Yohannan VIII Hormizd
Meanwhile, the Vatican reconsidered the condemnation of Yohannan Hormizd in the light of fresh information, and on 25 November 1826 publicly absolved him. At the same time, to restore the peace of the Chaldean Church, it urged the 66-year-old former patriarchal administrator to renounce his claims to the archdiocese of Mosul and to retire quietly. Yohannan, vindicated by the Vatican's absolution and supported by the local civil authorities, stubbornly refused to retire. Instead, he fought back against his opponents. In 1827, during the absence of the superior Gabriel Dambo in Rome, a number of monks in the monastery of Rabban Hormizd rebelled against its administrator Yohannan Gwera, who enjoyed the support of the metropolitan Joseph Audo. Yohannan Hormizd upheld the rebels, and was also able to have Basil Asmar expelled from Telkepe, forcing him to take refuge in Amid.
Harthama ibn A'yan
Harthama was in Samarkand when al-Rashid died at Tus in March 809, and remained in the east after. Consequently he threw in his lot with al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) in the civil war against al-Amin (r. 809–813), and was along with Tahir ibn Husayn one of the two commanders of al-Ma'mun's army during the crucial year-long siege of Baghdad in 812–813. During the siege he led the attack from the east while Tahir commanded from the west. In the final stage of the siege, Harthama tried unsuccessfully to secure the surrender and life of al-Amin, by sending a boat to ferry him over the Tigris. The boat, however, capsized, and al-Amin was captured and executed by Tahir's men.