CTESIPHON
![](ctesiphon.jpg)
Ctesiphon
![](424px-Ctesiphon_map-en.svg.png)
Map
of the metropolis of Ctesiphon in the Sasanian era
Location
: Salman Pak, Baghdad Governorate, Iraq
Region
: Mesopotamia
Coordinates
: 33°5'37 N 44°34'50 E
Type
: Settlement
Part
of : Babylonia
Area
: 9 km2 (3.5 sq mi)
History
:
Cultures
:
Iranian
Site
notes :
Excavation
dates : 1928 - 1929, 1931 - 1932, 1960s
- 1970s
Archaeologists
: Oscar Reuther, Antonio Invernizzi, Giorgio Gullini
Condition
: Ruined
Founded
: Middle of the third millennium BCE
Ctesiphon
(Middle Persian: tyspwn or tysfwn) was an ancient city, located
on the eastern bank of the Tigris, and about 35 kilometres (22 mi)
southeast of present-day Baghdad. Ctesiphon served as a royal capital
of the Iranian empire in the Parthian and Sasanian eras for over
eight hundred years. Ctesiphon was the winter capital of the Sasanian
Empire until the Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD.
Ctesiphon
developed into a rich commercial metropolis, merging with the surrounding
cities along both shores of the river, including the Hellenistic
city of Seleucia. Ctesiphon and its environs were therefore sometimes
referred to as "The Cities" (Aramaic: Mahuza, Arabic:
al-Mada'in). In the late sixth and early seventh century, it was
listed as the largest city in the world by some accounts.
During
the Roman–Parthian Wars, Ctesiphon fell three times to the
Romans, and later fell twice during Sasanian rule. It was also the
site of the Battle of Ctesiphon in 363 AD. After the Muslim invasion
the city fell into decay and was depopulated by the end of the eighth
century, its place as a political and economic center taken by the
Abbasid capital at Baghdad. The most conspicuous structure remaining
today is the Taq Kasra, sometimes called the Archway of Ctesiphon.
Names
:
The Latin name Ctesiphon derives from Ancient Greek Ktesiphôn.
This is ostensibly a Greek toponym based on a personal name, although
it may be a Hellenized form of a local name, reconstructed as Tisfon
or Tisbon. In Iranian-language texts of the Sasanian era, it is
spelled as tyspwn, which can be read as Tisfon, Tesifon, etc. in
Christian Sogdian (in Syriac alphabet) languages. The New Persian
form is Tisfun.
Texts
from the Church of the East's synods referred to the city as Qtespon
or some times Mahôze when referring to the metropolis of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.
In
modern Arabic, the name is usually Taysafun or Qataysfun or as al-Mada'in
("The Cities", referring to Greater Ctesiphon). "According
to Yaqut [...], quoting Hamza, the original form was Tusfun or Tusfun,
which was arabicized as Taysafun." The Armenian name of the
city was Tizbon. Ctesiphon is first mentioned in the Book of Ezra
of the Old Testament as Kasfia/Casphia (a derivative of the ethnic
name Cas, and a cognate of Caspian and Qazvin). It is also mentioned
in the Talmud as Aktisfon. In another Talmudic reference it is written
as Akistfon, located across the Tigris River from the city of Ardashir.
Location
:
![](640px-Ctesiphon-ruin_1864.jpg)
Taq
Kasra or Ctesiphon palace ruin, with the arch in the centre, 1864
Ctesiphon is located approximately at Al-Mada'in, 32 km (20 mi)
southeast of the modern city of Baghdad, Iraq, along the river Tigris.
Ctesiphon measured 30 square kilometers, more than twice the surface
of 13.7-square-kilometer fourth-century imperial Rome.[citation
needed]
The
archway of Chosroes (Taq Kasra) was once a part of the royal palace
in Ctesiphon and is estimated to date between the 3rd and 6th centuries
AD. It is located in what is now the Iraqi town of Salman Pak.
History
:
Parthian period :
Ctesiphon was founded in the late 120s BC. It was built on the site
of a military camp established across from Seleucia by Mithridates
I of Parthia. The reign of Gotarzes I saw Ctesiphon reach a peak
as a political and commercial center. The city became the Empire's
capital circa 58 BC during the reign of Orodes II. Gradually, the
city merged with the old Hellenistic capital of Seleucia and other
nearby settlements to form a cosmopolitan metropolis.
