Sensory Experience and the Women Martyrs of Najran

The account of the Women Martyrs of Najran in the Second Letter of Simeon of Beth Arsham provides a witness to the martyrdom of a Christian community against the backdrop of sixth-century geopolitical conflict. There is a level of detail in these texts that strongly suggests that they are intended to be read and understood in relation to Christian sacramental and liturgical practice. Simeon, in disseminating these accounts to the greater Christian community, wishes to glorify the faith of these women in a way that, leaving their sanctity beyond doubt, will ensure their commemoration by the Church at large. He accomplishes this by means of language that carries liturgical and sacramental meaning, linking the acts of these specific martyrdoms to the larger context of Christian sensory experience.