Abgar V (c. 1st century BC - c. AD 50), called Ukkāmā (meaning "the Black" in
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
and other dialects of
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
),, syr, ܐܒܓܪ ܚܡܝܫܝܐ ܐܘܟܡܐ, ʾAḇgar Ḥmīšāyā ʾUkkāmā, hy, Աբգար Ե Եդեսացի, Abgar Hingerord Yedesatsi, grc-gre, Ἄβγαρος, Abgaros, la, Abgarus. was the King of
Osroene
Osroene or Osrhoene (; grc-gre, Ὀσροηνή) was an ancient region and state in Upper Mesopotamia. The ''Kingdom of Osroene'', also known as the "Kingdom of Edessa" ( syc, ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܐܘܪܗܝ / "Kingdom of Urhay"), according to ...
with his capital at
Edessa
Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
.
Background
![100,000_Armenian_dram_-_2009_(obverse)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/100%2C000_Armenian_dram_-_2009_%28obverse%29.jpg)
Abgar was described as "king of the
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
" by
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
, a near-contemporary source.
Moses of Chorene
Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late an ...
depicted Abgar as an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
, but modern scholarly consensus agree that the
Abgarids were in fact an Arab dynasty.
Armenian historian
Moses of Chorene
Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late an ...
(ca. 410–490s AD) notes that Abgar V's chief wife was Queen
Helena of Adiabene
Helena of Adiabene ( he, ''Hellēnī''; d. ca. 50–56 CE) was a queen mother of the Parthian vassal state of Adiabene (modern-day Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan). With her husband and brother Monobaz I, she was the mother of Izates II and Monobaz II. ...
, who according to
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
was the wife of King
Monobaz I
Monobaz I (also known as Bazeus or Monobazus; he, ''Munəbāz'') was king of the Parthian client state of Adiabene in the 20s and 30s of the 1st century AD. He was the husband ( and brother) of Queen Helena of Adiabene. With Helena he fathere ...
of
Adiabene
Adiabene was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it eventually gained control of N ...
.
Letter of Abgar to Jesus
![Edessa Abgar king with Christ image](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Edessa_Abgar_king_with_Christ_image.jpg)
Abgar V is said to be one of the first
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
kings in history, having been converted to the faith by
Thaddeus of Edessa
According to Eastern Christian tradition, Addai of Edessa (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܕܝ, Mar Addai or Mor Aday sometimes Latinized Addeus) or Thaddeus of Edessa was one of the seventy disciples of Jesus. He is possibly identical with Thaddaeus, one of ...
, one of the
seventy disciples
The seventy disciples or seventy-two disciples, known in the Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles or seventy-two apostles, were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. The correct Greek terminology is evdomikont ...
.
The church historian
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
records that the Edessan archives contained a copy of a correspondence exchanged between Abgar of Edessa and Jesus. The correspondence consisted of Abgar's letter and the answer dictated by Jesus. On August 15, 944, the
Church of St. Mary of Blachernae in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
received the letter and the
Mandylion
According to Christian tradition, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus had been imprinted—the first icon ("image"). The image is also known as the M ...
. Both relics were then moved to the
Church of the Virgin of the Pharos
The Church of the Virgin of the Pharos ( el, Θεοτόκος τοῦ Φάρου, ''Theotokos tou Pharou'') was a Byzantine chapel built in the southern part of the Great Palace of Constantinople, and named after the tower of the lighthouse (''pha ...
.
The account of this enjoyed great popularity in the East, and also in the West, during the Middle Ages: Jesus' letter was copied on parchment, inscribed in marble and metal, and used as a talisman or an amulet. Of this correspondence, there survive not only a Syriac text, but an Armenian translation as well, two independent Greek versions, shorter than the Syriac, and several inscriptions on stone.
A curious growth has arisen from this event, with scholars disputing whether Abgar suffered from gout or from leprosy, whether the correspondence was on parchment or papyrus, and so forth.
The text of the letter was:
Jesus gave the messenger the reply to return to Abgar:
Egeria wrote of the letter in her account of her pilgrimage in Edessa. She read the letter during her stay, and remarked that the copy in Edessa was fuller than the copies in her home (which was likely France).
In addition to the importance it attained in the apocryphal cycle, the correspondence of King Abgar also gained a place in liturgy for some time. The Syriac liturgies commemorate the correspondence of Abgar during Lent. The Celtic liturgy appears to have attached importance to it; the ''
Liber Hymnorum
The term "Celtic Rite" is applied to the various liturgical rites used in Celtic Christianity in Britain, Ireland and Brittany and the monasteries founded by St. Columbanus and Saint Catald in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy during the ...
