[1] It is usually better known by its nickname, the Saffron Monastery (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܟܘܪܟܡܐ, Dairo d-Kurkmo[2]; Arabic: دير الزعفران, Dairu 'l-Za‘farān[2]) which is derived from the warm color of its stone.

Syriac Orthodox culture was centered in two monasteries near Mardin (west of Tur Abdin), Mor Gabriel and Deyrulzafaran.

[3] The Mor Hananyo Monastery is built on the site of a 4500-year-old temple dedicated to the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash, which was then converted into a citadel by the Romans.

The monastery was later abandoned and re-founded by the bishop of Mardin, John, who carried out important renovations and moved the see of the Syriac Orthodox Church here before his death on the 12th of July 1165.

The main chapel still retains patches of its original turquoise coat and houses a 300-year-old Bible, a 1000-year-old baptismal font, and a 1600-year-old mosaic floor.

The remains of that temple may be found in a basement of the monastery, but as the structure has not been scientifically researched, this identification has to be taken with a grain of salt.

[9] In the printing house, books in Arabic, Turkish, and Syriac, were published until 1969, and a monthly magazine called Öz Hikmet until 1953.