Adiabene
Encyclopedia
Adiabene was an ancient Assyrian
independent kingdom
in Mesopotamia
, with its capital at Arbela
(modern-day Arbil, Iraq
). Its rulers converted to Judaism
from Ashurism in the 1st century.
Queen Helena of Adiabene
(known in Jewish sources as Heleni HaMalka) moved to Jerusalem where she built palaces for herself and her sons, Izates bar Monobaz
and Monobaz II
at the northern part of the city of David, south of the Temple Mount
. According to the Talmud
, both Helena and Monbaz donated large funds for the Temple of Jerusalem.
between the Upper Zab
(Lycus) and the Lower Zab
(Caprus), though Ammianus speaks of Nineveh
, Ecbatana
, and Gaugamela as also belonging to it. Although nominally a dependency of the Parthian Empire
, for some centuries, beginning with the 1st century BC, it was independent. In the Talmudic writings the name occurs as חדייב ,חדייף and הדייב, which is parallel to its Syriac
form "Hadyab" or "Hedayab." Its chief city was Arbela
(Arba-ilu), where Mar Uqba had a school, or the neighboring Hazzah, by which name the later Arab
s also called Arbela.
In Kiddushin 72a the Biblical
Habor is identified with Adiabene (compare Yebamot 16b et seq., Yalqut Daniel 1064), but in Yerushalmi
Megillah
i. 71b with Riphath
. In the Targum
to Jeremiah
li. 27, Ararat
, Mini
, and Ashkenaz
are paraphrased by Kordu, Harmini, and Hadayab, i.e., Corduene
, Armenia
, and Adiabene; while in Ezekiel
xxvii. 23 Harran
, Caneh, and Eden are interpreted by the Aramaic
translator as "Harwan, Nisibis, and Adiabene."
speaking Assyrians
. The account of Josephus
' Antiquities of the Jews
shows that there was a substantial Jewish population in the kingdom, which led to the establishment of a prominent rabbinic academy in Arbela. During the Sassanid era
, Persians came to the fore politically. ]. The difficult mixing of cultures can be seen in the story of the martyrdom of Mahanuš, a prominent Iranian Zoroastrian who converted to Christianity. In later times Adiabene became an archbishop
ric, with the seat of the metropolitan
at Arbela.
Adiabene was a district in Mesopotamia between upper and lower Zab and was a part of the Neo Assyrian Empire and inhabited by Assyrians even after the fall of Nineveh It was an integral part of Achaemenid Assyria
(Athura) and Sassanid Assyria (Assuristan). The region was later made a part of the Roman province of Assyria after the invasion by Trajan in the year 116.
(For subsequent history, see Arbil
; Assyrian people
, Roman Empire
, Iraq
).
. Under the Achamenid Persian kings Adiabene seems for a time to have been a vassal state of the Persian Empire. At times the throne of Adiabene was held by a member of the Achamenid house; Ardashir III
(king from AD 628 to 630), before he came to the throne of Persia, had the title "King of Hadyab". The Ten Thousand
, an army of Greek mercenaries, retreated through Adiabene on their march to the Black Sea
after the Battle of Cunaxa
. The little kingdom may have had a series of native rulers nominally vassal to the Macedonian
and later Seleucid empires. It later became one of the client kingdoms of the Parthian empire. During the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, it gained a certain prominence under a series of kings descended from Izates I
and his son Monobaz I
. Monobaz I is known to have been allied with king Abennerig of Characene
, in whose court his son Izates bar Monobaz
lived for a time and whose daughter Symacho
Izates married, as well as the rulers of other small kingdoms on the periphery of the Parthian
sphere of influence
.
Izates, the son of Monobaz I and his wife Helena of Adiabene
, became a Jew. His conversion to Judaism
took place before he ascended the throne and while he lived in Charax Spasinu
. At about the same time his mother, Helena, was also converted. The period was characterized by chaos in the Parthian empire, with a string of Parthian kings and counter-kings following each other in quick succession. Artabanus II of Parthia
was king of Atropatene
. He had succeeded Vonones I, who, having been educated entirely at Rome
, was unsympathetic toward the Parthians. Artabanus soon had to flee to Hyrcania
to escape from the rival king, Tiridates III. He returned, however, in 36, and, being afraid of a conspiracy, took refuge at the court of Izates, who was powerful enough to induce the Parthians to reinstate Artabanus. For this service certain kingly honors were granted Izates, and the city of Nisibis
was added to his dominions. However, around 40, Gotarzes II, an adopted son of Artabanus, was raised to the throne by the nobles, in preference to Vardanes I, his half-brother. In 49 Meherdates Mithridates, a son of Vonones, was sent from Rome by Claudius
to take possession of the throne of Parthia. Izates played a double game, though he secretly sided with Gotarzes. A few years later, Vologeses I set out with the intention of invading Adiabene and of punishing Izates; but a force of Dahae
and Scythians had just entered Parthia, and Vologeses had to return home.
