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 is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

Content

The story of how King Abgar and

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

had corresponded was first recounted in the 4th century by the church historian

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

in his ''

Ecclesiastical History Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...

'' (i.13 and iii.1) and it was retold in elaborated form by

Ephrem the Syrian Ephrem the Syrian (; ), also known as Ephraem the Deacon, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ — ''Mâr Aphrêm Sûryâyâ)'' was a prominent Christian theology, Christian theologian and Christian literat ...

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 Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

s, who had an older and stronger presence in the area and traced their lineage to

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle (; , meaning 'the Twin'), also known as Didymus ( 'twin'), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "doubting Thomas" because he initially doubted the resurrection of ...

. He considers the Palutian faction to have come to Edessa around and only become significant in the fourth century.

Manuscripts

* ms Saint-Petersburg, National Library of Russia Saltykov-Shchedrine, N.S. Syr. 4 (Pigulevskaya 48), f. 1v33 * ms London, British Library, Add. 14654, f. 33r-v (fragment) + Add. 14644, f. 1-9v + Add. 14535, f. 1r (fragment) + Add. 12155, f. 53v + Add. 17193, f. 36v-37 (extrait) * ms Alqosh, Église paroissiale chaldéenne, cod. 87 ? * ms London, British Library, Add. 12161, f. 1v (fragment) * ms London, British Library, Add. 14612, f. 165r (fragment) * ms London, British Library, Add. 14644, f. 1-9v (mutilated from the beginning and in the middle) * ms Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, syr. 62, f. 102v-108 (extraits) * ms Birmingham, Selly Oak College Library, Coll. Mingana, Syr. 405, f. 1 * ms Jerusalem, 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

* *

Modern translations

English

* *
HTML version
* Note: This includes a reprint of the Syriac edition of * Lollar, Jacob A. (2023-11-10).
The Doctrine of Addai and the Letters of Jesus and Abgar
'. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-6667-5208-3.

Other

* This also contains an Ethiopian version.French national library
/ref> * 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

Notes

Citations

References

* * *