Abo of Tbilisi was an Arab perfumer who converted from Islam to Christianity in Georgia and was put to death at Tbilisi in 786 for refusing to return to his former religion. Born in Baghdad around 756 and raised a Muslim, he practiced the trade of a perfumer, an occupation that in his time involved a working knowledge of the preparation of fine ointments and scents. He is venerated as a patron of the city of Tbilisi and is commemorated on January 8.
Abo came to Georgia in the retinue of the Georgian prince Nerses of Kartli (Iberia), who had been imprisoned by the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad and brought Abo back with him on his release. In Georgia, Abo was drawn to the piety of the Christian population, learned the Georgian language, attended the church services, and conversed with local clergy. According to the tradition, this process of inquiry included disputes with Christian priests and bishops before he became convinced of the faith.
While Prince Nerses sought refuge in Khazaria, north of the Caspian Sea and beyond the reach of Muslim rule, Abo received baptism there, since open conversion within Caliphate-controlled territory would have exposed him to the penalty for apostasy. He afterward accompanied the prince to Abkhazia before the party returned to Tbilisi about 782. For roughly three years Abo openly confessed Christ in the city, which drew threats and ultimately a denunciation to the Arab authorities as an apostate from Islam. He was arrested, tried, and beheaded on January 6, 786; his body was burned and the ashes cast into the Mtkvari (Kura) River.
