The Syriac Martyrdom of *Abraham of Arbela (bishop and martyr in Persia, S01366) recounts the arrest, ill-treatment and martyrdom of Abraham under Shapur II (r. 309-379). Written in Sasanian Persia during the 4th or 5th c.
Evidence ID
E03012
Type of Evidence
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Major author/Major anonymous work
Persian martyrdom accounts
Martyrdom of Abraham of Arbela
Summary:
The brief account of his martyrdom that survives relates that Abraham, a bishop of the city of Arbela in northern Mesopotamia, was arrested by the city's Zoroastrian chief-priest Adur-Farrah in the fifth year of the persecution. The bishop was severely beaten, to make him worship the sun. In a brief dialogue between the chief-priest and the martyr, Adur-Farrah tries to persuade Abraham to comply with the king's will, while the latter refuses to do so. Treating the bishop's refusal as a case of lèse-majesté, Adur-Farrah orders that he be beheaded by the sword. The execution is said to have taken place in the village of Tel Nyāḥā on the fifth of February.
Summary: S. Minov
Non Liturgical ActivityZoroastrians
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesZoroastrians
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Martyrdom of Abraham of Arbela is a brief account of the arrest, interrogation and execution of Abraham, the bishop of the city of Arbela in Northern Mesopotamia. Arrested and interrogated by the city's Zoroastrian chief-priest Adur-Farrah, he is said to have been beheaded by the sword during the fifth year of the 'Great Persecution' of the shah Shapur II (r. 309-379), i.e. in the year 345. While it is difficult to establish the work's date with certainty, the second half of the 4th, or the 5th century seem to be a likely time of the Martyrdom's composition. In its present form, the Martyrdom is extremely brief, so there is good reason to think that it might be a summary of a longer original composition.The Martyrdom is attested in a single manuscript, Berlin, Königliche Bibliothek, or. oct. 1256 [= Assfalg 26], dated to the 19th century (see Assfalg 1963, pp. 53-56). It was edited by Bedjan 1890-1897. There seems to be also a Coptic version of this work, on which see Winstedt 1908.
Syriac text: Bedjan 1890-1897, vol. 4, pp. 130-131. For general information, see Peeters 1925, pp. 271-272.
Discussion
The Martyrdom bears witness to the local cult of the martyred bishop Abraham, which apparently developed during the second half of the 4th or the 5th century in the city of Arbela in northern Mesopotamia.Bibliography
Main editions and translations:Bedjan, P., Acta martyrum et sanctorum. 7 vols (Paris / Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1890-1897).
Winstedt, E.O., “Coptic Saints and Sinners. I. Abraham,” Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 30 (1908), 231-237, 276-283.
Further reading:
Assfalg, J., Syrische Handschriften: syrische, karšunische, christlich-palästinensische, neusyrische und mandäische Handschriften (Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland 5; Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1963).
Peeters, P., “Le “Passionaire d’Adiabène”,” Analecta Bollandiana 43 (1925), 261-304.
Record Created By
Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01366 | Abraham of Arbela, bishop and martyr in Persia, ob. c. 345 | ܐܒܪܗܡ | Certain |
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