Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs

Saints Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs were 4th-century Assyrian Christians who suffered martyrdom during the reign of Shapur II.

According to their hagiography, Behnam and Sarah were born in the 4th century, and were the children of Sennacherib, King of Assyria, who ruled under the Shahanshah Shapur II of Iran.

[5] He received a dream in which an angel instructed him to seek Saint Matthew the Hermit on Mount Alfaf, as he could heal Behnam's sister Sarah, who was afflicted with leprosy.

[4] An angel appeared before Behnam's mother and told her the king would only be cured of his madness if he converted to Christianity and prayed at the site of the martyrs' death.

[4][8] A wealthy pilgrim called Isaac later visited the site of the martyrs' death in the hope it would exorcise the devil from his servant, and constructed a monastery named as Beth Gubbe near Behnam's tomb upon receiving instructions to do so from the saint in a dream.

[6] The hagiography may have been written to establish the pre-Islamic foundation of the Monastery of Saints Behnam and Sarah, and thus prevent confiscation from Muslim rulers.

[21] As well as this, the Syriac Orthodox Church of the Forty Martyrs at Mardin in Turkey purports to contain the remains of Saint Behnam.