Makkikha won the patriarchal election of 1257 by slandering his chief rival, the metropolitan and future patriarch Denha of Erbil, as a friend of the Mongol khans who was too dangerous to elect as patriarch. Bribery was commonplace in the patriarchal elections of the Church of the East at this period. The following account of Makkikha's election is given by Bar Hebraeus:
