Eastern Roman Empire Jerusalem based on a German documentary. The church is claimed to be at the site of Calvary and the
Tomb of Jesus. In the 2nd century, Roman Emperor
Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a
Pagan city and renamed it
Aelia Capitolina, erecting statues of
Jupiter and
himself on the site of the former Jewish Temple, the
Temple Mount. In the years AD 132–136,
Bar Kokhba led an unsuccessful revolt as a
Jewish Messiah claimant, but Christians refused to acknowledge him as such. When Bar Kokhba was defeated, Hadrian barred Jews from the city, except for the day of
Tisha B'Av, thus the
subsequent Jerusalem bishops were Gentiles ("uncircumcised") for the first time. The
general significance of Jerusalem to Christians entered a period of decline during the
persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. According to
Eusebius, Jerusalem Christians escaped to
Pella, in the
Decapolis (
Transjordan), at the beginning of the
First Jewish–Roman War in AD 66.
Jerusalem's bishops became
suffragans (subordinates) of the
Metropolitan bishop in nearby
Caesarea, Interest in Jerusalem resumed with the
pilgrimage of the Roman Empress
Helena to the Holy Land (). According to the church historian
Socrates of Constantinople, Helena (with the assistance of Bishop
Macarius of Jerusalem) claimed to have found the
cross of Christ, after removing a Temple to
Venus (attributed to Hadrian) that had been built over the site. Jerusalem had received special recognition in Canon VII of the
First Council of Nicaea in AD 325. The traditional founding date for the
Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre (which guards the
Christian Holy places in the Holy Land) is 313, which corresponds with the date of the
Edict of Milan promulgated by the Roman Emperor
Constantine the Great, which legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire. Jerusalem was later named as one of the
Pentarchy, but this was never accepted by the
Church of Rome. (
See also: East–West Schism#Prospects for reconciliation).
Antioch near
Antioch,
Anatolia, said to be the spot where Saint Peter first preached the
Gospel in
Roman Antioch Antioch (modern
Antakya,
Turkey) was the capital of the
Roman province of Syria and a center of
Greek culture in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as a key locus of trade that made it the third-most important city of the Roman Empire. In the
Book of Acts, it is said that it was at Antioch where followers of Jesus were first called Christians; it was also the location of the
Incident at Antioch, described in the
Epistle to the Galatians. It was the site of an early church traditionally said to be founded by Peter; later traditions also attributed the role of
Bishop of Antioch as first being held by Peter. The
Gospel of Matthew and the
Apostolic Constitutions may have been written there. The church father
Ignatius of Antioch was its third bishop. The School of Antioch, founded in 270, was one of two major centers of early church learning. The
Curetonian Gospels and the
Syriac Sinaiticus are two early (pre-
Peshitta) New Testament text types associated with
Syriac Christianity. It was one of the three whose bishops were recognized at the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as exercising jurisdiction over the adjoining territories.
Alexandria The city of
Alexandria in the
Nile delta was established by
Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Its famous libraries made it a center of
Hellenistic learning. The
Septuagint translation of the Old Testament began there, and the
Alexandrian text-type is recognized by scholars as one of the earliest New Testament types. It had a
significant Jewish population, of which
Philo of Alexandria is probably the most known author. It produced superior scripture and notable church fathers, such as Clement, Origen, and Athanasius;
Edward Gibbon wrote that Alexandria made major contributions to Christian theology. Also noteworthy were the
Desert Fathers of Egypt. By the end of the early-Christian era, Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch were accorded authority over nearby
metropolitans. The Council of Nicaea in canon VI affirmed Alexandria's traditional authority over Egypt, Libya, and
Pentapolis (North Africa) (the
Diocese of Egypt) and probably granted Alexandria the right to declare a universal date for the observance of
Easter (see also
Easter controversy). Some postulate that Alexandria was not only a center of Christianity, but was also, as a cradle of
Gnosticism, a center for Christian-based
Gnostic sects.
