Babai the Great (not to be confused with Mar Babai I, the first autonomous leader of the Church of the East) was born in Beth Ainata in Beth Zabdai, on the west bank of the Tigris, near Nisibis. He was born to a family of humble means, and studied at the Christian School of Nisibis under the directorship of Abraham of Beth Rabban. Sometime around 571 A.D., when the Origenist Henana of Adiabene became the new headmaster, Babai's teacher, Abraham the Great of Kashkar, founded a new monastery on Mt. Izla above Nisibis. Babai taught for a while at the Xenodocheio of Nisibis. After that he joined the newly founded monastery of Abraham on Mt. Izla. When Abraham died in 588, Babai left and founded a new monastery and school in his home country Beth Zabdai.