Abd al-Masih, born Asher ben Levi (אשר בן לוי), was a

Jewish Christian Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...

Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

and

Martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

. The name Abd al-Masih () means "servant of the Messiah" in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. Abd al-Masih, born Asher ben LeviAsher ben Levi
at jewishencyclopaedia.com; retrieved 21 July 2019 was a

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

shepherd boy in Sassanian Mesopotamia who was killed by his father Levi for his faith. Having been converted to Christianity he pierced his ear to wear an earring (probably indication of his slavery). He died in 390 AD. The story is set in Singara and is a Syriac text with later versions in Arabic and Armenian. There is disagreement about the location of his martyrdom. Some sources say

Singar Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its p ...

(in modern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

near the Syrian border), and others say Taglibis in Arabia. He is regarded as the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of sterile women in Syria, and has his feast day observed on July 13, and July 22 or October 3.Holweck, F. G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924. After his martyrdom, his then-elderly father grew troubled and unwell, and after being taken to the place where his son died; he ended up converting to Christianity with his family.

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External links

al-Masih,+martyr&pg=RA1-PA182 Eastern Christianityal-Masih%2C%20martyr&pg=PA2 A New Dictionary of Saints
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abd al-Masih People from Sinjar 4th-century Christian martyrs Converts to Christianity from Judaism Christian saints Year of birth unknown Iraqi Jews 390 deaths