Asia Minor " and the Greek island of
Patmos The tradition of
John the Apostle was strong in
Anatolia (the
near-east, part of modern
Turkey, the western part was called the
Roman province of Asia). Most critical commentaries agree the gospel of John was likely composed in Ephesus. The
authorship of the Johannine works traditionally and plausibly occurred in
Ephesus, c. 90–110, although some scholars argue for an origin in
Syria. This includes the
Book of Revelation, although modern Bible scholars believe that it to be authored by a different John,
John of Patmos (a Greek island about 30 miles off the Anatolian coast), that mentions
Seven churches of Asia. According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was from
Tarsus (in south-central Anatolia) and
his missionary journeys were primarily in Anatolia. The
First Epistle of Peter () is addressed to Anatolian regions. On the southeast shore of the
Black Sea,
Pontus was a
Greek colony mentioned three times in the New Testament. Inhabitants of Pontus were some of the first converts to Christianity.
Pliny, governor in 110, in his letters, addressed Christians in Pontus. Of the extant
letters of Ignatius of Antioch considered authentic, five of seven are to Anatolian cities, the sixth is to
Polycarp.
Smyrna was home to Polycarp, the bishop who reportedly knew the Apostle John personally, and probably also to his student
Irenaeus.
Papias of Hierapolis is also believed to have been a student of John the Apostle. In the 2nd century, Anatolia was home to
Quartodecimanism,
Montanism,
Marcion of Sinope, and
Melito of Sardis who recorded an early
Christian Biblical canon. After the
Crisis of the Third Century,
Nicomedia became the capital of the
Eastern Roman Empire in 286. The
Synod of Ancyra was held in 314. In 325 the emperor
Constantine convoked the first Christian
ecumenical council in
Nicaea and in 330 moved the capital of the reunified empire to
Byzantium (also an early Christian center and just across the
Bosphorus from
Anatolia, later called
Constantinople), referred to as the
Byzantine Empire, which lasted till 1453. The
First seven Ecumenical Councils were held either in Western Anatolia or across the
Bosphorus in Constantinople.
Caesarea in Caesarea Maritima
Caesarea, on the seacoast just northwest of Jerusalem, at first
Caesarea Maritima, then after 133
Caesarea Palaestina, was built by
Herod the Great, c. 25–13 BC, and was the capital of
Iudaea Province (6–132) and later
Palaestina Prima. It was there that Peter baptized the
centurion Cornelius, considered the first gentile convert. Paul sought refuge there, once staying at the house of
Philip the Evangelist, and later being imprisoned there for two years (estimated to be 57–59). The
Apostolic Constitutions (7.46) state that the first
Bishop of Caesarea was
Zacchaeus the Publican. After Hadrian's siege of Jerusalem (c. 133), Caesarea became the
metropolitan see with the bishop of Jerusalem as one of its
"suffragans" (subordinates).
Origen (d. 254) compiled his
Hexapla there and it held a
famous library and theological school,
St. Pamphilus (d. 309) was a noted scholar-priest.
St. Gregory the Wonder-Worker (d. 270),
St. Basil the Great (d. 379), and
St. Jerome (d. 420) visited and studied at the library which was later destroyed, probably by the
Persians in 614 or the
Saracens around 637. The first major church historian,
Eusebius of Caesarea, was a bishop, c. 314–339.
F. J. A. Hort and
Adolf von Harnack have argued that the
Nicene Creed originated in Caesarea. The
Caesarean text-type is recognized by many textual scholars as one of the earliest New Testament types.
Cyprus Paphos was the capital of the island of
Cyprus during the Roman years and seat of a Roman commander. In AD 45, the apostles Paul and
Barnabas, who according to was "a native of Cyprus", came to Cyprus and reached Paphos preaching the message of Jesus, see also . According to Acts, the apostles were persecuted by the Romans but eventually succeeded in convincing the Roman commander
Sergius Paulus to renounce his old religion in favour of Christianity. Barnabas is traditionally identified as the founder of the Cypriot Orthodox Church.
Damascus , said to be
Bab Kisan where St. Paul escaped from
Old Damascus Damascus is the capital of
Syria and claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was converted on the
Road to Damascus. In the three accounts (, , ), he is described as being led by those he was traveling with, blinded by the light, to Damascus where his sight was restored by a disciple called
Ananias (who is thought to have been the first bishop of Damascus) then he was
baptized.
