Epistles of Christ and Abgar

Epistula Abgari cum Christi responso

Standard abbreviation: Ep. Chr. Abg.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 489; CANT 88

VIAF: 180672735

Category: Epistles

Related literature: Acts of Mar Mari, Acts of Thaddaeus, Doctrine of Addai, Story of the Image of Edessa, Golden Legend 159, Chronicle of 1234

Status: in process

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style):

1. SUMMARY

2. RESOURCES

2.1 Art and Iconography

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 2688 (see below) features a number of illuminations of key events in the story of the creation of the letters and image of Christ.

Three fourteenth-century plaques from Saint Bartolomeo degli Armeni depicting scenes of Abgar sending out Ananias, Ananias drawing Christ, and Jesus washing hands. Index of Medieval Art.

Walter, Ch. “The Abgar Cycle at Mateic.” Pages 221–32 in Studien zur Byzantinischen Kunstgeschichte. Festschrift für Horst Hallensleben zum 65. Geburtstag. Edited by B. Borkopp, B. Schelleward, and L. Theis. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert, 1995.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic

3.1.1.1 Arabic Script

Chicago, Columbia College Library (no further information provided)

Dublin, Trinity College, 1514 (16th cent.)

Khinshārah (Lebanon), Ordre Basilien Choueirite, OBC 127, fols. 282^v–283^v (1916) ~ HMML

London, British Library, Add. 9965, fol. 33^v

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 408 (1258)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 409 (1534)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 445, fols. 150^r–162^r (1233)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 485, fols. 53^v–69^r (13th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 51, fols. 57^r–58^v (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 174, fols. 24^r–29^r (1541)

Gottheil, R. J. H. “An Arabic Version of the Abgar-Legend.” Hebraica 7.4 (1891): 268–77 (text and English translation of the Columbia College Library manuscript).

Graf, Georg. Geschichte der Christlichen Arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Rome: Vatican Apostolic Library, 1944–1953 (manuscripts listed, vol. 1, pp. 237–38).

Monferrer-Sala, Juan Pedro, and Amalia Zomeño. “Abgari regis fabulæ versio iuxta narrationem magnæ ecclesiæ Edessæ aedificationis (secundum Sinaiticum arabicum CDXLV, qui in Cœnobio Sanctæ Catalinæ asservatur).” Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 5 (2008): 147–181 (edition of Sinai ar. 455, pp. 165–72, with English translation, pp. 172–81).

Tixeront, Louis-Joseph. Les origines de l’église d’Édesse et la légende d’Abgar. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1888 (edition of Vat. ar. 51, pp. 197–99, and French translation, pp. 200–201).

3.1.1.2 Garšūnī Script

Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 563, fols. 63^r–63^v (1897)

Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, Add. 2881, fols. 158^v–160^r (1484)

Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, Add. 2885, fols. 72^v–73^v (1771)

3.1.2 Armenian

Yerevan, Matenadaran, 3854, fols. 80^v–88^v (1471) ~ combination of traditions about the Epistles, Addai, and the Legend of the Thirty Pieces of Silver

Yerevan, Matenadaran, 7993, fols. 152^v–153^v (1692) ~ as above

Outtier, Bernard, ed. and trans. “Une forme enrichie de la Légende d’Abgar en arménien.” In Apocryphes arménians: transmission–traduction–creation–iconographie; Acts du colloque international sur la littérature apocryphe en langue arménienne (Genève, 18–20 septembre 1997), edited by Valentina Calzolari Bouvier, Jean-Daniel Kaestli, and Bernard Outtier, 129–45. Lausanne: Éditions du Zébre, 1999 (edition and translation of the two Yerevan manuscripts).

3.1.3 Church Slavic

Otero, Aurelio de Santos. Die handschriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen. 2 vols. PTS 20 and 23. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1978–1981 (manuscripts listed, vol. 1, pp. 149–57; vol. 2, pp. 248–49).

Popkonstantinov, K. “The Letter of Abgar on a Tenth-Century Amulet.” Pages 649–54 in Ars Philologica. Festschrift für Baldur Panzer zum 65. Geburtstag. Edited by K. Grünberg and W. Potthoff. Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang, 1999.

