Twelve miles from Mosul, in the north of Iraq, a long, sandy-coloured building clings to a dry, dusty hillside, blending in with its rocky surroundings.
Mar Mattai was born in Amid, near present day Diyarbakir in south eastern Turkey, where he took holy orders. The area was part of the Roman Empire where, after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in , Christianity enjoyed a privileged position.
However, Julian, Emperor from to , most of whose relatives had been killed by Christian Emperors and who had grown up in fear of his own life, reacted against Christianity. He adopted and promoted the old Roman polytheistic faith, and fined Christian churches, seized land from them and put bars on Christians becoming teachers.
The tradition of the Syriac Orthodox Church is that Mar Mattai and many other monks fled their homes during the reign of Julian and found refuge on the Maqloub mountain. There is a story that Mar Mattai befriended a local prince, Behnam, and taught him about Christianity. The prince was impressed and when his sister, Sara, became ill with leprosy, he brought her to Mattai. The monk cured her, and inspired Behnam, Sara and forty of their companions to convert to Christianity.
In atonement for his actions and to mark the spot where his daughter had been healed, Sencharib commissioned the building of a monastery. I imagine the monastery being approached on foot and my grandfather arriving dusty and sweaty.
