Abgar VII was king of Osrhoene from 109-116 CE.^[1][2][3] His primary goal was to remain independent of both the major powers in the region, the Roman and the Parthian Empires.^[3] Toward this end, he supported the Roman Emperor Trajan's military campaign into Mesopotamia against the Parthian king Osroes I in 114-116 CE,^[2][3] ending an era of Edessan neutrality toward the Roman Empire.^[1] However, in 116 CE, Abgar also supported a Parthian revolt against Trajan.^[2][3] The Roman general Lusius Quietus responded promptly by capturing and sacking Edessa.^[2][3] Abgar VII died at this time.

Sources do not agree on what happened after Abgar VII's death. Warwick Ball reports that Hadrian appointed Parthamaspates of Parthia as a puppet king of captured territories including Osrhoene in 117 CE.^[1] He also reports that the Romans reinstated the Abgar dynasty in 123 CE with the accession of Ma'nu VII.^[1] Drijvers & Healey (1999), by contrast, report that there was a span of two years following Abgar VII's death where Edessa had no king before the Abgar dynasty was reinstated by the Emperor Hadrian in 118 CE as a client kingdom of Rome.^[3][2]

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