Babowai (also Babaeus or Mar Babwahi) (died 484) was

Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon The Patriarch of the Church of the East (also known as Patriarch of the East, Patriarch of Babylon, the Catholicose of the East or the Grand Metropolitan of the East) is the patriarch, or leader and head bishop (sometimes referred to as Catholic ...

and Patriarch of the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

from 457 to 484, during the reign of the

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

King

Peroz I Peroz I ( pal, 𐭯𐭩𐭫𐭥𐭰, Pērōz) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 459 to 484. A son of Yazdegerd II (), he disputed the rule of his elder brother and incumbent king Hormizd III (), eventually seizing the throne after ...

. Babowai was known for his pro-

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

leanings, for which he was often in conflict with other members of the anti-Byzantine

. He was executed in 484. Babowai was known as a learned philosopher. He was also a convert from Magianism, what the Zorastrians would call an

apostate Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

, someone who had renounced their religion, and therefore subject to considerable persecution. He was imprisoned for seven years, probably 470–480, and tortured repeatedly by the Magi, who were also burning churches and imprisoning other Christians. Babowai was also often in conflict with Barsauma, the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

, though this was not unusual as Babowai was known to be in conflict with many others as well, be they authorities, colleagues, or subordinates. He was known to discipline bishops in his church, and whether right or wrong, some of these bishops would flee to Barsauma for his support. The root of the conflict with Barsauma may have been due to a major issue at the time, that of whether members of the clergy should be

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

or not. When Babowai wrote a letter to some Roman bishops, asking them to use their influence with the emperor, and procure his intercession with the Shah-in-Shah (King Peroz) to avert persecution, Barsauma somehow managed to intercept the message, even though it had been hidden in the hollow of a cane. Within the letter, Babowai had used some imprudent language such as, "God has given us over to an accursed kingdom." Barsauma took advantage of this, and showed the letter to King Peroz, who was understandably furious. Peroz confronted Babowai, who admitted to the letter, and Peroz sentenced Babowai to death. For this, he is regarded by some as a martyr.

School

Babowai founded a school at

Seleucia Seleucia (; grc-gre, Σελεύκεια), also known as or , was a major Mesopotamian city of the Seleucid empire. It stood on the west bank of the Tigris River, within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. Name Seleucia ( grc-gre, ...

, of which his successor Mar Acacius was the first head. Mar Aba undertook substantial remodeling, and gave the school a library. When the Patriarchate was transferred to

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 ...

in the 9th century, the school followed it.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{authority control 484 deaths Patriarchs of the Church of the East Converts to Christianity from Zoroastrianism Year of birth unknown People executed by the Sasanian Empire Christians in the Sasanian Empire 5th-century bishops of the Church of the East