His name is patronymic, meaning "son of Tolmai". Sometimes 
	he is identified with Nathaneal whom Phillip led to Christ.
	According to the historian Eusebius, when Pantainus of 
	Alexandria visited India between 150 and 200 A. D., he 
	found there the Gospel according to Matthew left behind by
	Bartholomew one of the Apostles. According to tradition, 
	Bartholomew was flayed to death at Albanapolis in Armenia. 
	The apostle Bartholomew was led to Christ in the region of 
	Galilee, possibly by the apostle Philip and his latter 
	ministry belongs more to the eastern churches than it does
	to the western churches.  
	
	There is a very interesting personal description of 
	Bartholomew which says that He had black curly hair, 
	white skin, large  eyes, a straight nose, hair that 
	covered his ears and a long grizzled middle height 
	beard.  Bartholomew is said to have worn a white robe 
	with a purple stripe and a white cloak with four purple 
	gems at the corners.  For twenty-six years he wore 
	these and it is said that they never grew old.  In 
	fact, It was also reported, that his shoes lasted the 
	same as his clothing.  
	
	Of Bartholomew, it is said that he prayed a hundred times
	a day and a hundred times a night.  It is also said that 
	his voice was like a trumpet, angels waited upon him and 
	that he was always cheerful and knew all languages. In 
	the company of the apostle Philip, the apostle Bartholomew
	went to  Asia Minor and labored in Hierapolis, near 
	Laodicea and Colosse, in what is modern day Turkey. 
	
	While in Hierapolis, it is said that the wife of the Roman
	proconsul was healed by the apostles Philip and 
	Bartholomew, that she became a Christian and that her 
	husband ordered Philip and Bartholomew to be put to death
	by crucifixion.  Sadly, Philip was crucified, but 
	Barthoomew escaped martyrdom, when for some special reason,
	the magistrates caused him to be taken down from the cross
	and dismissed.  From there, Bartholomew went eastward to 
	India and then to greater Armenia. 
	
	A popular tradition among the Armenians is that the 
	apostle Jude (Thaddaeus) was the first to evangelize their
	region throughout the years of 43 to 66 AD and that the 
	apostle Bartholomew joined him in 60 AD (eight years before
	Bartholomew was martyred). 
	
	It is also said that Bartholomew carried with him a copy 
	of the apostle Matthew's Gospel.  This copy was reported 
	to be found at a later time and  a converted stoic 
	philosopher by the name of Pantaenus is said to have 
	brought it to Alexandria.  
	
	Bartholomew is reported to have labored in the area around
	the south end of the Caspian Sea, in the section that was 
	then called Armenia. The modern name of the district where 
	he died is Azerbaijan and the place of his death, called 
	in New Testament times Albanopolis, is now Derbend which 
	is on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. The apostle 
	Bartholomew is said to have been martyred in the year 68 AD.