The Acts of Pusai or Martyrdom of Pusai is a Syriac narrative about the martyrdom of a Christian saint named

Pusai Pusai (?- Good Friday, 344) was a Christian priest and companion in martyrdom with Simeon Barsabae and others. They are collectively commemorated in feasts on April 17 in the Greek Orthodox Church, April 21 in the Roman Catholic Church, April 30 in ...

. English-speaking literature refers to this work by a variety of names, including the Martyrdom of Pusai-Qarugbed, on account of Pusai's title Qarugbed, "Head of the Craftsmen", and as the "Martyrdom of Pusay (or Phusik, Pusayk, Pusices, Pusik", Posi). Other variants include Acts of Mar Pusai and the Passions of Pusay.

Narrative overview

The Sassanian Persian kings

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

(ruled 239-270 CE) and

Shapur II Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reigned fo ...

(ruled 309-379) both struggled against the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

and deported prisoners of war to other areas within their own empire.For Shapur II's fighting with Rome, and his deportation of Armenians, see The Acts of Pusai seems to have mixed these two rulers into a single "Shapur" in producing the narrative about Pusai, who is said to have descended from Roman captives of Shapur. According to the ''Acts'', Pusai married a Persian woman, converted her to Christianity, and baptised their children. Pusai and his family were relocated by Shapur to the new settlement of Karka d'Ledan, near

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

. The intention of Shapur was to bring deportees from a variety of regions to the new city so that they would intermarry and therefore lose interest in returning to their homelands. The narrator records that while Shapur did this for self-interested reasons, God used this intermingling to spread Christianity. There Pusai worked as a skilled craftsman in the making of fine cloth. The king took notice of his skills, and promoted him and regularly gave him gifts. Pusai was martyred in the year 341. Shapur began persecuting Christians, and when Pusai witnessed the martyrdom of one Christian, Pusai encouraged the man, soon to be killed, to close his eyes and think of Christ. Pusai was immediately reported to Shapur, who had him arrested. He was interrogated by Shapur, and argued against Shapur's

Zurvanite Zurvanism is a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zurva ...

religious ideas. Instead of renouncing his faith, Pusai announced that he was willing to die for it, and was killed by having his tongue torn from his mouth. His daughter Martha, who had taken a lifetime religious vow of celibacy, was taken into custody and put to death a little later.

References

{{reflist Texts in Syriac 4th-century Christian texts Christian hagiography Christianity in the Sasanian Empire