Jesus — The Mandylion

Posted on June 21, 2026 by Joel D. Hirst

Early in the first century King Abgar V of Edessa was sick. He heard of a holy many in Jerusalem, named Jesus, and sent his messenger and his court portraitist to invite Jesus to Edessa. Abgar could not cross Roman lands. He knew Jesus was in danger and invited him to share his city. Jesus responded that he had a different destiny, but he sent Thaddeus to heal the king and the portraitist returned with a painting of Jesus. It was called the Mandylion, the first icon, and it hung in the halls of Edessa for a thousand years, keeping the city safe. I imagine this is what it looked like.

You can buy it here: https://www.artpal.com/joeldhirst?i=319328-17

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About Joel D. Hirst

Joel D. Hirst is a novelist and a playwright. His most recently released work is "The Unraveling" -- a novel about how it all came apart. He has also written "An Excess of Nationalism", a novel about Soviet Armenia. "Dreams of the Defeated: A Play in Two Acts" is about a political prisoner in a dystopian regime. And "I, Charles, From the Camps" is the story of a young man from the African camps. "Lords of Misrule" is the an epic tale about the making and unmaking of a jihadist in the Sahara. Finally, Hirst has re-published his "San Porfirio" series into one volume "The Epic Tale of Revolutionary Venezuela", about the rise and fall of socialist Venezuela (with magic).
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