Abgar V

Abgar redirects here. For other kings named Abgar, Moses of Khoren says that the chief wife of King Ab-
see Abgar (disambiguation). gar V was Queen Helena of Adiabene, the wife of King
Monobazus I of Adiabene, and thus the kingdoms of
Abgar V the Black or Abgarus V of Edessa (Syriac: Edessa and Adiabene were linked in some manner. Pro-
fessor Robert Eisenman suggests that Queen Helena was
; Agar my Ukkm,
Armenian: ; Abgar Hingerord the sister-wife of King Abgar V who was given the lands
of Adiabene by her brother-husband, the king.[6] Pro-
Yedesatsi, Ancient Greek: Abgaros) (BC 4
AD 7 and AD 13c. 40) was a historical Arab ruler of the fessor Eisenman derived this association from Moses of
kingdom of Osroene,[1] holding his capital at Edessa.[2] Chorene mentioning the same famine relief to Judaea as
does Flavius Josephus:[7]
He was converted to Christianity by Mar Addai one of
the Seventy-two Disciples.[3] The chief of King Abgars wives, who was
named Helena ... Helena went away to
Jerusalem in the time of Claudius, during the
famine which Agabus had predicted. Spend-
1 Life ing all her treasures she bought an immense
amount of grain in Egypt, which she dis-
Abgar V was one of the rst Christian kings in his- tributed to the poor, to which Josephus bears
tory, having been converted to the faith by the Apostle witness. Her famous mausoleum stands before
Thaddeus of Edessa.[4] the gate at Jerusalem to this very day.:[8]

Professor Eisenman goes on to equate King Abgarus with

the Agabus in Acts of the Apostles (Acts 11:27-30), be-
cause Agabus was identied with the same famine relief
as Queen Helena. By necessity Eisenman then equates
the biblical Antioch Orontes with Antioch Edessa, indi-
cating that Saul-Paul and Barnabas went to Edessa.[7][9]

2 The Letter of King Abgar to Je-

King Abgar illustration in 1898 book Illustrated Armenia and
Armenians [5]
sus
The church historian Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea
records [10] that the Edessan archives contained a copy of
a correspondence exchanged between Abgar of Edessa
and Jesus.
The correspondence consisted of Abgars letter and the
answer dictated by Jesus.
On August 15, 944, the Church of Saint 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.[11]
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 correspon-
dence, there survive not only a Syriac text, but an Arme-
nian translation as well, two independent Greek versions,

1
2 4 CHRISTIAN LEGACY

for us both.[12]

Jesus gave the messenger the reply to return to Abgar:

Blessed are you who hast believed in me

without having seen me. For it is written con-
cerning me, that they who have seen me will
not believe in me, and that they who have not
seen me will believe and be saved. But in re-
gard to what you have written me, that I should
come to you, it is necessary for me to fulll
all things here for which I have been sent, and
after I have fullled them thus to be taken up
again to him that sent me. But after I have been
taken up I will send to you one of my disciples,
that he may heal your disease and give life to
you and yours.[13]

Egeria wrote of the letter in her account of her pilgrim-

age in Edessa. She read the letter during her stay, and re-
marked that the copy in Edessa was fuller than the copies
in her home (which was likely France).[14]

3 Liturgical use of the letter of Ab-

gar
Fresco from Varaga St. Gevorg church chapel showing king Ab-
gar with image of Christ
In addition to the importance it attained in the apocryphal
cycle, the correspondence of King Abgar also gained a
shorter than the Syriac, and several inscriptions on stone. place in liturgy for some time. The Syriac liturgies com-
A curious growth has arisen from this event, with schol- memorate the correspondence of Abgar during Lent. The
ars disputing whether Abgar suered from gout or from Celtic liturgy appears to have attached importance to it;
leprosy, whether the correspondence was on parchment the Liber Hymnorum, a manuscript preserved at Trinity
or papyrus, and so forth. College, Dublin (E. 4, 2), gives two collects on the lines
of the letter to Abgar. It is even possible that this letter,
The text of the letter was: followed by various prayers, may have formed a minor
liturgical oce in some Catholic churches.[15]
Abgar, ruler of Edessa, to Jesus the good
physician who has appeared in the country of
Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard the reports 4 Christian legacy
of you and of your cures as performed by you
without medicines or herbs. For it is said that
you make the blind to see and the lame to walk,
that you cleanse lepers and cast out impure
spirits and demons, and that you heal those
aicted with lingering disease, and raise the
dead. And having heard all these things con-
cerning you, I have concluded that one of two
things must be true: either you are God, and
having come down from heaven you do these
things, or else you, who does these things, are
the son of God. I have therefore written to you Abgar V on an Armenian 100,000 Dram banknote
to ask you if you would take the trouble to come
to me and heal all the ill which I suer. For I This event has played an important part in the self-
have heard that the Jews are murmuring against denition of several Eastern churches. Abgar is counted
you and are plotting to injure you. But I have a as saint, with feasts on May 11 and October 28 in
very small yet noble city which is great enough the Eastern Orthodox Church, August 1 in the Syrian
 3

