| Adiabene | ||||
| Vassal of the Kingdom of Armenia, Parthian Empire | ||||
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| Adiabene within Armenian Empire under the reign of Tigranes the Great | ||||
| Capital | Arbela | |||
| Religion | Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| King | ||||
| - c. 15 | Izates I | |||
| - ?-116 | Meharaspes | |||
| Historical era | Antiquity | |||
| - Established | 15 | |||
| - Disestablished | 116 | |||
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Adiabene (from the Ancient Greek Ἀδιαβηνή, Adiabene, itself derived from Syriac: ܚܕܝܐܒ, Ḥaḏy’aḇ or Ḥḏay’aḇ)[1] was an ancient Assyrian independent kingdom in Mesopotamia,[2][3][4][5] with its capital at Arbela (modern-day Arbil, Iraq). Its rulers converted to Judaism from Ashurism in the 1st century.[6] 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.
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Adiabene occupied a district in Assyria between the Upper Zab (Lycus) and the Lower Zab (Caprus), though Ammianus speaks of Nineveh, Ecbatana, and Gaugamela as also belonging to it.[7] 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 Arabs also called Arbela.[8]
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.[9] 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."
Adiabene had a mixed population. The majority were indigenous Syriac-Aramaic 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.[10] In later times Adiabene became an archbishopric, with the seat of the metropolitan at Arbela.[11]
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).[12][13] The region was later made a part of the Roman province of Assyria after the invasion by Trajan in the year 116.[14]
(For subsequent history, see Arbil; Assyrian people, Roman Empire, Iraq).
In ancient times Adiabene was an integral part of Assyria. 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".[15] 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,[2] 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.
Despite the overthrow of the Parthians by the Sassanids, the feudatory dynasties remained loyal to the Parthians, and resisted Sassanid advance into Adiabene and Atropatene. 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.[16]
Between the 5th and the 14th centuries Adiabene 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.
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