When the Seleucids withdrew from Mesopotamia in 130-29 B.C., Parthian hegemony there was virtually unchallenged. It was, however, exercised loosely; and a small number of principalities were able to acquire a fair degree of autonomy. The most important of these was Edessa.
The list of the kings of the dynasty may be reconstructed as follows (the early names and dates should be regarded with caution): Aryu, 132-127 B.C.; ʿAbdu, son of Maẓʿur, 127-120; Fradašt, son of Gebaṛʿu, 120-115; Bakru I, son of Fradašt, 115-112; Bakru II, son of Bakru, alone, 112-94; Bakru II and Maʿnu I, 94; Bakru II and Abgar I Piqa, 94-92; Abgar I, alone, 92-68; Abgar II, son of Abgar, 68-53; interregnum, 53-52; Maʿnu II, 52-34; Paqor, 34-29; Abgar III, 29-26; Abgar IV Sumaqa, 26-23; Maʿnu III Saflul, 23-4; Abgar V Ukkama, son of Maʿnu, 4 B.C.-A.D. 7; Maʿnu IV, son of Maʿnu, 7-13; Abgar V (second time), 13-50; Maʿnu V, son of Abgar, 50-57; Maʿnu VI, son of Abgar, 57-71; Abgar VI, son of Maʿnu, 71-91; interregnum, 91-109; Abgar VII, son of Ezad, 109-16; interregnum, 116-18; Yalur (or Yalud) and Parthamaspat, 118-22; Parthamaspat alone, 122-23; Maʿnu VII, son of Ezad, 123-39; Maʿnu VIII, son of Maʿnu, 139-63; Waʾel, son of Sahru, 163-65; Maʿnu VIII (second time), 165-77; Abgar VIII the Great, son of Maʿnu, 177-212; Abgar IX Severus, son of Abgar, 212-14; Maʿnu IX, son of Abgar, 214-40; Abgar X Frahad, son of Maʿnu, 240-42.
The term “Abgar dynasty” is justified by the frequency of the name Abgar among the kings and by the special importance of the Abgar of the first and second centuries A.D. Armenian writers claim the rulers of Edessa as the Armenian successors of Abgar, son of Aršam, who transferred his capital to Edessa from Metsbin (Nisibis). There is little onomastic support for this theory. Some of the names are Iranian, others Arab (including Abgar itself; Moses of Xorene’s Armenian etymology as awagayr, “great man,” [tr. Da N. Tomaséo, Storia de Mosè Corenese, Venice, 1841, p. 146] is improbable). But most striking are the names terminating in -u; these are undoubtedly Nabatean. Many of the dynasty were therefore ethnically Arab, speaking a form of Aramaic (like the rulers of Hatra, Singara, and Mesene at this time).
Bibliography
There are few primary sources for the history of the Abgar dynasty. Firsthand accounts are the Syriac Chronicle of Edessa, ed. I. Guidi et al., in Chronica Minora (CSCO 1-2 = Scriptores syri 1-2), Louvain, 1955.
For the work of Julius Africanus, see also H. Gelzer, Sextus Julius Africanus und die byzantische Chronographie, Leipzig, 1880-98.
On contemporary inscriptions and other archeological finds, and on the evangelization of Edessa, see the bibliography under Edessa.
Bardaiṣan is treated by H. J. W. Drijvers, Bardaiṣan of Edessa (Studia Semitica Neerlandica 6), Te Assen, 1966.
G. F Hill, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Arabia, Mesopotamia and Persia in the British Museum, London, 1922, p. 91-118 should be consulted for numismatic material.
The viewpoint of Roman historians will be found in Plutarch Life of Crassus; Tacitus Annals 6.44, 12.12f.; Dio Cassius Roman History 68, 77-78; Scriptores historiae Augistae: Lives of Septimus Severus and Caracalla.
The Armenian history of Moses of Khorene should be regarded with caution; see A. Carrière, “La Légende d’Abgar dans l’Histoire d’Arménie de Moïse de Khoren,” Centenaire de l’École des langues vivantes 1795-1895, Paris, 1895, pp. 357-414.
For a discussion of Iranian inscriptions and Iranian terms, see W. B. Henning, “The Monuments and Inscriptions of Tang-i Sarvak,” Asia Major N.S. 2, 1951-52, p. 151.
Idem, “A New Parthian Inscription,” JRAS 1953, p. 124.
A. D. H. Bivar and S. Shaked, “The Inscriptions at Shimbar,” BSOAS 27, 1964, p. 265.
For a general treatment of the Abgar dynasty, see R. Duval, Histoire politique, religieuse et littéraire d’Édesse jusqu’à la première croisade (= JA 8e Sér., 18-19, 1891-92), 1892.
E. Kirsten, “Edessa,” in T. Klauser, ed., Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum IV, Stuttgart, 1959, cols. 552-97.
J. B. Segal, Edessa “The Blessed City”, Oxford, 1970.