The Church of Mor Addai in Beth Ishoq (Başakköy)

This chapter offers a diachronical reading of the Church of Mor Addai in the village of Beth Ishoq (Başakköy) in Tur Abdin. Few would expect to find Byzantine art in south-eastern Turkey, especially in Tur Abdin, which, in the Late Antique period, was mainly a refuge for the miaphysite Syriac Church that was not theologically in communion with Constantinople. Syriac people are ethnically different from the Greeks and they speak a different language. In addition, the region was lost to the Arabs as early as 640, after which most of the churches were built or extensively rebuilt. These historic facts raise the question which has already been addressed: “How do we wish to define Byzantine art?” In this chapter, while tracing the remarkable changes in the architecture of this church, the author points out the features local to the region and those that might be considered global when we talk about Byzantine architecture. Changes and additions that are similar to those in the Church of Mor Addai can be seen also in other churches of the region, indicating a larger rebuilding project. Some other changes, on the other hand, are peculiar to this church, resulting from adapting to the new situations.