| Abgar V of Edessa | |
| Ruler of the kingdom of Osroene | |
| Birth Date: | 1st century BC |
| Death Date: | c. AD 50 |
| Saint Abgar | |
| Venerated In: | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Church |
Abgar V (c. 1st century BC – c. AD 50), called Ukkāmā (meaning "the Black" in Syriac and other dialects of Aramaic), was the King of Osroene with his capital at Edessa.[1]
Abgar was described as "king of the Arabs" by Tacitus, a near-contemporary source.[2] [3] Moses of Chorene depicted Abgar as an Armenian,[4] [5] but modern scholarly consensus agree that the Abgarids were in fact an Arab dynasty.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
Armenian historian Moses of Chorene (ca. 410–490s AD) notes that Abgar V's chief wife was Queen Helena of Adiabene, who according to Josephus was the wife of King Monobaz I of Adiabene.
Abgar V is said to be one of the first Christian kings, having been converted to the faith by Thaddeus of Edessa, one of the seventy disciples.[12]
The church historian Eusebius recorded that the Edessan archives contained a copy of a correspondence exchanged between Abgar of Edessa and Jesus.[13] [14] The correspondence consisted of Abgar's letter and the answer dictated by Jesus. On 15 August 944, the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae in Constantinople received the letter and the Mandylion. Both relics were then moved to the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos.[15]
This account enjoyed great popularity in the East and 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 survives not only a Syriac text, but an Armenian translation as well, two independent Greek versions, shorter than the Syriac, and several inscriptions on stone.
Scholars have disputed many aspects of this account such as whether Abgar suffered from gout or from leprosy, or whether the correspondence was on parchment or papyrus.[16]
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 around 384, and remarked that the copy in Edessa was "fuller" than the copies in her home (which was likely France).[17]
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, 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.[18]
This event has played an important part in the self-definition of several Eastern churches. Abgar is counted as saint, with feasts on 11 May and 28 October in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Thursday of the Third Week of Lent (Mid-Lent) in the Syriac Orthodox Church,[19] and daily in the Mass of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
A number of contemporary scholars have suggested origins of the tradition of Abgar's conversion apart from historical record. Walter Bauer argued the legend was written without sources to reinforce group cohesiveness, orthodoxy, and apostolic succession against heretical 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.[20]
Significant advances in scholarship on the topic have been made including Desreumaux's translation with commentary,[21] M. Illert's collection of textual witnesses to the legend,[22] and detailed studies of the ideology of the sources by Brock,[23] Griffith[24] 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 of Edessa as the relationships between church and state power, based on the political and ecclesiological ideas of Ephraem the Syrian. However, the origins of the story are still far 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.
Letters between Abgar V and the Roman Emperor Tiberius are also recorded in history, by for instance the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, scholars have argued for the core of these being essentially authentic based on:[25]
This work seems to preserve very ancient material, such as the information on the friendship between Abgar, correctly called toparkhês of Edessa, and the prefect of Egypt, in my view probably A. Avillius Flaccus, who ruled Egypt AD 32 to 38—just the years of Vitellius’ mandate in the Near East and of the Abgar-Tiberius correspondence—and is well known to us thanks to Philo, In Flaccum, 1-3; 25; 40; 116; 158. He was one of the most intimate friends of Tiberius; he was born and grew up in Rome with Augustus’ nieces, obtained the government of Egypt, a direct possession of the emperor, and probably helped the good relationship between Abgar and Tiberius that is evident in their correspondence.
Abgar's initial letter to Tiberius read:[26]
Abgar, king of Armenia, to my Lord Tiberius, emperor of the Romans, greeting:—I know that nothing is unknown to your Majesty, but, as your friend, I would make you better acquainted with the facts by writing. The Jews who dwell in the cantons of Palestine have crucified Jesus: Jesus without sin, Jesus after so many acts of kindness, so many wonders and miracles wrought for their good, even to the raising of the dead. Be assured that these are not the effects of the power of a simple mortal, but of God. During the time that they were crucifying Him, the sun was darkened, the earth was moved, shaken; Jesus Himself, three days afterwards, rose from the dead and appeared to many. Now, everywhere, His name alone, invoked by His disciples, produces the greatest miracles: what has happened to myself is the most evident proof of it. Your august Majesty knows henceforth what ought to be done in future with respect to the Jewish nation, which has committed this crime; your Majesty knows whether a command should not be published through the whole universe to worship Christ as the true God. Safety and health.
Tiberius' reply read:
Tiberius, emperor of the Romans, to Abgar, king of the Armenians, greeting:—Your kind letter has been read to me, and I wish that thanks should be given to you from me. Though we had already heard several persons relate these facts, Pilate has officially informed us of the miracles of Jesus. He has certified to us that after His resurrection from the dead He was acknowledged by many to be God. Therefore I myself also wished to do what you propose; but, as it is the custom of the Romans not to admit a god merely by the command of the sovereign, but only when the admission has been discussed and examined in full senate, I proposed the affair to the senate, and they rejected it with contempt, doubtless because it had not been considered by them first. But we have commanded all those whom Jesus suits, to receive him among the gods. We have threatened with death any one who shall speak evil of the Christians. As to the Jewish nation which has dared to crucify Jesus, who, as I hear, far from deserving the cross and death, was worthy of honour, worthy of the adoration of men — when I am free from the war with rebellious Spain, I will examine into the matter, and will treat the Jews as they deserve.