Thomson, Francis J. Review of Aurelio de Santos Otero, Die handscriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen, vol. 1. Slavonic and East European Review 58 (1980): 256–68 at 263–64 (with corrections to de Santos Otero).

3.1.3 Coptic (cc 0015)

3.1.3.1 Papyri

Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Library, P. Mich. Inv. 6213 (5th–9th cent.) ~ CLM 4673; Letter of Jesus

and Wilfong
2005; al-Masī￿ 1954, 25–26.

Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Library, Copt. 166 (=IERE.AD), pp. 1-4 (Letter of Jesus), pp. 28-33 (both) (6th–9th cent.) ~ CLM 67

Transcription: al-Masī￿ 1954, 21–23. Description of
codex in Shier 1942, 27–32.

Austria, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek – Papyrussammlung, K 0078 (4th/5th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus; CLM 1702

Publications: Krall 1888, 116; Stegemann 1933, 45–49; Till 1935, 210 –11.

Austria, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek – Papyrussammlung, K 3151 a (10th cent.) ~ CLM 1703; Letter of Abgar

Krall 1888, 118–19; Drioton 1915, 310 –11; Stegemann 1933, 76–78.

Austria, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek – Papyrussammlung, K 8302 (6th/7th cent.) ~ allusion to correspondence

Till 1935, 215–18. English translation: Meyer and Smith 1994, 113–15

Austria, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek – Papyrussammlung, K 8636 (5th cent.) ~ CLM 1704; Letter of Jesus

Till 1935, 210; Krall 1888, 117–118;

Berlin P. 11350 (7th/8th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus

Dayr al-Suryān MS 383 (1255) ~ entire correspondence

Wadi el Natrun, Syrian Monastery No. 266: Coptic (Bohairic) and Arabic parchment
codex (227 fol.). Copied in 1255 CE. Contains both Abgar’s letter and Jesus’s
reply, among other texts “deal[ing] with liturgical subjects.”bbb Publication: Al-
Masī￿ 1946.

Florence, Istituto Papirologico ‘G. Vitelli’, PSI inv. C 55 (6th–8th cent.) ~ CLM 1170; Letter of Jesus

Freiburg, Bibel & Orient Museum, ÄT 2006.8 (7th–9th cent.) ~ CLM 6386; Letter of Jesus

Photo in Staubli 2007:96-97

Leiden, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, 134 (Anastasi Papyrus 9) (6th cent.) ~ CLM 3355; entire correspondence

Pleyte and Boeser 1897, 441–79; Drioton 1915, 311–25. German translation:
Kropp 1931, 73–76. English Translation: Meyer and Smith 1994, 314–22.

London, British Library, Or. 4919.2 (6th/7th cent.) ~ CLM 1700; incipit Letter of Jesus only

London, British Library, Or. 4919.3 (5th–8th cent.) ~ CLM 1701; Letter of Jesus; unpublished

Description, with listing of “chief variants”
from P. d’Anastasi 9: Crum 1905, 140 –141.

Manchester, University of Manchester John Rylands Library, P.Ryl.Copt.Suppl. 50 (5th–8th cent.) ~ CLM 4564; Letter of Jesus; IMAGES

Oxford, Sackler Library – Papyrology Rooms, inv. 62 6B.78/F(1–3)b) (=P.Oxy. LVX 4469) (5th cent.); CLM 6384

P.PalauRib.Copt. 5 (6th/7th cent.) ~ incipit Letter of Jesus only

P.Vindob. G 13290v (6th/7th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus

PSI inv. Ant. 1966-224 (7th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus

ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, Yassā. “An Unedited Bohairic Letter of Abgar.” Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 45 (1947): 65–80 (Dayr al-Suryān MS 383).

———. “An Unedited Bohairic Letter of Abgar (Continued).” Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 54 (1954): 13–43 (P. Mich. Inv. 6213, p. 26).

Beltz, Walter. 1983. “Die koptischen Zauberpapyri der Papyrus-Sammlung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin.” Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete 29 (1983): 59–86 (Berlin P. 11350, pp. 81–82).

