Karalar (Arabic: عربان, Kurdish: Eraban, Syriac: ܥܪܒܐܢ, romanized: ʿArban) is a town (belde) in the İdil District of Şırnak Province in Turkey. The settlement is populated by Kurds of the Domanan tribe and had a population of 4,065 in 2021. It is located in the historic region of Tur Abdin.

History

ʿArban (today called Karalar) was historically inhabited by Syriac Orthodox Assyrians. There was a church of the Virgin and Mar Barsoum. It was attacked by Bakhti Kurds in 1453 alongside the neighbouring villages of Beth Sbirino, Bēth Isḥaq, and Midun, as per the account of the priest Addai of Basibrina in c. 1500. Bakhti Kurds attacked ʿArban, as well as the villages of Bēth Isḥaq and Midun, again in 1457, resulting in the death of the priests Behnam and Addai, the deacon Abu Nasr, and 40 men whilst the women and children were taken captive.

In 1748, the episcopal residence of the Church of the Virgin and Mar Barsoum was renovated by Basil Denha Baltaji, the Syriac Orthodox Maphrian of Tur Abdin, at which time the village was inhabited by 14 Syriac Orthodox families. ʿArban was later visited by Aphrem Barsoum in 1911 who noted only two Assyrian families and roughly 40 Muslim families resided there whilst the church lay in ruins. In 1914, the village was reportedly inhabited by 100 Assyrians, according to the Assyro-Chaldean delegation to the Paris Peace Conference.