Abo of Tiflis

{{short description|Christian martyr}} {{Infobox saint | honorific_prefix = Saint | name = Abo of Tiflis | image = Iglesia de San Abo de Tiflis, Tiflis, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 85 (cropped).jpg | caption = St. Abo of Tiflis church in Tbilisi | birth_date = {{circa|756}} | birth_place = Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate | death_date = 6 January 786 | death_place = Tbilisi, Emirate of Tbilisi | titles = Martyr | venerated_in = Eastern Orthodox Church<br/>Catholic Church | major_shrine = Church of St. Abo, Tbilisi | feast_day = {{OldStyleDateNY|8 January|21 January}} | attributes = Cross, martyr’s palm | patronage = Tbilisi }}

'''Abo of Tiflis''' ({{langx|ar|أبو التفليسي|translit=Abu al-Tiflisi}}; {{lang-ka|აბო თბილელი|tr}}; {{circa|756}} – 6 January 786) was a Christian martyr of Arab origin, who went on to practice his faith in what is now Tbilisi, the capital of present-day Georgia.

==Life== Arab by origin, Abo initially grew up as a Muslim in Baghdad. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he found himself in Tbilisi, having followed Georgian Prince Nerses, the ruler of Kartli. Nerses, having been slandered before the Caliph, spent three years in confinement; freed by a new Caliph, he took Abo with him.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomson |first=Robert W. |year=1996 |title=Rewriting Caucasian History: The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=234–236}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |year=2001 |title=Armenia: A Historical Atlas |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=109}}</ref>

Abo's profession in Baghdad was that of a perfumer, in which he excelled as a maker of fine perfumes and ointments, the art evidently implying knowledge of chemistry.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rapp Jr. |first=Stephen H. |year=2017 |title=The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature |publisher=Routledge |page=187}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bosworth |first=C. E. |year=1986 |title=The History of al-Ṭabarī, Vol. 30: The ʿAbbāsid Caliphate in Equilibrium |publisher=SUNY Press |pages=45–46}}</ref> Upon his arrival to Eastern Georgia (Kartli), he converted to Christianity, which didn't happen immediately, but only after a committed soul-searching that involved heated quarrels even with Christian priests and bishops over the finer religious matters; those quarrels only consolidated him in his conviction that the truth was in Christianity.<ref name="Lang">{{cite book |last=Lang |first=David Marshall |year=1956 |title=Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints |publisher=Allen & Unwin |pages=55–60}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=van Esbroeck |first=Michel |year=1982 |title=La littérature hagiographique géorgienne |publisher=Peeters |pages=120–125}}</ref> However, initially Abo was afraid to convert openly as eastern Georgia was under Arab rule; he only abandoned the Muslim habit of five-times prayers per-day and started praying in a Christian manner.<ref name="Lang" />

For political reasons, his prince had to seek shelter in Khazaria north of the Caspian Sea, an area which was not ruled by Muslims; Abo accompanied him, and was baptized there.<ref>{{cite book |last=Toumanoff |first=Cyril |year=1963 |title=Studies in Christian Caucasian History |publisher=Georgetown University Press |page=402}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Golden |first=Peter B. |year=2007 |title=Khazars: Studies in History and Culture |publisher=Ashgate |pages=89–90}}</ref> From Khazaria, Nerses moved to the Abkhazia, that was also free from the Arab dominion, taking Abo with him. There, Abo zealously followed the Christian life of prayers and ascetic struggles, preparing himself for a future mission.<ref name="Lang" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Martin-Hisard |first=Bernard |year=1996 |title=Christian Caucasian History |publisher=Variorum |pages=210–212}}</ref> Prince Nerses and his party returned to Tbilisi in 782, and Abo, notwithstanding the warning that it was not safe for him to go to Tbilisi, followed him.<ref name="Lang" />

For about three years, Abo openly confessed his Christian faith on the streets of Tbilisi - both fortifying by his example the Christians who attempted to escape Arab rule and trying to convert his Arab compatriots to Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rapp Jr. |first=Stephen H. |year=2014 |title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |pages=137–138}}</ref> A series of threats and warnings failed to dampen his zeal.<ref name="Lang" /> In 786, he was denounced as a Christian to the Arab officials in Tbilisi, and arrested. The judge attempted to persuade Abo to return to the faith of his ancestors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/01/08/100132-martyr-abo-the-perfumer-of-tbilisi-georgia |title=Martyr Abo the Perfumer, of Tbilisi, Georgia |website=Orthodox Church in America}}</ref> He confessed his faith at trial, was imprisoned, and executed on 6 January 786.<ref name="Lang" /><ref>{{cite book |last=van Esbroeck |first=Michel |year=1982 |title=La littérature hagiographique géorgienne |publisher=Peeters |page=123}}</ref>

Ioane Sabanisdze, Georgian religious writer and Abo's contemporary, compiled the martyr's life in his hagiography ''The Martyrdom of Saint Abo''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lang |first=David Marshall |year=1956 |title=Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints |publisher=Allen & Unwin |page=56}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Garitte |first=Gérard |year=1956 |title=La Passion d'Abibos et d'autres textes hagiographiques géorgiens |publisher=Peeters |pages=15–20}}</ref>

== Gallery == <gallery> Iglesia de San Abo de Tiflis, Tiflis, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 83.jpg|View of the church along Kura River. Iglesia de San Abo de Tiflis, Tiflis, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 85.jpg|Small chapel with mosaic of Saint Abo. Iglesia de San Abo de Tiflis, Tiflis, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 86.jpg|Mosaic of Christ at chapel of Saint Abo. AboChurch.jpg|St. Abo of Tiflis church in Tbilisi. </gallery>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite book |last=Attwater |first=Donald |author2=John, Catherine Rachel |year=1993 |title=The Penguin Dictionary of Saints |edition=3rd |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-051312-4}} * {{cite book |last=Holweck |first=Frederick George |year=1924 |title=A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints: With a General Introduction on Hagiology |publisher=B. Herder Book Company}} * {{cite book |last=Lang |first=David Marshall |year=1956 |title=Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints |publisher=Allen & Unwin}} * {{cite book |last=Rapp Jr. |first=Stephen H. |year=2017 |title=The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes |publisher=Routledge}} * {{cite book |last=Thomson |first=Robert W. |year=1996 |title=Rewriting Caucasian History |publisher=Oxford University Press}} * {{cite book |last=Toumanoff |first=Cyril |year=1963 |title=Studies in Christian Caucasian History |publisher=Georgetown University Press}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abo Of Tiflis}} Category:786 deaths Category:People from Baghdad Category:Converts to Christianity from Islam Category:Christian saints from Georgia (country) Category:8th-century Christian saints Category:8th-century Christian martyrs Category:8th-century executions by the Umayyad Caliphate Category:History of Tbilisi Category:Christianity in Tbilisi Category:Iraqi former Muslims Category:Christian saints killed by Muslims Category:People executed for apostasy from Islam Category:8th-century births Category:Arab Christian saints Category:8th-century Arab people