Emmenegger, Gregor. “Ein Koptisches Amulett Als Beleg Für Den Kurzen Markusschluss.” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 103 (2012): 142–45 (Freiburg ÄT 2006.8).

Given, J. Gregory. “An Incipits Amulet Featuring Jesus’s Letter to Abgar.” JCoptS 19 (2017): 42–49 (P.PalauRib.Copt. 5).

Giversen, Søren. “Ad Abgarum: The Sahidic Version of the Letter of Abgar on a Wooden Tablet.” Acta Orientalia 24 (1959): 71–82 (Manchester, P.Ryl.Copt.Suppl. 50).

Karev, Ella. “The Reply of Jesus to Abgar in Coptic (P.Vindob. G 13290 Verso).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 61 (2024): 211–19.

———. “Slave Sale from Hermopolis (P.Vindob. G 13290 R°; Sixth/Seventh Century).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 60 (2023): 115–23.

Maltomini, Franco. “4469. Letter of Abgar to Jesus (Amulet).” Pages 122–29 in vol. 65 of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1998.

Proverbio, Delio V. “Un Nuovo Testimone Copto Del Responsum Christi Ad Abgarum.” Miscellanea Marciana 12 (1997): 155–69 (Florence, PSI inv. C 55).

Sanzo, Joseph E. 2012. “Brit. Lib. Or. 4919(2): An Unpublished Coptic Amulet in the British Library.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 183 (2012): 98–100.

Stegemann, Viktor. Die Koptischen Zaubertexte Der Sammlung Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer in Wien. Heidelberg: Carl Winters Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1934 (Austria K 0078, pp. 28 and 45–49; K 3151, pp. 27 and 76–78; K 8302, pp. 26–27 and 70–75; K 8636, pp. 21 and 45–49).

Wilfong, Terry G., and Kevin P. Sullivan. “The Reply of Jesus to King Abgar: A Coptic New Testament Apocryphon Reconsidered (P. Mich. Inv. 6213).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists (2005): 107–23.

3.1.3.2 Inscriptions

Bawit, Monastery of Apollo, Courtyard 47, East wall, no. 4 (4th–8th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus

Coquin 1993.

Faras (Nubia), wall of Anchorite’s grotto along with the Gospel incipits, the names of the seven sleepers of Ephesus and the forty martyrs of Sebast, ca. 739 CE. Letter of Jesus only.

Clédat, Jean. Le monastère et la nécropole de Baouît. Edited by D. Bénazeth and M.-H. Rutschowscaya. Cairo: Institut français d’Archéologie orientale, 1999 (Bawit inscription, pp. 98–100).

Griffith, Francis L. “Oxford Excavations in Nubia–Continued.” University of Liverpool Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology 14 (1927): 57–116 (Faras inscription, pp. 88–89, pl. LXII).

Sayce, A. H. “Gleanings from the Land of Egypt.” Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie égyptienne 20 (1898): 169–76 (Faras inscription, pp. 174–75).

3.1.3.3 Ostraca

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 8138 (O.Crum 22) (5th–10th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus; ostraca (CLM 6381)

O.CrumST 36 (6th–8th cent.) ~ CLM 6385; Letter of Jesus; ostraca from Western Thebes; Crum 1921, vii; current whereabouts unknown

Cairo, O. Crum 22 = Egypt. Mus. CG 8138 = Copt. Mus. 4375 (TM 110390): Coptic
(Sahidic) limestone ostracon. 5th-10th? c. CE. Contains Jesus’s reply only. Description,
without transcription: Crum 1902a, 41. Publication: Crum 1902b, 8, plates
6–7.

Cairo, Coptic Museum (?): Unedited Coptic (Sahidic) ostracon fragment. Contains
Jesus’s reply only. Reportedly transcribed by Crum, variants published in apparatus
of Drioton 1915.

London, British Library, O.Brit.Mus.Copt. I, pl. 35.3 (6th–9th cent.) ~ CLM 6380; Letter of Jesus; ostraca from Karnak; BM EA 19967, also published as P.Rain.Unterricht Kopt. 182.

