Dayro d'Mor Bassus and d'Mort Shushan 

Dayro d'Mor Bassus and d'Mort Shushan 

The Bassus Monastery, located in Hedil, is one of several monasteries bearing this name in Syriac sources. Other monasteries named after Bassus are located "on the mountains," near Emesa (Apameia), near Abithbu, and at Haram. The monastery near Emesa is often referred to as the most important of these.

The monastery is named after the Persian martyr Bassus, whose bones are believed to rest there. His martyrdom is recorded in an anonymous memra (poetic discourse). The martyr Bassus, a native Persian, was the son of Abuszert, a high-ranking official in the service of the Persian king. Around 383, Bassus, along with his sister Shushan, was entrusted to the care of a captive named Stephanus. Stephanus led them to the hermit Longinus, who lived in the Tur-'Abdin region, between Asfes and Hedil. Both Bassus and his sister were baptized by Longinus, which enraged their father, a devout practitioner of Persian magic.

Because they refused to sacrifice to the Persian gods, Bassus and his sister were martyred alongside Longinus in the Geina Valley, after Stephanus had been beheaded. Believers collected Bassus's body and buried it on a mountaintop near Hedil, building a church over his grave. The residents of Hedil kept his hands as relics. While the martyrdom is often attested to on May 11, 388, it likely occurred around 400 AD.

There is another notable figure named Bassus, a presbyter and contemporary of Simeon the Stylite (d. 459). He was a former dignitary from Edessa who later became a hermit and gathered over 200 disciples. He was known for his strict asceticism. It's likely that this Periodeut Bassus was the founder of the monastery in Hadil, although the monastery was named for the martyr Bassus.

Few years after the martyrdom of Bassus, a monk named David from the monastery in Hedil sought to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He carried a relic of the martyr Bassus with him. During his journey, he was detained in Emesa, where he founded a second monastery named after Bassus near Aphamea. David became the first abbot of this new monastery. According to historical records, this event occurred around 480 AD. The monastery in Emesa went on to become the most important of the monasteries named after Bassus.

The Bassus Monastery near Hedil is still standing today and the feast day of the martyr Bassus is celebrated on May 2nd.

Status: Functional