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52-468: Ctesiphon developed into a rich commercial metropolis, merging with the surrounding cities along both shores of the river, including the Hellenistic city of Seleucia . Ctesiphon and its environs were therefore sometimes referred to as "The Cities" ( Mahuza , Arabic : المدائن , romanized :  al-Mada'in ). In the late sixth and early seventh century, it was listed as the largest city in

104-519: A dualist church, who continued to be mentioned in Ctesiphon during Umayyad rule fixing their "patriarchate of Babylon" there. Much of the population fled from Ctesiphon after the Arab capture of the metropolis . However, a portion of Persians remained there, and some important figures of these people are known to have provided Ali with presents, which he, however, refused to take. In the ninth century,

156-569: A great battle known as the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah . The Arabs then attacked Ctesiphon, and occupied it in early 637 . The Muslim military officer Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas quickly seized Valashabad and made a peace treaty with the inhabitants of Veh-Antiok-Xusrō and Veh-Ardashir . The terms of the treaty were that the inhabitants of Veh-Antiok-Xusrō were allowed to leave if they wanted to, but if they did not, they were forced to acknowledge Muslim authority, and also pay tribute ( jizya ). Later on, when

208-486: A humiliating defeat against Ardashir I . In 283, emperor Carus sacked the city uncontested during a period of civil upheaval. Some historians have claimed that Galerius marched on Ctesiphon and was able to capture it. However, this is never explicitly stated in any source and is still a matter of debate among scholars. Hence that he returned it to the Persian king Narses in exchange for Armenia and western Mesopotamia

260-464: A peace settlement. The Roman general Avidius Cassius captured Ctesiphon in 164 during another Parthian war, but abandoned it when peace was concluded. In 197, the emperor Septimius Severus sacked Ctesiphon and carried off thousands of its inhabitants, whom he sold into slavery. By 226, Ctesiphon was in the hands of the Sasanian Empire , who also made it their capital and had laid an end to

312-525: A side. Based on this size, the population has been estimated to number over 100,000 initially and probably more later. Its surrounding region might have supported half a million people. Polybius (5,52ff) uses the Macedonian peliganes for the council of Seleucia, which implies a Macedonian colony, consistent with its rise to prominence under Seleucus I; Pausanias ( 1,16 ) records that Seleucus also settled Babylonians there. Archaeological finds support

364-565: Is Tisfun ( تیسفون ). Texts from the Church of the East 's synods referred to the city as Qṭēspōn ( Classical Syriac : ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ) or some times Māḥôzē ( Classical Syriac : ܡܚܘܙ̈ܐ ) when referring to the metropolis of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . In modern Arabic, the name is usually Ṭaysafūn ( طيسفون ) or Qaṭaysfūn ( قطيسفون ) or as al-Mada'in ( المدائن "The Cities", referring to Greater Ctesiphon). "According to Yāqūt [...], quoting Ḥamza,

416-487: Is also likely to have never happened. In c.  325 and again in 410, the city, or the Greek colony directly across the river, was the site of church councils for the Church of the East . After the conquest of Antioch in 541, Khosrow I built a new city near Ctesiphon for the inhabitants he captured. He called this new city Veh-Antiok-Xusrō , or literally, "better than Antioch Khosrow built this". Local inhabitants of

468-529: Is estimated to date between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD. It is located in what is now the Iraqi town of Salman Pak . Ctesiphon was founded in the late 120s BC. It was built on the site of a military camp established across from Seleucia by Mithridates I of Parthia . The reign of Gotarzes I saw Ctesiphon reach a peak as a political and commercial center. The city became the Empire's capital circa 58 BC during

520-996: Is the Taq Kasra , sometimes called the Archway of Ctesiphon . The Latin name Ctesiphon derives from Ancient Greek Ktēsiphôn ( Κτησιφῶν ). This is ostensibly a Greek toponym based on a personal name, although it may be a Hellenized form of a local name, reconstructed as Tisfōn or Tisbōn . In Iranian-language texts of the Sasanian era, it is spelled as Tyspwn , which can be read as Tīsfōn , Tēsifōn , etc. in Manichaean Parthian , in Middle Persian 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 and in Christian Sogdian (in Syriac alphabet ) languages. The New Persian form

