For the place in Armenia, see Armash, Armenia

Armash, Armenia

Armash is a town in the Ararat Province of Armenia.Armash has a population of 2,644. Its cititizens consist of mainly farmers, the number one crop for this region of Ararat is its watermelon, and tomatoes....

.

Armash (or Harmashi in Kurdish

Kurdish language

Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....

) is an Assyrian

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 village in Northern Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 that falls on the main road that connects the cities of Dohuk

Dahuk, Iraq

Dohuk is the capital of Dahuk Governorate in Iraq. It has about 250.000 inhabitants, mostly consisting of Kurds, with an Assyrian minority...

 and Arbil

Arbil

Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...

. Armash is a very old village with a fellow Assyrian "sister" village right next to it called Azakh. The inhabitants do not know when the village was founded. The inhabitants are Assyrians

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 who are mainly followers of the Chaldean Catholic Church

Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...

, as is the same with other villages in the region such as Azakh, Tellan and Bebozy.

The village was subject to destruction and burn with its groves many times, but the inhabitants came back every time and rebuild their village because of the strong ties to their land and faith they have inherited. In 1961, about 45 families lived in the village, but due to the circumstances that stormed the northern part of Iraq, many of these families fled the village to Iraqi cities seeking peace and stability and escaping the economical difficulties. Prior to 1961 there was no school or any governmental project in the village. The Student walked every day to Atroush town (7 kilometers away) as did the student of Azakh. The village church was also destroyed in the last destruction of the village 1987.

After the Kurdish uprising of 1991, the majority of the families came back to the village where a humanitarian organization built some 20 shelters, but are not suitable for ordinary living conditions.

As of 2006, the population of the village stands at 180. http://www.nordirak-turabdin.de/Nordirak/Aktuelles__Nordirak_/Aktuelles_Nordirak_Projekte.htm#engel

On 2003 a Multi-function community hall in Armash was built to serve the Assyrian Christian community in the region. The area still contains a lot of the ancient monasteries and churches.

The village is famous for its groves and fruits as well as its grains. Because it falls on the main road between Arbil

Arbil

Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...

 and Dohuk

Dahuk, Iraq

Dohuk is the capital of Dahuk Governorate in Iraq. It has about 250.000 inhabitants, mostly consisting of Kurds, with an Assyrian minority...

most of its produce is sold to the passengers on the road.