Izates was followed on the throne by his elder brother, Monobaz II
. It is related that in the year 61 he sent a contingent of soldiers to Armenia
to assist the Parthian candidate, Tiridates
, against Tigranes
, who had made an incursion into the territory of Adiabene. The troops of Monobaz, however, were beaten back at Tigranocerta. Monobaz was present when peace was concluded at Rhandea between Parthia and Rome in the year 63. He later sent assistance to the Jews in their rebellion against Rome in the late 60's and early 70's AD.
The chief opponent of Trajan
in Mesopotamia during the year 115 was the last king of independent Adiabene, Meharaspes
. He had made common cause with Ma'nu (Mannus) of Singar (Singara). Trajan invaded Adiabene, and made it part of the Roman province of Assyria
; under Hadrian
in 117, however, Rome gave up possession of Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. In the summer of 195 Septimus Severus was again warring in Mesopotamia, and in 196 three divisions of the Roman army fell upon Adiabene. According to Dio Cassius
, Caracalla
took Arbela in the year 216, and searched all the graves there, wishing to ascertain whether the Arsacid kings were buried there. Many of the ancient royal tombs were destroyed.
. Due to this, and religious differences, Adiabene was never regarded as an integral part of Iran, even though the Sassanids controlled it for several centuries. After the Roman Empire declared Christianity
as its official religion, the inhabitants of Adiabene, who were Assyrian Christians, sided with Christian Rome rather than the Zoroastrian Sassanids. The Byzantine Empire sent armies to the region during the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars, but this did nothing to change the territorial boundaries. Adiabene remained a province of the Sassanid Empire until the Islamic conquests of Persia.
was a metropolitan province of the Assyrian Church of the East
. The Chronicle of Erbil, a purported history of Christianity in Adiabene under the Parthians and Sassanians, lists a number of early bishops of Erbil. The authenticity of the Chronicle of Erbil has been questioned, and scholars remain divided on how much credence to place in its evidence. Some of the bishops in the following list are attested in other sources, but the early bishops are probably legendary.
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
independent kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, with its capital at Arbela
Arbil
Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...
(modern-day Arbil, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
). Its rulers converted to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
from Ashurism in the 1st century.
Queen Helena of Adiabene
Helena of Adiabene
Helena of Adiabene was queen of Adiabene and wife of Monobaz I. With her husband she was the mother of Izates II and Monobaz II. She died about 56 CE. Her name and the fact that she was her husband's sister indicate a Hellenistic origin...
(known in Jewish sources as Heleni HaMalka) moved to Jerusalem where she built palaces for herself and her sons, Izates bar Monobaz
Izates bar Monobaz
Izates II or Izates bar Monobaz was a proselyte to Judaism who became King of the Parthian client kingdom of Adiabene. He was the son of Queen Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. During his youth he was sent by his father to the court of King Abinergaos I of Characene in Charax Spasinu...
and Monobaz II
Monobaz II
Monobaz II or Monobaz bar Monobaz was the son of Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. Like his younger brother Izates bar Monobaz and his mother, Monobaz became a convert to Judaism. He ruled as king of Adiabene after the death of his brother Izates around 55 CE...
at the northern part of the city of David, south of the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
. According to the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, both Helena and Monbaz donated large funds for the Temple of Jerusalem.
Location
Adiabene occupied a district in AssyriaAssyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
between the Upper Zab
Great Zab
The Great Zab , , , ) is an approximately long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul. The drainage basin of the Great Zab covers approximately , and during its course, the rivers collects the water from a large number...
(Lycus) and the Lower Zab
Little Zab
The Little Zab , , ) originates in Iran and joins the Tigris in Iraq. The river is approximately long and drains an area of c. . The river is fed by rainfall and snowmelt, resulting in a peak discharge in spring and low water in summer and early fall...
(Caprus), though Ammianus speaks of Nineveh
Nineveh
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
, Ecbatana
Ecbatana
Ecbatana is supposed to be the capital of Astyages , which was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidus...
, and Gaugamela as also belonging to it. Although nominally a dependency of the Parthian Empire
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...
, for some centuries, beginning with the 1st century BC, it was independent. In the Talmudic writings the name occurs as חדייב ,חדייף and הדייב, which is parallel to its Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
form "Hadyab" or "Hedayab." Its chief city was Arbela
Arbela
Arbela may refer to:*An important city in ancient Jordan, located on the site of modern Irbid, Jordan*The ancient name of the city of Arbil in northern Iraq*Ancient Jewish settlement in Galilee, near the modern moshav Arbel, Israel....
(Arba-ilu), where Mar Uqba had a school, or the neighboring Hazzah, by which name the later Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s also called Arbela.
In Kiddushin 72a the Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
Habor is identified with Adiabene (compare Yebamot 16b et seq., Yalqut Daniel 1064), but in Yerushalmi
Yerushalmi
Yerushalmi may refer to:* Jerusalem Talmud * Meurav Yerushalmi * Targum Yerushalmi* Targum Pseudo-Jonathan * Jerusalemite- Family name :* Aharon Yerushalmi...
Megillah
Megillah
Megillah may refer to:Bible:*The Scroll of Esther , read on the Jewish holiday of Purim.*Megillat AntiochusRabbinic literature:*Tractate Megillah in the Talmud....
i. 71b with Riphath
Riphath
Riphath - "a crusher", Gomer's second son , supposed by Josephus to have been the ancestor of the Paphlagonia. Pliny calls Riphath "Riphaci", and mentions a group of mountains named after him, the Riphaean range. Melo calls him "Riphaces", and Solinus "Piphlataci".Some Irish traditions say Riphath...
. In the Targum
Targum
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
to Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
li. 27, Ararat
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
, Mini
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
, and Ashkenaz
Ashkenaz
In the Bible, Ashkenaz is Gomer's first son, brother of Riphath and Togarmah , thereby a Japhetic descendant of Noah. A kingdom of Ashkenaz is called together with Ararat and Minni against Babylon In the Bible, Ashkenaz (Heb. אַשְׁכֲּנָז) is Gomer's first son, brother of Riphath and Togarmah (Gen....
are paraphrased by Kordu, Harmini, and Hadayab, i.e., Corduene
Corduene
Corduene was an ancient region located in northern Mesopotamia and modern day Kurdish inhabited south east Turkey. It was a province of the Greater Armenia. It was referred to by the Greeks as Karduchia and by both the Greeks and Romans as Corduene...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, and Adiabene; while in Ezekiel
Ezekiel
Ezekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...
xxvii. 23 Harran
Harran
Harran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...
, Caneh, and Eden are interpreted by the Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
translator as "Harwan, Nisibis, and Adiabene."
Population
Adiabene had a mixed population. The majority were indigenous Syriac-AramaicSyriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
speaking Assyrians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
. The account of Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
' Antiquities of the Jews
Antiquities of the Jews
Antiquities of the Jews is a twenty volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around 93 or 94 AD. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people,...
shows that there was a substantial Jewish population in the kingdom, which led to the establishment of a prominent rabbinic academy in Arbela. During the Sassanid era
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
, Persians came to the fore politically. ]. The difficult mixing of cultures can be seen in the story of the martyrdom of Mahanuš, a prominent Iranian Zoroastrian who converted to Christianity. In later times Adiabene became an archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
ric, with the seat of the metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
at Arbela.
Adiabene was a district in Mesopotamia between upper and lower Zab and was a part of the Neo Assyrian Empire and inhabited by Assyrians even after the fall of Nineveh It was an integral part of Achaemenid Assyria
Achaemenid Assyria
Athura was a geographical area within the Persian Achaemenid Empire during the period of 539 BC to 330 BC. Although sometimes regarded as a satrapy, Achaemenid royal inscriptions list it as a dahyu, a concept generally interpreted as meaning either a group of people or both a country and its...