572-514: The Euphrates , Seleucia was placed to receive traffic from both great waterways. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, it was one of the great Hellenistic cities, comparable to Alexandria in Egypt , and greater than Syrian Antioch . Excavations indicate that the walls of the city enclosed an area of at least 550 hectares (1,400 acres), equivalent to a square roughly 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) on

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624-839: The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology on behalf of the American School of Oriental Research of Baghdad with funds supplied by the Toledo Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art . Finds included many coins, mostly bronze, salt receipts with the name of Seleucia, a blue glazed incense burner, now in the Baghdad museum, a stele inscribed in Greek, numerous beads, metal objects including weights and surgeons instruments, and one pre-Sargonic brick. From 1964 to 1968 and then between 1985 and 1989, an Italian mission from

676-601: The Parthian style . It was completely destroyed by the Roman general Avidius Cassius in 165. Over sixty years later a new city, Veh-Ardashir , was built across the river by Persian emperor Ardashir I . This new city was long believed to be located at Seleucia but was shown by Italian excavations to be a fresh construction separate from Seleucia and Ctesiphon. There were active Christian churches in Mesopotamia from

728-598: The Scythian folk or soldiery quartered amongst them. Because of the Parthian power, therefore, Ctesiphon is a city rather than a village; its size is such that it lodges a great number of people, and it has been equipped with buildings by the Parthians themselves; and it has been provided by the Parthians with wares for sale and with the arts that are pleasing to the Parthians; for the Parthian kings are accustomed to spend

780-572: The University of Turin directed by Antonio Invernizzi and Giorgio Gullini excavated at the site. They found a Seleucid archive building with about 30,000 seal impressions, all in a fully Greek style. In an outer wall of the Parthian period, a reused brick dated by stamp to 821 BC, during the Neo-Assyrian period. Nisa, Turkmenistan Nisa ( Ancient Greek : Νῖσος, Νίσα, Νίσαιον ; Turkmen : Nusaý ; also Parthaunisa )

832-575: The White Palace ( قصر الأبيض ), was located. The southern side of Ctesiphon was known as Asbānbar or Aspānbar, which was known by its prominent halls, riches, games, stables, and baths. Taq Kasra was located in the latter. The western side was known as Veh-Ardashir (meaning "the good city of Ardashir" in Middle Persian ), known as Mahoza by the Jews , Kokhe by the Christians, and Behrasir by

884-697: The al-Rumiya town as the Abbasid capital city for a few months. It is believed to be the basis for the city of Isbanir in One Thousand and One Nights . The ruins of Ctesiphon were the site of a major battle of World War I in November 1915. The Ottoman Empire defeated troops of Britain attempting to capture Baghdad, and drove them back some 40 miles (64 km) before trapping the British force and compelling it to surrender . Under Sasanian rule,

936-471: The many cities to bear its name but is sometimes distinguished as Seleucia-on-Tigris or Seleucia on the Tigris ( Latin : Seleucia ad Tigridem ) from the name of its river . Texts from the Church of the East 's synods referred to the city as Salīq ( Syriac : ܣܠܝܩ ) or some times Māḥôzē ( Syriac : ܡܚܘܙ̈ܐ ) when referring to the metropolis of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . The Sassanids named

988-537: The 1st century onwards and in the 3rd or 4th century Seleucia became an important centre. Following the edict of toleration by the Persian Sassanian King Yazdegerd I , which for the time being brought an end to the persecution of Christians , which had lasted for 70 years, the remaining Christians set about reorganizing and strengthening the church. The Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (The Synod of Mar Isaac) met in 410 AD under

1040-513: The Arabs. Veh-Ardashir was populated by many wealthy Jews, and was the seat of the church of the Nestorian patriarch . To the south of Veh-Ardashir was Valashabad . Ctesiphon had several other districts which were named Hanbu Shapur, Darzanidan, Veh Jondiu-Khosrow, Nawinabad and Kardakadh. Severus Alexander advanced towards Ctesiphon in 233, but as corroborated by Herodian , his armies suffered

1092-667: The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius surrounded the city, the capital of the Sassanid Empire, leaving it after the Persians accepted his peace terms. In 628, a deadly plague hit Ctesiphon, al-Mada'in and the rest of the western part of the Sasanian Empire, which even killed Khosrow's son and successor, Kavad II . In 629, Ctesiphon was briefly under the control of Mihranid usurper Shahrbaraz , but

