:Draft:Christianity in the Sasanian Empire
Christianity in the Sasanian Empire** — the religion of the Christian minority in the Sasanian state, which existed in the territories of modern-day Iraq and Iran from 224 to 651 CE. There is no reliable information about the initial spread of Christianity beyond the eastern borders of the Roman Empire. Before 224 CE, the dominant state in the region was the Parthian Empire, which was succeeded by the Sasanian Empire. Under the early Sasanians, during the reign of Shahanshah Bahram II and the active efforts of the priest Kartir, Zoroastrianism became the state religion for the first time in Iranian history. This period also saw the first persecutions of Christians and the execution of the Manichaean prophet Mani. During the military campaigns (from the 3rd to 6th centuries), Iranian rulers Shapur I, Shapur II, and Khosrow I resettled large numbers of Christians from the Roman Empire to Khuzestan and the Ctesiphon region. As a result, anti-Chalcedonian Christianity began to spread in Iran. The situation of Christians in Persia significantly worsened after the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great to Christianity. Suspicions arose under Shahanshah Shapur II that his Christian subjects might sympathize with their co-religionists in the West, leading to severe persecution of the church. Significant persecutions also occurred at the end of the reign of Yazdegerd I and the beginning of Bahram V’s reign around 420 CE, as well as under Yazdegerd II in 446–448 CE. Nevertheless, Christianity spread throughout the Sasanian Empire, with bishops present in all major cities. The most significant Christian organization was the Church of the East. According to Eastern church tradition, an independent church hierarchy formed during the 4th century and achieved full hierarchical identity with the establishment of an officially recognized Christian church in the Sasanian Empire under Shah Yazdegerd I in 410 CE. By the early 7th century, the Sasanian Empire was the largest Christian state by population. Most Persian Christians belonged to churches that did not accept the decisions of the Chalcedon Council of 451, namely the Nestorian Church of the East and the Monophysite Syro-Jacobite Church. The only region predominantly inhabited by Chalcedonians was Iberia. Under Khosrow II, the majority of the population consisted of Christians belonging to the Nestorian Church of the East and Monophysite churches of Syria and Armenia.
There is a wide range of opinions regarding the extent to which different religions in the Sasanian Empire coexisted harmoniously. The prevailing view today is that persecutions of Christians were more the exception than the rule and were driven by political considerations, both external and internal.
- Religions in Post-Avestan IranIn the Parthian Period
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The era in the history of Iran between the {{ill|Avestan period||Avestan period|lt=Avestan}} and Sasanian periods, when Iran was under the rule of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty from the late 4th century BCE to the early 3rd century CE, was marked by religious diversity. Traditional Zoroastrian practices began to fade, giving way to the worship of various deities. During this time, Jewish and Christian communities emerged in Iran. Armenia, ruled by a junior branch of the Arsacids, was a conglomerate of 120 principalities governed by nakharars by 190 BCE, some adhering to {{ill|Zoroastrianism in Armenia||Zoroastrianism in Armenia|lt=Persian cults}}, while others followed Hellenistic practices (Russell, 1987, p. 73). According to {{ill|Russell, James (historian)||James R. Russell|lt=James Russell}}, the subsequent Artaxiad dynasty (189 BCE–12 CE) supported Zoroastrianism (Russell, 1987, p. 85). Generally, it is widely accepted that during the Arsacid period, the state adhered to principles of religious tolerance or was indifferent to dogmatic issues (Pourshariati, 2008, pp. 321–323).