Ethiopia The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the largest and oldest Christian churches in Africa; only surpassed in age by the
Church of the East, the
Armenian Apostolic Church, the
Syriac Orthodox Church, the
Greek Orthodox Church, and the
Coptic Church of
Egypt. It has a membership of 32 to 36million, the majority of whom live in Ethiopia, and is thus the largest of all
Oriental Orthodox churches. Next in size are the various
Protestant congregations who include 13.7million Ethiopians. The largest Protestant group is the
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, with about 5million members.
Catholicism has been present in Ethiopia since the nineteenth century, and numbers over 530,000 believers as of the 2007 census. In total, Christians make up about 63% of the total population of the country.
Greece Thessalonica, the major northern Greek city where it is believed Christianity was founded by
Paul, thus an
Apostolic See, and the surrounding regions of
Macedonia,
Thrace, and
Epirus, which also extend into the neighboring
Balkan states of
Albania and
Bulgaria, were early centers of Christianity. Of note are
Paul's Epistles to the
Thessalonians and to
Philippi, which is often considered the first contact of Christianity with Europe. The Apostolic Father
Polycarp wrote a letter to the Philippians, c. 125.
Nicopolis was a city in the Roman province of
Epirus Vetus, today a ruin on the northern part of the western Greek coast. In the
Epistle to Titus, Paul said he intended to go there. It is possible that there were some Christians in its population. According to
Eusebius,
Origen (c. 185–254) stayed there for some time
Ancient Corinth, today a ruin near modern
Corinth in southern
Greece, was an early center of Christianity. According to the
Acts of Apostles, Paul stayed eighteen months in Corinth to preach. He initially stayed with
Aquila and Priscilla, and was later joined by
Silas and
Timothy. After he left Corinth,
Apollos was sent from
Ephesus by Priscilla to replace him. Paul returned to Corinth at least once. He wrote the
First Epistle to the Corinthians from Ephesus approximately in 54–55, which focused on sexual immorality, divorces, lawsuits, and resurrections. The
Second Epistle to the Corinthians from
Macedonia was written around 56 as a fourth letter discussing his proposed plans for the future, instructions, unity, and his defense of apostolic authority. and
Bacchylus.
Athens, the capital and largest city in Greece, was visited by Paul. He probably traveled by sea, arriving at
Piraeus, the harbor of Athens, coming from
Berœa of Macedonia around the year 53. According to
Acts 17, when he arrived at Athens, he immediately sent for Silas and Timotheos who had stayed behind in Berœa. While waiting for them, Paul explored Athens and visited the synagogue, as there was a
local Jewish community. A Christian community was quickly established in Athens, although it may not have been large initially. A common tradition identifies the
Areopagite as the first bishop of the Christian community in Athens, while another tradition mentions
Hierotheos the Thesmothete. The succeeding bishops were not all of Athenian descent: Narkissos was believed to have come from Palestine, and
Publius from Malta.
Quadratus is known for an apology addressed to Emperor
Hadrian during his visit to Athens, contributing to early Christian literature.
Aristeides and
Athenagoras also wrote apologies during this time. By the second century, Athens likely had a significant Christian community, as
Hygeinos, bishop of Rome, write a letter to the community in Athens in the year 139.
Gortyn on
Crete was allied with Rome and was thus made capital of Roman
Creta et Cyrenaica.
St. Titus is believed to have been the first bishop. The city was sacked by the pirate
Abu Hafs in 828.
Thrace Paul the Apostle preached in
Macedonia, and also in
Philippi, located in
Thrace on the
Thracian Sea coast. According to
Hippolytus of Rome,
Andrew the Apostle preached in
Thrace, on the
Black Sea coast and along the lower course of the
Danube River. The spread of Christianity among the
Thracians and the emergence of centers of Christianity like
Serdica (present day
Sofia),
Philippopolis (present day
Plovdiv) and
Durostorum (present day
Silistra) was likely to have begun with these early
Apostolic missions. The
first Christian monastery in Europe was founded in Thrace in 344 by
Saint Athanasius near modern-day
Chirpan,
Bulgaria, following the
Council of Serdica.
