Seleucia
ܣܠܝܩ (Salīq) Σελεύκεια | |
Alternative name | Seleukeia, Salīq, Seleucia-on-Tigris, Seleucia on the Tigris |
---|---|
Location | Baghdad Governorate, Iraq |
Region | Mesopotamia |
Coordinates | 33°5′40″N 44°31′20″E / 33.09444°N 44.52222°E |
Type | Settlement |
Area | 5.5 km2 (2.1 sq mi) |
History | |
Builder | Seleucus I Nicator |
Founded | c. 305 BC |
Abandoned | 165 AD |
Periods | Hellenistic to Roman Imperial |
Cultures | Greek, Parthian, Sasanian |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 1927–1932, 1936–1937, 1964–1968, 1985–1989 |
Archaeologists | Leroy Waterman, Clark Hopkins, Antonio Invernizzi, Giorgio Gullini |
Seleucia (
Names
Seleucia (
Texts from the
The
called it Bahurasīr.History
Seleucid Empire
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.[2] Other scientists proposed 306 BC and 312 BC.[3][4] 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 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.[5] Standing at the confluence of the Tigris River with a major canal from 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
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 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 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
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 the Parthian style. It was completely destroyed by the Roman general Avidius Cassius in 165.[7]
Sasanian rule
Over sixty years later a new city,
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
Towards the end of the reign of Yazdegerd I, the Christians were again persecuted in 420. Dadyeshu 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 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 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.
Archaeology
The site of Seleucia was rediscovered in the 1920s by archaeologists looking for Opis.[8]
Beginning in 1927, University of Michigan professors Leroy Waterman (1927–1932) and Clark Hopkins (1936–1937) oversaw excavations for 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. [9] [10] [11] 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.[12] From 1964 to 1968 and then between 1985 and 1989, an Italian mission from 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. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]
In an outer wall of the Parthian period, a reused
See also
References
- ^ Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Seleucia-Ctesiphon — ܣܠܝܩ ܘܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified May 25, 2016, http://syriaca.org/place/2615.
- ^ Auguste Bouch-Leclerq, "Histoire des Se'leucides II", Paris, 1914
- ^ Karl Julius Beloch, "Griechische Geschichte IV i", Berlin, 1923
- ^ Hadley, Robert A., "The Foundation Date of Seleucia-on-the-Tigris", Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 228–30, 1978
- ^ See entry for Babylon
- ISBN 9781139456135.
- ^ The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon
- ^ "University of Michigan.edu". Archived from the original on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2005-12-10.
- ^ L. Watermann, "Preliminary Report upon the Excavations at Tel Umar Iraq", University of Michigan Press, 1931 (available for borrow at archive.org [1])
- ^ L. Watermann, "Second Preliminary Report upon the Excavations at Tel Umar Iraq", University of Michigan Press, 1933 (available for borrow at archive.org [2])
- ^ Howard C. Hollis, Material from Seleucia, The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 129-131, 1933
- ^ L. Waterman, "Professor Waterman’s Work at Seleucia", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 35, pp. 25–27, 1929
- ^ G. Gullini, First Report of the Results of the First Excavation Campaign at Seleucia and Ctesiphon: 1st oct. – 17th dec. 1964, Sumer, vol. 20, pp. 63-65, 1964
- ^ G. Gullini and A. Invernizzi, First Preliminary Report of Excavations at Seleucia and Ctesiphon. Season 1964, Mesopotamia, vol. I, pp. 1-88, 1966
- ^ G. Gullini and A. Invernizzi, Second Preliminary Report of Excavations at Seleucia and Ctesiphon. Season 1965, Mesopotamia, vol. 2, pp. 1-133, 1967
- ^ G. Gullini and A. Invernizzi, Third Preliminary Report of Excavations at Seleucia and Ctesiphon. Season 1966, Mesopotamia, vol. 3-4, 1968–69
- ^ G. Gullini and A. Invernizzi, Fifth Preliminary Report of Excavations at Seleucia and Ctesiphon. Season 1969, Mesopotamia, vol. 5-6, 1960–71
- ^ G. Gullini and A. Invernizzi, Sixth Preliminary Report of Excavations at Seleucia and Ctesiphon. Seasons 1972/74, Mesopotamia, vol. 5-6, 1973–74
- ^ G. Gullini and A. Invernizzi, Seventh Preliminary Report of Excavations at Seleucia and Ctesiphon. Seasons 1975/76, Mesopotamia, vol. 7, 1977
- ^ A. Invernizzi, The Excavations at the Archives Building, Mesopotamia, vol. VII, pp. 13-16, 1972
- ^ A. Invernizzi, The Excavations at the Archives Building, Mesopotamia, vol. VIII, pp. 9-14, 1973–74
Sources
- G. R. F. Assar., "Parthian Calendars at Babylon and Seleucia on the Tigris", Iran, vol. 41, pp. 171–91, 2003
- Messina, Vito, "FURTHER BULLAE FROM SELEUCIA ON THE TIGRIS", Iraq, vol. 76, pp. 123–40, 2014
- INVERNIZZI, ANTONIO, "Portraits of Seleucid Kings on the Sealings from Seleucia-on-the-Tigris: A Reassessment", Bulletin of the Asia Institute, vol. 12, pp. 105–12, 1998
- L.T. Doty, A Cuneiform Tablet from Tell Umar, Mesopotamia, vol. XIII-XIV, pp. 13–14 and 91-98, 1978–79
- MØRKHOLM, OTTO, "The Parthian Coinage of Seleucia on the Tigris, c. 90-55 B.C", The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 20 (140), pp. 33–47, 1980
- G. Pettinato, Cuneiform Inscriptions Discovered at Seleucia on the Tigris», Mesopotamia, vol. V-VI, pp. 49–66, 1970–71
- A. Invernizzi, Ten Years Research in the al-Mada'in Area. Seleucia and Ctesiphon, Sumer, vol. 32, pp. 167–175, 1976
- Waggoner, Nancy M., "THE EARLY ALEXANDER COINAGE AT SELEUCIA ON THE TIGRIS", Museum Notes (American Numismatic Society), vol. 15, pp. 21–30, 1969
External links
- University of Turin excavation web site
- Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Seleucia". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.