Hall 1905, 43, pl. 35,3.

Moscow, Puškin Museum, I.1.B.529 (P.MoscowCopt. 88) (6th–9th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus; CLM  6383; ostrakon

Cairo, Coptic Museum, JdE 44674.46 (P.Mon.Epiph. 50) (7th cent.) ~ CLM 1142; pottery from Monastery of Epiphanius; Letter of Jesus

Crum and White 1926, 11, 162.

O.Gurna Górecki 108 (7th/8th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus; pottery from Hermitage MMA 1152

O. Saint-Marc 398 (7th/8th cent.) ~ CLM 3484; Letter of Jesus; pottery from Monastery of Saint Mark

Dnipro, Dmytro Yavornytsky National Historical Musem, A-827 (7th/8th cent.) ~ Letter of Jesus; ostracon from Western Thebes

St. Petersburg, Private Collection Golenischeff (TM 112629): Coptic (Sahidic) limestone
ostracon, potentially an amulet. 6th-9th c. CE. Contains Jesus’s reply only.
Publication: Touraiev 1899, 436.

Berkes, Lajos, and Anton Kistol. “Jesus’s Reply to Abgar and a Tax Receipt: Two Coptic Ostraca in the Dnipro Museum.” Journal of Juristic Papyrology 55 (2025): 17–27 (edition and discussion of the Dnipro ostracon, pp. 20–24).

Blok, H. P. “Die koptischen Abgarbriefe des Leidener Museums.” AcOr 5 (1926–1927) 248–51.

Drioton, Étienne. “Un apocryphe anti-arien: La version copte de la correspondence d’Abgar, roi d’Édesse, avec Notre-Seigneur.” ROC 20, 2 sér., (1915–1917): 306–26, 337–73.

Given, J. Gregory. “An Incipits Amulet Featuring Jesus’s Letter to Abgar.” JCoptS 19 (2017) 42–49.

———. “Utility and Variance in Late Antique Witnesses to the Abgar-Jesus Correspondence.” ARG 17 (2016) 187–222 (discussion of Coptic versions, pp. 201–207; list of Coptic witnesses, pp. 216–18).

Giverson, Søren. “Ad Abgarum: The Sahidic Version of the Letter to Abgar on a Wooden Tablet.” AcOr 24 (1959) 71–82.

Karev, Ella. “The Reply of Jesus to Abgar in Coptic (P.Vindob. G 13290 Verso).” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 61 (2023): 211–19.

Editions of the Correspondence in Worrell 1942, 27–32, 44–155; ʿAbd al-Masīḥ 1954. (Mich 166)

See the editions in Pleyte and Boeser 1897, 441–79 (no. 38); Dosoo and Preininger 2023, 109–71 (no. 11). (Leiden)

3.1.4 Ethiopic

A  EMML 2180, fols. 13^r–15^v (18th cent.)

B  EMML 2050, fols. 86^v–87^v (19th cent.)

Haile, Getatchew, ed. and trans. “The Legend of Abgar in Ethiopic Tradition.” OCP 55 (1989): 375–410 (edition of the shorter version based on A and B, and the older version).

Grébaut, Sylvain. “Le relations entre Abgar et Jésus.” Revue de l’Orient Chrétien 21 (1918–1919): 73–91, 190–203 (longer version, pp. 73–87, with French translation, pp. 190–203; and Synaxary, pp. 88–91; French translation, pp. 253–55).

Also appears in Synaxarium; see Al-Masih 1954, p. 20

3.1.5 Georgian

Chkhikvadze, N. “Avgarozis Epistolis šesaxeb” [On the Epistula Abgari]. Gza Sameufo 1 (1996): 32–72.

3.1.6 Greek

3.1.6.1 Recension 1 (BHG 1704a; excerpt from Eusebius)

Grottaferrata, Biblioteca Statale del Monumento Nazionale, B. β. 8 (gr. 285), fols. 44^r–46^v (1333) ~ Pinakes

Meteora, Monē Metamorphōseos, 403, fols. 275^r–276^v (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, suppl. gr. 116, fols. 3^r–5^r (16th cent.) ~ BHG 1704a; Pinakes; ONB

Ehrman, Bart D. and Zlatko Pleše, The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (Greek edition of Eusebius’ text from Schwartz with English translation, pp. 413–17).