Libya Cyrene and the surrounding region of
Cyrenaica or the North African "
Pentapolis", south of the Mediterranean from Greece, the northeastern part of modern
Libya, was a Greek colony in North Africa later converted to a Roman province. In addition to Greeks and Romans, there was also a
significant Jewish population, at least up to the
Kitos War (115–117). According to ,
Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus' cross.
Cyrenians are also mentioned in , , , . According to Byzantine legend, the first bishop was
Lucius, mentioned in Acts 13:1.
Western Roman Empire Rome , believed to be the
burial site of St. Peter, seen from the
River Tiber Exactly when Christians first appeared in Rome is difficult to determine. The
Acts of the Apostles claims that the
Jewish Christian couple
Priscilla and Aquila had recently come from Rome to
Corinth when, in about the year 50,
Paul reached the latter city, indicating that belief in Jesus in Rome had preceded Paul. Historians consistently consider Peter and Paul to have been
martyred in Rome under the reign of
Nero in 64, after the
Great Fire of Rome which, according to
Tacitus, the Emperor
blamed on the Christians. However, Irenaeus does not say that either Peter or Paul was "bishop" of the Church in Rome and several historians have questioned whether Peter spent much time in Rome before his martyrdom. While the church in Rome was already flourishing when Paul wrote his
Epistle to the Romans to them from Corinth (c. 58) he attests to a large Christian community already there and greets some fifty people in Rome by name, but not Peter,
whom he knew. There is also no mention of Peter in Rome later during Paul's two-year stay there in , about 60–62. Most likely he did not spend any major time at Rome before 58 when Paul wrote to the Romans, and so it may have been only in the 60s and relatively shortly before his martyrdom that Peter came to the capital. The Lutheran scholar
Oscar Cullmann sharply rejected the claim that Peter
began the papal succession, and concludes that while Peter
was the
original head of the apostles, Peter was not the founder of any visible church succession. from a
Roman mosaic in the church of
Santa Pudenziana in Rome, The original seat of Roman imperial power soon became a center of church authority, grew in power decade by decade, and was recognized during the period of the
Seven Ecumenical Councils, when the seat of government had been transferred to
Constantinople, as the "head" of the church. Rome and
Alexandria, which by tradition held authority over sees outside their own
province, were not yet referred to as
patriarchates. The earliest Bishops of Rome were all Greek-speaking, the most notable of them being:
Pope Clement I (c. 88–97), author of an
Epistle to the Church in Corinth;
Pope Telesphorus (c. 126–136), probably the only martyr among them;
Pope Pius I (c. 141–154), said by the
Muratorian fragment to have been the brother of the author of the
Shepherd of Hermas; and
Pope Anicetus (c. 155–160), who received Saint
Polycarp and discussed with him the
dating of Easter. Greek New Testament texts were translated into Latin early on, well before
Jerome, and are classified as the
Vetus Latina and
Western text-type. During the 2nd century, Christians and semi-Christians of diverse views congregated in Rome, notably
Marcion and
Valentinius, and in the following century there were schisms connected with
Hippolytus of Rome and
Novatian. The last and most severe of the imperial persecutions was that
under Diocletian in 303; they ended in Rome, and the West in general, with the accession of
Maxentius in 306.
Carthage Carthage, in the
Roman province of Africa, south of the Mediterranean from Rome, gave the early church the Latin fathers
Tertullian (c. 120 – c. 220) and Cyprian (d. 258). Carthage fell to
Islam in 698 AD. The Church of Carthage thus was to the
Early African church what the
Church of Rome was to the
Catholic Church in Italy. The archdiocese used the
African Rite, a variant of the
Western liturgical rites in
Latin language, possibly a local use of the primitive
Roman Rite. Famous figures include
Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions (died c. 203), Tertullian (c. 155–240), Cyprian (c. 200–258),
Caecilianus (floruit 311),
Saint Aurelius (died 429), and
Eugenius of Carthage (died 505). Tertullian and Cyprian are considered
Latin Church Fathers of the
Latin Church. Tertullian, a theologian of part
Berber descent, was instrumental in the development of
trinitarian theology, and was the first to apply
Latin language extensively in his theological writings. As such, Tertullian has been called "the father of
Latin Christianity" and "the founder of Western theology". Carthage remained an important center of Christianity until 698, hosting several
councils of Carthage.
