Martyr6th century

Martyr Syncletica and her two daughters

6th century

Also known as Syncletica of Arabia

A widowed Christian woman and her daughters who suffered under Dhu Nuwas during the persecution of Christians in Arabia.

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Life

Syncletica was a Christian widow of Najran in Arabia who, together with her two daughters, suffered martyrdom in the early 6th century during the persecution of Christians by Dhu Nuwas (called Dunaan in the Greek synaxaria), the Jewish ruler of the Himyarite Kingdom of southern Arabia.

According to the OCA synaxarion, Syncletica descended from an illustrious family and was widowed at a young age. She devoted herself to the Christian upbringing of her daughters while leading a chaste life, and the three of them died together for their faith.

She is commemorated on October 24 in the Eastern Orthodox calendar alongside the Martyr Arethas and the Martyrs of Najran (Negran), and Blessed Elesbaan, King of Ethiopia, who led the intervention that ended the persecution. As an obscure individual member of this larger martyr cluster, her personal details survive only within the collective calendar entry.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide

TroparionTone 3

Your holy martyrs Syncletica and her daughters, O Lord,
through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God.
For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through their intercessions, save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline3 momentsReadHide

c. AD 522Dhu Nuwas seizes the Himyarite throneDhu Nuwas takes power over the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen and, as a convert to Judaism, issues an edict to eliminate Christianity from his realm.
AD 523Persecution of NajranDhu Nuwas executes Arethas, leader of the Christian community of Najran, and besieges the city; Syncletica and her two daughters are among the Christians who suffer martyrdom in this persecution.
AD 525Aksumite interventionByzantine Emperor Justin I and King Kaleb (Elesbaan) of Aksum send forces to Yemen; the Aksumite invasion defeats Dhu Nuwas and ends the persecution.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributionsReadHide

Historical Context

The martyrdom of Syncletica and her daughters belongs to the persecution of the Christians of Najran, a significant Christian center in southern Arabia. The persecutor, Dhu Nuwas (real name Yusuf Asʾar Yathʾar, c. AD 450-530), ruled the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen from about AD 522 to 530, seizing the throne around AD 522 by assassinating his predecessor. Having converted to Judaism, he issued an edict to eliminate Christianity from his realm.

In AD 523 he executed Arethas (Arabic: al-Harith ibn Ka'b), leader of the Christian community of Najran, together with a large number of followers, and dispatched an army to besiege the city in a siege that lasted six months. Christian sources record death tolls reaching into the thousands; Orthodox tradition numbers the company as the Martyr Arethas and 4,299 Martyrs of Najran. Other named women martyrs of the persecution include the noblewoman Ruhm, executed with her daughter and granddaughter, and Habsa bint Hayyan.

News of the persecution reached the Byzantine Emperor Justin I and King Kaleb (Elesbaan) of Aksum in Ethiopia. In AD 525 an Aksumite invasion defeated Dhu Nuwas, who, according to the account, rode his horse into the Red Sea to escape capture, bringing the persecution to an end.

Sources and Veneration

The principal historical source for the Najran martyrs is the Martyrdom of Arethas, which survives in two recensions: an earlier authentic version dated no later than the 7th century, and a 10th-century revision attributed to Simeon Metaphrastes, with translations in Ge'ez, Arabic, and Greek. The wider company, including Arethas, is venerated in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches.

No Wikipedia article is dedicated to Syncletica herself; she appears only in collective calendar entries, and her individual hagiographic details derive from the OCA synaxarion. No glorification act or documentation of relics has been identified, consistent with her status as an ancient pre-schism martyr.

Member ofReadHide

The Martyrs of Najran

Commemorated together · Oct 24

Family1 relativeShowHide

The two daughters she raised in the faith after being widowed young, who suffered martyrdom together with her and are commemorated with her on October 24.

Her two daughters

Companions1 figureShowHide

Leader of the Christian community of Najran, martyred with the 4,299 in the same persecution of Dhu Nuwas in which Syncletica and her daughters died.

Martyr Arethas and 4299 Martyrs with him

Related Saints1 saintShowHide

Saints connected to her life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

The Christian king of Aksum whose intervention against Dhu Nuwas ended the persecution that took the lives of the Najran martyrs.

Blessed ElesbaanKing of Ethiopia

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints