Adiabene | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 164 BC–c. 379 AD | |||||||||||
 The Kingdom of Adiabene inc. 37 AD at its greatest extent, during the reign ofIzates II | |||||||||||
| Status | Vassal of theParthian Empire(145 BC – 224 AD) Vassal of theSasanian Empire(224–379) | ||||||||||
| Capital | Arbela | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Classical Syriac | ||||||||||
| Religion | Ashurism,Judaism,Zoroastrianism,Christianity,Manichaeism | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||
• around 15 CE | Izates I | ||||||||||
• 20s? – c. 36[1] | Monobaz I | ||||||||||
• c. 36 – c. 55/59 AD | Izates II[2] | ||||||||||
• c. 55/59 AD[1] – late 60s/mid-70s - - - - - - - - - - - - | Monobaz II | ||||||||||
• ? – 116 | Meharaspes | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||||
• Established | c. 164 BC | ||||||||||
• Transformed into a Sasanian province | c. 379 AD | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | Iraq Turkey | ||||||||||
Adiabene (Greek: Αδιαβηνή,Classical Syriac:ܚܕܝܐܒ) was an ancientkingdom in northernMesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancientAssyria.[3] The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between theZab Rivers, it eventually gained control ofNineveh and starting at least with the rule ofMonobazos I (late 1st-centuryBCE),Gordyene became an Adiabenian dependency.[4] It reached its zenith underIzates II, who was granted the district ofNisibis by theParthian kingArtabanus II (r. 12–40) as a reward for helping him regain his throne.[5][6] Adiabene's eastern borders stopped at theZagros Mountains, adjacent to the region ofMedia.[7]Arbela served as the capital of Adiabene.[8]
The formation of the kingdom is obscure. The first instance of a recorded Adiabenian ruler is in 69 BCE, when an unnamed king of Adiabene participated in thebattle of Tigranocerta as an ally of the Armenian kingTigranes the Great (r. 95–55 BCE).[9] However, coinage implies the establishment of a kingdom in Adiabene around 164 BCE, following the disintegration of GreekSeleucid rule in theNear East.[10][11] Adiabene was conquered by the Parthian kingMithridates I (r. 171–132 BCE) in c. 145–141 BCE, and by at least from the reign ofMithridates II (r. 124–91 BCE) served as an integral part of the Parthian realm.[12]
Adiabenian rulers converted toJudaism frompaganism in the 1st century CE.[13] QueenHelena of Adiabene (known in Jewish sources asHeleni HaMalka, meaningHelene the Queen) moved toJerusalem, where she built palaces for herself and her sons,Izates bar Monobaz andMonobaz II at the northern part of thecity of David, south of theTemple Mount, and aided the Jews intheir war with Rome.[14] According to theTalmud, both Helena and Monobaz donated large funds for theTemple of Jerusalem. After 115 CE, there are no historic traces of Jewish royalty in Adiabene.
The Parthians were overthrown by theSasanian Empire in 224, who by the time ofShapur I (r. 240–270) had established their rule in Adiabene.[5]Ardashir II is the last figure to be recorded as king of Adiabene, which implies that the kingdom was after his tenure inc. 379 transformed into a province (shahr), governed by a non-royal delegate (marzban orshahrab) of the Sasanian king.[15]
The name of the state entered English from theAncient GreekἈδιαβηνή, which was derived fromܚܕܝܐܒ,Ḥaḏy’aḇ orḤḏay’aḇ, in Syriac. The state was also known asNōdšīragān orNōd-Ardaxšīragān inMiddle Persian,[16][17] Նոր Շիրական,Nor Shirakan, inArmenian, andחַדְיָב,Ḥaḏyāḇ, in Hebrew.
Adiabene occupied a district in Median Empire between theUpper Zab (Lycus) and theLower Zab (Caprus), thoughAmmianus Marcellinus speaks ofNineveh,Ecbatana, andGaugamela as also belonging to it.[18] By the late 1st century CE, its borders extended as far asNisibis.[a] In the Talmudic writings the name occurs asחדייב ,חדייף and הדייב. Its chief city wasArbela (Arba-ilu), where Mar Uqba had a school, or the neighboring Hazzah, by which name the laterArabs also called Arbela.[21]
InKiddushin 72a theBiblical Habor is identified with Adiabene,[22] but inJerusalem Talmud,Megillah i. 71b withRiphath.[23] In theTargum Jonathan onJeremiah li. 27,Ararat,Minni, andAshkenaz are paraphrased byKordu,Harmini, andHadayab, i.e.,Corduene,Armenia, and Adiabene; while inEzekiel xxvii. 23Harran, Caneh, and Eden are interpreted by theJewish Babylonian Aramaic translator as "Harwan, Nisibis, and Adiabene."
Adiabene had a mixed population ofAssyrians,Arabs,Arameans,Greeks, andIranians.[24][25] Adiabene was a major-speakingSyriac language kingdom. According toPliny, four tribes inhabited the region of Adiabene:Orontes,Alani,Azones andSilices.[26] The account ofJosephus'Antiquities of the Jews shows that there was a substantial Jewish population in the kingdom. The difficult mixing of cultures can be seen in the story of the martyrdom of Mahanuš, a prominent Iranian Zoroastrian who converted to Christianity.[27] In later times Adiabene became anarchbishopric, with the seat of themetropolitan at Arbela.[28]
Based on names of the Adiabenian rulers,Ernst Herzfeld suggested aSakan orScythian origin for the royal house of the kingdom;[29][30] however, later progress in Iranian linguistic studies showed that these names were common west middle Iranian names.[31] It has been suggested that the royal house of Adiabene, after fleeing Trajan's invasion, established the laterAmatuni dynasty which ruled the area between the lakesUrmia andVan.[32][33]
Adiabene was a district in Mesopotamia between upper and lower Zab and was a part of theNeo-Assyrian Empire and inhabited by Assyrians even after the fall of Nineveh. It was an integral part ofAsoristan (Achaemenid andSasanian Assyria).[34][35] The region was later made a part of the Roman province of Assyria after the invasion by Trajan in 116.[36]
According toPatricia Crone andMichael Cook, when the heartland of Assyria was back into focus in early Christianity (during the Parthian era and about six centuries after the fall of the Assyrian Empire), "it was with an Assyrian, not a Persian let alone Greek, self-identification: the temple of Ashur was restored, the city was rebuilt, and an Assyrian successor state that returned in the shape of the client kingdom of Adiabene." The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus states that the inhabitants of Adiabene were Assyrians.[37]
Through an examination ofSyriac source work, it can be seen that the population of Adiabene wasSyriac speaking and of local Assyrian origin. Despite this, Adiabene's elites were integrated with values of Zoroastrian social life throughSasanian culture. It can be assumed that many local Semitic cults succumbed to state supportedZoroastrianism during this period. This development can be seen Legend of MarQardagh, where the main protagonist is portrayed as being ofAssyrian royal descent, yet a follower of the Zoroastrian faith prior to his conversion to Christianity.[38]
Under theAchaemenidPersian kings, Adiabene seems for a time to have been a vassal state of thePersian Empire. At times the throne of Adiabene was held by a member of the Achaemenid house;Artaxerxes III (king from 358 to 338 BC), before he came to the throne of Persia, had the title "King of Hadyab".[39] TheTen Thousand, an army ofGreekmercenaries, retreated through Adiabene on their march to theBlack Sea after theBattle of Cunaxa.
According to Jewish tradition, Helena, the Queen of Adiabene converted to Judaism from paganism in the 1st century.[40] QueenHelena of Adiabene (known in Jewish sources asHeleni 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, and aided Jews in their war with Rome. Queen Helena's sarcophagus was discovered in 1863. A pair of inscriptions on the sarcophagus, "tzaddan malka" and "tzadda malkata," is believed to be a reference to the provisions (tzeda in Hebrew) that Helena supplied to Jerusalem's poor and to the Jewish kingdom in general. According to Josephus, the queen converted to Judaism together with her son Monobaz II, under the influence of two Jews. Another tradition has it that she met a Jewish jewelry merchant in Adiabene by the name of Hananiah (Ananias) or Eliezer, who told her about the people of Israel and persuaded her to join them.[41] All historic traces of Jewish royalty in Adiabene ended around 115 CE, but these stories made huge impact on rabbinic literature and Talmud.[42] Nominally Zoroastrian, the people of Adiabene were tolerant toward Judaism, and permitted the establishment of Jewish communities there, The Jews of Edessa, Nisibis, and Adiabene repaid them by being among the most vigorous opponents of Trajan. In late second century Christianity rapidly spread among Zoroastrians and those formerly professing Judaism. When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire under Constantine, the position of Adiabenian Christians was naturally exacerbated, since they were seen as potentially disaffected by the zealously Zoroastrian Sasanians.[43]
The little kingdom may have had a series of native rulers nominally vassal to theMacedonian,Seleucid and laterArmenian (underTigranes the Great) empires.
It later became one of the client kingdoms of the Parthian empire. During the 1st century BCE[dubious –discuss] and the 1st century CE, it gained a certain prominence under a series of kings descended fromMonobaz I and his sonIzates I. Monobaz I is known to have been allied with kingAbennerig ofCharacene, in whose court his sonIzates II bar Monobaz lived for a time and whose daughterSymacho Izates married, as well as the rulers of other small kingdoms on the periphery of theParthiansphere of influence.
The chief opponent ofTrajan in Mesopotamia during the year 115 was the last king of independent Adiabene,Meharaspes.[44] He had made common cause withMa'nu (Mannus) ofSingar (Singara). Trajan invaded Adiabene, and made it part of the Roman province ofAssyria; underHadrian in 117.
In the summer of 195Septimius Severus was again warring in Mesopotamia, and in 196 three divisions of the Roman army fell upon Adiabene. According toDio Cassius,Caracalla took Arbela in the year 216, and searched all the graves there, wishing to ascertain whether theArsacid kings were buried there. Many of the ancient royal tombs were destroyed.
Despite the overthrow of the Parthians by the Sasanians in 224 CE, the feudatory dynasties remained loyal to the Parthians, and resisted Sasanian advance into Adiabene andAtropatene. Due to this, and religious differences, Adiabene was never regarded as an integral part of Iran, even though the Sasanians controlled it for several centuries.
After the Roman Empire gradually madeChristianity its official religion during the fourth century, the inhabitants of Adiabene, who were primarilyAssyrian Christians, sided with Christian Rome rather than theZoroastrian Sasanians. The Byzantine Empire sent armies to the region during theByzantine–Sasanian wars, but this did nothing to change the territorial boundaries. Adiabene remained a province of the Sasanians Empire until theMuslim conquest of Persia.[45]
The region was recorded asNod-Ardadkhshiragan orNod-Ardashiragan in Sasanian period.
Between the 5th and the 14th centuriesAdiabene was a metropolitan province of theAssyrian Church of the East. TheChronicle of Erbil, a purported history of Christianity in Adiabene under the Parthians and Sasanians, lists a number of early bishops of Erbil.[46] The authenticity of theChronicle 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.
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