Southern Gaul '', in Lyon. The pole in the arena is a memorial to the people killed during the
persecution. The Mediterranean coast of France and the
Rhone valley, then part of Roman
Gallia Narbonensis, were early centers of Christianity. Major Christian communities were found in
Arles,
Avignon,
Vienne,
Lyon, and
Marseille (the oldest city in France). The
Persecution in Lyon occurred in 177. The Apostolic Father
Irenaeus from
Smyrna of
Anatolia was
Bishop of Lyon near the end of the 2nd century and he claimed
Saint Pothinus was his predecessor. The
Council of Arles in 314 is considered a forerunner of the
ecumenical councils. The
Ephesine theory attributes the Gallican Rite to Lyon.
Aquileia The ancient Roman city of
Aquileia at the head of the
Adriatic Sea, today one of the main archaeological sites of
Northern Italy, was an early center of Christianity said to be founded by
Mark before his mission to Alexandria.
Hermagoras of Aquileia is believed to be its first bishop. The
Aquileian Rite is associated with Aquileia.
Milan It is believed that the Church of
Milan in northwest Italy was founded by the apostle
Barnabas in the 1st century.
Gervasius and Protasius and others were martyred there. It has long maintained its own rite known as the
Ambrosian Rite attributed to
Ambrose (born c. 330) who was bishop in 374–397 and one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. Duchesne argues that the
Gallican Rite originated in Milan.
Syracuse and Calabria Syracuse was founded by Greek colonists in 734 or 733 BC, part of
Magna Graecia. Syracuse is one of the first Christian communities established by
Peter, preceded only by Antioch. Paul also preached in Syracuse. Historical evidence from the middle of the third century, during the time of
Cyprian, suggests that Christianity was thriving in Syracuse, and the presence of
catacombs provides clear indications of Christian activity in the second century as well. Across the
Strait of Messina,
Calabria on the mainland was also probably an early center of Christianity.
Malta s near
St. Paul's Bay, traditionally identified as the place where St Paul was shipwrecked According to Acts, Paul was shipwrecked and ministered on an island which some scholars have identified as
Malta (an island just south of
Sicily) for three months during which time he is said to have been bitten by a poisonous viper and survived (; ), an event usually dated c. AD 60. Paul had been allowed passage from
Caesarea Maritima to Rome by
Porcius Festus,
procurator of
Iudaea Province, to stand trial before the Emperor. Many traditions are associated with this episode, and
catacombs in Rabat testify to an Early Christian community on the islands. According to tradition,
Publius, the Roman Governor of Malta at the time of Saint Paul's shipwreck, became the first
Bishop of Malta following his conversion to Christianity. After ruling the Maltese Church for thirty-one years, Publius was transferred to the See of
Athens in AD 90, where he was martyred in AD 125. There is scant information about the continuity of Christianity in Malta in subsequent years, although tradition has it that there was a continuous line of bishops from the days of St. Paul to the time of Emperor Constantine.
Salona Salona, the capital of the
Roman province of Dalmatia on the eastern shore of the
Adriatic Sea, was an early center of Christianity and today is a ruin in modern
Croatia.
Titus, a disciple of Paul, preached there. Some Christians suffered
martyrdom. Salona emerged as a center for the spread of Christianity, with
Andronicus establishing the See of
Syrmium (
Mitrovica) in
Pannonia, followed by those in
Siscia and
Mursia. The
Diocletianic Persecution left deep marks in
Dalmatia and
Pannonia.
Quirinus, bishop of
Siscia, died a martyr in AD 303.
