Gordyene orCorduene[nb 1] (Armenian:Կորդուք,romanized: Korduk';Greek:Κορδυηνή,romanized: Kordyene;Hebrew:קרטיגיני,romanized: Kartigini)[1] was an ancienthistorical region, located south ofLake Van, present-day easternTurkey.
According to the1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Gordyene is the ancient name of the region ofBohtan, nowŞırnak Province.[2] It is mentioned asBeth Qardu inSyriac sources and is described as a smallvassal state betweenArmenia andParthian Empire in the mountainous area south ofLake Van in what is now Turkey.[3] Corduene must also be sought on the left bank of theTigris. Corduene is documented as a fertile mountainous district, rich in pasturage.[2][4]
The Kingdom of Gordyene emerged from the decliningSeleucid Empire, and for most of its history it was a province of theRoman Empire[5] and acknowledged thesovereignty ofRome.[6] From 189 to 90 BCE, it enjoyed a period of independence.
The people of Gordyene were known to have worshiped theHurrian chief deity and weather godTeshub.[7]
The origin of the Carduchii is uncertain, though it seems they were of non-Armenian origin based on the accounts of the Greek historianXenophon (died 354/55 BC) and classical writers such asStrabo (died 24 AD) andPlutarch (died after 119 AD).[8] According to Arshak Safrastian, theMedes andScythians mentioned in classical Greek literature existed only as preconceived notions.[9] Equating the Carduchi with theGutians, he adds that the moment theTen Thousand began to skirt the lower slopes of the Hamrin Mountains, they were in contact with the tribes of Gutium which are presented here as Medes or Scythians.[9] According to historians Edwin Bryant and Laurie L. Patton, a direct Gutian connection, is unlikely, as the Gutians were notIndo-Iranians and only known to have lived in southern Mesopotamia.[10] TheIranologist andKurdologistGarnik Asatrian considers the Carduchii to have been an indigenous people inhabiting the area beforethe arrival of the Iranians.[11]
The origin of the name "Carduchii" is disputed. Some historians have suggested that it is derived fromUrartian due to the suffix "-uchi" or similarity in consonants to the name of the Khaldi people. These two arguments have been criticized by historianMichał Marciak, who states that "The first apparent similarity misses the point linguistically, as it does not address the root of the ethnonym; and the second similarity does not actually appear to be very close." Other historians suggest that it is related to theAkkadian wordqardu ("strong," "heroic").[12]
A people called the Carduchoi (Καρδοῦχοι) are mentioned in Xenophon'sAnabasis. They inhabited the mountains north of the Tigris in 401 BC, living in well-provisioned villages. They were enemies to the king of Persia,[13] as were theGreek mercenaries with Xenophon, but their response to thousands of armed and desperate strangers was hostile. They had no heavy troops who could face the battle-hardenedhoplites, but they used longbows andslings effectively, and for the Greeks the "seven days spent in traversing the country of the Carduchians had been one long continuous battle, which had cost them more suffering than the whole of their troubles at the hands of the king [of Persia] and Tissaphernes put together."[14]
They have been also mentioned asGordi byHecataeus of Miletusc. 520 BC.[citation needed]
The region of Corduene was called Korduk' in Armenian sources. In these records, unlike in the Greek ones, the people of Korduk' were loyal to Armenian rule and the rulers of Korduk' are presented as members of the Armenian nobility. A prince of Korduk' served in the counsel of the Armenian kingTrdat and helped to defend Armenia's southern borders. Additionally, it seems that there was the early presence of theArmenian Apostolic Church in Korduk'.[15]
This region is traditionally identified with the landing site inDeluge mythology. In thetargumim,Noah's landing place after theflood is given as 'Qadron' or 'Qardu'.[16][17]Jacob Neusner identifies the targumim's locations with Corduene.[18] According to theAggadah,Noah landed in Corduene in Armenia.[citation needed] The early 3rd century BCEBabylonian writerBerossus was also of the opinion thatXisuthros[needs context] landed with his ship in Corduene.[19]Josephus cited the evidence of Berossus as proof that the Flood was not a myth and also mentioned that the remains of theArk were still visible in the district ofCarron,[dubious –discuss] presumably identical with Korduene.[20]Jewish sources trace the origins of the people of Corduene to the marriage of Jinns ofKing Solomon with 500 beautiful Jewish women.[21][22][23][24][25]
According to the Greek historian and geographerStrabo, the region of Gorduene (Γορδυηνῆ, orΓoρδυαῖα ὄρη, "Gordyaean Mts") referred to the mountains betweenDiyarbakır andMuş.[26][27] He recorded its main cities asSareisa,Satalca andPinaca (northwest ofBezabde), and considered its inhabitants (Gordyaeans) as descendants of the ancient Carduchians. According to him, the inhabitants had an exceptional repute as master-builders and as experts in the construction of siege engines and for this reasonTigranes used them in such work; he also notices the country for itsnaphtha resources.[28]Ammianus Marcellinus visited this region while on a diplomatic visit to the satrap of Corduene.[29]Eretrians who were exiled and deported by thePersians to Mesopotamia, were said to have taken up their dwelling in the region of Gordyene.[30]
According to Strabo the Gordyaeans received their name fromGordys son ofTriptolemus, who assisted in searching afterIo, and then settled in Gordyaea district ofPhrygia.[31]
