Ishoʿsabran (

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 ...

: ܝܫܘܥܣܒܪܢ, ''Īšōʿsawrān''), born Mahanosh, was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

convert to

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 ...

who was martyred in the

Sasanian Empire 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 ...

in 620 or 621. He is commemorated as a saint in the

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 ...

churches on the third Friday after

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

.Jean Maurice Fiey, ''Saints Syriaques'' (Darwin Press, 2004), pp. 100–102. At least four persons named Ishoʿsabran appear in East Syriac

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which ...

s, but only the martyr of 620/1 has a written

hagiography 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 migh ...

. This was written by

Ishoʿyahb of Adiabene Ishoʿyahb III of Adiabene was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 649 to 659. Sources Brief accounts of Ishoʿyahb's patriarchate are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (thirteenth-century), and t ...

before he became patriarch in 649 based on the testimony of Ishoʿsabran's surviving companion, Ishoʿzka. In the words of

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 rece ...

, this biography is "as much from a literary point of view as a critical point of view, one of the best productions of the one of the best East Syriac writers." Born Mahanosh in the town of Qūr in

Adiabene Adiabene was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it eventually gained control of Ni ...

and raised Zoroastrian, he was converted by the words of his already-converted wife and the local priest, Ishoʿ Raḥme. He was baptised in the monastery of Beth Shakūḥ, east of Arbela, and took the name Ishoʿsabran. At first he practised his new religion secretly. After publicising his conversion, he was denounced by his brother to a local judge—since conversion from Zoroastrianism was illegal—and imprisoned in Ḥazza, capital of Adiabene. Ishoʿsabran was on trial before the governor when a fellow Christian, Yazdīn, a minister of Shah

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...

, happened to be passing through and procured his release. His brother died not long after his release and he decided to leave his wife and become a

mendicant A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many inst ...

in the mountains. He returned to Qūr to study the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

under Ishoʿzka, son of the priest Ishoʿ Raḥme. He intended to provoke his own persecution in the hopes of securing martyrdom. Ishoʿsabran founded a monastery two miles outside Qūr, which became renowned for its charity. Against the wishes of his own monks, he took in twenty

foundling Foundling may refer to: * An abandoned child, see child abandonment * Foundling hospital, an institution where abandoned children were cared for ** Foundling Hospital, Dublin, founded 1704 ** Foundling Hospital, Cork, founded 1737 ** Foundling H ...

s. He also distributed food to the poor and widows during a famine. After almost two years, he was arrested at the instigation of the Magoi and taken under military escort to Arbela. Ishoʿsabran remained in prison for fifteen years, during which time the

Monophysites Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the incarn ...

attempted, unsuccessfully, to convert him to their creed. With several other notables from

Beth Garmai Beth Garmai, ( ar, باجرمي ', Middle Persian: ''Garamig''/''Garamīkān''/''Garmagān'', New Persian/Kurdish: ''Garmakan'', syc, ܒܝܬ ܓܪܡܐ ', Latin and Greek: ''Garamaea'') is a historical region around the city of Kirkuk in northern ...

, he was brought before the shah. A further intervention by Yazdīn was unsuccessful. After six days of interrogation, he was tortured. With the others, he was brought to

Beth Warda Beth may refer to: Letter and number *Bet (letter), or beth, the second letter of the Semitic abjads (writing systems) *Hebrew word for "house", often used in the name of synagogues and schools (e.g. Beth Israel) Name *Beth (given name) lists p ...

and crucified.

References

{{reflist Year of birth unknown 620s deaths 7th-century Iranian people Converts to Christianity from Zoroastrianism Christians in the Sasanian Empire People executed by the Sasanian Empire People executed by crucifixion 7th-century Christian martyrs Persian saints