Abgar

Abgar refers to a royal name used by rulers of the ancient kingdom of Osroene, centered at Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa in southeastern Turkey). The Osroene dynasty blended Hellenistic and Semitic traditions and ruled Edessa from roughly the 1st century BCE into the 3rd century CE. The title Abgar was borne by several kings over the course of this state’s history, though the chronology and exact succession are matter of debate in ancient sources.

The most famous figure associated with the name is Abgar V, commonly known as Abgar the Great. He is best known not for military or administrative deeds but for his place in early Christian legend. According to later Christian writers, most notably Eusebius of Caesarea, Abgar sent a letter to Jesus requesting healing, and Jesus purportedly replied with a message of faith and promised sending his apostles after his ascension. In connection with this story, Edessa is said to have acquired the Mandylion or Image of Edessa, a sacred portrait associated with Jesus, which played a prominent role in medieval Christian devotion and iconography.

Historically, the Abgar correspondence and the Mandylion are treated by modern scholars as late, polemical or legendary material rather than contemporaneous documentary evidence. The precise historicity of Abgar V and the sequence of Osroene rulers named Abgar vary across sources. The kingdom of Osroene declined in the 3rd century CE, and Edessa later came under Roman and then Byzantine influence. Today Edessa is identified with the ancient site near present-day Şanlıurfa.