Page 75 - Edessa, 'The Blessed City'-01, by J. B. Segal (Oxford, 1970). Chapters 1-3

Ill

THE BLESSING OF JESUS AND THE

TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY

THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD CENTURY there was a Christian
church hi a prominent quarter of Edessa,1 but probably the
majority of the population was still pagan. A century later, not
A only was Christianity the dominant faith in the city, but the story
of its evangelization had become famous throughout Christendom. Edessa
was acclaimed as the first kingdom to adopt Christianity as its official religion.
Eusebius relates in his Ecclesiastical History, completed in 324 or 325, that
Abgar, king of Edessa, 'the most celebrated ruler of the nations beyond the
Euphrates', was afflicted with a disease 'beyond human power to heal'.
Abgar wrote to Jesus begging him to cure his ailment.2 Eusebius gives the
text of the correspondence between Abgar and Jesus, extracted, he claims,
'from the archives of Edessa which was at that time ruled by its own kings',3
and translated from Syriac into Greek:
A copy of a letter written by Abgar the toparch-* to Jesus and sent to him at Jerusalem by
the courier5 Ananias :6
'Abgar Ukkama, the toparch, to Jesus the good Saviour7 who has appeared in the
district of Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard concerning you and your cures, how they
are accomplished by you without drugs and herbs.8 For, as the story goes,9 you make the
blind recover their sight,10 the lame walk, and you cleanse lepers,11 and cast out12 unclean

1 See foot of p. 24 above. of old up to the time of Abgar, these things
2 Perhaps cf. Matt. 4: 24, 'And [Jesus's] also are found preserved there up to the present
fame -went throughout all Syria: and they hour. But there is nothing to hinder our
brought unto him all sick people that were taken hearing the very letters themselves which are
with divers diseases and torments, and those taken by us from the Archives, and have the
which were possessed with devils, and those following form of words translated out of
which were lunatic, and those that had the Syriac into Greek.'
palsy; and he healed them.' 4 Doctrine of Addai omits 'toparch' through-
3 The Syriac Acts of Thaddaeus, which was out.
perhaps the source of the account of Abgar in 5 Better read 'secretary', p. 20 above.
Eusebius, and was composed probably towards 6 Syriac, Hannan.
the end of the third century has, 'You have in 7 Doc. Add., 'physician'.
written documents the evidence of these things, 8 Doc. Add., 'roots'.
which is taken from the Book of Records ' Doc. Add., 'by your word'.
which is at Edessa; for at that time the king- 10 Doc. Add., 'open the [eyes of the] blind'.
dom was still standing. In the public docu- 11 Doc. Add., adds 'and the deaf you make to
ments, therefore, that are there, in which is hear'.
contained whatever had been done by those 12 Doc. Add. omits.

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