Kingdom of Sophene

Kingdom of Sophene Ծոփքի թագավորություն
← 3rd century – 94 BC →
Capital		Karkathiokerta
Languages		Armenian
Government		Monarchy
Historical era		Hellenistic Age
-	gained independence from the Achaemenid Empire	3rd century BC
-	conquered (or reconquered) by Tigranes the Great	94 BC

History of Armenia
Etymology Timeline Traditional Urheimat
Prehistory Stone & Copper Age Shulaveri-Shomu culture c.6500–3400 BC Areni-1 Cave Complex Kura–Araxes culture c.3400–2000 BC Legend of Hayk (?) 2492 BC Bronze & Iron Age Hayasa-Azzi c.1500–1290 BC Arme-Shupria c.1300s–1190 BC Ararat/Urartu Nairi Tribes 1114–860 BC Kingdom of Van 860–590 BC
Antiquity Achaemenid Period Satrapy of Armina 553–321 BC Orontid Dynasty Ancient Armenia Kingdom of Armenia 321 BC–428 AD Artaxiad Dynasty 189 BC–12 AD Empire 84–34 BC Arsacid Dynasty 52–428 AD Roman–Parthian War 58–63 AD Roman Province of Armenia 114–118 AD Christianization 301 AD Armenia Minor 331–72 BC Kingdom of Sophene c.200–94 BC Kingdom of Commagene 163 BC–72 AD Marzpanate Period Byzantine Armenia 387–536 Persian Armenia 428–646 Mamikonian Dynasty Battle of Avarayr 451
Middle Ages Arabic Period Emirate of Arminiya 653–884 Hamamshen 700s–1300s Amatuni Dynasty Medieval Armenia Bagratid Armenia 884–1045 Bagratid Dynasty 861–1118 Kingdom of Vaspurakan 908–1021 Artsruni Dynasty Kingdom of Siwnik 987–1170 Siunia Dynasty Kingdom of Lori 979–1118 Kingdom of Artsakh 1000–1261 House of Hasan-Jalalyan Battle of Manzikert 1071 Cilician & Turco-Mongol Period Seljuq rule 1071–1201 Georgian union 1201–1236 Ilkhanid rule 1236–1335 Principality of Khachen 1261–1750 Turkmen rule 1335–1508 Kingdom of Cilicia 1198–1375 Rubenid Dynasty 1000–1261 Hethumid Dynasty 1226–1373 Lusignan Dynasty 1341–1375
Early Modern Age Perso-Ottoman Period Safavid & Qajar rule 1508–1828 Five Melikdoms Nakhichevan deportation 1606 Ottoman rule 1548–1915 Six Vilayets 1878 Hamidian massacres 1895–1896 Armenian Genocide 1909–1918 Russian Period Russian rule 1828–1918 Armenian Oblast 1828–1840 Western Armenia 1915–1918 Armenian National Movement Armenakan 1885 S.D. Hunchakian Party 1887 ARF (Dashnaktsutyun) 1890 Caucasus Campaign 1914–1918 Battle of Sardarapat 1918 Battle of Karakilisa 1918 Modern Armenia First Armenian Republic 1918–1920 Treaty of Batum 1918 War with Azerbaijan 1918–1920 War with Georgia 1918 Treaty of Sèvres 1920 Wilsonian Armenia 1920 War with Turkey 1920 Treaty of Alexandropol 1920
Modern Age Soviet Period Armenian S.S.R. 1920–1991 February Uprising 1921 Republic of Mountainous Armenia 1921 Treaty of Moscow 1921 Treaty of Kars 1921 Independence Armenian Diaspora Armenian Republic since 1991 Nagorno-Karabakh Republic since 1994 Nagorno-Karabakh War 1989–1994
Armenia portal
v t e

The Kingdom of Sophene (Armenian: Ծոփքի Թագավորութիւն) was an ancient Armenian kingdom.^[1][2][3] Founded around the 3rd century BC the kingdom maintained independence until around 90 BC when Tigranes the Great conquered the territories as part of his empire.^[3] An offshoot of this kingdom was the Kingdom of Commagene, formed when the Seleucids detached Commagene from Sophene.^[1]

Origins

Sophene was part of the kingdom of Urartu in the 8th-7th centuries BC. After unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishti I of Urartu resettled many of its inhabitants to his newly built city of Erebuni.

Sophene then became a province of the ancient Armenian Kingdom of Orontids around 600 BC.

After Alexander the Great's campaigns in 330s BC and the subsequent collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, it became one of the first regions of Armenia to be exposed to Greek influence and adopted some aspects of Greek culture. Sophene remained part of the newly independent kingdom of Greater Armenia. Around the 3rd century BC, the Seleucid Empire forced Sophene to split from Greater Armenia, giving rise to the Kingdom of Sophene. The kingdom was ruled by a branch of the Armenian royal dynasty of Orontids.^[1]

The kingdom's capital was Carcathiocerta, identified as the now abandoned town-site of Egil on the Tigris river north of Diyarbakir. However, its largest settlement and only true city was Arsamosata, located further to the north. Arsamosata was founded in the 3rd century B.C. and survived in a contracted state until perhaps the early 13th century A.D.^[4] Though the kingdom's rulers were Armenian, the ethnicity of the kingdom was mixed, having a population of Armenian descent and a population of Semitic descent, infiltrating from the South, a situation still existent at the time of the Crusades.^[5]

Notes

v t e Historical states and regions of Armenia Major Armenian kingdoms and states Kingdom of Ararat Orontid Armenia (Orontids) Kingdom of Armenia (Artaxiads and Arsacids) Kingdom of Armenia (Bagratunis) Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Rubenids, Hethumids and Lusignans) Republic of Armenia (1918-1920) Republic of Armenia Vassal kingdoms and minor states Kingdom of Sophene Kingdom of Commagene Kingdom of Vaspurakan Kingdom of Lori Kingdom of Artsakh Zakarid Armenia Melikdoms of Karabakh Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Republic of Mountainous Armenia (1921) Provinces or Ashkhars of Armenia Major Upper Armenia Sophene Arzanene Turuberan Moxoene Corduene Nor Shirakan Vaspurakan Syunik Artsakh Paytakaran Utik Gugark Tayk Ayrarat Other Armenian regions Lesser Armenia (regions: First, Second and Third Armenia) Commagene Armenian Mesopotamia Cilicia (regions: Mountainous, Plain and Rocky Cilicia) Other provinces under Tigranes the Great Syria Atropatene Adiabene Assyria Iberia Albania Cappadocia Judea Osroene