Seville Seville was the capital of
Hispania Baetica or the Roman province of southern Spain. The origin of the diocese of Seville can be traced back to Apostolic times, or at least to the first century AD. Gerontius, the bishop of
Italica, near
Hispalis (Seville), likely appointed a pastor for Seville. A bishop of Seville named Sabinus participated in the
Council of Illiberis in 287. He was the bishop when
Justa and Rufina were martyred in 303 for refusing to worship the idol Salambo. Prior to Sabinus, Marcellus is listed as a bishop of Seville in an ancient catalogue of prelates preserved in the "Codex Emilianensis". After the
Edict of Milan in 313, Evodius became the bishop of Seville and undertook the task of rebuilding the churches that had been damaged. It is believed that he may have constructed the church of San Vicente, which could have been the first
cathedral of Seville. Early Christianity also spread from the
Iberian Peninsula south across the
Strait of Gibraltar into Roman
Mauretania Tingitana, of note is
Marcellus of Tangier who was martyred in 298.
Roman Britain Christianity reached
Roman Britain by the third century of the Christian era, the first recorded martyrs in Britain being
St. Alban of
Verulamium and
Julius and Aaron of
Caerleon, during the reign of
Diocletian (284–305).
Gildas dated the faith's arrival to the latter part of the reign of
Tiberius, although stories connecting it with
Joseph of Arimathea,
Lucius, or
Fagan are now generally considered
pious forgeries.
Restitutus,
Bishop of London, is recorded as attending the
314 Council of Arles, along with the
Bishop of Lincoln and
Bishop of York.
Christianisation intensified and evolved into
Celtic Christianity after the
Romans left Britain c. 410.
Outside the Roman Empire Christianity also spread beyond the Roman Empire during the early Christian period.
Armenia , regarded the
oldest cathedral in the world It is accepted that the
Kingdom of Armenia became the first polity to adopt Christianity as its state religion. Although it has long been claimed that Armenia was the first Christian kingdom, according to some scholars this has relied on a source by Agathangelos titled "The History of the Armenians", which has recently been redated, casting some doubt. Christianity became the official religion of the Kingdom of Armenia in 301, when it was still illegal in the Roman Empire. According to church tradition, the
Armenian Apostolic Church was founded by
Gregory the Illuminator of the late third – early fourth centuries after the conversion of
Tiridates III. The church traces its origins to the missions of
Bartholomew the Apostle and Thaddeus (
Jude the Apostle) in the 1st century. Tiridates III was the first Christian king in Armenia from 298 to 330.
Georgia According to Orthodox tradition, Christianity was first preached in
Georgia by the Apostles
Simon and
Andrew in the 1st century. It became the state religion of
Kartli (
Iberia) in 319. The conversion of Kartli to Christianity is credited to a Greek lady called
St. Nino of Cappadocia. The
Georgian Orthodox Church, originally part of the
Church of Antioch, gained its autocephaly and developed its doctrinal specificity progressively between the 5th and 10th centuries.
The Bible was also translated into Georgian in the 5th century, as the
Georgian alphabet was developed for that purpose.
