Roman Edessa offers a comprehensive and erudite analysis of the ancient city of Edessa (modern day Urfa, Turkey), which constituted a remarkable amalgam of the East and the West. Among the areas explored are:
* the cultural life and antecedents of Edessa
* Edessene religion
* the extent of the Hellenization at Edessa before the advent of Christianity
* the myth of an exchange of letters between a King Abgar and Jesus.
What was the 'first Christian kingdom' in the Roman Empire like, before Christianity?
The ancient city of Edessa (modern day Urfa, Turkey), well-watered and located on a trade route, underwent major urban development in the Seleucid period and came under Parthian influence at the end of the second century. Its rulers -- the Abgarid dynasty with Arab/Nabatean connections -- pursued a semi-independent policy until Edessa came permanently within the Roman orbit under Septimius Severus. Steven K. Ross examines the process of absorption into the empire employing epigraphic, numismatic and historical material, some recently discovered. Among the areas explored are the Edessan culture and religion, the myth of an exchange of letters between a King Abgar and Jesus Christ and the philosophical works of Bardaisan.
ROMAN EDESSA offers a comprehensive and erudite analysis of the ancient city of Edessa, which constituted a remarkable amalgam of the East and the West.
