents until the city's liberation in 2017.