Shemon bar Sabbae

{{Infobox saint

|name=Saint Simeon bar Sabbae

|birth_date=3rd century

|death_date=Good Friday, 345

|feast_day=14 April (Syriac Christianity)
17 April (Greek Orthodox Church)
Sixth Friday of Qaitha (Summer) (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)
21 April (Latin Church)
30 April (Melkite)
17 August (Assyrian Church of the East)

|venerated_in=Assyrian Church of the East
Ancient Church of the East
Catholic Church
Oriental Orthodox churches
Eastern Orthodox Church

|image=Simeon Barsabae.jpg

|imagesize=200px

|caption=

|birth_place=

|death_place=Sassanid Empire

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Mar Shimun Bar Sabbae ({{langx|syc|ܡܪܝ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܒܪܨܒܥܐ|translit=Shemʿon bar Ṣabbaʿe}};{{cite web | title=Shemʿon bar Ṣabbaʿe | publisher=Beth Mardutho, Gorgias Press | url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Shemon-bar-Sabbae | access-date=2023-12-04}} died Good Friday, 345) was the Assyrian Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, from Persia, the de facto head of the Church of the East, until his death. He was bishop during the persecutions of King Shapur II of the Sasanian Empire of Iran, and was executed along with many of his followers. He is revered as a saint in various Christian communions.

Biography

Shimun Bar Sabbae was born the son of a fuller. He had two sisters, one of which was named Tarbula.

There is some scholarly debate on what "bar Sabbae" means. In Syriac, his native tongue, bar translates to “son of” and is the common model of naming even among Assyrians today. Ṣabbā’ē means dyers, so altogether means “son of the dyers”. Butler stated that Simeon was surnamed Barsaboe and that it signified that he was the son of a fuller according to the naming customs of the area.{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Alban |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YHgTAAAAQAAJ&dq=Seleucia-Ctesiphon++simeon+saint+fuller&pg=PA175 |title=The lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints |date=1821 |language=en}}

In 316, he had been named coadjutor bishop of his predecessor, Papa bar Gaggai, in Seleucia-Ctesiphon (now al-Mada'in). He was later accused of being a friend of the Roman emperor and of maintaining secret correspondence with him. On that basis, Shapur II ordered the execution of all Christian priests. It is also thought that a reason was that Shimoun had converted the kings mother Ifra Hormizid (who was of Jewish descent) to Christianity.{{Cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJw3AAAAIAAJ&dq=neusner+ifra+hormizd+converted&pg=PA36 |title=A History of the Jews in Babylonia |date=1969 |publisher=Brill Archive |language=en}}

Because they would not convert to Zoroastrianism, Shimoun was beheaded with several thousands, including bishops, priests, and faithful. These include the priests Abdella (or Abdhaihla), Ananias (Hannanja), Chusdazat (Guhashtazad, Usthazan, or Gothazat), and Pusai (Fusik), Askitrea, the daughter of Pusai, the eunuch Azad (Asatus) and several companions, numbered either 1150 or 100. Sozomen, a historian of the 5th century maintained that the numbers registered were 16,000 of the martyrs. Another historian, Al-Masoudy from the 10th century, held that there were killed around 200,000 Assyrians. They are commemorated on: