The ''Doctrine of Addai'' (
Syriac: ܡܠܦܢܘܬܐ ܕܐܕܝ ܫܠܝܚܐ ''Malp̄ānūṯā d-Addai Šlīḥā'') is a
Syriac Christian text, written in the late 4th or early 5th century CE. It recounts the legend of the
Image of Edessa as well as the legendary works of
Addai and his disciple
Mari in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
.
Content
The story of how
King Abgar and
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
had corresponded was first recounted in the 4th century by the church historian
Eusebius of Caesarea in his ''
Ecclesiastical History'' (i.13 and iii.1) and it was retold in elaborated form by
Ephrem the Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, ; grc-koi, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σῦρος, Efrém o Sýros; la, Ephraem Syrus; am, ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; ), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint ...
.
Purpose
Helmut Koester regards the development of tradition of Thaddaeus' activity in Edessa as part of an effort to build the authority of the orthodox or
Palutian faction in Syria against the
Manicheans and
gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...
s, who had an older and stronger presence in the area and traced their lineage to
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...
. He considers the Palutian faction to have come to Edessa around and only become significant in the fourth century.
Manuscripts
* ms Saint-Pétersbourg, Bibliothèque Publique Saltykov-Shchedrine, N.S. Syr. 4 (Pigulevskaya 48), , f. 1v33
* ms Londres, British Library, Add. 14654, f. 33r-v (fgt) + Add. 14644, f. 1-9v + Add. 14535, f. 1r (fgt) + Add. 12155, f. 53v + Add. 17193, f. 36v-37 (extrait)
* ms Alqosh, Église paroissiale chaldéenne, cod. 87 ?
* ms Londres, British Library, Add. 12161, f. 1v (fgt)
* ms Londres, British Library, Add. 14612, f. 165r (fgt)
* ms Londres, British Library, Add. 14644, f. 1-9v (mutilé du début et au milieu)
* ms Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, syr. 62, f. 102v-108 (extraits)
* ms Birmingham, Selly Oak College Library, Coll. Mingana, Syr. 405, f. 1
* ms Jérusalem, Couvent syrien orthodoxe Saint-Marc, cod. 153, p. 241-259
*
Pseudo-Abdias (x. 1)
* Nicephorus (H. E., ii. 7)
[ Note: Walker conflates the ' Acts of Thaddeus'' with the ''Doctrine of Addai''.]
Published editions
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*
Modern translations
English
*
*
HTML version
* Note: This includes a reprint of the Syriac edition of
Other
* This also contains an Ethiopian version.
French national library
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* Dutch: Jan Willem Drijvers, Helena Augusta, waarheid en legende ( Groningen: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 1989), pp: 153–157, Note: partielle
* Russian: Elena Nikitična Meščerskaja, Legenda ob Avgare — rannesirijskij literaturnyj pamjatnik: (istoričeskie korni v ėvoljucii apokrifičeskoj legendy) ( Moskva: Nauka, 1984), pp: 185–203
* Armenian: A Carrière, La légende d'Abgar dans l'Histoire d'Arménie de Moïse de Khoren ( Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1895), pp: 357–414
* Ethiopic: Getatchew Haile, " The Legend of Abgar in Ethiopic Tradition," Orientalia christiana periodica vol. 55 ( 1989), pp: 375–410
See also
* Abgar Legend
* Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari
*Early centers of Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewis ...
Notes
Citations
References
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Further reading
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''Doctrine of Addai''
(text, in English)
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Texts in Syriac
Addai
Oriental Orthodoxy
Christian terminology