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Osroene

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Roman province of Osroene, 120, higlighted within the Roman Empire

Osroene (also spelled Osrohene, Osrhoene, from the Greek Όσροηνῆ; Syriac:ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܥܣܪܐ ܥܝܢܐ Malkuṯā d-Bēt ʿŌsrā ʿĪnē), also known by the name of its capital city, Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey), was a historic kingdom located on the present-day border of Syria and Turkey. The kingdom was Assyrian[1][2] and enjoyed semi-autonomy to complete independence from the years of 132 BCE to 244 AD[3][4]. It was a Syriac speaking kingdom[5], and according to an ancient legend King Abgar V of Edessa was converted[6] to Christianity by Thaddeus of Edessa, or Saint Addai, one of the Seventy-two Disciples[6]. By 201 AD or earlier[7], under King Abgar IX[8], Osroene became the first Christian state[9][10].

History

Origins and early period

Osroene, or Edessa, acquired independence from the collapsing Seleucid empire under a dynasty of Arab stock from 132 BCE, though remained under Parthian suzerainty. Most of the kings of Osroene are called Abgar or Manu, and they were Arab sheiks who settled in urban centers.[11][12] The name Osroene is most likely derived from Osroes, an Arab sheik who in 120 BCE wrested control of this region from the Seleucids in Syria.[13] For other possible origins of the name, see below. In his writings, Pliny refers to the natives of Osroene and Commagene as Arabs and the region as Arabia.[14] According to Pliny, a nomadic Arab tribe called Orrhoei occupied Edessa about 130 B.C.[15] The Orrhoei founded a small state, ruled by their chieftains with the title of kings, and the district was called after them Orrhoene. This name was occasionally has been changed into Osroene, in assimilation to the Parthian name Osroes or Chosroes (Khosrau).[16]

Located in the upper course of the river Euphrates, Osroene was a traditional battleground of the powers which ruled Asia Minor, Persia and the Middle East. During the reign of Tigranes the Great, from 83 BCE to 69 BCE, Kingdom of Armenia managed to take control of Osroene from Parthians. Tigranes also handed over the kingdom of Edessa or Osroene to a tribe of nomadic Arabs, which he had resettled in the region[17].

Map showing Osroene as a vassal of the Armenian Empire under Tigranes the Great

The Arabs in Osroene were later brought into submission by Lucius Afranius of Rome. He started out his campaign from Corduene and proceeded to upper Mesopotamia and, after a perilous march through the desert, he managed to defeat the Arabs of Osroene with the help of the Hellenes settled in Carrhae[18].

Roman protectorate

Abgarus of Osroene signed a peace treaty with the Romans during Pompey's eastern campaigns, and was initially an ally of the Roman general Crassus in his campaign against the Parthians in 53 BC. Later on however, he secretly switched sides and became a spy for the Parthian king Orodes II in the war effort by providing faulty intelligence to Crassus. This was one of the main factors in Crassus' defeat at Carrhae. He influenced Crassus' plans, convincing him to give up the idea of advancing to the Greek city of Seleucia near the Euphrates, whose inhabitants were sympathetic to the Romans. Instead Abgarus persuaded him to attack the Parthian general, Surena, but in the midst of the battle he changed sides.[19] Abgarus has been identified as an Arab shaikh in another source. In this campaign, an Armenian force of 16,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry accompanied Crassus. Orodes also managed to keep the Armenian force out by making peace with Artavazd[20].

During Trajan's time, around 116 AD, the Roman general Lucius Quietus sacked Edessa and turned Osroene into a semi-autonomous vassal state. After the war with Parthians under Marcus Aurelius, forts were built and a Roman garrison was stationed in Nisibis. Osroene attempted to throw off the Roman yoke, falling under Arsacid rule. In the period from Trajan's conquest to 216, Christianity began to spread in Edessa. Abgar IX (177-212 BCE) was the first Christian King of Edessa and Osroene enjoys the distinction of being the first state which adopted Christianity as a official religion[9] in 201 AD[7].

