[4][5][6][7][1][8] Generally allied with the Parthians,[1][9] the Kingdom of Osroene enjoyed semi-autonomy to complete independence from the years of 132 BC to AD 214.

[10] The city's cultural setting was fundamentally Syriac, alongside strong Greek and Parthian influences, though some Arab cults were also attested at Edessa.

Osroene, or Edessa, was one of several states that acquired independence from the collapsing Seleucid Empire through a dynasty of the nomadic Nabataean Arab tribe from Southern Canaan and North Arabia, the Osrhoeni, from 136 BC.

[17][18][19] Though most of Osroene's rulers were from the Abgarid dynasty of Arab origin, the kingdom's population was of mixed culture, being Syriac-speaking from the earliest times.

[10] Though Arab cults were attested at Edessa (the twins Monimos and Azizos), its cultural setting was fundamentally Syriac, alongside strong Greek and Parthian influences.

[1] Edessa, the capital of the ancient kingdom, was a fortress of considerable strength and a staging post both large and nearest to the Euphrates.

[1] In 64 BC, as Pompey waged war on the Parthian Empire, Abgar II of Osrhoene had sided with the Romans when Lucius Afranius occupied Upper Mesopotamia.

However, modern historians have questioned whether Abgar intended to betray the Romans and instead may have simply been leading them along an old Arab trade route.

[1] In the early 2nd century AD, King Abgar VII joined the Emperor Trajan's campaign into Mesopotamia and entertained him at court.

In 123, during the reign of Hadrian, the Abgarid dynasty was restored with the installation of Ma'nu VII, and Osroene was established as a client kingdom of the Empire.

In 195, following a civil war in which the kingdom had supported his rival Pescennius Niger, Septimius Severus mounted an invasion and annexed the territory as a new province, making Nisibis the capital.

Prominent early Christian figures have lived in and emerged from the region such as Tatian the Assyrian, who came to Edessa from Hadiab (Adiabene).

Amru, possibly a descendant of Abgar, is mentioned as king in the Paikuli inscription, recording the victory of Narseh in the Sassanid civil war of 293.

[36] The independence of the state ended probably in c. 214; during Caracalla's reign the monarchy was abolished by the Roman Empire and Osroene was incorporated it as a province (colonia).

According to the late-4th-century Notitia Dignitatum, it was headed by a governor of the rank of praeses, and it was also the seat of the dux Mesopotamiae, who ranked as vir illustris and commanded (c. 400) the following army units: as well as, 'on the minor roll', apparently auxiliaries: According to Sozomen's Ecclesiastical History, "there were some very learned men who formerly flourished in Osroene, as for instance Bardaisan, who devised a heresy designated by his name, and his son Harmonius.

According to the legend current for centuries throughout the civilized world, Abgar Ukkama wrote to Jesus, inviting him to visit him at Edessa to heal him from sickness.

It is testimony to the personality of Abgar the Great that he is credited by tradition with a leading role in the evangelization of Edessa.Modern scholars have taken basically two very different approaches to this legend (which obviously reflects the general search for apostolic origins, characteristics of the fourth century).