The timing of the appearance of Christians in Mesopotamia is unknown and debated (Smith, 2019, p. 129). French archaeologist Jean Maurice Fiey (1967) dates the event to the late 1st century, while American historian W. S. McCullough (1982) suggests it occurred a century later (Cassis, 2002, p. 70). According to renowned Syriologist Sebastian Brock, Christian communities, isolated from the Roman Empire’s church, may have existed in Mesopotamia from the 2nd century (Brock, 2006, p. 11). The desire to attribute antiquity to their church led, for example, to the late 8th-century Nestorian patriarch Timothy I claiming that “Christianity among us was founded approximately {{num|500|years}} before Nestorius and twenty years after the ascension of our Savior” (Labourt, 1904, p. 10). Christianity likely entered Persian territory via trade routes from Edessa, initially appearing in Nisibis, Arbil, and Veh-Ardashir (Koltun-Fromm, 2011, p. 60). The spread of Christianity from Edessa further east is mentioned in the presumably early 7th-century “{{ill|Acts of Mari||Acts of Mar Mari|lt=Acts of Mari}}” (Saint-Laurent, 2015, p. 56). The authors of the Acts, living in the 6th to early 7th centuries, aimed to establish the antiquity of the Church of the East in modern-day Iraq and the authority of its catholicoses, based in the Sasanian capital Veh-Ardashir, also known as Kokhe and Seleucia-Ctesiphon. According to the Acts, Mari traveled from Edessa toward Nisibis, then through Adiabene south to Babylonia. Upon reaching Kokhe, he founded the first church there. After converting Babylonia to Christianity, Mari proceeded to Persia, starting with Beth-Hozaye and Elam in southwestern modern Iran. The Acts claim that through countless miracles, Mari established a widespread church hierarchy in Persia, with numerous priests, deacons, schools, teachers, and hospitals. However, the Christian centers described in this apocrypha were likely established closer to the time of the document’s writing than to apostolic times (Harrak, 2002, p. 48). Another source, the 6th-century Syriac “{{ill|Chronicle of Arbela||Chronicle of Arbela|lt=Chronicle of Arbela}},” names {{ill|Pkidha|en|Pkidha|lt=Mar Pkidha}} as the first bishop of Adiabene. According to the chronicle, by the fall of the Parthian Empire, there were 20 Christian bishops in Mesopotamia (Asmussen, 1983, p. 925). Church tradition associates the emergence of Christian communities in the East with the activities of the Apostles, including Peter, considered the first patriarch of the Eastern church ({{Bible|1Pet|5|:13}}), Thomas, and apostle of the seventy Thaddeus (Addai), as well as his disciple, the “apostle of Mesopotamia” Mari, through whose efforts the church became known as the “church of Mar Mari” (Seleznyov, 2001, p. 13). An idealized version of the history of Christianity’s emergence in the Osroene capital, Edessa, is presented in the “Teaching of Addai,” dated to the first half of the 5th century (Saint-Laurent, 2015, p. 36). The correspondence between King Abgar and Jesus Christ cited there has led some researchers to consider Osroene the first state to adopt Christianity (Seleznyov, 2001, p. 13). There are also grounds to suggest Antioch or Palestine as sources of Christianity in Edessa (Koltun-Fromm, 2011, p. 59). In modern historiography, the earliest Christian communities in Parthia are identified among Jews living there since the Babylonian captivity. According to one hypothesis, Christianity spread eastward via trade caravans, with Jews controlling the routes through the Persian Gulf to Central Asia and China (Harrak, 2002, p. 51; Baum and Winkler, 2003, p. 8; Bruns, 2011, p. 110).
Although information about beliefs in early Christian Osroene is limited, sources indicate the presence of various religious groups in Edessa, including Jews, followers of traditional Greco-Roman and Aramaic polytheism, and Manichaeism. Religious diversity in Edessa was facilitated by its geographic position at the border of the ancient world’s major empires and the intersection of trade routes. German historian {{ill|Bauer, Walter||Walter Bauer|lt=Walter Bauer}} describes Christianity in Edessa as “heretical” and consistently distant from orthodoxy (Saint-Laurent, 2015, p. 38). Zoroastrian Parthians showed no hostility toward the Christian and Jewish minorities, unlike the Roman Empire, where Christians faced systematic persecution (Asmussen, 1983, p. 928). Due to the absence or minimal presence of persecution, the cult of martyrdom spread in the East only in the 4th century (Koltun-Fromm, 2011, p. 58).
