The Syriac Orthodox/Assyrian Orphanage and School in Beirut

What is it about?

This school was first founded in Adana, Turkey, in the turmoil of World War One when the Armenian genocide affected Syriac/Assyrian Christians too. The school relocated to Beirut, Lebanon in the 1920s and became one of the most successful schools of the Syriac Orthodox community. It is the small story of the bigger history.

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Why is it important?

At the same time, the story of this school, its graduates and admistration is also a testimony to the place of Arabic and Arab nationalism among Christians in the Middle East. Arabic, Arab nationalism and Lebanese nationalism appear as much more complex than often assumed and were by no means clearly defined in the first half of the twentieth century.