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Sophene
Sophene ( or , ; ) was a province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in the south-west of the kingdom, and of the Roman Empire. The region lies in what is now southeastern Turkey. History The region that was to become Sophene was part of the kingdom of Ararat (Urartu) in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. After unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishtis I of Urartu resettled many of its inhabitants in his newly built city of Erebuni (modern day Armenian capital Yerevan). Around 600 BC, Sophene became part of the newly emerged ancient Armenian Kingdom of the Orontids. This dynasty acted as satraps of Persia first under the Median Empire, later under the Achaemenid Empire. After Alexander the Great's campaigns in the 330s BC and the subsequent collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, Sophene remained part of the newly independent kingdom of Greater Armenia. In the early 3rd century BC, at the instigation of the Seleucid Empire, which was t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Sophene
The Kingdom of Sophene (, ), was a Hellenistic-era political entity situated between ancient Armenia and Syria. Ruled by the Orontid dynasty, the kingdom was culturally mixed with Greek, Armenian, Iranian, Syrian, Anatolian and Roman influences. Founded around the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom maintained independence until when the Artaxiad king Tigranes the Great conquered the territories as part of his empire. Sophene laid near medieval Kharput, which is present day Elazığ. Name The name Sophene is thought to derive from the ethnonym ''Ṣuppani'', a people who lived in the region in the first half of the 1st millennium BCE and appear in Hittite and Assyrian sources. According to historian Nicholas Adontz, the Ancient Greek was coined after the Armenian , which stems directly from ''Ṣuppani''. History The Kingdom of Sophene was ruled by the Orontids, a dynasty of Iranian origin. They were descended from Orontes I, a Bactrian nobleman who was the son-in-law o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zariadres
Zariadres was an Orontid ruler of Sophene in the early 2nd century BC. According to Strabo, he was a general of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III who was made ruler of Sophene, although most scholars believe that he was a member of the Orontid dynasty, which ruled Armenia and Sophene. After the Seleucids were defeated by the Romans in 190 BC, Zariadres and his ally Artaxias I of Greater Armenia (possibly also Zariadres' son) revolted against the Seleucids, became independent kings and expanded their territories. The last information about Zariadres' reign dates to 188 BC. He was succeeded as king by Mithrobouzanes, possibly his son. Name ''Zariadres'' () is the Greek rendering of an Iranian name, attested as ''zrytr''/''zryhr'' in the Aramaic inscriptions of Artaxias I in Sevan and Siwnik, and as in Armenian sources. The name derives from Old Iranian * ('with golden fire'). Biography Strabo writes that Sophene was taken over by a "general 'strategos'' of King Antiochus I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orontid Dynasty
The Orontid dynasty, also known as the Eruandids or Eruandunis, ruled the Satrapy of Armenia until 330 BC and the Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Kingdom of Armenia from 321 BC to 200 BC. The Orontids ruled first as client kings or satraps of the Achaemenid Empire and after the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire established an independent kingdom. Later, a branch of the Orontids ruled as kings of Kingdom of Sophene, Sophene and Commagene. They are the first of the three royal dynasties that successively ruled the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (321 BC–428 AD). Although the overthrow of Orontes IV and the accession of Artaxias I to the throne of Armenia in the early 2nd century BC is traditionally treated as the start of a Artaxiad dynasty, new dynasty, Artaxias probably belonged to a branch of the Orontid dynasty. His descendants ruled Armenia until the 1st century AD. Historical background Some historians state that the Orontids were of Iranian peoples, Iranian origin, and sugges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artaxias I
Artaxias I (from ) was the founder of the Artaxiad dynasty of Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenia, ruling from 189 BC to 160 BC. Artaxias was a member of a branch of the Orontid dynasty, the earlier ruling dynasty of Armenia. He expanded his kingdom on all sides, consolidating the territory of Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Greater Armenia. He enacted a number of administrative reforms to order his expanded realm. He also founded a new capital in the central valley of the Aras (river), Araxes River called Artaxata (Artashat), which quickly grew into a major urban and commercial center. He was succeeded by his son Artavasdes I of Armenia, Artavasdes I. Modern scholars #Historical assessment, regard him as the founder of independent Armenian statehood. Name The Ancient Greek, Greek form ''Artaxias'' ultimately derives from the Iranian languages, Old Iranian name *, which is also the source of Greek () and Middle Persian Ardeshir (other), Ardashir. The Armenian_lang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Armenia (antiquity)
The Kingdom of Greater Armenia or simply Greater Armenia or Armenia Major ( '; ), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Empire under Tigranes the Great, Tigranes II, was an Armenians, Armenian kingdom in the Ancient Near East which existed from 331 BC to 428 AD. Its history is divided into the successive reigns of three Royal family, royal dynasties: Orontid dynasty, Orontid (331–200 BC), Artaxiad dynasty, Artaxiad (189 BC12 AD), and Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, Arsacid (52–428). The root of the kingdom lies in the Satrapy of Armenia of the Achaemenid Empire of Iran, which was formed from the territory of Urartu (860–590 BC) after it was conquered by the Medes in 590 BC. The satrapy became a kingdom in 321 BC during the reign of the Orontid dynasty after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great, which was then incorporated as one of the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic kingdoms of the Seleucid Empire. Under the Seleucid Empire ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eğil