Roman province

The Romans recaptured Osroene by 216 AD and incorporated it as a province of the Roman Empire. Edessa was again brought under Roman control by Decius and was made a center of Roman operations against the Persian Sassanids. Amru, possibly a descendant of Abgar, is mentioned as king in the Paikuli inscription, recording the victory of Narseh in the Sassanid civil war of 293 AD. Historians identify this Amru as Amru ibn Adi, the fourth king of the Lakhmid dynasty which was at that time still based in Harran, not yet moved to Hirah in Babylonia.[21]

Since Emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy reform in the 290s, Osroene was part of the diocese of Oriens, in the praetorian prefecture of the same name. It was governed by a Dux, who ranked as vir spectabilis and commanded (circa 400) the following troops:

  • Equites Dalmatae Illyriciani, garrisoned at Ganaba.
  • Equites promoti Illyriciani, at Callinicum.
  • Equites Mauri Illyriciani, Dabana.
  • Equites promoti indigenae, Banasam
  • Equites promoti indigenae, Sina Iudaeorum.
  • Equites sagittarii indigenae, Oraba.
  • Equites sagittarii indigenae, Thillazamana.
  • Equites sagittarii indigenae Medianenses, Mediana.
  • Equites primi Osrhoeni, Rasin.
  • a praefectus legionis of the quarta Parthica, Circesio.
  • (an illegible command, possibly Legio III Parthica), Apatna.

as well as, 'on the minor roll', apparently auxiliaries:

  • Ala septima Valeria praelectorum, Thillacama.
  • Ala prima Victoriae, Tovia, opposite Bintha.
  • Ala secunda Paflagonum, Thillafica.
  • Ala prima Parthorum, Resaia.
  • Ala prima nova Diocletiana, between Thannurin and Horobam.
  • Cohors prima Gaetulorum, Thillaamana.
  • Cohors prima Eufratensis, Maratha.
  • Ala prima salutaria, Duodecimo constituta.

His Officium (administrative staff) included a scola of agentes in rebus under a princeps, some numerarii and their adiutores, secretaries (a commentariensis, an adiutor and an a libellis) and various exceptores and other officials.

A century later, Dagalaiphus and Secundinus, duke of Osroene, accompanied Julian in his war against the Sassanid king Shapur II.[22] Osroene remained a province under Roman (and later East Roman) control until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century.

Rulers of Osroene

Christian theology in Osroene

It is believed that the Gospel of Thomas emanated from Edessa around 140 AD. Prominent early Christian figures have lived in and emerged from this region such as Tatian the Assyrian who came to Edessa from Hadiab (Adiabene). He made a trip to Rome and returned to Edessa around 172-173. He had controversial opinions, seceded from the Church, denounced marriage as defilement and maintained that the flesh of Christ was imaginary. He composed Diatessaron or harmony of the Gospels in Syriac which contained eclectic ideas from Jewish-Christian and dualistic traditions. This became the Gospel par-excellence of Syriac-speaking Christianity until in the fifth century Rabbula bishop of Edessa suppressed it and substituted a revision of the Old Syriac Canonical Gospels.[23].

According to Sozomen's Ecclesiastical history, "there were some very learned men who formerly flourished in Osroene, as for instance Bardasanes, who devised a heresy designated by his name, and his son Harmonius. It is related that this latter was deeply versed in Grecian erudition, and was the first to subdue his native tongue to meters and musical laws; these verses he delivered to the choirs" and that Arianism —a more successful heresy— met with opposition there.

Etymology

There are several theories about the origin of the name Osroene:[24]

  • One theory states that the name of the kingdom is a compound name, derived from Esro-Ayne (meaning the "Ten-Chiefs"). This theory states that, after the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. (the capital of the Assyrian Empire), the Assyrian King Ashur Uballit (II) along with ten of his army chiefs, retreated with part of his population. Travelling westward towards Harran, heading towards Hdatu the western provincial capital of the Assyrian Empire {modern Arslan Tash near Urhoy (Urfa)}. Russian historian Dr. Matviev says in his book History of the Assyrians, that the kingdom of Osroene was founded by the ten Assyrian chiefs who called their kingdom Esroyo which later became Esro-Eyneh (the Ten Chiefs).
  • The second theory about the origin of the name of Osroene is that during the time of the Assyrian Empire, the tenth battalion of the Assyrian army was stationed in the region of Hdatu. When the capital Nineveh collapsed, the only battalion that survived was the Tenth Assyrian Battalion of that region. Thus this territory was called Esronoyo (meaning the Tenth) or Beth-Esroyo the (Place of the Tenth).
  • The third theory about the origin of the name of Osroene, goes back to the Ten tribes of Subartu the origin of the Assyrian Nation. The Turkish historian Dr. Shemsettin Gunaltay in his book Sharq Tarihi (History of the East) traces the Kingdom of Osroene to the ancient On-Asurilar, the "Ten Assyrian (tribes)", and he states that the Kadim Suryanilar (Ancient Syriacs) are the descendants of the Subari Asurilar (Subartu Assyrians). (See: Tarihta Suryanilar, by: Rev Gabriel Aydin, 1994, Page 18).
  • The term Ondaligh used by the Suryoyo/Assyrian community of Urhoy for their meeting place (after Sunday mass) is a compound Turkish word consisting of "On" meaning "Ten", and "Daligh" meaning "Branchs" in other words the Ten Branches, (i.e. confirming the above three theories).
  • The name Osroene might be derived from Osroes an Arab sheik who in 120 BC wrested control of this region from the Seleucids in Syria[25].