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1144-524: The Catholicos of Seleucia Ctesiphon be supreme among the bishops of the East. The Synod of Dadyeshu decided that the Catholicos should be the sole head of the Church of the East and that no ecclesiastical authority should be acknowledged above him. For the first time, this synod referred to the Catholicos as Patriarch and that their Catholicos was answerable to God alone. This had some effect in reassuring

1196-589: The Muslims arrived at Ctesiphon, it was completely desolated, due to flight of the Sasanian royal family , nobles , and troops. However, the Muslims had managed to take some of troops captive, and many riches were seized from the Sasanian treasury and were given to the Muslim troops. Furthermore, the throne hall in Taq Kasra was briefly used as a mosque. Still, as political and economic fortune had passed elsewhere,

1248-694: The Orient. The Synod also declared its adherence to the decision of the Council of Nicaea and subscribed to the Nicene Creed . The Canons of the Synod leave no doubt as to the authority of the great Metropolitan, the Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Without his approval, no election of bishop would be valid. Towards the end of the reign of Yazdegerd I, the Christians were again persecuted in 420. Dadyeshu

1300-698: The Parthian dynasty of Iran. Ctesiphon was greatly enlarged and flourished during their rule, thus turning into a metropolis, which was known by in Arabic as al-Mada'in , and in Aramaic as Mahoze. The oldest inhabited places of Ctesiphon were on its eastern side, which in Islamic Arabic sources is called "the Old City" ( مدينة العتيقة Madīnah al-'Atīqah ), where the residence of the Sasanians, known as

1352-578: The Sasanian monarchy that the Persian Christians were not influenced by the Roman enemy. The city eventually faded into obscurity and was swallowed by the desert sands, probably abandoned after the Tigris shifted its course. The site of Seleucia was rediscovered in the 1920s by archaeologists looking for Opis . Beginning in 1927, University of Michigan professors Leroy Waterman (1927–1932) and Clark Hopkins (1936–1937) oversaw excavations for

1404-579: The Seleucids. To make his capital into a metropolis, Seleucus forced almost all inhabitants of Babylon, except the local temple priests/supporting workers, to leave and resettle in Seleucia. A tablet dated 275 BC states that the inhabitants of Babylon were transported to Seleucia, where a palace and a temple (Esagila) were built. Standing at the confluence of the Tigris River with a major canal from

1456-419: The Tigris River from the city of Ardashir. Ctesiphon is located approximately at Al-Mada'in , 35 km (22 mi) southeast of the modern city of Baghdad , Iraq , along the river Tigris. Ctesiphon measured 30 square kilometers, more than twice the surface of a 13.7-square-kilometer fourth-century imperial Rome . The archway of Chosroes ( Taq Kasra ) was once a part of the royal palace in Ctesiphon and

1508-494: The area called the new city Rumagan , meaning "town of the Romans" and Arabs called the city al-Rumiyya . Along with Weh Antiok, Khosrow built a number of fortified cities. After a campaign in 573, John of Ephesus wrote that no fewer than 292,000 persons had been deported from Dara , Apamia , and other Syrian towns to Veh-Antiokh. John would later cite a letter stating no more than 30,000 prisoners were deported. It's thought that

1560-646: The beauty, agility and strength of its horses. Nisa was totally destroyed by an earthquake during the 1st decade BC. Excavations at Nisa have revealed substantial buildings, mausoleums and shrines, many inscribed documents, and a looted treasury. Many Hellenistic art works have been uncovered, as well as a large number of ivory rhytons , and rims (coins) decorated with Iranian subjects or classical mythological scenes. Sorted by year then author (see Italian Archaeological Mission in Old Nisa ): Bibliography. Publications of Centro Scavi di Torino and contributions of

1612-478: The city went into a rapid decline, especially after the founding of the Abbasid capital at Baghdad in the 760s, and soon became a ghost town . Caliph Al-Mansur took much of the required material for the construction of Baghdad from the ruins of Ctesiphon. He also attempted to demolish the palace and reuse its bricks for his own palace, but he desisted only when the undertaking proved too vast. Al-Mansur also used

