Ebook: Bardaisan of Edessa

Bardaiṣan was probably born in 154 and died in 222, possibly in Edessa. He spent a large part of his life at the court of king Abgar VIII (‘the Great’) of Edessa, who took an interest in arts and sciences. At Abgar’s court he taught his pupils and followers whom he had assembled around him. He is said to have held a position of distinction in Edessene society. When in 214 the emperor Caracalla (211–217) put an end to Edessa’s independence as a kingdom, Bardaiṣan probably went to Armenia. He is said to have written a considerable number of works and several others have been attributed to him, but no writings of Bardaiṣan have been preserved. Fragmentsof his work as well as of lost works have been preserved in later sources. His best known work, The Book of the Laws of Countries, was not authentically his but written by his pupil Philippus, although it reflects Bardaiṣan’s ideas.