Jacob of Nisibis

Who was Jacob of Nisibis?

Jacob of Nisibis, is a Assyrian saint. He was the second bishop of Nisibis, spiritual father of the renowned Assyrian Ephrem the Syrian, and celebrated ascetic.

Jacob was appointed bishop, in 309, of the Christian community of Nisibis in Mesopotamia. Jacob of Nisibis, also known as James of Nisibis and as Jacob of Nusaybin, is recorded as a signatory at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. He was the first Christian to search for the Ark of Noah, which he claimed to find a piece of on a mountain, Mount Judi, 70 miles from Nisibis.

He founded the basilica and theological School of Nisibis after the model of the school of Diodorus of Tarsus in Antioch. It was not until the 10th century that the "Persian Sage" who had been incorrectly identified with Jacob of Nisibis was finally identified with Aphrahat. Jacob was the teacher and spiritual director of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, a great ascetic, teacher and hymn writer who combatted Arianism.

Much of Jacob's public ministry, like that of other Assyrian ascetics, can be seen as socially cohesive in the context of the Late Roman East.