Eğil (; ; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey. Its area is 449 km2, and its population is 21,434 (2022). It is populated by Kurds. The elected mayor Mustafa Akkul of the Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was dismissed on the 23 March 2020 and replaced by a trustee. The current Kaymakam is Volkan Hür. Eğil is an ancient city 50 km away from Diyarbakır with many ancient forts and caves dating to the time of the Armenian kingdom of Kingdom of Sophene, Sophene. It is identified with Carcathiocerta, the capital of the Kingdom of Sophene, and the ancient Armenian religious center of Angeghtun, Angegh-tun (Angełtun). In 2018 parts of a village re-emerged in Eğil in the Çakırören neighbourhood, after the Dicle Dam suffered water level decrease due to a burst of one of the gates. It is also the location of a supposed tomb of Elisha, which is located in the Kale neighborhood of Eğil. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arsamosata
Arsamosata (Middle Persian: *, Old Persian: *, , ) was an ancient and medieval city situated on the bank of the Murat River (called the Arsanias in classical sources), near the present-day city of Elazığ. It was founded in by Arsames I, the Orontid king of Sophene, Commagene and possibly Armenia. The city served as a central center and royal residence of the Orontids of Sophene. The origin of its name is Persian, meaning "Joy of Arsames". Naming cities such as the "joy of" or "happiness of" was an Orontid (and later Artaxiad) practice that recalled the Achaemenid royal discourse. It was left and destroyed in the 1st century BC. In the Middle Ages, it was called Ashmushat. In Roman and Byzantine times, it bore the names Armosota (Ἀρμόσοτα) and Arsamosota (Ἀρσαμόσοτα). It was also known in Byzantine times as Asmosaton. It was called Shimshat in Arabic. A prominent native of Arsamosata was the 10th-century poet Abu'l-Hasan Ali al-Shimshati. Arsamosata h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commagene
Commagene () was an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom ruled by a Hellenized branch of the Orontid dynasty, Orontids, a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian origin, that had ruled over the Satrapy of Armenia. The kingdom was located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which served as its capital. The Iron Age name of Samosata, Kummuh, probably gives its name to Commagene. Commagene has been characterized as a "buffer state" between Armenia, Parthia, Syria, and Rome; culturally, it was correspondingly mixed. The kings of the Kingdom of Commagene claimed descent from Orontes I, Orontes with Darius I of Persia as their ancestor, by his marriage to Rhodogune, daughter of Artaxerxes II who had a family descent from king Darius I. The territory of Commagene corresponded roughly to the modern Turkish provinces of Adıyaman Province, Adıyaman and northern Gaziantep Province, Antep. Little is known of the region of Commagene before the beginning of the 2nd century BC. However, it se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carcathiocerta
Carcathiocerta (; ) was a city in Armenian Sophene near the Tigris, identified with the modern town of Eğil. It was the first capital of Sophene until Arsames I founded the new capital Arshamshat around 230 BCE. The Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes renamed the city into Epiphania. Strabo in his ''Geography'', calls it "The royal city of Sophene". It was assigned to the late Roman province of Mesopotamia. It also bore the names Artagigarta, Baras, Basileon Phrourion, and Ingila. Under the name Ingila, it became a bishopric; no longer the seat of a residential bishop, it remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. Its site is located at Eğil Eğil (; ; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey. Its area is 449 km2, and its population is 21,434 (2022). It is populated by Kurds. The elected mayor Mustafa Akkul of the Peoples' Democratic P ... in Asiatic Turkey. References Populated places in ancient Sophene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tigranes The Great
Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great (''Tigran Mets'' in Armenian language, Armenian; 140–55 BC), was a king of Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenia. A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he ruled from 95 BC to 55 BC. Under his reign, the Armenian kingdom expanded beyond its traditional boundaries and reached its peak, allowing Tigranes to claim the title Great King or King of Kings. His empire for a short time was the most powerful state to the east of the Roman Republic. Either the son or nephew of Artavasdes I of Armenia, Artavasdes I, Tigranes was given as a hostage to Mithridates II of Parthia after Armenia came under Parthian suzerainty. After ascending to the Armenian throne, he rapidly expanded his kingdom by Military Campaigns of Tigranes the Great, invading or annexing Roman and Parthian client-kingdoms. Tigran decided to ally with Mithridates VI Eupator, Mithridates VI of Pontus by marrying his daughter Cleopatra of Pontus, Cleopatra. At its height, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bidaxsh
Bidaxsh (''bidakhsh'', also spelled Pitiakhsh; in Roman sources ''Vitaxa'') was a title of Iranian origin attested in various languages from the 1st to the 8th-century. It has no identical word in English, but it is similar to a margrave, toparch and marcher lord. The etymology of the term is disputed, and it has been interpreted as literally meaning "the eye of the king," "second ruler" or "vice king." The word was borrowed into Armenian as ''Bdeašx'' (բդեաշխ), and into Georgian as ''Pitiaxshi'' (პიტიახში) and ''Patiaxshi'' (პატიახში). The title was prominent in Armenia and Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ..., being used by the military governor of a province, and being the hereditary title of the dynasts of Gugark. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