The
reason for this westward relocation of the capital could have been
in part due to the proximity of the previous capitals (Mithradatkirt,
and Hecatompylos at Hyrcania) to the Scythian incursions.
Strabo
abundantly describes the foundation of Ctesiphon :
In
ancient times Babylon was the metropolis of Assyria; but now Seleucia
is the metropolis, I mean the Seleucia on the Tigris, as it is called.
Nearby is situated a village called Ctesiphon, a large village.
This village the kings of the Parthians were wont to make their
winter residence, thus sparing the Seleucians, in order that the
Seleucians might not be oppressed by having the Scythian folk or
soldiery quartered amongst them. Because of the Parthian power,
therefore, Ctesiphon is a city rather than a village; its size is
such that it lodges a great number of people, and it has been equipped
with buildings by the Parthians themselves; and it has been provided
by the Parthians with wares for sale and with the arts that are
pleasing to the Parthians; for the Parthian kings are accustomed
to spend the winter there because of the salubrity of the air, but
they summer at Ecbatana and in Hyrcania because of the prevalence
of their ancient renown.
Because
of its importance, Ctesiphon was a major military objective for
the leaders of the Roman Empire in their eastern wars. The city
was captured by Rome five times in its history – three times
in the 2nd century alone. The emperor Trajan captured Ctesiphon
in 116, but his successor, Hadrian, decided to willingly return
Ctesiphon in 117 as part of a peace settlement. The Roman general
Avidius Cassius captured Ctesiphon in 164 during another Parthian
war, but abandoned it when peace was concluded. In 197, the emperor
Septimius Severus sacked Ctesiphon and carried off thousands of
its inhabitants, whom he sold into slavery.
Sasanian
period :
![](640px-Sasanian_Asoristan_and_its_surroundings.svg.jpg)
Map of the southwestern Sasanian province of Asoristan and
its surroundings
By 226, Ctesiphon was in the hands of the Sasanian Empire, who also
made it their capital and had laid an end to the Parthian dynasty
of Iran. Ctesiphon was greatly enlarged and flourished during their
rule, thus turning into a metropolis, which was known by in Arabic
as al-Mada'in, and in Aramaic as Mahoze. The oldest inhabited places
of Ctesiphon were on its eastern side, which in Islamic Arabic sources
is called "the Old City" (Madinah al-'Atiqah), where the
residence of the Sasanians, known as the White Palace, was located.
The southern side of Ctesiphon was known as Asbanbar or Aspanbar,
which was known by its prominent halls, riches, games, stables,
and baths. Taq Kasra was located in the latter.
The
western side was known as Veh-Ardashir (meaning "the good city
of Ardashir" in Middle Persian), known as Mahoza by the Jews,
Kokhe by the Christians, and Behrasir by the Arabs. Veh-Ardashir
was populated by many wealthy Jews, and was the seat of the church
of the Nestorian patriarch. To the south of Veh-Ardashir was Valashabad.
Ctesiphon had several other districts which were named Hanbu Shapur,
Darzanidan, Veh Jondiu-Khosrow, Nawinabad and Kardakadh.
Severus
Alexander advanced towards Ctesiphon in 233, but as corroborated
by Herodian, his armies suffered a humiliating defeat against Ardashir
I. In 283, emperor Carus sacked the city uncontested during a period
of civil upheaval. In 295, emperor Galerius was defeated outside
the city. However, he returned a year later with a vengeance and
won a victory which ended in the fifth and final capture of the
city by the Romans in 299. He returned it to the Persian king Narses
in exchange for Armenia and western Mesopotamia. In c. 325 and again
in 410, the city, or the Greek colony directly across the river,
was the site of church councils for the Church of the East.[citation
needed]
![](Babylon&Seleuicia1(Peutinger_Map).png)
4th
century Ctesiphon (Peutinger Map)
After the conquest of Antioch in 541, Khosrau I built a new city
near Ctesiphon for the inhabitants he captured. He called this new
city Weh Antiok Khusrau, or literally, "better than Antioch
Khosrau built this". Local inhabitants of the area called the
new city Rumagan, meaning "town of the Romans" and Arabs
called the city al-Rumiyya. Along with Weh Antiok, Khosrau built
a number of fortified cities. Khosrau I deported 292,000 citizens,
slaves, and conquered people to this new city in 542.