Fabricius, Johann Albert. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. Hamburg: Schiller, 1703 (vol. 2, pp. 279–321).

Schwartz, E. Eusebius. Die Kirchengeschichte. Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller 9.1. Leipzig: Hinrich, 1903 (edition of the correspondence from Eusebius, pp. 86–88). 5th ed. Leipzig: Hinrich, 1955 (pp. 33–34).

3.1.6.2. Recension 2 (BHG 1704I)

A  Mount Athos, Monē Batopediou, 704 (12th cent.)

M  Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, E 16 sup. (Martini-Bassi 273), fols. 60^r–61^v (13th cent.) ~ BHG 1704

N  Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. II.84 (coll. 1126), fols. 1–2 (11th cent.) ~ Pinakes

P  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Grec 2315, fols. 314^v–317^r (15th cent.) ~ BHG 1704ac; Pinakes; Gallica

V  Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, theol. gr. 315, fols. 59^r–62^r (olim 207) (13th cent.) ~ Pinakes

X  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1474, fols. 212^r–227^v (11th cent.) ~ Gallica; Pinakes (=Story of the Image of Edessa)

Additional manuscripts:

Athos, Bibliothēkē Prōtatou, 83 (Polites 310), fol. 277^v (10th/11th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Athos

Genova, Biblioteca del Palazzo Durazzo-Pallavicini, A.I.10 (Puncuh 10), fols. 338^r–338^v (9th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, 4637, fol. 95 (ca. 1500) ~ Pinakes; Madrid

Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, 4644, fol. 32 (ca. 1490) ~ also 1704ab; Pinakes; Madrid

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Coislin 29, fol. 174^v (12th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Gallica

Dobschütz, Ernst von. Christusbilder: Untersuchungen zur christlichen Legende. 3 vols. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1899 (pp. 102–96, 158*–249*, 130**–156*).

———. “Der Briefwechsel zwischen Abgar und Jesus.” ZWT 43 (1900): 422–86 (text based on AMNPVX).

Lipsius, Richard A., ed. “Epistula Abgari.” Pages 279–83 in vol. 1 of Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha. Edited by Maximilien Bonnet and Richard A. Lipsius. 2 vols. in 3. Leipzig: H. Mendelssohn, 1891–1903. Repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1972 (text based on A and V).

Uncertain identifications:

Athens, Ethnikē Bibliothēkē tēs Ellados, 355. fols. 85^v–87^r (15th cent.) ~ BHG 1704c; Pinakes

El Escorial, Real Biblioteca, Ω.IV.32 (Andrés 584), fols. 156^r–156^v (1033-1034) ~ Pinakes

Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenzia, Plut. 8.17, fols 418^v–420^v (14th cent.) ~ BHG 1704e; Pinakes; BML

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Grec 950, pp. 341–343 (15th cent.) ~ BHG 1704d; Pinakes; Gallica

3.1.6.3 Papyri

Gothenburg, Universitetsbibliotek, 21 IMAGES

P. Cair. 10736 + P. Oxf. Bodl. MS gr. th. b 1 (P) ~ CATALOG; Kyprianos

New York, Morgan Library and Museum, P. Colt. 7 (Nessana Papyrus) ~ IMAGES

Casson, Lionel, and Ernest L. Hettich, eds. Excavations at Nessana, vol. 2: Literary Papyri. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950 (pp. 143–47).

Peppermüller, Rolf, ed. “Griechische Papyrusfragmente der Doctrina Addai.” VC 25 (1971): 289–301.

Youtie, Herbert C., ed. “A Gothenburg Papyrus and the Letter to Abgar.” HTR 23.4 (1930): 299–302.