(Athura) and Sassanid Assyria (Assuristan). The region was later made a part of the Roman province of Assyria after the invasion by Trajan in the year 116.
(For subsequent history, see Arbil
Arbil
Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...
; Assyrian people
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
, Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
).
History
In ancient times Adiabene was an integral part of AssyriaAssyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
. Under the Achamenid Persian kings Adiabene seems for a time to have been a vassal state of the Persian Empire. At times the throne of Adiabene was held by a member of the Achamenid house; Ardashir III
Ardashir III
Ardashir III was the twenty-fourth Sassanid King of Persia from 628 to 630.He was a son of Kavadh II/Shiroes and "Anzoy the Roman". His mother was probably from the Byzantine Empire. He was raised to the throne as a boy of seven years, but was killed 18 months later by his general, Shahrbaraz .-...
(king from AD 628 to 630), before he came to the throne of Persia, had the title "King of Hadyab". The Ten Thousand
Ten Thousand (Greek)
The Ten Thousand were a group of mercenary units, mainly Greek, drawn up by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II...
, an army of Greek mercenaries, retreated through Adiabene on their march to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
after the Battle of Cunaxa
Battle of Cunaxa
The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his elder brother Arsaces, who had inherited the Persian throne as Artaxerxes II in 404 BC. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place 70 km north of Babylon, at Cunaxa , on the left bank of the Euphrates River...
. The little kingdom may have had a series of native rulers nominally vassal to the Macedonian
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
and later Seleucid empires. It later became one of the client kingdoms of the Parthian empire. During the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, it gained a certain prominence under a series of kings descended from Izates I
Izates I
Izates I was king of Adiabene in the late 1st century BCE and father of Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. As the custom of that time dictated, Helana and Monobaz were married....
and his son Monobaz I
Monobaz I
Monobaz I was king of the neo Assyrian Parthian client state of Adiabene in the 20s and 30s of the 1st century CE. He was the husband of Queen Helena of Adiabene. With Helena he fathered Izates bar Monobaz and Monobaz II....
. Monobaz I is known to have been allied with king Abennerig of Characene
Characene
Characene, also known as Mesene , was a kingdom within the Parthian Empire at the head of the Persian Gulf. Its capital was Charax Spasinou, "The Fort of Hyspaosines"...
, in whose court his son Izates bar Monobaz
Izates bar Monobaz
Izates II or Izates bar Monobaz was a proselyte to Judaism who became King of the Parthian client kingdom of Adiabene. He was the son of Queen Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. During his youth he was sent by his father to the court of King Abinergaos I of Characene in Charax Spasinu...
lived for a time and whose daughter Symacho
Symacho
Symacho was the daughter of King Abinergaos I of Characene. She was converted to Judaism by Ananias of Adiabene. Symacho married Izates bar Monobaz during the latter's sojourn in Charax as a youth. She presumably went with him when he left to take up his throne in Adiabene....
Izates married, as well as the rulers of other small kingdoms on the periphery of the Parthian
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...
sphere of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
.
Izates, the son of Monobaz I and his wife Helena of Adiabene
Helena of Adiabene
Helena of Adiabene was queen of Adiabene and wife of Monobaz I. With her husband she was the mother of Izates II and Monobaz II. She died about 56 CE. Her name and the fact that she was her husband's sister indicate a Hellenistic origin...
, became a Jew. His conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
took place before he ascended the throne and while he lived in Charax Spasinu
Charax Spasinu
Charax Spasinu, or Charax Pasinu, Charax Spasinou , Alexandria , and Antiochia in Susiana was an ancient port at the head of the Persian Gulf, and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Characene.The exact location of Charax is unknown...
. At about the same time his mother, Helena, was also converted. The period was characterized by chaos in the Parthian empire, with a string of Parthian kings and counter-kings following each other in quick succession. Artabanus II of Parthia
Artabanus II of Parthia
Artabanus II of Parthia ruled the Parthian Empire from about AD 10 to 38. He was the son of a princess of the Arsacid Dynasty, who lived in the East among the Dahan nomads...
was king of Atropatene
Atropatene
Atropatene was an ancient kingdom established and ruled under local ethnic Iranian dynasts first with "Darius" of Persia and later "Alexander" of Macedonia, starting in the 4th century BC and includes the territory of modern-day Iranian Azarbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan. Its capital was Gazaca...
