Name Abgar VIII | Died 212 AD | |
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Abgar VIII of Edessa, also known as Abgar the Great, was an Assyrian/Syriac king of Osroene from 177-212 CE. It was maintained also that Abgar the Great should be regarded as Abgar IX, however, according to A. R. Bellinger and C. B. Welles, the assertion is incorrect.
Abgar the Great was most remembered for his reputed conversion to Christianity in about 200 CE and the declaration of Christianity as the official religion of the city at that time. It has been suggested that a cross shown on the tiara of Abgar VIII in coins he minted have Christian meaning.
Upon his death in 212 CE, Abgar the Great was succeeded by his son Abgar IX surnamed Severus in contemporary Roman fashion. Though Abgar Severus was summoned with his son to Rome in 213 CE and murdered at the orders of Caracalla. A year later Caracalla ended the independence of Osroene and incorporated it as a province into Roman Empire.