Yohannan VIII Hormizd
According to his autobiography, Yohannan Hormizd was born in 1760 in Alqosh to an Assyrian family. His father, the deacon Hanna (Yohannan), was the brother of the Mosul patriarch Eliya XII Denha (1722–78).
Hormuzan
Hormuzan is first mentioned in 609 as one of the Sasanian officers who participated in the battle of Dhi Qar. The rebelling Arabs managed to defeat the Sasanians at the battle, but order was soon restored by Ruzbi, the governor ("marzban") of al-Hira. In 628, Khosrow II was overthrown by his son Kavadh II, who crowned himself as the new "shahanshah" (king of kings) of the Sasanian Empire. Three days later, Kavadh ordered Mihr Hormozd to execute his father. In 632, after a period of coups and revolts, Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651) was crowned as king of the Sasanian Empire at Estakhr, an ancient Iranian city in Pars, where the Sasanian family had founded their empire.