. He had succeeded Vonones I, who, having been educated entirely at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, was unsympathetic toward the Parthians. Artabanus soon had to flee to Hyrcania
Hyrcania
Hyrcania was the name of a satrapy located in the territories of present day Gilan, Golestan, Mazandaran and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea. To the Greeks, the Caspian Sea was the "Hyrcanian Sea".-Etymology:...
to escape from the rival king, Tiridates III. He returned, however, in 36, and, being afraid of a conspiracy, took refuge at the court of Izates, who was powerful enough to induce the Parthians to reinstate Artabanus. For this service certain kingly honors were granted Izates, and the city of Nisibis
Nisibis
Nusaybin Nisêbîn) is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey, populated mainly by Kurds. Earlier Arameans, Arabs, and Armenians lived in the city. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009.-Ancient Period:...
was added to his dominions. However, around 40, Gotarzes II, an adopted son of Artabanus, was raised to the throne by the nobles, in preference to Vardanes I, his half-brother. In 49 Meherdates Mithridates, a son of Vonones, was sent from Rome by Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
to take possession of the throne of Parthia. Izates played a double game, though he secretly sided with Gotarzes. A few years later, Vologeses I set out with the intention of invading Adiabene and of punishing Izates; but a force of Dahae
Dahae
The Dahae , or Dahaeans were a confederacy of three Ancient Iranian tribes who lived in the region to the immediate east of the Caspian Sea. They spoke an Eastern Iranian language.-Records:...
and Scythians had just entered Parthia, and Vologeses had to return home.
Izates was followed on the throne by his elder brother, Monobaz II
Monobaz II
Monobaz II or Monobaz bar Monobaz was the son of Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. Like his younger brother Izates bar Monobaz and his mother, Monobaz became a convert to Judaism. He ruled as king of Adiabene after the death of his brother Izates around 55 CE...
. It is related that in the year 61 he sent a contingent of soldiers to Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
to assist the Parthian candidate, Tiridates
Tiridates I of Armenia
Tiridates I was King of Armenia beginning in AD 53 and the founder of the Arshakuni Dynasty, the Armenian line of the Arsacid Dynasty. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His early reign was marked by a brief interruption towards the end of the year 54 and a much longer one from 58...
, against Tigranes
Tigranes VI of Armenia
Tigranes VI, also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes was a Herodian Prince and served as a Roman Client King of Armenia in the 1st century....
, who had made an incursion into the territory of Adiabene. The troops of Monobaz, however, were beaten back at Tigranocerta. Monobaz was present when peace was concluded at Rhandea between Parthia and Rome in the year 63. He later sent assistance to the Jews in their rebellion against Rome in the late 60's and early 70's AD.
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
in Mesopotamia during the year 115 was the last king of independent Adiabene, Meharaspes
Meharaspes
Meharaspes was the Parthian client king of Adiabene in the early 2nd century CE. He was defeated by Trajan in 116; Adiabene was incorporated into the short-lived Roman province of Mesopotamia....
. He had made common cause with Ma'nu (Mannus) of Singar (Singara). Trajan invaded Adiabene, and made it part of the Roman province of Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
; under Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
in 117, however, Rome gave up possession of Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. In the summer of 195 Septimus Severus was again warring in Mesopotamia, and in 196 three divisions of the Roman army fell upon Adiabene. According to Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
, Caracalla
Caracalla
Caracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211...
took Arbela in the year 216, and searched all the graves there, wishing to ascertain whether the Arsacid kings were buried there. Many of the ancient royal tombs were destroyed.
As a province of Sassanid Persia
Despite the overthrow of the Parthians by the Sassanids, the feudatory dynasties remained loyal to the Parthians, and resisted Sassanid advance into Adiabene and AtropateneAtropatene
Atropatene was an ancient kingdom established and ruled under local ethnic Iranian dynasts first with "Darius" of Persia and later "Alexander" of Macedonia, starting in the 4th century BC and includes the territory of modern-day Iranian Azarbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan. Its capital was Gazaca...
. Due to this, and religious differences, Adiabene was never regarded as an integral part of Iran, even though the Sassanids controlled it for several centuries. After the Roman Empire declared Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
as its official religion, the inhabitants of Adiabene, who were Assyrian Christians, sided with Christian Rome rather than the Zoroastrian Sassanids. The Byzantine Empire sent armies to the region during the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars, but this did nothing to change the territorial boundaries. Adiabene remained a province of the Sassanid Empire until the Islamic conquests of Persia.
