Chapter 1 Urhoy, parts of pages 7 and 8:
Syriac Churches in Urhoy
I’tto Suryoyto, the Syriac Church, was the Syriac people’s religious belief system, united under a single theological doctrine, with their faith not yet splintering into many denominations.
In the 1800s, the community had two churches (jam) in Urhoy, St. Peter and Paul (Mar Boutros ou Boulos) and St. George (Mar Jirjos). 
St. Peter and Paul Church courtyard
The first church was built in AD 37 (The Golden Jubilee by Yousef Nameq).
St. George Syriac Church was about a twenty-minute walk north of St. Peter and Paul Church in Urhoy. It was in the Kamberiye Mahallesi district and was built outside the city walls in AD 1844. A special permit from the Sublime Porte of Istanbul was required to construct the church.
A gentleman from the Ahron family, Maqdisi Monofar Ahron, circa 1820, walked from Urhoy to Istanbul on foot and back again to secure the permit to construct St. George Church in Urhoy. (The two cities are 1,200 km from each other, about a 240-hour walk.) He was a member of the community’s Board of Directors. There was a lottery to choose the one who would trek to obtain the legal document. It took him about seventy days overall, a month going, a few days lingering and sightseeing in Istanbul, and another month to return home. The story goes that he wore an anklet with jingling tiny bells (ghalghal) to keep animals away.
Chapter 4 En Route, page 40:
It was a cold and cloudy day, reflected in their gloomy faces. The Syriacs of Urhoy were saddened to leave behind thousands of years of history, businesses and residences, mansions and vineyards, churches, convents and monasteries, and provisions carefully prepared for winter consumption. Above all, they felt the humiliation of being expelled from their ancestral city for no discernible reason. They felt anxious to head towards unfamiliar territories with only their memories to take along. It was incomprehensible and perplexing.
Chapter 9 Churches, page 78:
Every aspect of the project became an event, and competition was the driving force among the young adults. Who could dig further or deeper? Who could shovel for longer? It was the main activity for everyone in the Quarter. Women, as well as children of all ages, contributed in their own ways. It was the daily talk of the whole congregation…
…A pickaxe (qazma) was given to the young boy. He lifted it high above his head, crashing it down with all his might. By chance, the axe struck a hard rock, making sparks fly into the air in the shape of a butterfly (purpuruk). It was a good omen; some made the sign of the cross while others prayed. In no time, the basket was full of cash donations and jewelry like bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and even engagement rings; the new fiancées did not hesitate to sacrifice for a good cause.
Chapter 11 Housing: Stage One, page 104:
They slowly and progressively replaced those tents with permanent houses using three building styles. One type was constructed with bricks of mud (karpij) prepared from mud and grain/hay dried by the sun. Another was using Aleppo’s soft white stones (ḥafara1 kar). The third was built with the hard sandstones of Aleppo (simsimi kar Souri). The roofs of the first two styles were covered with corrugated metal sheets (saj). The roofs of the third style were covered with ‘I’ shaped steel beams and concrete. 
These houses with central courtyards are mistakenly attributed to the Arabs and the Turks, but they existed long before they invaded the area (excerpt from chapter 1).
Chapter 21 Professions, page 143:
Joulḥaji or Chiflak (Weaver)
Weaving was a family business inherited from parents and grandparents from one generation to another. The male head of the family was labelled the weaver, but the whole family, including women, children, and grandparents, ran the operation together.
Weaver and loom
Chiflak means spider, referencing the weaver and the web the spider weaves. The children of weavers were advised never to kill spiders: “He is your grandfather; do not kill it.” Perhaps they believed in reincarnation, an inherited notion from before Christianity, or it was respect for a kindred species that shared similar work.
Chapter 32 Excursions, page 214:
Damgha/Khitem (Clay Cylinder Seals)
In their adventures, picking and eating wildflowers and fruit, they encountered desiccated and withered clay cylinder seals strewn across the terrain. Some were in good shape, while others were in broken pieces. They did not know the value of those ancient treasures until they learned about them in secondary school or later, when visiting museums. It never occurred to them to collect them or to consult an elder.
Ishtar cylinder seal
A cylinder seal was a reverse, intaglio, stamp made of a long bead hung on strings or leather and worn as a necklace or bracelet. In ancient times, it was a form of a signature. The seal was rolled onto soft clay to imprint the personally carved logo.
Chapter 41 Abandoned Churches in Urhoy, page 264:
After the Syriac people were forcibly deported in 1924, annihilating Christians from Urhoy, their abandoned historic churches, over time, were misused and fell into disrepair.
St. Peter and Paul Church in disrepair
The beautiful St. Peter and Paul (Mar Boutros ou Boulos) Church was used disrespectfully as sheep and cow pens, a tobacco and alcohol processing factory, and storage for grapes and carpet manufacturing, where looms were installed.