See also

Sources and references

  1. ^ Parpola, Simo. "Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today" (PDF). Assyriologist. Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies. p. 15. When the Seleucid Empire disintegrated at the end of the second century BC, its western remnants were annexed to Rome, while several semi-independent kingdoms of decidedly Assyrian identity (Osroene, Adiabene, Hatra, Assur) popped up in the east under Parthian overlordship. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ The Revival of Spiritual Healing, by Barsom J. Kashish, 2002, p. 217 [1]
  3. ^ The Revival of Spiritual Healing, by Barsom J. Kashish, 2002, p. 217
  4. ^ Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson Eds. The Writings of the Fathers Down to AD 325: Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 8 (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 657-672. [2]
  5. ^ The Ancient Name of Edessa, Amir Harrak, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Jul., 1992), pp. 209-214 [3]
  6. ^ a b Herbermann, Charles George (1913). The Catholic Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia Press. p. 282. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ a b von Harnack, Adolph (1905). The Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries. Williams & Norgate. p. 293. there is no doubt that even before 190 A.D. Christianity had spread vigorously within Edessa and its surroundings and that (shortly after 201 or even earlier?) the royal house joined the church {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Adshead, Samuel Adrian Miles (2000). China in World History. Macmillan. p. 27. ISBN 0312225652. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ a b Cheetham, Samuel (1905). A History of the Christian Church During the First Six Centuries. Macmillan and Co. p. 58. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Lockyer, Herbert (1988). All the Apostles of the Bible. Zondervan. p. 260. ISBN 0310280117. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ J. F. Healey, H. J. W. Drijvers, The Old Syriac Inscriptions of Edessa and Osrhoene: Texts, Translations, and Commentary, BRILL Publishers, 1999, ISBN 9004112847, pp.35-36
  12. ^ M. A. R. College, The Parthians, 1967 (see p.58)
  13. ^ C. Anthon, A System of Ancient and Medieval Geography for the Use of Schools and Colleges, Harper Publishers, 1850, Digitized 2007, p.681
  14. ^ H. I. MacAdam, N. J. Munday, Cicero's Reference to Bostra (AD Q. FRAT. 2. 11. 3), Classical Philology, pp.131-136, 1983.
  15. ^ Pliny vol. 85; vi. 25, 117, 129
  16. ^ Osroene, 1911 Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
  17. ^ Theodor Mommsen, The History of Rome, Book V, p.3 [4]
  18. ^ Theodor Mommsen, The History of Rome, Book V, p.9 [5]
  19. ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History,Book 40, Chapter 20, p.126, Project Gutenberg [6]
  20. ^ S. Beck, Ethics of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires
  21. ^ A. T. Olmstead, The Mid-Third Century of the Christian Era. II, Classical Philology, pp.398-420, 1942. (see p.399)
  22. ^ E. Gibbon, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Vol. I, Chapter XXIV [7].
  23. ^ L.W. Barnard, The Origins and Emergence of the Church in Edessa during the First Two Centuries A.D., Vigiliae Christianae, pp.161-175, 1968 (see pp.162,165,167,169).
  24. ^ The Kingdom of Osroene, at www.cavemanart.com
  25. ^ C. Anthon, A System of Ancient and Medieval Geography for the Use of Schools and Colleges, Harper Publishers, 1850, Digitized 2007, p.681

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