The inhabitants of Araden were converted to Chaldean Catholicism in the 1830s by Joseph Audo, archbishop of Amadiya, and Dominican missionaries. Therefore, in 1850, 50-75 Chaldean Catholic families inhabited Araden, and were served by two functioning churches and one priest as part of the archdiocese of Amadiya. By 1913, the community had expanded to 650 Chaldean Catholics, with two priests, two schools, and one functioning church. The village was inhabited by 515 Assyrians in c. 1933, and the church of Mart Shmune was rebuilt in 1935. A small Jewish community resided at Araden until their emigration to Israel in 1950-1951.