E03565: The Martyrdom of *Barhadbeshabba (deacon and martyr in Persia, S01466) is written in Syriac in Sasanian Persia during the 4th or 5th c. Describes the martyrdom of Barhadbeshabba in the territory of Arbela (Northern Mesopotamia) under Shapur II (r. 309-379).

Martyrdom of Barhadbeshabba

Summary:

The brief surviving account of his martyrdom relates that Barhadbeshabba, a deacon in the city of Arbela in northern Mesopotamia, was arrested by the city's Zoroastrian judge Shapur Tamshapur 'in the fifteenth year of the persecution'. After the deacon was severely tortured, he was ordered to 'honour fire and water' and to 'eat blood'. In a brief dialogue between the judge and the martyr, Barhadbeshabba refuses to do this, insults Shapur Tamshapur, and confirms his adherence to the Christian faith. Enraged, the judge orders him to be executed. The execution, which took place outside the village of Ḥazā 'on the 20th of the lunar (month) of Tammuz' (i.e. 15 July), was carried out by an apostate Christian, a certain ‘Agay, who was also arrested for refusal to worship the sun. After ‘Agay beheaded Barhadbeshabba with the sword, he was immediately punished by God – his right hand swelled, his body putrefied and he died. The narrative concludes with a brief story of how two local Christian ascetics managed to snatch the martyr's body away from two guards, who were watching over it. After they tried unsuccessfully to bribe the guards, they attacked and beat them, carrying away the body, in order to bury it in a secret place.