Acts of Pusai

The Acts of Pusai or Martyrdom of Pusai is a Syriac narrative about the martyrdom of a Christian saint named Pusai. English-speaking literature refers to this work by a variety of names, including the Martyrdom of Pusai-Qarugbed, on account of Pusai's title Qarugbed, "Head of the Craftsmen",[1] and as the "Martyrdom of Pusay[2] (or Phusik,[3] Pusayk,[2] Pusices,[4] Pusik",[5] Posi[6]). Other variants include Acts of Mar Pusai[7] and the Passions of Pusay.[8]

Narrative overview

The Sassanian Persian kings Shapur I (ruled 239-270 CE[9]) and Shapur II (ruled 309-379[10]) both struggled against the Roman Empire and deported prisoners of war to other areas within their own empire.[11][12] The Acts of Pusai seems to have mixed these two rulers into a single "Shapur" in producing the narrative about Pusai, who is said to have descended from Roman captives of Shapur.[13]

According to the Acts, Pusai married a Persian woman, converted her to Christianity, and baptised their children.[7] Pusai and his family were relocated by Shapur to the new settlement of Karka d'Ledan, near Susa.[7] The intention of Shapur was to bring deportees from a variety of regions to the new city so that they would intermarry and therefore lose interest in returning to their homelands.[14] The narrator records that while Shapur did this for self-interested reasons, God used this intermingling to spread Christianity.[14] There Pusai worked as a skilled craftsman in the making of fine cloth.[14] The king took notice of his skills, and promoted him and regularly gave him gifts.[14]

Pusai was martyred in the year 341.[15] Shapur began persecuting Christians, and when Pusai witnessed the martyrdom of one Christian, Pusai encouraged the man, soon to be killed, to close his eyes and think of Christ.[16] Pusai was immediately reported to Shapur, who had him arrested.[16] He was interrogated by Shapur, and argued against Shapur's Zurvanite religious ideas.[17] Instead of renouncing his faith, Pusai announced that he was willing to die for it, and was killed by having his tongue torn from his mouth.[16] His daughter Martha, who had taken a lifetime religious vow of celibacy, was taken into custody and put to death a little later.[18]

References

1. Kyle Smith (19 January 2016). Constantine and the Captive Christians of Persia: Martyrdom and Religious Identity in Late Antiquity. University of California Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-520-96420-4.
2. Richard W. Burgess; Witold Witakowski (1999). Continuatio antiochiensis Eusebii. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 257. ISBN 978-3-515-07530-5.
3. General History of the Christian Religion and Church. Crocker & Brewster. 1855. p. 110.
4. Albert Hauck (1910). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology and Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Biography from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Funk and Wagnalls. p. 219.
5. L. Van Rompay, "Shemʿon bar Ṣabbaʿe" in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition, edited by, Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay, last modified 2016-09-22-16:00.
6. Holy Women of the Syrian Orient. University of California Press. 28 August 1998. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-520-21366-1.
7. Joel Walker (24 April 2006). The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq. University of California Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-520-24578-5.
8. Eva Riad (1988). Studies in the Syriac preface. Uppsala University. p. 133. ISBN 978-91-554-2254-7.
9. Shahbazi, Shapur (2003). "Shapur I". Encyclopedia Iranica. Costa Mesa: Mazda.
10. Michael Burgan; Thomas G. Urban (2009). Empires of Ancient Persia. Infobase Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-4381-2784-2.
11. For the deportations under Shapur I, from eastern Roman provinces, see Richard Kalmin (26 October 2006). Jewish Babylonia Between Persia and Roman Palestine. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-19-530619-4.
12. For Shapur II's fighting with Rome, and his deportation of Armenians, see Jacob Neusner (27 October 2008). A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part IV: The Age of Shapur II. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 15–17. ISBN 978-1-60608-077-1.
13. Joel Walker (24 April 2006). The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq. University of California Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-520-24578-5.
14. Beate Dignas; Engelbert Winter (13 September 2007). Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity: Neighbours and Rivals. Cambridge University Press. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-521-84925-8.
15. D. T. Potts (12 November 2015). The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambridge University Press. p. 682. ISBN 978-1-316-58631-0.
16. Augustus Neander (1855). General History of the Christian Religion and Church. Translated by Joseph Torrey. Crocker & Brewster. pp. 110–111.
17. Mary Boyce (2001). Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Psychology Press. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-0-415-23902-8.
18. Joyce E. Salisbury (2001). Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient World. ABC-CLIO. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-57607-092-5.