3.1.7 Latin

London, British Library, Cotton Galba A XIV, fols. 27^v–28^v (11th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 2688, fols. 65^r–93^v (15th cent.) ~ followed by the Historia de sudario domini (fols. 94^r–97^r); lavishly illuminated

3.1.8 Middle Irish

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 23 P 16 (the Leabhar Breac), p. 147a (1408–1411)

McNamara, Martin. The Apocrypha in the Irish Church. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1975 (pp. 58–59).

Considine, Patrick. “Irish versions of the Abgar legend.” Celtica 10 (1973): 237–57.

3.1.9 Syriac

Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard University, Syr. 151 (8th/9th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Syr. 56, fols. 191^r–191^v (1264)

Bedjan, P. (ed.), Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum: Tomus Primus, vol. 1. 7 vols. Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1890 (p. 47).

Hall, I. H. “Syriac Version of the Epistle of King Abgar to Jesus.” Hebraica 1 (1885): 232–35 (ed. and trans. of Harvard Syr. 151).

Tixeront, L. J. Les Origines de l’Église d’Édesse et la légende d’Abgar. Étude critique suivie de deux textes orientaux inédits. Paris: Maissonneuve, 1888 (edition of Paris BnF syr. 56, pp. 195–96).

3.2 Inscriptions

3.2.1 Alkat-Hadji-Kevi (Pontus): fragmentary fourth-century inscription of the correspondence on a fountain. Includes the promise of divine protection.

Cumont, Franz, ed. “Nouvelles inscriptions du Pont.” REG 15 (1902): 311–15 (Greek text of the inscription with reconstruction).

Illert, Martin. Doctrina Addai. De imagine Edessena / Die Abgarlegende. Das Christusbild von Edessa. Fontes Christiani 45. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007 (reconstructed text with German translation, pp. 178–79).

3.2.2 Edessa: sixth-century inscription of Jesus’ reply found in the area known as the “Forty Caverns/Tombs.” Includes the promise of divine protection.

Nau, François, ed. “Une inscription grecque d’Édesse. La lettre de N.S.J.-C. à Abgar.” Revue de l’Orient Chrétien 21 (1918): 217–18 (Greek text of the inscription).

3.2.3 Gurdja (Çorum): fourth-century inscription found on the wall of a mosque. Includes the promise of divine protection.

Anderson, J. G. C., ed. “Pontica.” JHS 20 (1900): 151–58 (transcription of the inscription, pp. 156–58).

Illert, Martin, Doctrina Addai. De imagine Edessena / Die Abgarlegende. Das Christusbild von Edessa. Fontes Christiani 45. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007 (transcription with German translation, pp. 182–83).

3.2.4 Philippi: fifth-century inscription originally placed over the southeastern gate of the city. Includes the promise of divine protection.

Picard, Charles, ed. “Un texte nouveau de la correspondence entre Abgar d’Osroène et Jésus-Christ grave sur une porte de ville, à Philippes (Macédoine).” BCH 44 (1920): 41–69 (reconstructed text). No Illert?

3.2.5 Ephesus: fifth-century inscription found on the underside of a marble lintel above a courtyard entrance to a private home. Includes the promise of divine protection.

Illert, Martin, Doctrina Addai. De imagine Edessena / Die Abgarlegende. Das Christusbild von Edessa. Fontes Christiani 45. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007 (transcription with German translation, pp. —- ).

Wankel, Hermann, ed. Die Inschriften von Ephesos. Teil 1a Nr. 1–47 (Texte). Bonn: Habelt, 1979 (transcription of the inscription, pp. 285–91).

3.2.6 Ankara: fifth or sixth-century inscription with brief mention of the correspondence among other biblical figures praised for various virtues.

Elderen, Bastiaan Van, ed. “A New Inscription Relating to Christianity at Edessa.” CTJ 7.1 (1972): 5–14 (transcription).

Illert, Martin, Doctrina Addai. De imagine Edessena / Die Abgarlegende. Das Christusbild von Edessa. Fontes Christiani 45. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007 (transcription with German translation, pp. 47–48).

Mitchell, Stephen. “Notes and Studies No. 1: Inscriptions of Ancyra.” Anatolian Studies 27 (1977): 63–103 (transcription with reconstruction, pp. 93–96).

