The Kingdom of Edessa, Mesopotamia, The Syriac Aramaic Abgar VIII with Septimius Severus, 197 - 212 A.D.

Bronze AE 22, cf. BMC Arabia p. 94, 14 ff., SNG Cop 196 ff., SNG Hunterian II 2511 ff. (referenced specimens vary in legend details), VF, light earthen deposits, highest points not fully struck, light marks, slightest porosity, Mesopotamia, Edessa (Urfa, Sanliurfa, Turkey) mint, weight 6.462g, maximum diameter 21.9mm, die axis 180o, 197 - 212 A.D.; obverse AΛTOKPA CCOΛHP (blundered, A perhaps not fully struck, Λ's are upside down V's, second C should be an E), laureate head right; reverse ABΓPOC BA-CIΛE, draped bust of Abgar right, bearded, wearing a diademed tiara, holding scepter before,

Abgar VIII, also known as Abgar the Great, is remembered for his reputed conversion to Christianity in about 200 A.D. His son Abgar IX Severus, who succeeded him in 212, was summoned with his son to Rome in 213 and murdered at the orders of Caracalla. A year later, Caracalla incorporated the kingdom into the empire as a Roman province.

FORVM Ancient Coins / The Sam Mansourati Collection.