Arethas | |
---|---|
Martyr | |
Died | c. 523 Najran |
Venerated in | |
Feast | July 27 (Roman Catholic)[1] October 24 (Eastern Orthodox)[2] |
Arethas or Aretas (Arabic: الحارث بن كعب, romanized: al-Ḥārith bin-Kaʿb) was the leader of the Miaphysite Christian community of Najran in the early 6th century; he was executed during the persecution of Christians by king Dhu Nuwas of Himyar in 523.[3][4]
He is known from the Acta S. Arethae (also called Martyrium sancti Arethae or Martyrium Arethae)[5] which exists in two recensions: the earlier and more authentic, which was found by Michel Le Quien (Oriens Christianus, ii. 428) and was subsequently dated as no later than the 7th century; the later, revised by Simeon Metaphrastes, dates from the 10th century. The Ge'ez and Arabic versions of the text were translated into French in 2006[6] and the Greek version in 2007.[7]