Rulers
- Izates IIzates IIzates I was king of Adiabene in the late 1st century BCE and father of Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. As the custom of that time dictated, Helana and Monobaz were married....
(c. 15 AD) - Bazeus Monobazus IMonobaz IMonobaz I was king of the neo Assyrian Parthian client state of Adiabene in the 20s and 30s of the 1st century CE. He was the husband of Queen Helena of Adiabene. With Helena he fathered Izates bar Monobaz and Monobaz II....
(20?–30?) - Heleni (c. 30–58)
- Izates II bar MonobazusIzates bar MonobazIzates II or Izates bar Monobaz was a proselyte to Judaism who became King of the Parthian client kingdom of Adiabene. He was the son of Queen Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. During his youth he was sent by his father to the court of King Abinergaos I of Characene in Charax Spasinu...
(c. 34–58) - VologasesVologasesVologases, also seen as Vologaeses, Vologaesus, Vologeses, Ologases, Valarsh , and Balash was the name of six kings of Parthia:*Vologases I c. 51–78*Vologases II c. 77–80...
(a Parthian rebel opposing Izates II) (c. 50) - Monobazus II bar MonobazusMonobaz IIMonobaz II or Monobaz bar Monobaz was the son of Helena of Adiabene and Monobaz I. Like his younger brother Izates bar Monobaz and his mother, Monobaz became a convert to Judaism. He ruled as king of Adiabene after the death of his brother Izates around 55 CE...
(58 – middle of the 70s) - MeharaspesMeharaspesMeharaspes was the Parthian client king of Adiabene in the early 2nd century CE. He was defeated by Trajan in 116; Adiabene was incorporated into the short-lived Roman province of Mesopotamia....
(?–116) - To the Roman EmpireRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
(116–117) - Narsai of Adiabene (c. 170–200)
- Shahrat (Shahrad) (c. 220)
- To the Sassanid EmpireSassanid EmpireThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
(226–649) - Ardashir IIArdashir IIArdashir II was the tenth Sassanid King of Persia from 379 to 383.He is believed by some to be the son and by others to be the brother of his predecessor, Shapur II...
(344-376) - Aphraates (c. 310)
Bishops
Between the 5th and the 14th centuries AdiabeneAdiabene (East Syrian Ecclesiastical Province)
Adiabene was a metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the 5th and 14th centuries, with more than fifteen known suffragan dioceses at different periods in its history. Although the name Hadyab normally connoted the region around Erbil and Mosul, the boundaries of the East Syrian...
was a metropolitan province of the Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
. The Chronicle of Erbil, a purported history of Christianity in Adiabene under the Parthians and Sassanians, lists a number of early bishops of Erbil. The authenticity of the Chronicle of Erbil has been questioned, and scholars remain divided on how much credence to place in its evidence. Some of the bishops in the following list are attested in other sources, but the early bishops are probably legendary.
- PkidhaPkidhaPkidha was the first Christian bishop of Adiabene, a kingdom in northern Mesopotamia. He held the see from 104 to 114 AD.-References:Moffet, Samuel. A History of Christianity in Asia. Orbis, 1998....
(104–114) - Semsoun (120–123)
- Isaac (135–148)
- Abraham (148–163)
- Noh (163–179)
- Habel (183–190)
- Abedhmiha (190–225)
- Hiran of Adiabene (225–258)
- Saloupha (258–273)
- Ahadabuhi (273–291)
- Sri'a (291–317)
- Iohannon (317–346)
- Abraham (346–347)
- Maran-zkha (347–376)
- Soubhaliso (376–407)
- DanielDaniel (bishop)-References:* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961...
(407–431) - Rhima (431–450)
- Abbousta (450–499)
- Joseph (499–511)
- Huana (511–?)
External links
- Bishops of Adiabene
- History of Aramaic (includes references to Adiabene)
- The forced conversion of the Jewish community of Persia and the beginnings of the Kurds
- "Assyria" at Livius.org
- "Arbela" at Livius.org
- Adiabene, Jewish Kingdom of Mesopotamia (different page see above)
- Info from Jewish EncyclopediaJewish EncyclopediaThe Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...