ABGAR, a name borne by a line of Mesopotamian kings, 29 in number, who reigned in Osrhoene and had their capital at Edessa in the last century before and the first century after the birth of Christ. According to an old tradition, one of these princes, perhaps Abgar V. (Ukkama or Uchomo, "the black"), being afflicted with leprosy, sent a letter to Jesus, acknowledging his divinity, craving his help and offering him an asylum in his own residence, but Jesus wrote a letter declining to go, promising, however, that after his ascension he would send one of his dis ciples. Eusebius states that in due course Judas, son of Thad daeus, was sent (A.D. 29). The letters are given by Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. i. 13), who declares that the Syriac document from which he translates them had been preserved in the archives at Edessa from the time of Abgar.
This legend has survived in various forms, and has given rise to much discussion. The correspondence was rejected as apoc ryphal by Pope Gelasius and a Roman synod (c. 495), though, it is true, this view has not been shared universally by the Roman Church. Among Protestants the spuriousness of the letters is almost universally admitted. Lipsius (Die Edessenische Abgar sage, 188o) has pointed out anachronisms which seem to indicate that the story is quite unhistorical. The first king of Edessa of whom we have any trustworthy information is Abgar VIII. bar Mainu (A.D. 176-213). It is suggested that the legend arose from a desire to trace the Christianizing.of his kingdom to an apostolic source.
See Lipsius, Die Edessenische Abgarsage kritisch untersucht (188o) ; Tixeront, Les Origines de l'eglise d'Edesse et la legende d'A. (1888) ; for the Epistles see APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE, sect. "New Testament."