Peter was born in the city of Mosul in 1798 into a well known Christian family and spent his childhood at the Monastery of Mor Hananyo, where he would later become a monk and also be ordained as a priest.

On 2 June 1866, Peter allegedly consecrated the French Presbyterian minister Jules Ferrette as Bishop of Iona, giving him a mission to introduce Oriental Orthodoxy to the West.

Soon after he became patriarch, Peter renovated the Monastery of Mor Hananyo and ordained Rabban Abded Sattuf as Metropolitan of Jerusalem under the name Gregorius.

They met Pulikottil Mor Dionysius in June at the city of Pune and travelled from there to Madras to meet the governor to convince him of their cause.

Patriarch Ignatius Peter IV died on 8 October 1894 whilst at Mardin and was buried at Beth Qadishe at Mor Hananyo