Isaac ʿAzar was born at
Mosul in 1647, and was the son of
Maqdisi 'Azar and Maryam. He had brothers named
Matthew and Jacob, and two uncles,
George and Rizq Allah, through his mother. Isaac became a monk at the nearby
Mar Mattai Monastery, where he and his uncle George were both ordained as priests in 1669 by his tutor,
Basil Yeldo,
Maphrian of the East. In 1673, Isaac and George aided Basil Yeldo in renovating the Mar Mattai Monastery, for which they were fined and imprisoned by the
wali of Mosul for a short while. Basil Yeldo appointed Isaac as the abbot of the Mar Mattai Monastery in 1675 and he was later ordained as metropolitan of the Mar Mattai Monastery by Patriarch
Ignatius Abdulmasih I in early 1684 at the
Mor Hananyo Monastery, upon which he assumed the name Severus. This took place at the same time as George's ordination as Basil Yeldo's successor as Maphrian of the East. In April 1687, Isaac was ordained as Maphrian of the East at the Great Church of
Mardin by his uncle George, who had been elevated to patriarch of Antioch at the same time, upon which he assumed the name Basil. Throughout George's tenure as patriarch, Isaac was entrusted with the administration of the whole church and thus he ordained several bishops and a number of presbyters, deacons and monks. At Amid, he rebuilt the Church of Mar Yaqub in 1691, and renovated the
Church of the Virgin Mary in 1693, to which he added the nave of Saint
Jacob of Serugh, on instruction from the patriarch. In 1701, he received permission from the Ottoman sultan to rebuild the churches of Mardin after having travelled to
Constantinople and other places, accompanied by the priest
Shukrallah. Whilst Isaac was at
Aleppo, George died on 5 June 1708. A synod was thus held at the Mor Hananyo Monastery in 1709, presided over by Maphrian Basil Lazarus of
Tur Abdin, and Isaac was unanimously chosen to succeed George as patriarch of Antioch. After having received a certificate of investiture from the Ottoman sultan recognising his ascension to the patriarchal office, Isaac travelled to Amid, where he was consecrated as patriarch at the Church of Maryamānā by Basil Lazarus of Tur Abdin on 8 February 1709, upon which he assumed the name Ignatius. Isaac served as patriarch until ill health led him to abdicate on 20 July 1723, on which day a synod at the Mor Hananyo Monastery choose
Dionysius Shukrallah, metropolitan of Aleppo, as his successor as patriarch of Antioch, with Isaac's approval. Isaac returned to Mosul, where he died on 18 July 1724, and was buried at the
Church of Mar Tuma. As maphrian and patriarch, Isaac ordained seventeen bishops. ==Works==