Ifra Hormizd (Modern fa, ایفرا هرمز) or Faraya Ohrmazd (Modern fa, فرایه هرمز) was a

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 last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

noblewoman, spouse of

Hormizd II Hormizd II (also spelled Hormozd or Ohrmazd; pal, 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣) was king (shah) of the Sasanian Empire. He ruled for seven years and five months, from 303 to 309. He was a son and successor of Narseh (). During his reign, the Ki ...

and mother 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 reigned fo ...

. She was the regent during the minority of her son between 309 and 325. Following the death of Hormizd, and the crisis of succession that followed, the noblemen of the country decided to hand over power to the last child of Hormizd, who had not yet been born of Ifra. Thus, the crown was placed on Ifra's belly, and she ruled over the country with nobles from 309 until the adulthood of her son, Shapur, who was declared mature to rule himself at age sixteen in 325.

Etymylogy

There isn't much information about Ifra Hormizd's name, and only Jewish sources mentioned her name.

Theodor Nöldeke Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar. His research interests ranged over Old Testament studies, Semitic languages and Arabic, Persian and Syriac literature. Nöldeke translated several ...

also finds the name "Ifra" unclear.

Life

Ifra Hormizd had a Jewish father and she converted to Christianity later. There have been many accounts throughout history of her friendly relations and cooperation with the Jews at the court in achieving their goals. She has been mentioned in five chapters of

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

. Talmud represents Ifra as a queen with interest in Judaism. According to a

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...

chronicle, the father of Shapur II's mother was Jewish. According to the corresponding chronicle, Ifra Hormizd was converted to Christianity by

Shemon Bar Sabbae Mar Shimun Bar Sabbae ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܒܪܨܒܥܐ, died Good Friday, 345) was Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, from Persia, the ''de facto'' head of the Church of the East, until his death. He was bishop during the persecutions of King S ...

and it was one of the main reasons for execution of Shemon and persecution of Christians during reign of Shapur II.

Regency

Following the death of

(), his son

Adur Narseh Adur Narseh ( fa, آذرنرسه) was the ninth Sasanian King of Kings of Iran briefly in 309. Following his father's death, the nobles and Zoroastrian clergy saw an opportunity to gain influence within the Empire. Thus, they murdered Adur Narseh, ...

() succeeded him, but after a while he was deposed and killed by noblemen. Nobles then blinded Hormizd's second son and his third son who was named Hormizd, was imprisoned. He escaped the prison shortly afterwards and took refuge in

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 ...

. Therefore the throne of Sassanid empire was considered for the unborn son of Hormizd by his wife Ifra Hormizd, who later became

().

References

Sources

* * * * * * Jews in the Sasanian Empire Christians in the Sasanian Empire Sasanian queens 4th-century deaths 4th-century Iranian people 4th-century women rulers {{Sasanian-bio-stub