Page 91 - Edessa, 'The Blessed City'-01, by J. B. Segal (Oxford, 1970). Chapters 1-3

78 THE BLESSING OF JESUS AND THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY

the portrait and the letter of Jesus, or at least copies of the portrait and the
letter, were transported from Edessa to Constantinople in 944, the Greek
community there received the former, we are told, with jubilation and
adoration; the latter was largely neglected.1
In time 'true' copies of the portrait and the letter multiplied at Edessa
with the proliferation of sects. The Jacobites, as well as the Melkites, claimed
to have the genuine portrait; a later report holds that there were three
portraits in the city, the third presumably belonging to the Nestorians. Even
a portrait of Jesus found, significantly enough, at Hierapolis (Mabbog) was
given divine sanction. A legend was recounted which declared that the
original portrait was deposited there by the messengers conveying it from
Jerusalem to Edessa; it then left its imprint on the tiles, as on the tiles in the
city wall at Edessa in the account of Evagrius. So too with the letter. It was
taken, as we have remarked, to Constantinople in 944. But in 1032 another
'genuine' letter of Jesus was dispatched to the capital by the general George
Maniaces. And even then the people of Edessa still maintained that the
original letter remained safely in their hands.

The Syriac Doctrine of Addai, it has been shown, relates how Hannan,
the king's secretary, brought the portrait of Jesus to Edessa. This document
then gives an account, perhaps highly redacted, but nevertheless not without
a basis of fact, of the evangelization of Edessa. It is a somewhat lengthier ver-
sion than that of Eusebius; since it reflects local colouring it merits brief
summary here.
Addai, introduced to the court by his host Tobias,2 preached before the
king and his mother Augustina, his wife Shalmath, daughter of Mihrdad
(Meherdates), and his nobles. He recounted the works of Jesus and expoun-
ded the tenets of Christianity. He related, too, the finding of the Cross at
Jerusalem by Protonice, wife of the Emperor Claudius, and how with it
Protonice's daughter was restored to life. Abgar and all his court 'glorified
God and made their confession in Christ'.
Abgar instructed 'Abdu to proclaim by herald to the whole city that they
should attend at the 'place which is called Beth Tabara, the wide space of the
house of 'Awida son of 'Abednahad', to hear the doctrine of Addai the
Apostle. All the city
assembled, men and women, as the king had commanded . . . chiefs and freemen of the
king and commanders and husbandmen,3 all of them, and artisans who [worked with
their] hands, and Jews and pagans who were in this town, and strangers from the region

1 Is it significant that the Melkite historian 2 That Tobias, or his father, came from
Agapius (Mahbub) of Mabbog (Hierapolis), Palestine is mentioned in the Syriac text, but
who wrote in the tenth century—probably not by Eusebius.
before 944—mentions the portrait as being 3 The Syriac term pallahe, could also denote
kept at Edessa but omits mention of the letter ? 'workmen', possibly 'soldiers', see p. 118 below.

www.knanayology.org