apparition of Mor Batlo in a dream who indicated the location of his remains and, in the following morning, John and Baselius Aziz dug at the indicated place and discovered the remains of Mor Batlo. John had a chapel built on the location and connected it to the church. He also appointed a bishop of Nisibis to minister to the Syriac Orthodox population of the town. John's efforts in Nisibis were largely symbolic and were seen as the reclamation of their heritage. This is because the town of Nisibis was the diocese of Jacob of Nisibis, a highly venerated saint in the Syriac Orthodox Church, and thus to appoint a Syriac Orthodox bishop was to reclaim the town from the Nestorians. Baselius Aziz died shortly after the consecration of the Church of Mor Balto and Yoldath Aloho in 1487 and fear of Nestorian attacks in Mosul led John to travel to the city and restore the nearby Monastery of Mor Behnam. John resolved an issue affecting the Monastery of Mor Hananyo whereby the monks faced harassment from Muslims who lived in a nearby orchard. John threatened the Emir of Mardin that himself and all other members of his church would relocate if the issue was not resolved. The emir capitulated and an agreement was reached by which the aforementioned orchard was exchanged for another property. It was alleged that John was poisoned in 1493 by Joshua, Bishop of Sawro, who would later become patriarch in 1509. References Bibliography Syriac Patriarchs of Antioch from 512 to 1783 Syrian archbishops 1442 births 1493 deaths 15th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops 15th-century Syriac Orthodox Church bishops People from Mardin