Barshabba, whose name means "son of the deportation",

Jean Maurice Fiey Jean Maurice Fiey (30 March 1914 – 10 November 1995) was a French Dominican Father and prominent Church historian and Syriacist. Biography Fiey was born in Armentières on 30 March 1914, he entered the Dominican Order at an early age and rec ...

(2004), ''Saints Syriaques'' (Darwin Press), no. 81, pp. 50–51. was the first recorded

East Syriac The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy ...

bishop of Merv. He attended the synod of Patriarch Dadishoʿ in 424.David Wilmshurst (2011), ''The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East'' (East and West Publishing), p. 40. Barshabba, or at least his name, lies at the root of an elaborate legend about the introduction 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 ...

eastern Iran Eastern Iran consists of the Lut Desert, the mountains ranges bordering Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the coastal strip of the Gulf of Oman. It includes the provinces of North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, South Khorasan and Sis ...

and

central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. The surviving versions of the legend of Barshabba are from no earlier than the 7th century. The only complete account of the legend is found in the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...

'' Chronicle of Seʿert''. An abbreviated Arabic version is in the ''Book of the Tower'' by Mārī ibn Sulaymān. These all derive from a

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

original. Fragments of a Syriac version and 350 fragments of a Sogdian translation have been found in the East Syriac monastic complex of

Bulayïq Bulayïq ( zh, t=葡萄溝, s=葡萄沟, first=t, p=Pútáogōu) is a locality and archaeological site in central Xinjiang province in western China. It is located 10km north of Turpan city in the foothills of the Tien-shan Mountains. It is also k ...

. He was venerated from eastern Iran to China, but no further west. He was venerated both in the Church of the East, with which the historical bishop was associated, and among the

Melkites The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", and ...

of central Asia. According to

al-Bīrūnī Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...

, the Melkites of

Khwarazm Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...

kept his feast on 21 June. A Sogdian gospel lectionary attests to the celebration of his feast in the

Church of the East in China The Church of the East (also known as the Nestorian Church) historically had a presence in China during two periods: first from the 7th through the 10th century in the Tang dynasty, when it was known as ''Jingjiao'' ( zh, t=景教, w=Ching3-chiao ...

. The martyrology of

Rabban Ṣalība The ''Martyrology of Rabban Sliba'' is a book containing the names and feast days of a number of martyrs of the Syriac Orthodox Church. It was edited by P. Paul Peeters, S.J., and published in '' Analecta Bollandiana'' #27 in 1908. Saints inclu ...

gives his feast as 20 August. In the legend, Barshabba was a descendant of Christians deported by

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 ...

() from Roman Syria to Iran. He was raised a Christian in Ctesiphon. He exorcised and converted Shirran, the sister or wife of

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 reigne ...

(), around the time of Shapur's peace treaty with Rome (363). To get her away from Barshabba's influence, Shapur sent Shirran to the oasis city of

Merv Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...

and ordered her to marry the local ''

marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension milita ...

'', Shirvan. From Merv she sent for Barshabba and he became its first bishop. Together they evangelised the city and region. He strove to convert the

Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius t ...

,Barbara Kaim and Maja Kornacka (2016), "Religious Landscape of the Ancient Merv Oasis", ''Iran'' 54(2): 47–72, at 60–61. built churches and founded a school. He died and was buried, but by a miracle came back to life and lived another fifteen years before dying a final time. In the Sogdian version, he is credited with founding monasteries in Fars,

Gorgan Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...

Tus Tus or TUS may refer to: * Tus (biology), a protein that binds to terminator sequences * Thales Underwater Systems, an international defence contractor * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language, ISO 639-3 code Education * Technological Univ ...

Abarshahr Abarshahr (Persian:اَبَرشهر) or Nishapur (Persian:نیشاپور) was a Sasanian satrapy (province) in Late Antiquity, that lay within the kust of Khorasan. The province bordered Media in the west, Hyrcania in the north west, Margian ...

Sarakhs Sarakhs ( fa, سرخس, Saraxs, also Romanized as Serakhs) is a city in Sarakhs County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries. Much of the origina ...

Marw al-Rudh Marw-Rud ( fa, مرورود, also fa, مروروذ ''Marw-Rudh'') or Marw al-Rudh (from ar, مرو الروذ; "Marw on the river"), locally used to be known by the older variants Marwarudh () and Marrudh (),"مرورود" in Dehkhoda Dictionary ...

, Balkh,

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

and

Sistan Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...

. The legend, combined with the evidence of the synod, would give Barshabba a pontificate of at least 69 years. The legend is consistent with the archaeological evidence for the introduction of Christianity to Merv in the 4th century.

Notes

References

{{reflist

See also

Notes

References

Further reading