Saint Behnam

Saints Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs were 4th-century Christians who suffered martyrdom during the reign of Zoroastrian King Shapur II. They are venerated as saints in the Oriental Orthodox Churches and their lives are described in writings known as the Persian martyr acts.

Biography According to their hagiography, Behnam and Sarah were the children of Sennacherib, King of Nimrud, who ruled under the Shahanshah Shapur II of Iran. Behnam was separated from his companions during a hunting expedition and was forced to spend a night in a cave. An angel then visited Behnam and instructed him to see Saint Matthew the Hermit, who lived in a cave on Mount Alfaf. Behnam met with Matthew and was taught Christianity by the hermit. Behnam demanded proof and thus Matthew told him to bring Sarah to him to be healed of her leprosy.

Behnam and his entourage returned to the city and told his mother of his dream and the saint. His mother allowed Behnam and Sarah to return to the saint in secret, and he healed Sarah of her leprosy, after which Behnam, Sarah, and the forty slaves were baptised. The 15th century author Ignatius Behnam Hadloyo also wrote two poems on Behnam, of which five copies survive.

Names and places in the hagiography were derived from pre-existing traditions, as demonstrated by the name Sarah, which is known to be the traditional name given in Syriac hagiographies to the sister of a male martyr, such as the Saints Zayna and Sarah, and was derived from Sarah, wife of Abraham. Also, as a consequence of the Christianisation of Assyria, figures and sites from Assyrian history were integrated into Christian narratives, and thus Assur was mentioned as the place of the king's baptism, and the name Sennacherib used for Behnam and Sarah's father was inspired by the Assyrian king Sennacherib .

The French historian Jean Maurice Fiey noted that the Forty Martyrs of Bartella, the village near the monastery of Saints Behnam and Sarah in Iraq, are also commemorated on 10 December in the Martyrology of Rabban Sliba. Sarah is also separately commemorated in some Syriac Orthodox calendars on 22 November.

Relics The relics of Behnam and Sarah are kept at the Mar Behnam Monastery in Iraq. Some relics of the saints are also contained in the Monastery of Saint Menas in Cairo. As well as this, the Syriac Orthodox Church of the Forty Martyrs at Mardin in Turkey purports to contain the remains of Saint Behnam.