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The Persian Martyr Acts are a series of Syriac martyrological texts composed from the fourth century into the Islamic period. One of the only of these martyr acts never before published is the History of Holy Mar Ma‘in of Sinjar, which tells the story of a Sasanian general during the time of Shapur II (309–79) who suffered persecution after his conversion to Christianity. Composed probably in the sixth century, the life of this confessor and holy man is of a higher literary quality than most of the other texts describing martyrdoms under Shapur II. Like several other similar documents, such as the History of Mar Qardag, it appears to be a legendary projection back onto the great age of Christian martyrs of the fourth century. In this volume, the first in this new series from Gorgias Press, Sebastian P. Brock provides the first edition of the Syriac text of the History of Ma‘in and the first full translation of it, as well as a textual and historical commentary. In addition to these materials, this volume also includes a basic guide to the bibliography, both primary and secondary, of the whole corpus of Persian Martyr Acts as well as useful indices to these numerous and diverse texts. This will serve as a basic handbook to any future literary or historical work on the Martyr Acts.

Christian martyrs --- Martyrologies --- Syriac literature --- Maʻin, --- Martyrologies. --- Syriac literature. --- "Acta martyrum" --- Christian martyrs - Iran --- Muain mon. in Mesopotamia --- Martyres Persae --- Maʻin, - ca. 310-ca. 424

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Around the year 339 CE, Simeon bar Sabbae (the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon on the Tigris) was killed by the Persian king Shapur II. Simeon was arrested for refusing to collect taxes from his flock, and he was beheaded for disobeying the king’s order to worship the sun. The bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon was no minor figure. In fact, Simeon’s martyr acts proclaim that he was the leader of the Christians of Persia and the protomartyr of Shapur’s forty-year persecution. Curiously, however, two very different versions of Simeon’s death exist. Each is presented here with an accompanying translation and notes. The shorter and earlier version of Simeon’s death, the Martyrdom, compares the Christians of Persia to the Maccabees and equates Simeon with the great Jewish warrior Judah the Maccabee. The much longer and later version, the History, takes a different approach. Omitting all references to the Maccabees, the History compares the Christians of the East (Persia) to the persecuted Christians of the West (the Roman Empire) prior to Constantine. Simeon’s Martyrdom and History are fundamental sources for chronicling the history of Christianity in Sasanian Persia. Together, these texts testify to the centrality of martyrdom literature in late ancient Syriac Christianity, and they show how Persian Christians forged their own political and religious identities amidst the ongoing Christianization of the Roman Empire.

Martyrs --- Simeon bar Sabba'e, --- Church of the East --- History --- Iran --- Church history --- History. --- Church history. --- Martyrs - Iran --- Symeon Bar-Sabba'e, m. --- Simeon bar Sabba'e, - Saint, Patriarch of the Church of the East, - 316-341 --- Iran - Church history