Kingdom of Sophene

The Kingdom of Sophene (Armenian: Ծոփքի Թագավորութուն) was an Armenian kingdom, situated between ancient Armenia and Syria. It was ruled by the Orontids, an Armenian[1][2][3][4] dynasty of Iranian[5][6][7][8][9][10] origin. The kingdom was culturally mixed with Greek, Armenian, Iranian, Syrian, Anatolian and Roman influences.[11] Founded around the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom maintained independence until c. 95 BCE when the Armenian Artaxiad king Tigranes the Great conquered the territories as part of his empire.[12] Sophene laid near medieval Kharput, which is present day Elazig.[13]

Kingdom of Sophene
Ծոփքի Թագավորութուն
c. 260 BC–95 BC
Map in Sophene in 50 AD (in left)
Map in Sophene in 50 AD (in left)
CapitalCarcathiocerta
Arsamosata
Common languagesOld Aramaic (government, court)[14][15]
Armenian (lingua franca)[16]
Religion
Zoroastrianism[17]
GovernmentMonarchy
King 
• c. 260 BC
Sames I
• c. 95 BC
Artanes
History 
• Established
c. 260 BC
• Conquered by Tigranes the Great
95 BC

Kings of Sophene

  • Sames I (ca. 260 BCE)
  • Arsames I (ca. 240 BCE)
  • Xerxes (ca. 220 BCE)
  • Zariadres (ca. 190 BCE)
  • Mithrobouzanes (ca. 188 BCE–163 BCE)
  • Arkathias (second half of the 2nd century BCE)
  • Artanes (or Arsakes) (reign ended ca. 95 BCE)

References

  1. ↑ Lang, David M (1983). Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-20092-X. p. 535, "Here a scion of the Armenian Orontid house, King Antiochus I (...) Armenian dynasty of the Orontids."
  2. ↑ Lang 1983, p. 510.
  3. ↑ Versluys 2017, p. 48.
  4. ↑ Maranci 2018, p. 21.
  5. ↑ Toumanoff 1963, p. 278.
  6. ↑ Garsoian 2005.
  7. ↑ Gaggero 2016.
  8. ↑ Allsen 2011, p. 37.
  9. ↑ Facella 2021.
  10. ↑ Russell 1986, p. 438–444.
  11. ↑ Marciak 2017, p. 77.
  12. ↑ Marciak 2017, p. 95.
  13. ↑ Lacey 2016, p. 109.
  14. ↑ Marciak 2017, p. 117–118.
  15. ↑ Chaumont (1986), pp. 418–438.
  16. ↑ Chaumont (1986), pp. 418–438.
  17. ↑ Boyce & Grenet 1991, p. 320.

Sources

  • Marciak, Michał (2017). Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene: Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-35072-4.
  • Lang, David M (1983). Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods. Cambridge University Press. p. 510. ISBN 0-521-20092-X. Their royal houses had strong dynastic links with the Armenian Orontid house.
  • Gaggero, Gianfranco (2016). "Armenians in Xenophon". Greek Texts and Armenian Traditions: An Interdisciplinary Approach. De Gruyter.
  • Toumanoff, Cyril (1963). Studies in Christian Caucasian history. Washington DC. Georgetown University Press. p. 278.
  • Lacey, James (2016). Great Strategic Rivalries: From the Classical World to the Cold War. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9789004350724.
  • Maranci, Christina (2018). The Art of Armenia: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-19-093588-7. (...) the Armenian dynasty of the Yervandids (Orontids).
  • Russell, J.R. (1986). "Armenia and Iran iii. Armenian Religion". Encyclopædia Iranica. pp. 438–444.
  • Boyce, Mary; Grenet, Frantz (1991). Beck, Roger (ed.). A History of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004293915.
  • Allsen, Thomas T. (2011). The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 37.
  • Versluys, Miguel John (2017). Visual Style and Constructing Identity in the Hellenistic World: Nemrud Dağ and Commagene under Antiochos I. Cambridge University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-107-14197-1. Most scholars assume that Ptolemy was the first Commagenean king and that he descended from the Armenian Orontids.
  • Garsoian, N. (2005). "TIGRAN II". Encyclopæedia Iranica.
  • Facella, Margherita (2021). "Orontids". Encyclopædia Iranica.