3.3 Modern Translations

3.3.1 English

Cowper, B. Harris. The Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ. 4th ed. 1867. London: Frederic Norgate, 1874 (translation of Eusebius’ text, pp. 217–20).

Ehrman, Bart D., and Zlatko Pleše. The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (Greek edition of Eusebius’ text from Schwartz with English translation, pp. 413–17).

Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (pp. 538–42).

Hone, William. The Apocryphal New Testament. 4th ed. 1820. Repr., Philadelphia, Gebbie & Co., 1890 (translation of Eusebius’ text, pp. 62–63).

James, Montague Rhodes. The Apocryphal New Testament: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses. Oxford: Clarendon, 1924; corrected edition, 1953 (translation of Eusebius’ text, pp. 476–77).

Lollar, Jacob. The Doctrine of Addai. Early Christian Apocrypha 10. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023.

Monferrer-Sala, Juan Pedro, and Amalia Zomeño. “Abgari regis fabulæ versio iuxta narrationem magnæ ecclesiæ Edessæ aedificationis (secundum Sinaiticum arabicum CDXLV, qui in Cœnobio Sanctæ Catalinæ asservatur).” Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 5 (2008): 147–181 (edition of the Arabic text from Sinai ar. 455, pp. 165–72, with English translation, pp. 172–81).

3.2.2 French

Desreumaux, Alain, ed. Histoire du roi Abgar et de Jésus. Apocryphes 3. Paris: Brepols, 1993.

Migne, Jacques-Paul. Dictionnaire des Apocryphes. 2 vols. 1856. Repr., Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (vol. 2, col. 19–26).

3.2.3 German

Pages 437–44 in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung, Bd. 1. Evangelien und Verwandtes. Edited by Edgar Hennecke and Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1959. English translation: “.” Pages  in New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, Gospels and Related Writings. Edited by Edgar Hennecke and Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McL. Wilson. 3rd ed. London: Luttersworth Press, 1963.

Drijvers, H. J. W. Pages  in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung, Bd. 1. Evangelien und Verwandtes. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. 6th ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990. English translation: “The Abgar Legend.” Pages 492–500 in New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, Gospels and Related Writings. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McL. Wilson. Rev. ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1991.

3.2.4 Italian

Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (vol. 3, pp. 77–84).

Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (vol. 2, pp.  1657–68).

3.2.5 Spanish

De Santos Otero, Aurelio. Los Evangelios Apócrifos. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Christianos, 1956¹, 1979³ (pp. 662–69).

3.4 General Works

Adler, William. “Jesus’s Letter to Abgar.” Pages 343–60 in Early New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by J. Christopher Edwards. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022.

Bauer, Walter. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity. Translated by Robert A. Kraft, et al. from Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum. Tübingen, 1964. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971 (pp. 1–43).

Bélanger Sarrazin, Roxanne. “Les appels au ‘Jésus guérisseur’ dans les formules iatromagiques coptes.” Pages 171–88 in Études coptes XVI. Dix-huitième journée d’études. Edited by A. Boud’hors, C. Louis, N. Vanthieghem, and E. Garel. Paris: De Boccard, 2020 (pp. 191–93).

Brock, Sebastian. “Eusebius and Syriac Christianity.” Pages 212–34 in Eusebius Christianity and Judaism. Edited by Harold W. Attridge and Gohei Hata. Leiden: Brill, 1992.

———. “Syriac Historical Writing: A Survey of the Main Sources.” Journal of the Iraqi Academy Syriac Corporation 5 (1979/1980): 1–30. Reprinted in idem, Studies in Syriac Christianity: History, Literature, and Theology. Hampshire: Variorum, 1992.

Burkitt, F. Crawford. Early Christianity outside the Roman Empire: Two Lectures Delivered at Trinity College, Dublin. Cambridge: University Press; New York: Macmillan, 1899.

Camplani, Alberto. “Traditions of Christian Foundation in Edessa Between Myth and History.” SMSR 75 (2009): 251–78.

Corke-Webster, James. “A Man for the Times: Jesus and the Abgar Correspondence in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History.” HTR 110 (2017): 563–87.

