Abo of Tiflis ( ar, أبو التفليسي, translit=Abu al-Tiflisi; ka, აბო თბილელი, tr; c. 756 – 6 January 786) was an early

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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 ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

origin, who went on to practice his faith in what is now

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, the capital of present-day

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Life

by origin, Abo initially grew up as a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he found himself in

, having followed

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Prince Nerses, the ruler of

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...

. Nerses, having been slandered before the

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, spent three years in confinement; freed by a new Caliph, he took Abo with him. Abo's profession in Baghdad was that of a

perfumer A perfumer is an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a ''nose'' (French: ''nez'') due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions. The perfumer is effectively an artist wh ...

, in which he excelled as a maker of fine perfumes and ointments, the art evidently implying knowledge of chemistry. On his arrival to Eastern Georgia (Kartli) he became convinced of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, which didn't happen immediately, but only after a committed soul-searching that involved heated quarrels even with Christian priests and bishops over the finer religious matters; those quarrels only consolidated him in his conviction that the truth was in Christianity. However, initially Abo was afraid to convert openly as eastern

was under Arab rule; he only abandoned the Muslim habit of five-times prayers per-day and started praying in a Christian manner. For political reasons, his prince had to seek shelter in

Khazaria The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

north of the Caspian Sea, an area which was not ruled by Muslims; Abo accompanied him, and was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

there. From Khazaria Nerses moved to

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

, that was also free from the Arab dominion, taking Abo with him. There in Abkhazia Abo zealously followed the Christian life of prayers and ascetic struggles, preparing himself for a future mission. Prince Nerses and his party returned to Tbilisi in 782, and Abo, notwithstanding the warning that it was not safe for him to go to Tbilisi, followed him. For about three years, Abo openly confessed his Christian faith on the streets of Tbilisi - both fortifying by his example the Christians who attempted to escape Arab rule and trying to convert his Arab compatriots to Christianity. A series of threats and warnings failed to dampen his zeal. In 786, he was denounced as a Christian to the Arab officials in Tbilisi, and arrested. The judge attempted to persuade Abo to return to the faith of his ancestors. He confessed his faith at trial, was imprisoned, and executed on 6 January 786. Ioane Sabanisdze, Georgian religious writer and Abo's contemporary, compiled the martyr's life in his

hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

novel ''The Martyrdom of Saint Abo''.

Gallery

Iglesia de San Abo de Tiflis, Tiflis, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 83.jpg, View of the church along Kura River. Iglesia de San Abo de Tiflis, Tiflis, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 85.jpg, Small chapel with mosaic of Saint Abo. Iglesia de San Abo de Tiflis, Tiflis, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 86.jpg, Mosaic of Christ at chapel of Saint Abo. AboChurch.jpg, St. Abo of Tiflis church in

Notes

References

*Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. . * Holweck, F. G., ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abo Of Tiflis 786 deaths People from Baghdad Converts to Christianity from Islam Saints of Georgia (country) 8th-century Christian saints 8th-century Christian martyrs 8th-century executions by the Umayyad Caliphate History of Tbilisi Christianity in Tbilisi Iraqi former Muslims Christian saints killed by Muslims People executed for apostasy from Islam 8th-century births Arab Christian saints 8th-century Arabs

Life

See also

Gallery

Notes

References

External links