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1664-802: The eastern city as Veh-Ardashir ( Persian : ویه‌اردشیر ), Arabs called it Bahurasīr. Seleucia, as such, was founded as the first capital of the Seleucid Empire by Seleucus I Nicator . A foundation date of 300 BC was proposed by Auguste Bouch-Leclerq in 1914. Other scholars proposed 306 BC and 312 BC. Seleucus was one of the Diadochi successors of Alexander the Great who, after Alexander's death, divided his empire among themselves. Although Seleucus soon moved his main capital to Antioch , in northern Syria , Seleucia became an important center of trade, Hellenistic culture, and regional government under

1716-560: The first number he gave is not to be taken literally. In 590, a member of the House of Mihran , Bahram Chobin repelled the newly ascended Sasanian ruler Khosrow II from Iraq, and conquered the region. One year later, Khosrow II, with aid from the Byzantine Empire , reconquered his domains. During his reign, some of the great fame of al-Mada'in decreased, due to the popularity of Khosrow's new winter residence, Dastagerd . In 627,

1768-467: The fortress at Nisa was either a royal residence or a mausoleum. In 2007, the fortress was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . Nisa was a major trading hub in the Parthian Empire. It was later renamed Mithradātkert ( Parthian : 𐭌𐭕𐭓𐭃𐭕𐭊𐭓𐭕 , lit.   'fortress of Mithradates') by Mithridates I of Parthia (reigned c. 171 BC–138 BC). The region was famous for

1820-533: The foundation of Ctesiphon: In ancient times Babylon was the metropolis of Assyria ; but now Seleucia is the metropolis, I mean the Seleucia on the Tigris , as it is called. Nearby is situated a village called Ctesiphon, a large village. This village the kings of the Parthians were wont to make their winter residence, thus sparing the Seleucians, in order that the Seleucians might not be oppressed by having

1872-599: The latter was shortly assassinated by the supporters of Khosrow II's daughter Borandukht . Ctesiphon then continued to be involved in constant fighting between two factions of the Sasanian Empire, the Pahlav (Parthian) faction under the House of Ispahbudhan and the Parsig (Persian) faction under Piruz Khosrow . In the mid-630s, the Muslim Arabs , who had invaded the territories of the Sasanian Empire, defeated them during

1924-592: The original form was Ṭūsfūn or Tūsfūn, which was arabicized as Ṭaysafūn." The Armenian name of the city was Tizbon ( Տիզբոն ). Ctesiphon is first mentioned in the Book of Ezra of the Old Testament as Kasfia/Casphia (a derivative of the ethnic name Cas , and a cognate of Caspian and Qazvin ). It is also mentioned in the Talmud as Aktisfon. In another Talmudic reference it is written as Akistfon, located across

1976-519: The palace of Khosrow II . In 2013, the Iraqi government contracted to restore the Taq Kasra, as a tourist attraction. Seleucia Seleucia ( / s ɪ ˈ lj uː ʃ ə / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Σελεύκεια ), also known as Seleucia-on-Tigris or Seleucia on the Tigris or Seleucia ad Tigrim , was a major Mesopotamian city, located on the west bank of the Tigris River within

2028-480: The population of Ctesiphon was heavily mixed: it included Arameans , Persians , Greeks and Assyrians . Several religions were also practiced in the metropolis, which included Christianity , Judaism and Zoroastrianism . In 497, the first Nestorian patriarch Mar Babai I , fixed his see at Seleucia-Ctesiphon, supervising their mission east, with the Merv metropolis as pivot. The population also included Manicheans ,

2080-473: The presence of a large population not of Greek culture. In 141 BC, the Parthians under Mithridates I conquered the city, and Seleucia became the western capital of the Parthian Empire . Tacitus described its walls, and mentioned that it was, even under Parthian rule, a fully Hellenistic city. Ancient texts claim that the city had 600,000 inhabitants, and was ruled by a senate of 300 people. It

2132-471: The present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq . It was founded around 305 BC by Seleucus I Nicator as the first capital of the Seleucid Empire , and remained an important center of trade and Hellenistic culture after the imperial capital relocated to Antioch . The city continued to flourish under Parthian rule beginning in 141 BC; ancient texts claim that it reached a population of 600,000. Seleucia

