Saint-Laurent and Smith (eds.), The History of Mar Behnam and Sarah

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Persian Martyrs Mar Behnam and Sarah. Notice of a new book: Saint-Laurent, Jeanne-Nicole Mellon, and Kyle Smith, eds., The History of Mar Behnam and Sarah. Martyrdom and Monasticism in Medieval Iraq, Persian Martyr Acts in Syriac: Text and Translation, 7 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2018). Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

This odd narrative is of interest in itself. But what caught my eye was the names of the protagonists: Mar Benham and Sarah. Regular readers will recognize them. The monastery dedicated to Mar Benham and his sister was captured by ISIS during the war and we followed its fate, its liberation, and the dramatic story of the rescue of hundreds of its precious old manuscripts from ISIS. See here and follow the links.

In this new book you can read the story (legend) of Mar Benham and Sarah themselves.

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