India king Gondophares was proselytized by
St Thomas, who continued on to southern India, and possibly as far as Malaysia or China. According to
Eusebius' record, the apostles
Thomas and
Bartholomew were assigned to
Parthia (modern Iran) and India. By the time of the establishment of the Second Persian Empire (AD 226), there were bishops of the Church of the East in northwest India, Afghanistan and
Baluchistan (including parts of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan), with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity. Piecing together the various traditions, the story suggests that Thomas left northwest India when invasion threatened, and traveled by vessel to the
Malabar Coast along the southwestern coast of the Indian continent, possibly visiting southeast
Arabia and
Socotra en route, and landing at the former flourishing port of
Muziris on an island near
Cochin in 52. From there he preached the gospel throughout the Malabar Coast. The various churches he founded were located mainly on the
Periyar River and its tributaries and along the coast. He preached to all classes of people and had about 170 converts, including members of the four principal castes. Later, stone crosses were erected at the places where churches were founded, and they became pilgrimage centres. In accordance with apostolic custom, Thomas ordained teachers and leaders or elders, who were reported to be the earliest ministry of the Malabar church. Thomas next proceeded overland to the
Coromandel Coast in southeastern India, and ministered in what is now
Chennai (earlier
Madras), where a local king and many people were converted. One tradition related that he went from there to China via
Malacca in Malaysia, and after spending some time there, returned to the Chennai area. Apparently his renewed ministry outraged the
Brahmins, who were fearful lest Christianity undermine their social
caste system. So according to the Syriac version of the
Acts of Thomas, Mazdai, the local king at
Mylapore, after questioning the Apostle condemned him to death about the year AD 72. Anxious to avoid popular excitement, the King ordered Thomas conducted to a nearby mountain, where, after being allowed to pray, he was then stoned and stabbed to death with a lance wielded by an angry Brahmin. Edessa (now
Şanlıurfa) in northwestern Mesopotamia was from apostolic times the principal center of
Syriac-speaking Christianity. it was the capital of an independent kingdom from 132 BC to AD 216, when it became tributary to Rome. Celebrated as an important centre of Greco-Syrian culture, Edessa was also noted for its Jewish community, with
proselytes in the royal family. Strategically located on the main trade routes of the
Fertile Crescent, it was easily accessible from
Antioch, where the mission to the Gentiles was inaugurated. When early Christians were scattered abroad because of persecution, some found refuge at Edessa. Thus the Edessan church traced its origin to the
Apostolic Age (which may account for its rapid growth), and
Christianity even became the state religion for a time. The Church of the East had its inception at a very early date in the buffer zone between the
Parthian and Roman Empires in Upper Mesopotamia, known as the
Assyrian Church of the East. The vicissitudes of its later growth were rooted in its minority status in a situation of international tension. The rulers of the Parthian Empire (250 BC – AD 226) were on the whole tolerant in spirit, and with the older faiths of Babylonia and Assyria in a state of decay, the time was ripe for a new and vital faith. The rulers of the
Second Persian empire (224 AD–651 AD) also followed a policy of religious toleration to begin with, though later they gave Christians the same status as a subject race. However, these rulers also encouraged the revival of the ancient Persian dualistic faith of
Zoroastrianism and established it as the state religion, with the result that the Christians were increasingly subjected to repressive measures. Nevertheless, it was not until Christianity became the state religion in the West (380) that enmity toward Rome was focused on the Eastern Christians. After the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, the caliphate tolerated other faiths but forbade proselytism and subjected Christians to heavy taxation. The missionary
Addai evangelized
Mesopotamia (modern
Iraq) about the middle of the 2nd century. An ancient legend recorded by
Eusebius (AD 260–340) and also found in the
Doctrine of Addai (c. AD 400) (from information in the royal archives of Edessa) describes how King
Abgar V of Edessa communicated to Jesus, requesting he come and heal him, to which appeal he received a reply. It is said that after the resurrection,
Thomas sent Addai (or Thaddaeus), to the king, with the result that the city was won to the Christian faith. In this mission he was accompanied by a disciple, Mari, and the two are regarded as co-founders of the church, according to the
Liturgy of Addai and Mari (c. AD 200), which is still the normal liturgy of the Assyrian church. The
Doctrine of Addai further states that Thomas was regarded as an apostle of the church in Edessa. A Christian council was held at Edessa as early as 197. In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed. In 232, the Syriac Acts were written supposedly on the event of the relics of the Apostle Thomas being handed to the church in Edessa. Under Roman domination many martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts.
Scharbîl and
Barsamya, under
Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under
Diocletian. In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa had evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and
Persia, and established the first churches in the kingdom of the
Sasanians. Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the
First Council of Nicaea (325).
