| 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 |
| Death Place: | Sassanid Empire |
Mar Shimun Bar Sabbae (Classical Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܒܪܨܒܥܐ|translit=Shemʿon bar Ṣabbaʿe;[1] 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.
Shimun Bar Sabbae was born the son of a fuller. He had two sisters,one of wich was named Tarbula.
There is some scholarly debate on what "bar Sabbae" means. If taken literally it could be a patronymic and therefore mean "the son of Sabba" or it could be translated "as the son of the old man" ("sabba" meaning "old man" in Aramaic) 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.[2]
Another explanation is that this is a name given to someone born on the sabbath.[3] A variation of the name is also attested in the Dead Sea scrolls and is a sobriquet given Joseph Barsabbas.
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.[4]
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: