Zayya

Saint Zay'ā (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܙܝܐ), was a travelling mystic, holy man and healer who made his way from Palestine to the mountains of northern Mesopotamia and Assyria spreading Christianity with his disciple St. Tāwor. The Church of the East honours both St. Zay'ā and St. Tāwor for their missionary efforts in northern Iraq and the region of Upper Dāsen (modern Hakkâri province, Turkey) during the late 4th and early 5th centuries. He is also the patron saint of travellers and the Jilu district, where he is buried, and is invoked for protection from hail, famine, plague, anger, illness, disease and the Angel of Death. St. Zay'ā is often depicted in miniatures from manuscripts of the Book of Protection as an equestrian saint, spear in hand, and attacking the Angel of Death.