Persia and Central Asia By the latter half of the 2nd century, Christianity had spread east throughout
Media, Persia,
Parthia, and
Bactria. The twenty bishops and many presbyters were more of the order of itinerant missionaries, passing from place to place as Paul did and supplying their needs with such occupations as merchant or craftsman. By AD 280 the metropolis of Seleucia assumed the title of "Catholicos" and in AD 424 a council of the church at Seleucia elected the first patriarch to have jurisdiction over the whole church of the East. The seat of the Patriarchate was fixed at
Seleucia-Ctesiphon, since this was an important point on the east–west trade routes which extended to India and China, Java and Japan. Thus the shift of ecclesiastical authority was away from Edessa, which in AD 216 had become tributary to Rome. the establishment of an independent patriarchate with nine subordinate metropoli contributed to a more favourable attitude by the Persian government, which no longer had to fear an ecclesiastical alliance with the common enemy, Rome. By the time that Edessa was incorporated into the
Persian Empire in 258, the city of
Arbela, situated on the
Tigris in what is now
Iraq, had taken on more and more the role that Edessa had played in the early years, as a centre from which Christianity spread to the rest of the Persian Empire.
Bardaisan, writing about 196, speaks of Christians throughout
Media,
Parthia and
Bactria (modern-day
Afghanistan) and, according to
Tertullian (c. 160–230), there were already a number of bishoprics within the Persian Empire by 220. During the reign of
Shapur II of the
Sasanian Empire, he was not initially hostile to his Christian subjects, who were led by
Shemon Bar Sabbae, the
Patriarch of the
Church of the East, however, the conversion of Constantine the Great to
Christianity caused Shapur to start distrusting his Christian subjects. He started seeing them as agents of a foreign enemy. The wars between the Sasanian and Roman empires turned Shapur's mistrust into hostility. After the death of Constantine, Shapur II, who had been preparing for a war against the Romans for several years, imposed a double tax on his Christian subjects to finance the conflict. Shemon, however, refused to pay the double tax. Shapur started pressuring Shemon and his clergy to convert to Zoroastrianism, which they refused to do. It was during this period the "cycle of the martyrs" began during which "many thousands of Christians" were put to death. During the following years, Shemon's successors,
Shahdost and
Barba'shmin, were also martyred. A near-contemporary 5th-century Christian work, the
Ecclesiastical History of
Sozomen, contains considerable detail on the Persian Christians martyred under Shapur II. Sozomen estimates the total number of Christians killed as follows:
Arabian Peninsula To understand the penetration of the
Arabian Peninsula by the Christian gospel, it is helpful to distinguish between the
Bedouin nomads of the interior, who were chiefly herdsmen and unreceptive to foreign control, and the inhabitants of the settled communities of the coastal areas and oases, who were either middlemen traders or farmers and were receptive to influences from abroad. Christianity apparently gained its strongest foothold in the ancient center of Semitic civilization in South-west Arabia or
Yemen (sometimes known as Seba or
Sheba, whose queen visited
Solomon). Because of geographic proximity, acculturation with
Ethiopia was always strong, and the royal family traces its ancestry to this queen. The presence of Arabians at Pentecost and Paul's three-year sojourn in Arabia suggest a very early gospel witness. A 4th-century church history, states that the apostle
Bartholomew preached in Arabia and that
Himyarites were among his converts. The Al-
Jubail Church in what is now
Saudi Arabia was built in the 4th century. Arabia's close relations with Ethiopia give significance to the conversion of
the treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia, not to mention the tradition that the Apostle Matthew was assigned to this land. Ethiopia at that time meant any upper Nile region.
Candace was the title and perhaps, name for the
Meroë or
Kushite queens. In the fourth century, bishop
Athanasius of
Alexandria consecrated Marcus as bishop of
Philae before his death in 373, showing that
Christianity had permanently penetrated the region.
John of Ephesus records that a
Monophysite priest named Julian converted the king and his nobles of Nobatia around 545 and another kingdom of Alodia converted around 569. By the 7th century
Makuria expanded becoming the dominant power in the region so strong enough to halt the southern expansion of
Islam after the
Arabs had taken Egypt. After several failed invasions the new rulers agreed to a treaty with Dongola allowing for peaceful coexistence and trade. This treaty held for six hundred years allowing Arab traders introducing Islam to Nubia and it gradually supplanted
Christianity. The last recorded bishop was
Timothy at
Qasr Ibrim in 1372. ==See also==