Page 79 - Edessa, 'The Blessed City'-01, by J. B. Segal (Oxford, 1970). Chapters 1-3

66 THE BLESSING OF JESUS AND THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY

Thaddaeus of Matt. 10:3' and Mark 3:18 is called Judas brother of James
in Luke 6 :16 and Acts i : 13 (cf. John 14 : 22); he is probably the brother of
James, author of the Epistle of Judas and brother of Jesus. The name Judas
was readily associated with Addai, of which, indeed, it may be a cognate form.
The use of the name Judas also assisted the introduction into this complex
of legends of the more famous personality of St. Thomas. The Semitic name
Thomas denotes 'twin', and has special significance for the brother relation-
ship already connected with Thaddaeus-Judas. It was, as we have noted,
Thomas who preached to the Parthians, Medes, and other peoples of the
East—as Addai preached to the people of Adiabene. The Acts of Thomas
describe the mission and martyrdom of the Apostle; they were composed
probably in Syriac, possibly at Edessa itself, at the end of the third century.
Here the Apostle is regularly called Judas Thomas, just as Eusebius writes
of 'Judas who was also Thomas' as having dispatched the mission of Thad-
daeus. The association of Thomas with Thaddaeus-Addai integrated the
evangelization of Edessa within the direct apostolic tradition.
We may seek to assign approximate dates to this course of development.
At the time of the visit of Egeria to Edessa, Saint Thomas was himself
regarded as the evangelist of the city; the abbess makes no mention of Addai
or Thaddaeus. This was probably in the middle of the fifth century. A copy
of the letter of Jesus found at Kirk Magara near Urfa belongs to an earlier
stage, for it refers to 'Thaddaeus that is Thomas'. On epigraphic grounds
this inscription is to be ascribed to the fifth century, but it may be older.2
The Addai-Thaddaeus-Thomas nexus may be taken back yet further, to
the first half of the fourth century at the latest. It can scarcely be coincidence
that in the account of the spread of Manichaeism at that time, two of Mani's
assistants are named Addai and Thomas. Addai the Manichaean proselytized
in the region east of the Tigris, where the Christian Addai laboured for his
faith;3 Thomas was possibly the companion of his master Mani when he
carried out an evangelizing mission in India, as the Apostle Thomas had done
for the Church. This is no doubt the reflection of the activities of Christian
evangelists.
The role of King Abgar is equally central in the story of the introduction
of Christianity to Edessa. The tradition of the recognition of Jesus by
eastern potentates was early; and though Abgar was not one of the three
magi who paid homage to the new-born Messiah,4 he at least confessed, it is
claimed, the divinity of Jesus before the crucifixion and paid homage to him.

1 'Lebbaeus whose surname was Thaddaeus'. founder of Manichaeism is also said to have
2 See p. 75 below. been brought up in Mesene; see on Spasinou
3 It is interesting to observe that Theodore Charax, p. 67 below.
bar Koni states that the sect of the Mandaeans 4 A late Syriac legend relates, however, that
was founded by a beggar called Ado who was the three Wise men from the East came to
born in Adiabene but settled in Mesene. The Edessa.

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