Monastery of Mar Behnam

The Monastery of Mar Behnam and Mart Sara stands near Beth Khdeda, in the village of Khidr Ilyas in northern Iraq. According to legend it was founded in the fourth century by a king named Sinharib as penance for the martyrdom of his son and daughter, whom the monastery honors. It holds the tomb of Mar Behnam.

The monastery was renovated in 1164 and again between 1250 and 1261. Persian attacks followed in the eighteenth century, and the monks left in 1819. The Syriac Catholic Church repopulated it in 1839. Before 2014 it was visited by thousands of Christians and Muslims each year.

ISIS took control in June 2014 and blew up the tomb in March 2015. Iraqi forces retook the site in November 2016, and repairs were completed by December 2018. It is now a Syriac Catholic monastery.