Mar Mattai sometimes rendered as Saint Matthew , was a monk who is revered as a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 in Syriac Christian churches.

Life according to Syriac tradition

Not much is known about Mattai's early life except that he was born in the early 4th century in the city of Amid or in a village close by, and that he was a monk in that region when the anti-Christian persecution of Julian the apostate

Julian the Apostate

Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....

 took place.

Mar Mattai was forced to flee to Nineveh

Nineveh

Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....

 where he found a hermitage on the Alfaf Mountain in Nineveh plains

Nineveh plains

Nineveh plains is a region in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq to the north and west of the city Mosul. The area generally consists of three districts; Tel Keppe, Al-Hamdaniya, and Al-Shikhan...

.
According to Syriac tradition, it was during that time that he met with prince Behnam

Saint Behnam

-Life according to Syriac tradition:According to Syriac tradition, he was born in the 4th century to Sencharib, an Assyrian pagan king of Athur. He met with Mattai the hermit who lived in a monastery during a hunting trip...

, the son of an Assyrian

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 pagan king of Athur during a hunting trip. Mattain preached him about Christianity and miraculously healed his sister Sara of leprosy

Leprosy

Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...

. They were were both baptised alongside Behnam's forty companions.

Upon learning of his Children's conversion, king Sencharib killed his children and their forty companions on a hill in Nimrud

Nimrud

Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris in modern Ninawa Governorate Iraq. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after the Biblical Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero .The city covered an area of around . Ruins of the city...

. However, the king later regretted his deed and was later baptised by Mar Mattai. He also built a monastery on the mount were Mar Mattai healed his daughter.

Monastery

The Monastery of Mar Mattai is traditionally attributed to Mar mattai and is thought to have been commissioned by Senchareb and was completed in the 4th century. It is considered one of the oldest functioning Syriac Orthodox monasteries in Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

 and it have been seat and the the final resting place of a number of Syriac Orthodox patriarchs and scholars.