De Bruyn, Theodore. “Christian Apocryphal and Canonical Narratives in Greek Amulets and Formularies in Late Antiquity.” Pages 153–74 in Rediscovering the Apocryphal Continent: New Perspectives on Early Christian and Late Antique Apocryphal Texts and Traditions. Edited by Pierluigi Piovanelli, Tony Burke, and Timothy Pettipiece. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015 (pp. 158–60).

Devos, Paul. “Égérie à Édesse. S.Thomas l’apôtre, le roi Abgar.” AnBoll 85 (1967): 392–400.

Drijvers, Han J.W. “Addai und Mani: Christentum und Manichäismus im dritten Jahrhundert in Syrien.” In Symposium Syriacum 1980: les contacts du monde syriaque avec les autres cultures (Goslar 7–11 September 1980), edited by René Lavenant, 171–85. Rome: Pontificum Institutum Studiorium Orientalium, 1983.

Given, Gregory J. “Utility and Variance in Late Antique Witnesses to the Abgar-Jesus Correspondence.” Archiv für Religionsgeschichte 17 (2016): 187–222.

Haile, G. “The Legacy of Abgar in Ethiopic Tradition.” OCP 55 (1989): 375–410.

Karaulashvili, Irma. “The Date of the Epistula Abgari.” Apocrypha 13 (2002): 85–111.

———. “A Short Overview of the Nationalised Peculiarities of the Abgar Legend in Georgian, Armenian and Slavonic Traditions.” Scripta & e-Scripta 10–11 (2012): 171–84.

Lipsius, Richard Adelbert. Die edessenische Abgar-Sage kritisch untersucht. Braunschweig: Schwetschke, 1880.

López Calero, Sergio, and Israel Muñoz Gallarte. “A Christian Away from Home: The Greek Sources of Abgar’s Legend Revisited.” Pages 226–42 in Strangers in the Land: Traveling Texts, Imagined Others, and Captured Souls in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Traditions in Late Antique and Mediaeval Times. Edited by Miriam L. Hjälm and Marzena Zawanowska. Studies on the Children of Abraham 11. Leiden: Brill, 2024.

McCullough, Stewart W. A Short History of Syriac Christianity to the Rise of Islam. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1982.

Mirkovic, Alexander. Prelude to Constantine: The Abgar Tradition in Early Christianity. Studies in the Religion and History of Early Christianity 15. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2004.

Monferrer-Sala, Juan Pedro. “Leyenda del rey Abgar.” Archivo Teológico Granadino 62 (1999): 107–40.

Murray, Robert, S. J. “The Characteristics of the Earliest Syriac Christianity.” Pages 3–16 in East of Byzantium: Syria and Armenia in the Formative Period. Dumbarton Oaks Symposium 1980. Edited by Nina G. Garsoian et al. Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1982.

———. Symbols of Church and Kingdom: A Study in Early Syriac Tradition. Cambridge: University Press, 1975.

Palmer, Andrew. “King Abgar of Edessa, Eusebius and Constantine.” Pages 3–29 in The Sacred Centre as the Focus of Political Interest: Proceedings of the Symposium Held on the Occasion of the 375th Anniversary of the University of Groningen, 5–8 March 1989. Edited by Hans Bakker. Groninger: Egbert Forsten, 1992.

Polański, Tomasz. “Translation, Amplification, Paraphrase: Some Comments on the Syriac, Greek and Coptic Versions of the Abgar Letter.” Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 13 (2016): 159–210.

Ramelli, Ilaria L. “The Addai-Abgar Narrative: Its Development through Literary Genres and Religious Agendas.” Pages 205–45 in Early Christian and Jewish Narrative. The Role of Religion in Shaping Narrative Forms. Edited by I. L. Ramelli and J.B. Perkins. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015.

Schwartz, E. “Zur Abgarlegende.” ZNW (1903): 61–66.

Taylor, David G. K. “The Coming of Christianity to Mesopotamia.” Pages 66–87 in The Syriac World. Edited by D. King. London: Routledge, 2019 (pp. 72–77).