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2184-465: The presidency of Mar Isaac , the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . The most important decision of the Synod which had a very far reaching effect on the life of the church, was to declare the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon as the primate of the Church of the East ; and in recognition of this pre-eminence he was given the title ' Catholicos '. The Synod confirmed Mar Isaac as Catholicos and Archbishop of all

2236-404: The reign of Orodes II . Gradually, the city merged with the old Hellenistic capital of Seleucia and other nearby settlements to form a cosmopolitan metropolis. The reason for this westward relocation of the capital could have been in part due to the proximity of the previous capitals ( Mithradatkirt , and Hecatompylos at Hyrcania ) to the Scythian incursions. Strabo abundantly describes

2288-438: The reigning monarch was defeated, allowing Orodes to re-establish himself as king. In 41 BC, Seleucia was the scene of a massacre of around 5,000 Babylonian Jewish refugees ( Josephus , Ant. xviii. 9, § 9). [3] In 117 AD, Seleucia was burned down by the Roman emperor Trajan during his conquest of Mesopotamia, but the following year it was ceded back to the Parthians by Trajan's successor, Hadrian , then rebuilt in

2340-507: The site, focusing on the areas of Ma'aridh, Tell Dheheb, the Taq-i Kisra, Selman Pak and Umm ez-Za'tir under the direction of Ernst Kühnel. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, an Italian team from the University of Turin directed by Antonio Invernizzi and Giorgio Gullini  [ it ] worked at the part of the site on the other side of the Tigris, which they identified as Veh Ardashir. Work mainly concentrated on restoration at

2392-598: The surviving Manicheans fled and displaced their patriarchate up the Silk Road, in Samarkand . A German Oriental Society expedition led by Oscar Reuther excavated at Ctesiphon in 1928–29 mainly at Qasr bint al-Qadi on the western part of the site. In winter of 1931–1932 a joint expedition of the German State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art continued excavations at

2444-635: The winter there because of the salubrity of the air, but they summer at Ecbatana and in Hyrcania because of the prevalence of their ancient renown. Because of its importance, Ctesiphon was a major military objective for the leaders of the Roman Empire in their eastern wars. The city was captured by Rome four or five times in its history – three times in the 2nd century alone. The emperor Trajan captured Ctesiphon in 116, but his successor, Hadrian , decided to willingly return Ctesiphon in 117 as part of

2496-567: The world by some accounts. During the Roman–Parthian Wars , Ctesiphon fell three times to the Romans , and later fell once during Sasanian rule. It was also the site of the Battle of Ctesiphon in 363 AD . After the Muslim invasion, the city fell into decay and was depopulated by the end of the eighth century, its place as a political and economic center taken by the Abbasid capital at Baghdad . The most conspicuous structure remaining today

2548-415: Was an ancient settlement of the Parthians , located near the Bagyr neighborhood of Ashgabat , Turkmenistan , 18 km west of the city center. Nisa is described by some as the first seat of the Arsacid Empire . It is traditionally assumed to have been founded by Arsaces I (reigned c. 250 BC–211 BC) and was reputedly the royal residence of the Parthian kings , although it has not been established that

2600-407: Was clearly one of the largest cities in the Western world; only Rome, Alexandria , and possibly Antioch were more populous. In 55 BC, a battle fought near Seleucia was crucial in establishing dynastic succession of the Arsacid kings. In this battle between the reigning Mithridates III (supported by a Roman army of Aulus Gabinius , governor of Syria) and the previously deposed Orodes II ,

2652-414: Was destroyed in 165 AD by Roman general Avidius Cassius and gradually faded into obscurity in the subsequent centuries. The site was rediscovered in the 1920s by archaeologists. Seleucia ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Σελεύκεια , Seleúkeia ) is named for Seleucus I Nicator , who enlarged an earlier settlement and made it the capital of his empire around 305 BC. It was the largest and most important of

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2704-435: Was elected Catholicos in 421 and himself suffered during the persecution and was imprisoned. When he was released he resigned and left Seleucia, but the church refused to accept the resignation and there followed the Synod of Dadyeshu , which met in 424 in Markabata of the Arabs under the presidency of Mar Dadyeshu. It proved to be one of the most significant of all Persian synods. The first synod of Isaac in 410 had decided that

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