ʿAqra is a diocese of the Chaldean Church. The diocese was
founded in the middle of the nineteenth century. Before the
fourteenth century the ʿAqra or Aqrah region was part of the
diocese of Marga, one of the suffragan dioceses in the
metropolitan province of Adiabene. This diocese, frequently
mentioned in Thomas of Marga's Book of Governors, included the
districts of Sapsapa (the Navkur plain south of ʿAqra, on the
east bank of the Khazir river), Talana and Nahla d'Malka (two
valleys around the upper course of the Khazir river), Beth
Rustaqa (the Gomel valley) and probably also several villages in
the Zibar district. The diocese is first mentioned in the eighth
century (the region was probably in the diocese of Beth Nuhadra
previously), and several of its bishops are mentioned between
the eighth century and the first half of the thirteenth century.
By the second half of the thirteenth century the names of two
villages in the Gomel valley, Tella and Barbelli (Billan), were
also included in the title of the di