Apotropaic Autographs: Orality and Materiality in the Abgar-Jesus Inscriptions

Apotropaic Autographs: Orality and Materiality in the Abgar-Jesus InscriptionsArchiv für ReligionsgeschichteSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/JPXYNN84/tei

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

2025-05-20-05:00

Born digital.

CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Andrew MarkHenryApotropaic Autographs: Orality and Materiality in the Abgar-Jesus Inscriptionshttp://syriaca.org/cbss/JPXYNN84https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/JPXYNN84https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/JPXYNN84Archiv für Religionsgeschichte17:12016165-186In this paper, I explore the late antique tradition of inscribing the Abgar-Jesus correspondence on stone for protection as attested by seven inscriptions from Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. I first argue that the correspondence’s perceived protective efficacy stems from its claim to preserve an autograph of Jesus. I then explore the implications of embedding such an autograph into an urban landscape. Drawing on recent research on the orality and materiality of epigraphy, I suggest that the epigraphic attestations of the Abgar-Jesus correspondence join in a broader tradition of deploying oral formulae to protect domestic and civic space from harm, and therefore, should be viewed as ritually powerful objects that were “performing” the correspondence at their respective liminal spaces. Henry, Andrew Mark. “Apotropaic Autographs: Orality and Materiality in the Abgar-Jesus Inscriptions.” Archiv Für Religionsgeschichte 17:1 (2016): 165–86. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2015-0010. Andrew Mark Henry, Apotropaic Autographs: Orality and Materiality in the Abgar-Jesus Inscriptions, Archiv Für Religionsgeschichte 17:1 (2016): 165–86, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/arege-2015-0010.