- Under the Early Sasanians
[[File:Naqshe Rajab Darafsh Ordibehesht 93 (1).jpg|thumb|left|{{ill|Kartir's inscription|||Kartir's inscription at Naqsh-e Rajab
|Kartir's inscription at Naqsh-e Rajab|lt=Kartir’s inscription}} in Naqsh-e Rajab]]
In 224 CE, Ardashir I, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty, came to power in Iran. According to available information, his family had close ties to Zoroastrian clergy (Daryaee, 2009, p. 69). The 6th-century pseudoepigraphic “{{ill|Letter of Tansar|||Letter of Tansar
|Letter of Tansar|lt=Letter of Tansar}}” justifies the legitimacy of the dynasty’s rise to power through Ardashir’s religious zeal, positioning him as the true heir of the ancient AchaemenidsNot all researchers, notably I. M. Dyakonov, recognize the Achaemenids as consistent Zoroastrians (Doroshchenko, 1982, p. 17).. The anonymous author criticizes the apostate Arsacids and their policy of religious tolerance (Asmussen, 1983, p. 933). Under the early Sasanians, the priesthood (mobeds), led by the magupat (head of the magi) or later the mobedan-mobed, gained high societal status (Doroshchenko, 1982, p. 20). During the reign of Shahanshah Bahram II (276–293) and the active efforts of the Zoroastrian priest Kartir, Zoroastrianism became the state religion for the first time in Iranian history (Seleznyov, 2001, pp. 16–17). Kartir’s inscriptions and threats against non-believers have been the subject of extensive research attempting to assess the degree of religious intolerance among Zoroastrian mobeds. Despite the threatening rhetoric, there is no evidence in Christian, Jewish, or Mandaean sources to confirm that persecutions occurred, with the sole exception of Manichaeism, whose prophet Mani was executed under Kartir (de Jong, 2005, p. 51; Daryaee, 2009, p. 75). According to British Iranologist Mary Boyce, the Sasanian period alternated between religious tolerance and intolerance, with Kartir’s activities falling into the latter category (Boyce, 1970, pp. 325–343). Soviet orientalist Elena Doroshchenko identifies intolerance as a characteristic feature of Sasanian Zoroastrianism (Doroshchenko, 1982, p. 20). Some later researchers have criticized this binary opposition as oversimplified, finding evidence in late Sasanian texts for more nuanced attitudes toward religious minorities in the early period (Payne, 2015, p. 25; Shaked, 1990, pp. 261–273; Patterson, 2017, p. 184).
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Traditionally, historiography describes the relationship between Zoroastrianism and other religions in the Sasanian Empire using terms like “state religion,” “church,” and “persecution,” viewing them as interventions by secular authorities in spiritual life. Professor Adam Becker of New York University considers such terminology an anachronistic legacy of liberal European Enlightenment ideas, used for lack of better alternatives (Becker, 2014, pp. 9–11). In Middle Persian, all non-Zoroastrian religions were labeled agdēn (“infidels,” see also agdēnīh – “bad religion”) (Mokhtarian, 2015, p. 100), synonymous with the term anēr, Aneran, non-Iran (Payne, 2015, p. 30). In this ethnolinguistic framework, Christians also identified themselves with Aneran, which was legally preferable to being considered apostate Zoroastrians. Jews and Manichaeans adopted the same stance (Russell, 1987, pp. 89–91). Sources for studying Sasanian law include various collections of precedents, such as the “Madigan-i Hazar Datistan.” Christian hagiographic literature can serve as an additional source, though the accuracy of its legal descriptions is questionable. With Zoroastrianism established as the state religion, the legal system became Zoroastrian in character, and the rights of religious minorities were restricted. While Zoroastrian law applied to all subjects of the shah, a personal principle allowed each individual to be judged by the law corresponding to their status (Jany, 2007, pp. 347–349). In trials against Christians, the prosecution was represented by mobeds (Jany, 2007, p. 377). The goal of {{ill|Punishment in Sasanian culture||Punishment in Sasanian culture|lt=punishment in Sasanian culture}} was to save the soul of the offender from the consequences of their crime. Honest and complete confession of sins was the first, but not the only, condition for saving the sinner’s soul from posthumous retribution (Jany, 2007, p. 352). In the case of Christians, the state and religion were considered the aggrieved parties, and the judicial process was inquisitorial. The measures applied to the accused, including arrest and torture, aimed to convince the heretic of the error of their beliefs and the truth of Zoroastrianism. Being born Christian was not considered apostasy (Jany, 2007, p. 375). Christians were not prohibited from serving in the Sasanian army, where they could hold high positions (Asmussen, 1983, p. 934). Nonetheless, sources indicate that the issue of the loyalty of Christian subjects persisted until the 7th century (Jullien, 2021, p. 4).
