David Surhan

Holy Martyr David Surhan (David of Dvin) was an Arab Christian, martyred in the early 8th century. Originally named Surhan, he was a Muslim soldier of noble origin who came to Armenia between 656 and 660, with a company of Arab troops stationed in the province of Ayrarat, north of Dvin, then the seat of the Umayyad government in the region.

Traveling through the villages, he was so impressed by the faith of the local people that he "separated himself from his own to win Christ". About that time many Arab troops were recalled from Armenia to fight in the first fitna (656 to 661), so it is possible that Surhan remained behind. Catholicos Anastasius I baptized him, giving him the name David, and he settled in a village near Dvin, married a local Christian woman and had several children.

By the early 8th century David was an old man. Then Caliph Abd al-⁠Malik decided to reimpose direct rule over Armenia, after decades of semi-⁠autonomy under local Christian princes. He sent a new governor, Abdallah Hatim al-⁠Bahili, and shortly after his arrival in Dvin the governor learned of David's apostasy from Islam. He was arrested, but David refused to repent and rebuked the governor in Arabic. He was then nailed to a cross as the punishment of execution and made to face south, presumably toward Mecca, in a gesture of submission to Islam. According to his life, the cross miraculously turned toward the east, toward the rising sun and the prayer direction of many Eastern Christians, a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.