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The Teaching of Addai is a composite Syriac narrative of the fifth century that backdates the Christianization of Edessa to the time of Jesus, at the same time making a case for an apostolic pedigree for Edessene Christianity; nonetheless, the text contains important information about Edessene society during the monarchic period (Sommer 2018: 254–255). The narrative includes (i) a legendary exchange of letters between King Abgar of Edessa and Jesus, (ii) a narrative about the ensuing mission of Jesus’s apostle Addai (Thaddeus) to Edessa, and (iii) an account of the conversion to Christianity of Abgar and all the citizens of Edessa (Syriac text and English translation are published in Howard 1981; an earlier version of the legend is found in Euseb. Hist. eccl. 1.13; with Corke-Webster 2017). The Teaching of Addai articulates Christian doctrine and promotes a paradigm of correct Christian behavior, but it also attacks Near Eastern pagan cults, against which Addai makes an important speech (18); interestingly, such cults are presented as ultimately belonging to Aramaic-speaking communities other than Edessa, such as those at Hatra, at Hierapolis, and among the Arabs, while Edessa is singled out as preeminently a Christian community on account of its orthodox faith and Christian ascetic practices (Wood 2012: 175–177; Healey 2019). Another early Syriac text that, conversely, demonstrates a more cosmopolitan dimension is the fourth-century Acts of Thomas, which narrate the travel and missionary activity of the apostle Thomas in India (English translation in Klijn 2003). This text should be understood in the context of the lively commercial and cultural exchanges between the Syriac-speaking region and Asia, as is also instantiated by an Account of India authored by Bardaisan and surviving only fragmentarily in Porphyry (De abstin. 4.16.9–18.3 and 376 F Smith); in one passage, the Edessene philosopher writes of his personal encounter with an embassy from India. At another level, both works offer important glimpses into the Edessenes’s perceptions and experiences of Roman and Parthian imperial powers (Andrade 2020).