BothPhraates III andTigranes the Great laid claim to this province. However, it was conquered by the Roman troops underPompey. The local population (calledGordyeni) did not defend the Armenian rule since according toPlutarch, Tigranes had demolished their native cities and had forced them into exile in Tigranocerta.[32] In 69 BC,Zarbienus, the king of Corduene, was secretly planning for a revolt against Tigranes. He was negotiating withAppius Claudius for Roman help. However the plan was revealed and he was killed by Tigranes. After this,Lucullus raised a monument to Zarbienus and then he took over the region of Corduene.[33] He took part in the funeral of Zarbienus, offered royal robes, gold and the spoils (taken from Tigranes), and called him his companion and confederate of the Romans.[34]
After Pompey's success in subjugating Armenia and part ofPontus, and the Roman advance across theEuphrates, Phraates was anxious to have a truce with the Romans. However, Pompey held him in contempt and demanded back the territory of Corduene. He sent envoys, but after receiving no answer, he sentAfranius into the territory and occupied it without a battle. TheParthians who were found in possession were driven beyond the frontier and pursued even as far asArbela inAdiabene.[35] According to an inscription dedicated to the temple of Venus, Pompey gave protection to the newly acquired territory of Gordyene.[36]
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Tigran retained Gordyene and Nisibis, which Pompeius withheld from the Parthians.[37] Gordyene belonged toUrartu for about 200 years and toArmenia for about 250 years.[38]
While the Parthian dynasty was being weakened by dynastic feuds Tigranes extended his power by the annexation of Sophene and the Submission of Gordyene under its prince.[39]
Districts of Cordyene under Armenian period were:
Corduene was conquered again byDiocletian in the 3rd century and the Roman presence in the region was formally recognized in a peace treaty signed between Diocletian and thePersians. Diocletian then raised an army unit from this region under the titleAla XV Flavia Carduenorum, naming it after his CaesarConstantine the Great.[40]
Following the defeat ofNarseh, the Sassanid King, at the hands of theRomans in 296, a peace treaty was signed between the two sides, according to which the steppes of northernMesopotamia, withSingara and the hill country on the left bank of theTigris as far as Gordyene (Corduene), were also ceded to the victors (Romans).[41]
The name of the province appears again in the account of the campaign between the Persians led byShapur II and the Romans led byJulian the Apostate (and after Julian's death, byJovian). The Romans started to retreat throughCorduene after they could not besiegeCtesiphon.[42]
In the spring of 360,Shapur II staged a campaign to capture the city ofSingara (probably modern Shingar orSinjar northwest ofMosul). The townfell after a few days of siege. From Singara, Shapur directed his march almost due northwards, and leavingNisibis unassailed upon his left, proceeded to attack the strong fort known indifferently as Pinaca (Phaenicha) orBezabde. This was a position on the east bank of the Tigris, near the point where that river quits the mountains anddebouches upon the plain; though not on the site, it may be considered the representative of the modern Jezireh (Cizre in southeastern Turkey), which commands the passes from the low country into the Corduene mountains. It was much valued by Rome, was fortified in places with a double wall, and was guarded by three legions and a large body of Corduene archers. Shapur sent a flag of truce to demand a surrender, joining with the messengers some prisoners of high rank taken at Singara, lest the enemy should open fire upon his envoys. The device was successful; but the garrison proved staunch, and determined on resisting to the last. After a long siege, the wall was at last breached, the city taken, and its defenders indiscriminately massacred.[43]
In 363, a treaty was signed in whichJovian ceded five provinces beyond theEuphrates including Corduene andArzanene and towns ofNisibis and Singara to theSassanids. Following this treaty,Greeks living in those lands emigrated due to persecution ofChristians at the hands of Shapur and theZoroastrians.[44]
Corduene was a bishop's see of the Church of the East since at least 424.[45][46]
In 578, the Byzantine emperorFlavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus defeated the Sassanid army led byChosroes I, and conquered Corduene and incorporated it once again in the Roman empire. The Roman army also liberated 10,000 Christian captives of the Sassanids.[47] According toKhwarizmi, Arabs conquered the area along withNisbis andTur Abdin in 640.[48]
Some identify Corduene and Carduchi with the modern Kurds, considering thatCarduchi was the ancient lexical equivalent of "Kurdistan".[51] It has been suggested that Corduene was proto-Kurdish.[52]
Other modern scholars reject a Kurdish connection.[53][54] Historian John Limbert, writing in 1968, states that "older scholarship believed that the modern Kurds were direct descendants of the Kardukhoi" but that "this view has been widely disputed since the beginning of the twentieth century."[55] According to some scholars, it is more likely that the Kurds were descended from theCyrtians, who appear in the works ofPolybius,Livy, and Strabo.[56][53][57]
There were numerous forms of this name, partly due to the difficulty of representingkh in Latin. The spellingKarduchoi is itself probably borrowed fromArmenian, since the termination-choi represents the Armenian language plural suffix-k'.[58] The singular form of the word is "Kardu". Xenophon writes that he learned the name of the tribe from an Armenian.[59][60]
It is speculated that Carduchi spoke anOld Iranian language.[61][62]
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