AdiaBeni, whose range was roughly between 36° north latitude and 44° east longitude, is the area where Iraq, Turkey and Iran meet today. Because it was once the heart of the prestigious Assyrian Empire, core cities such as Ashur and Nineveh appeared in the territory.
However, since 612 BC, these glories have disappeared. After the city of Nineveh was breached by the combined Medes-Chaldean forces, the conquerors went straight to the planned massacre to prevent any possibility of revival of the Assyrian nation. At this point, the area has lost its original appearance, and even its original name has been lost in history. It remained unknown for more than 200 years under the rule of the Medes and persian empires.
The Assyrian king Duninillo was located in Adiabeni
In the 4th century BC, the fate of the Assyrian plains began to change with Alexander's crusades. To consolidate their rule, the Seleucid dynasty established several Greek-style autonomous cities here, including Nineveh. And given the sheer size and bloat of the original Persian provincial system, they also divided the provinces into smaller ruling units. Most of these reduced dogfies ended with "ane" or "ene", including the renamed Adiabene, from which the place's name came from.
However, Adiabeni's fame should also be attributed to the expansion of the Parthian Empire. Roughly in the late 2nd century BC, the latter first ended Seleucid rule in Iran and then marched into the plains of Mesopotamia. Governor Adiabeni took the opportunity to establish himself on his own, thus giving the land another local ruler after the collapse of Assyria. Of course, he had to show allegiance to the Parthian suzerain. Due to the fragmentation of the information, we do not know the real name of the governor, but it is true that he is called the founder of the kingdom of Adiabeni.
Adiabeni was an important western vassal of the Parthian Empire
Unlike the Greeks, the Parthian Asasis dynasty allowed their vassals greater autonomy, and the governor of Adiabeni was able to call himself king. However, they are still not allowed to have the right to mint coins. Curiously, although in the center of the former Assyrian Empire, King Adiabeni did not choose Nineveh, which was rebuilt by the Macedonians, as its capital. Instead, they chose Abela, located near the important battlefield, to distinguish them from the metropolis where Greek immigrants had gathered.
In fact, this newly independent kingdom of Adiabene is a complete hybrid. It is inhabited by Arabs, Kurds, Greeks and a variety of Iranians living in the territory. According to the Roman scholar Pliny, the country consisted mainly of four tribes: the Orontes, the Aran, the Azoñez, and the Cilesians. Apparently, they were basically early Arabs. Over time, Jews and Parthians joined in. Although they were small in number, they had a huge impact on the small country in political and economic life.
Copper coins from the time of Monobazus I
Monobazus I was the first Adiabeni king to be described in more sources. His reign was roughly in the 1st century 20s and 30s AD, but his performance was relatively lackluster. However, the wife and son have enjoyed important reputations in history because they have chosen to believe in Judaism. During the reign of Monobazus' father, the Parthian king Vlat IV (reigned 37-2 BC) sent all his other sons to Rome as hostages to ensure that his most beloved young son would succeed to the throne. Similarly, Monobazus took measures to protect his beloved young son. However, the strategy is completely opposite to that of the suzerain, choosing to send the crown prince to other countries as hostages. The crown prince later succeeded to the throne as Izartes II, who converted to Judaism.
Thus, Izatus II became the most famous king in the history of Adiabeni. He was sent as a hostage in 20 AD to the small persian Gulf state of Characeni. Appreciated by the local ruler, Abiniglos, he married his daughter Samazio to the young prince. It was also during this period that Izartes chose to convert to Judaism. In the court of Monobazus, Queen Helena also chose to convert almost at the same time.
Queen Helena, mother of Izartes II
When Monobazus died of illness, Helena summoned the nobles, local officials, and army commanders to elect an heir. The participants unanimously agreed to choose Izatus to succeed to the throne, but also recommended that the new monarch kill all his brothers and male relatives. Such examples also appear in Parthian history. Vrat IV murdered his father to seize the throne and then executed all his brothers associated with him. But Helena preferred to take a gentle approach, believing that no one except the eldest son, Monobazus II, had the ability to hold a cow's ear in his hand. This Monobazus II was even more righteous and willingly surrendered his authority to his brother.
Since he was between the Roman and Parthian Empires, Adiabeni naturally had to be careful with both. At the beginning of Izartes's succession, the Parthian king Artabanus III was defeated in the domestic power struggle and fled to Adiabeni to seek refuge. He was then treated with friendly hospitality and helped to drive away competitors. Out of gratitude to Izatus, Artabanus allowed the latter to wear the triple crown that only a Parthian king could wear. Not only did he give him the golden throne, but he also ceded Nissibis and the surrounding lands on the west bank of the Tigris River to Adia Beni. Unfortunately, he himself soon fell ill and died, and his son Valdanese I tried to persuade Izartes to join him in attacking Rome. The failure to succeed led to the king's resentment towards the vassal. Yizats, also fearing revenge from the Parthians, supported the Roman hostage prince Mehedates in a struggle for the throne against Valdanis, giving the Parthians a step down.