Church, and daily in the Mass of the Armenian Apostolic [13] http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250101.htm
Church. The Armenian Apostolic Church in Scottsdale,
[14] Bernard, John. The Pilgrimage of Egeria. University of
Arizona, is named after Saint Abgar (also spelled as Ap-
Pennsylvania. Palestine Pilgrims Text Society.
kar).
On August 24, 2009, the board of the Central Bank [15] Leclercq, Henri. The Legend of Abgar. The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Com-
of Armenia adopted a decision on introducing a new
pany, 1907. 24 Dec. 2012
banknote with a nominal value of AMD 100,000. The
new banknote depicts King Abgar V (King of Armenian [16] CBA issues 100,000 Dram banknotes. PanArmenian
Mesopotamia as described). The front of the banknote News. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
depicts Abgar pointing at the royal ag bearing an image
of the Mandylion. The reverse of the banknote depicts
disciple Thaddaeus handing the canvas to King Abgar V 7 Sources
and his consequent miraculous healing.[16]
Walter Bauer, Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest
Christianity, 1934, (in English 1971): On-line text
5 See also
Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus 1997
Osroene (Viking Penguin), especially ch. 24 Judas the
brother of Jesus and the section Thaddeus, Judas
Seventy disciples Thomas and the conversion of the Osrhoeans", pp
189.

Ian Wilson, Holy faces, secret places 1991

6 References
[1] Ball, Warwick (2002). Rome in the East: The Trans-
formation of an Empire. Routledge. p. 90. ISBN
9781134823871.
[2] Vailh, Simon. Edessa. The Catholic Encyclopedia.
Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909.
19 Dec. 2012
[3] Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Doctrine of Ad-
dai". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton
Company.
[4] Fortescue, Adrian (December 2001). Lesser Eastern
Churches. ISBN 978-0-9715986-2-1.
[5] King Abgar illustration in 1898 book Illustrated Armenia
and Armenians
Robert Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus 1997,
especially ch. 24 Judas the brother of James and
the conversion of King Agbar
Holweck, F. G., A Biographical Dictionary of the
Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.
Acta Thaddei (Acts of Thaddaeus), Constantin von
Tischendorf, Acta apostolorum apocr. 261 .
8 External links
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Legend of
Abgar". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company.

[6] The Sociology of MMT and the Conversions of King Ab-
garus and Queen Helena of Adiabene, Professor Robert
Eisenman. p8.
[7] Jesus, King of Edessa. Ralph Ellis. Edfu Books, 2012.
[8] Moses of Chorene, History of the Armenians 2:35
[9] The Sociology of MMT and the Conversions of King Ab-
garus and Queen Helena of Adiabene, Professor Robert
Eisenman. p1.
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
The Doctrina Addai as a Paradigm of Christian
Thought in Edessa in the 5th century, by Sidney
H. Grith, Institute of Christian Oriental Research,
Catholic University of America

[10] In his Historia Ecclesiastica, I, xiii, ca AD 325. St. Apkar Armenian Apostolic Church of Arizona
http://saintapkar.com
[11] Janin, Raymond (1953). La Gographie ecclsiastique de
l'Empire byzantin. 1. Part: Le Sige de Constantinople et Correspondence between Abgarus Ouchama, King
le Patriarcat Oecumnique. 3rd Vol. : Les glises et les of Edessa, and Jesus of Nazareth (J.Lorber, 1842)
Monastres (in French). Paris: Institut Franais d'Etudes
Byzantines. p. 172.

[12] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01042c.htm
4 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1 Text
Abgar V Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abgar_V?oldid=756635605 Contributors: Derek Ross, Amillar, MrH, Isis~enwiki, Hep-
haestos, Michael Hardy, Llywrch, Ihcoyc, Error, Charles Matthews, Maximus Rex, Nv8200pa, Wetman, Mirv, Bkell, Jyril, Inkling,
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Al Pereira, Clinkophonist, Chaldean, Nareek, Ryulong, Fordmadoxfraud, Cydebot, Bellerophon5685, Meowy, Xndr, SilkySword, Doug
Weller, Sirmylesnagopaleentheda, Barticus88, Ugarit, Kathovo, Commment, SiobhanHansa, Richardson mcphillips, Magioladitis, Witty-
name, Johnpacklambert, VirtualDelight, Wlodzimierz, Pointlessforest, Ian.thomson, LordAnubisBOT, Kansas Bear, MishaPan, VolkovBot,
TXiKiBoT, Ataby, BenedictX, John Carter, Natg 19, Kevorkmail, Vahagn Petrosyan, SieBot, StAnselm, VVVBot, Psychless, Toddst1,
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Citation bot 1, HRoestBot, DefaultsortBot, ABlue, MondalorBot, Dejwono, Trappist the monk, Armenian az, In ictu oculi, EmausBot,
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net1000, Vmakenas, Nucdian, StrangeQuestions and Anonymous: 102

9.2 Images
File:100,000_Armenian_dram_-_2009_(obverse).jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/100%2C000_
Armenian_dram_-_2009_%28obverse%29.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.bonistica.ru/ Original artist: Central
Bank of Armenia
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File:Edessa_Abgar_king_with_Christ_image.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Edessa_Abgar_
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