ADDUS, Addai (Syriac: ܐܕܝ, Greek: Ἀδδαῖος) — According to legend, a courier of King Abgar V of Edessa, he is said to have painted a portrait of Jesus, which was later preserved in the palace of Abgar. After the Ascension of Jesus, the apostle Judas, also called Thomas, is said to have sent A. (Eusebius: Thaddeus), one of the seventy-two (Eusebius: seventy), to Edessa to preach the Gospel there.
The second part describes at length the missionary activity of A. (missing in Eusebius). It narrates, among other things, the invention of the Holy Cross by Protonice, wife of Emperor Claudius, and how Tiberius had some Jewish leaders executed to punish them for the crucifixion of Jesus. The successors of A. at the head of the Edessene Church are named Aggi of Palu, who was consecrated by Serapion of Antioch. The legend of the invention of the Holy Cross by Protonice is a modification of the story of Helena’s discovery, and the legend of the portrait of Jesus must be traced back to the *Peregrinatio ad loca sancta* of Georgia (c. 393–94), which, during its visit to Edessa, still has no knowledge of II.
BIBL.: Syriac text published by G. Philipps, *The Doctrine of Addai the Apostle*, London 1876. On the legend and its literary transmission, R. A. Lipsius, *Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten*, II, 11, 1887, pp. 181 sqq.; id., *Die edessenische Abgarssage*, Brunswick 1880; J. Tixeront, *Les origines de l'église d'Edesse et la légende d'Abgar*, Paris 1888; E. Amann, *Les Actes de Thaddeus et Actes d'Addai*, in DBs, I, cols. 510–12. On the invention of the Holy Cross (Protonice): E. Nestle, *De S. Cruce. Ein Beitrag zur christlichen Legendengeschichte*, Berlin 1889. On the portrait of Christ: E. V. Dobschütz, *Christusbilder*, Leipzig 1890, pp. 102–96; P. Perdrizet, *De la Véronique et de Sainte Véronique*, in *Seminarium Kondakovianum*, 5 (1932), pp. 1–15; S. Baumstark, *Geschichte der syrischen Literatur*, Bonn 1922 (pp. 28 on Syriac and Armenian manuscripts, p. 98 on the legend of the invention of the Cross). The ordination of Palu is scarcely plausible: W. Bauer, *Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum*, Tübingen 1934, pp. 22 sq., 25 (pp. 143 sq. also deals with archives in legends). On dependence on Eusebius: E. Peterson, *Eἰς ᾿Εδεσσαν. Epigraphische, formgeschichtliche und religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen*, Göttingen 1926, p. 217 sq.