Mausoleum of Izartes II
Even so, Izartes's throne remained precarious. Around the beginning of the succession of The parthian king Vologisses I, serious civil unrest broke out in Adiabeni. An Arab nobleman, Appia, instigated by his subordinates, attacked the king in an attempt to oust Izatus from his throne and replace him, most likely at the instigation of Vologiss. Although Appia's attempt was crushed, the matter soon spread abroad. The Arab nobles, dissatisfied with Izatus' rule, appealed to the Parthian king that he would send a Parthian prince to replace Izatus. Izats resolutely rejected Vologis's request, determined to challenge his suzerainty, even though his army was far from comparable in strength. Fortunately, the Parthian king, now faced with the invasion of eastern nomads, had to postpone his crusade against Adiabeni.
Between 54 and 58 AD, Izatus and his mother Helena died of illness, and the bodies were escorted to Jerusalem for burial. Izats had 24 sons in his lifetime, but he was succeeded by his elder brother Monobazus II. As soon as the latter succeeded to the throne, he re-enlisted vologiss, thus oblivious to a possible crusade.
Helena Palace, built in jerusalem
The international situation during this period was also extremely complex, with Adiabeni's northern neighbor Armenia fighting for the throne, involving Parthian and Rome. At the beginning of the war, king Tigran VI, appointed by the Romans, attacked Adiabene, causing Monobazus to become disgusted. He soon sent a force to help the Parthians in attacking the Armenian city of Tigrano Celta. The failure of the siege further strengthened the anti-Roman sentiment of King Adiabene. If one counts his own Jewish beliefs, it is not difficult to understand why he supported Jerusalem during the Jewish War, and finally 2 of his relatives died in battle with the Roman army.
In the mid-1970s, Monobazus II fell ill and died, and the history of Adiabeni gradually became obscure. The writer Theodorrit, in describing the kingdom, had said that it was subordinate to the Parthians, but is now known as Oslonius. This may hint at a further expansion of Adiabéni's rule, pocketing the entire west bank of the Euphrates, including Nissibis and Edessa. The good times did not last long, and only in 110 AD did the native king of Edessa expelled the airborne governor, thus separating Osloni from Adiabeni again.
Adiabeni was one of the few countries where the Jews rebelled against Rome
Of course, for Adiaani, the real danger came from the Roman Empire. In 114 AD, Trajan marched east and conquered Armenia and the entire Two Rivers Valley in one fell swoop. Adiabene was not spared, and its king, Mebassapes, was defeated by the Romans. Trajan incorporated it directly into the newly formed Assyrian province. But the Roman army soon withdrew to suppress the Jewish rebellion within. The new emperor Hadrian, who later succeeded to the throne, chose to restore the traditional Roman-Parthian border, thus allowing Adiabeni to escape the catastrophe. Later, in the 2nd century AD, Adiabeni became obscure again, and even Cassius's eastern expedition did not affect them.
This calm lasted until 193 AD, when a war for the throne between Nigel, Severus, and Albanus took place in Rome. The king of AdiaBeni besieged Nissibius in support of Nigel, but caused Severus a retaliatory blow. The latter left the East with the title of "Conqueror of Adia beni", apparently paying a heavy price for the other side. Twenty years later, the Roman Emperor Caracalla launched an even more ferocious and brutal attack, excavating the Parthian tombs near Abela. Although his attack ended in his own assassination, Parthian exhausted his last bit of energy and was eventually replaced by Sassanid Persia. AdiaBeni, who was under the wings of Parthians, was also deeply affected by the political turmoil.
The city of Abela was also captured twice by Roman troops
In 226 AD, the Sassanids ended the rule of the Asasis family under the banner of the revival of the Persian nation, although many of the original Parthian vassals remained loyal to their ancestors. The King of Armenia, with the support of the Caucasian tribes, gathered a large army and resolutely resisted the attack on Ardashir at Adiabeni and the Medes. Today, however, Adia Beni himself has no strength to resist. Fortunately, due to ethnic and religious differences, the Persians did not initially regard Adiabene as an indivisible territory of the dynasty, and they, like the Parthians, allowed the latter to exist as a vassal state. However, as the religious problem escalated, Adiabeni inevitably became a direct subordinate of the Persians.
Contrary to the Permissive policy of the Parthians, the Persians were from the outset fanatically adherent to Zoroastrianism, oppressing all pagans who disobeyed the great god Mazda. At this time, the Adiabenean faith also changed from 1st-century Judaism to more hostile Christianity, which was enough to attract the special attention of the Persian upstarts. From the moment the Sassanids replaced Parthia, the Christians of Adiabeni began their unyielding struggle, but due to the disparity in strength, their revolts all ended in failure. Worse still, these uprisings not only failed to revive the country, but instead slid it into the abyss more quickly, and the Persians eventually changed their attitude at first and decided to incorporate Adiabeni into their territory.
In the 4th century Adeabeni was finally destroyed by Sassanid Persia
We can no longer know exactly when this small country perished. The last known account of Adia Beni occurred at the end of the 4th century AD. Influenced by the Armenian Christian Revolt, a regional lord, Artsunes, rebelled against the centralized measures of the Sassanid Dynasty. His defeat also marked the final loss of Adiabeni's independence. This ancient land then became a direct province of Persia, and then a paradise for the Arab Empire, the Seljuks, the Mongols and the Turkmen.
The land has been renamed "Hayab", while its legendary experience has gradually disappeared into the long river of history. Perhaps, this is a microcosm of the end of all ancient civilizations...