'', a manuscript preserved at Trinity College, Dublin (E. 4, 2), gives two collects on the lines of the letter to Abgar. It is even possible that this letter, followed by various prayers, may have formed a minor liturgical office in some Catholic churches.
This event has played an important part in the self-definition of several Eastern churches. Abgar is counted as saint, with feasts on May 11 and October 28 in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Thursday of the Third Week of Lent (Mid-Lent) in the
Syriac Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = syc
, image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg
, imagewidth = 250
, alt = Cathedral of Saint George
, caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...
, and daily in the Mass of the
Armenian Apostolic Church
, native_name_lang = hy
, icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg
, icon_width = 100px
, icon_alt =
, image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, a ...
. The Armenian Apostolic Church in
Scottsdale, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, named_for = Winfield Scott
, image_skyline =
, image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg
, image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg
, nick ...
, is named after Saint Abgar (also spelled as Apkar).
Critical scholarship
A number of contemporary scholars have suggested origins of the tradition of Abgar's conversion apart from historical record. S. K. Ross suggests the story of Abgar is in the genre of a
genealogical
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
which traces the origin of a community back to a mythical or divine ancestor.
F. C. Burkitt argues that the conversion of Edessa at the time of
Abgar VIII
__NOTOC__
Abgar VIII of Edessa, also known as Abgar the Great or Abgar bar Ma'nu, was an Arab king of Osroene from 177-212 CE.
Abgar the Great was most remembered for his alleged conversion to Christianity in about 200 CE and the declaration of ...
was retrojected upon the Apostolic age. William Adler suggests the origin of the story of the conversion of Abgar V was an invention of an
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
researcher employed by Abgar VIII, who had recently converted to Christianity, in an effort to securely root Christianity in the history of the city.
Walter Bauer
Walter Bauer (; 8 August 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a German theologian, lexicographer of New Testament Greek, and scholar of the development of Early Christianity.
Life
Bauer was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, and raised in Marburg, ...
, on the other hand, argued the legend was written without sources to reinforce
group cohesiveness
Group cohesiveness (also called group cohesion and social cohesion) arises when bonds link members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole. Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it can be broken down into four main co ...
,
orthodoxy
Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...
, and
apostolic succession
Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...
against
heretical
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
schismatics. However, several distinct sources, known to have not been in contact with one another, claimed to have seen the letters in the archives, so his claim is suspect.
Significant advances in scholarship on the topic have been made by Desreumaux's translation with commentary, M. Illert's collection of textual witnesses to the legend, and detailed studies of the ideology of the sources by Brock,
[S.P. Brock, Eusebius and Syriac Christianity, in H.W. Attridge-G. Hata (eds.), Eusebius, Christianity, and Judaism, Brill, Leiden-New York-Köln 1992, pp. 212-234, republished in S. Brock, From Ephrem to Romanos. Interactions between Syriac and Greek in Late Antiquity (Variorum Collected Studies Series, CS644), Ashgate/Variorum, Aldershot-Brookfield-Singapore- Sydney 1999, n. II.] Griffith,
and Mirkovic. The majority of scholars now claim the goal of the authors and editors of texts regarding the conversion of Abgar were not so much concerned with
historical reconstruction of the
Christianisation
Christianization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise.2C -ize .28-isation.2C -ization.29, or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of ...
of Edessa as the relationships between
church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...
power, based on the political and ecclesiological ideas of
Ephraem the Syrian. However, the origins of the story are far still from certain, although the stories as recorded seem to have been shaped by the
controversies of the third century CE, especially as a response to
Bardaisan
Bardaisan (11 July 154 – 222 AD; syr, ܒܪ ܕܝܨܢ, ''Bardaiṣān''), known in Arabic as Ibn Daisan (ابن ديصان) and in Latin as Bardesanes, was a Syriac-speaking Assyrian or ParthianProds Oktor Skjaervo. ''Bardesanes''. Encyclopædia ...
.
See also
*
Doctrine of Addai
Notes
References
Sources
* (German original published in 1934)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. VIII:''Acts of the Holy Apostle Thaddeus, One of the Twelve''
''Epistle of Jesus Christ to Abgarus King of Edessa''from Eusebius
St. Apkar Armenian Apostolic Church of ArizonaCorrespondence between Abgarus Ouchama, King of Edessa, and Jesus of Nazareth (J.Lorber, 1842)* English translation of ancient documents on the conversion of Abgar, including relevant passages from
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
and the
Doctrine of Addai are available in
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abgar 05 Of Edessa
Syriac Orthodox Church saints
Osroene
1st-century BC births
1st-century Arabs
1st-century BC Arabs
50 deaths
1st-century Christian saints
Rulers of Osroene
Converts to Christianity from pagan religions
Year of birth unknown
Christian royal saints
Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Arab Christian saints
Legendary Arab people