It is difficult to estimate how many Christians were brought to Persia through several large-scale deportations of Eastern Roman Empire residents in the 4th and 5th centuries. Given the religious policy of Emperor Valerian I, it is unlikely that many Christians were among the soldiers captured by Shapur I (241–272) in 260 CE. According to the 9th–11th-century “Chronicle of Seert,” considered unreliable, Shapur deported numerous Christians from Antioch (Seleznyov, 2001, pp. 16–17; Smith, 2019, p. 131). These measures should not be seen as anti-Christian but as part of strategic initiatives (Asmussen, 1983, p. 935). The “Chronicle of Seert” suggests that the captives formed an organized community with their own leaders, including the first bishop of Gondishapur, {{ill|Demetrius of Antioch|||Demetrius of Antioch
|Demetrius of Antioch|lt=Demetrius of Antioch}}. The same source reports that Christians split into Greek and Syriac groups, each with its own bishop, likely viewed by Iranians as representing different forms of Christianity. According to French religious scholar {{ill|Menasce, Jean de||Jean de Menasce|lt=Jean de Menasce}}, these Christians were Gnostic-Marcionites (Asmussen, 1983, pp. 929–930). While Valerian I persecuted Christians, Shapur I treated them favorably (Brock, 1982, p. 7). Later sources, including the Armenian Eghishe and the Syrian John of Ephesus, mention an “edict of tolerance” under Shapur I (Asmussen, 1983, p. 936). By the mid-3rd century, the Christian population in Persia was significant enough to be perceived as a threat. Indirect evidence includes citations from the New Testament in Manichaean texts and references to “Nazarenes” and “Christians”The exact distinction between these terms is debated (Jullien and Jullien, 2002). in one of Kartir’s inscriptions (Asmussen, 1983, pp. 928–929; Smith, 2019, p. 132). The first persecutions of Christians occurred under Bahram I (273–276) or Bahram II (276–293), as documented in the 4th or 5th-century account of the martyrdom of CandidaApproximately 60 martyrdom accounts from the Sasanian period survive (Payne, 2015, p. 25).. Likely from a family of Valerian’s captured soldiers, Candida refused to become one of Bahram’s wives, leading to her torture and execution (Strong, 2015). The 5th-century Armenian “Martyrdom of the Voskyans” describes possibly earlier events but is filled with anachronisms (Ter-Davtyan, 1994, pp. 234–237).
- Persecution of Christians
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The Sasanian rulers’ relations with religious minorities depended on a combination of external and internal political factors, including the personal preferences of the shahanshah, current relations with the Roman Empire, and the shahanshah’s relationship with the Zoroastrian clergy. Each period of persecution had its own characteristics and motivations (Kolesnikov, n.d., pp. 49–50). Over time, the connections between Christian clergy and state authorities gained significance (Patterson, 2017, p. 183). In the early 4th century, during the reign of Shah Hormizd II, the Armenian kingWithin the Parthian Arsacid state, Armenia was the second most important kingdom after Iran. {{ill|Shapur I’s inscription at the Ka’ba-ye Zartosht|||Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht
|Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht|lt=Shapur I’s inscription at the Ka’ba-ye Zartosht}} reports the conquest of Armenia and its inclusion in Eranshahr (Russell, 1987, pp. 89–91). Tiridates III adopted Christianity under the influence of Gregory the Illuminator. This divided the Armenian nobility, as many nakharars remained loyal to the ancient religion. The dominant view in Armenian historiography that adopting Christianity marked a break from ancient paganism and barbarism in favor of cultural development is contested in modern Western historiography (Daryaee, 2009, pp. 15–16). In the Roman Empire, after defeating Licinius in 324 CE, Emperor Constantine the Great decisively supported Christianity (Barnes, 1985, p. 130). Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea reports that Constantine saw it as his duty to convert pagans in neighboring countries and was concerned about the fate of his co-religionists in Persia under a Zoroastrian monarch (Barnes, 1985, p. 131). In his “{{ill|Life of Constantine||Life of Constantine|lt=Life of Constantine}},” Eusebius cites a letter from Constantine to Shahanshah Shapur II (309–379), entrusting the welfare of Persian Christians to the Persian ruler (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, IV, 13; Brock, 1982, p. 1). Historian Timothy David Barnes dates the letter to late 324 CE (Barnes, 1985, p. 132). If authentic, this letter shaped the fate of Persian Christians for centuries (Smith, 2019, p. 19). Eusebius’s works were translated into Syriac during his lifetime and were widely known in Persia (Smith, 2019, p. 27). The shift in Roman religious policy and Constantine’s late-life interference in Armenian affairs raised doubts about the loyalty of Persian Christians (Brock, 1982, p. 7). The 5th-century Armenian theologian Yeznik of Kolb wrote about the dichotomy of loyalties, stating that one was either a servant of the king of kings or the Roman emperor (Asmussen, 1983, p. 934). Modern historians argue that Shapur’s concerns were justified, as Constantine was prepared to wage war against Persia in 337 CE to liberate Christians (Smith, 2019, pp. 5–6). The formation of Zoroastrian clergy structures and the codification of Zoroastrian “orthodoxy” may also have been a reaction to Western religious changes (Becker, 2007, p. 375). However, in 324 CE, war was not yet imminent, and it was only after the death of Armenian king Tiridates III in 330 CE and the ensuing power struggle that war became inevitable (Angelov, 2014, p. 289). Constantine’s death in May 337 CE did not halt preparations for the {{ill|Perso-Roman wars of 337–361||Perso-Roman wars of 337–361|lt=war}}, which began that year or the next (Burgess, 1999).
File:The Basilica at Bolnisi Sioni (V) (5964746973).jpg, second half of the 5th century (Rapp, 2014, p. 45)]]
Key sources for the persecution of Christians under Shapur II include the works of the Syriac writer Aphrahat (d. 345) and the hagiography of Bishop Shimun I bar Sabbae (Becker, 2007, p. 376). In the late 440s, Sozomen provided his account (Burgess and Mercier, 1999, p. 19). According to Sozomen, the persecutions were instigated by the shah’s wife, influenced by Jews (de Jong, 2005, p. 52). While the general outcome of these events is known, their sequence and absolute chronology, including the date of Shimun’s martyrdom, remain debated (Burgess and Mercier, 1999, p. 9). Further complications arise from interpreting dates provided in sources using the Seleucid calendar (Burgess and Mercier, 1999, p. 12). After an unsuccessful siege of Nisibis, Shapur II issued a firman imposing additional taxes on Christians to finance the war with Rome. The 5th-century Armenian historian Faustos Buzand explicitly states that the tax aimed to compel Christians to renounce their faith. Shapur then ordered the killing of all priests, the destruction of churches, and the confiscation of church property. Shimun, refusing to assist in tax collection, was arrested as a traitor to the Persian state and an apostate from Zoroastrianism. After Shimun and other priests refused to abandon their beliefs, 128 of them were executed (Burgess and Mercier, 1999, p. 20). Shimun’s death is variously dated to 339, 340, 341, or 344 CE (Burgess and Mercier, 1999, p. 10). The following year, a new decree initiated the execution of all Christians, though these did not last long (Burgess and Mercier, 1999, p. 21; Foster, 1939, pp. 26–27; Seleznyov, 2001, p. 18). Although the total number of victims was significant—Sozomen estimates {{number|16000}} people—the persecution had no impact on the spread of Christianity in the region (Klingenberg, 2017, p. 291).
The persecution under Shapur II marked a turning point in relations between Christian and Jewish communities. German orientalist {{ill|Wiesner, Gernot|de|Gernot Wießner|lt=Gernot Wiesner}} demonstrated that the account of Shimun’s martyrdom exists in two versions, one blaming Jews for instigating the persecutions through slander. Adam Becker of New York University explains the shift from earlier works by Aphrahat, where this contrast is absent, to later ones, suggesting that Judaized Christians sought refuge in synagogues during times of danger, necessitating a response to previously non-critical religious differences (Becker, 2007, pp. 377–388). Shapur II continued efforts to dismantle the church hierarchy, killing several bishops, including catholicoses Shahdost (342) and {{ill|Barbashmin||Barba'shmin|lt=Barbashmin}} (346). The title of catholicos remained vacant for nearly 20 years (346–363). In 363 CE, under a peace treaty, Nisibis was ceded to the Persians, prompting the renowned theologian Ephrem the Syrian and several teachers to leave the Nisibis School for Edessa in Roman territory (Seleznyov, 2001, p. 22). There, Ephrem revived the Edessa School, founded in the legendary time of Addai (Baum and Winkler, 2003, p. 21). Persecutions initiated by Shapur II were halted under his grandson Yazdegerd I (399–420). Christian sources praise Yazdegerd as a “second Constantine,” and the consequences of the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410 CE for Persian Christians are comparable to the Edict of Milan (McDonough, 2008, p. 128; Herman, 2014, p. 68). After 410 CE, churches and monasteries began appearing in the region, becoming centers for venerating martyrs (Klingenberg, 2017, p. 293).
After the partition of Greater Armenia in 387 CE between Byzantium and Persia, its larger eastern part became part of Iran. Due to Armenia’s strategic importance in the Sasanian Empire, significant persecutions of Christians occurred during major military campaigns in the Caucasus. It is unclear whether these were driven solely by military-strategic considerations or if the Sas....