« Édesse, un creuset de traditions sur les mages évangéliques »
Résumé
Edessa played an essential and pioneer role in the spread of Christianity throughout the iranian empire as so as in the development of Christian traditions. In one of them, the legend of the thirty pieces of silver transmitted by Solomon bishop of Basra in his Book of the Bee, the evangelical Magi curiously come in the city, within the oriental Roman Empire. Usually, these Magi are presented in Syriac texts as the first missionaries of the sole Iranian territory. “Diverted” from their itinerary by the Edessean tradition, the Magi are integrated into the Christian history of Northern Mesopotamia. Much more, they contributed to emphasize prestigious biblical roots for Edessa, which even appears as a nova Bethlehem. The close link between Thomas the apostle and Edessa is probably a key orientation so as to understand the making of traditions on the evangelical Magi.