In
590, a member of the House of Mihran, Bahram Chobin repelled the
newly ascended Sasanian ruler Khosrau II from Iraq, and conquered
the region. One year later, Khosrau II, with aid from the Byzantine
Empire, reconquered his domains. During his reign, some of the great
fame of al-Mada'in decreased, due to the popularity of Khosrau's
new winter residence, Dastagerd. In 627, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius
surrounded the city, the capital of the Sassanid Empire, leaving
it after the Persians accepted his peace terms. In 628, a deadly
plague hit Ctesiphon, al-Mada'in and the rest of the western part
of the Sasanian Empire, which even killed Khosrau's son and successor,
Kavadh II.
In
629, Ctesiphon was briefly under the control of Mihranid usurper
Shahrbaraz, but the latter was shortly assassinated by the supporters
of Khosrau II's daughter Borandukht. Ctesiphon then continued to
be involved in constant fighting between two factions of the Sasanian
Empire, the Pahlav (Parthian) faction under the House of Ispahbudhan
and the Parsig (Persian) faction under Piruz Khosrow.
Downfall
of the Sasanians and the Islamic conquests :
In the mid-630s, the Muslim Arabs, who had invaded the territories
of the Sasanian Empire, defeated them during a great battle known
as the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. The Arabs then attacked Ctesiphon,
and occupied it in early 637.
The
Muslim military officer Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas quickly seized Valashabad
and made a peace treaty with the inhabitants of Weh Antiok Khusrau
and Veh-Ardashir. The terms of the treaty were that the inhabitants
of Weh Antiok Khusrau were allowed to leave if they wanted to, but
if they did not, they were forced to acknowledge Muslim authority,
and also pay tribute (jizya). Later on, when the Muslims arrived
at Ctesiphon, it was completely desolated, due to flight of the
Sasanian royal family, nobles, and troops. However, the Muslims
had managed to take some of troops captive, and many riches were
seized from the Sasanian treasury and were given to the Muslim troops.
Furthermore, the throne hall in Taq Kasra was briefly used as a
mosque. The Ctesiphon library was also destroyed by the Arabs of
the Rashidun Caliphate.
Still,
as political and economic fortune had passed elsewhere, the city
went into a rapid decline, especially after the founding of the
Abbasid capital at Baghdad in the 760s, and soon became a ghost
town. Caliph Al-Mansur took much of the required material for the
construction of Baghdad from the ruins of Ctesiphon. He also attempted
to demolish the palace and reuse its bricks for his own palace,
but he desisted only when the undertaking proved too vast. Al-Mansur
also used the al-Rumiya town as the Abbasid capital city for a few
months.
It
is believed to be the basis for the city of Isbanir in One Thousand
and One Nights.
Modern
era :
The ruins of Ctesiphon were the site of a major battle of World
War I in November 1915. The Ottoman Empire defeated troops of Britain
attempting to capture Baghdad, and drove them back some 40 miles
(64 km) before trapping the British force and compelling it to surrender.
Population
and religion :
Under Sasanian rule, the population of Ctesiphon was heavily mixed:
it included Arameans, Persians, Greeks and Assyrians. Several religions
were also practiced in the metropolis, which included Christianity,
Judaism and Zoroastrianism. In 497, the first Nestorian patriarch
Mar Babai I, fixed his see at Seleucia-Ctesiphon, supervising their
mission east, with the Merv metropolis as pivot. The population
also included Manicheans, a dualist church, who continued to be
mentioned in Ctesiphon during Umayyad rule fixing their "patriarchate
of Babylon" there. Much of the population fled from Ctesiphon
after the Arab capture of the metropolis. However, a portion of
Persians remained there, and some important figures of these people
are known to have provided Ali with presents, which he, however,
refused to take. In the ninth century, the surviving Manicheans
fled and displaced their patriarchate up the Silk Road, in Samarkand.
Archaeology
:
A German Oriental Society led by Oscar Reuther excavated at Ctesiphon
in 1928–29 mainly at Qasr bint al-Qadi on the western part
of the site. In winter of 1931–1932 a joint expedition of
the German State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and The Metropolitan
Museum of Art continued excavations at the site, focusing on the
areas of Ma'aridh, Tell Dheheb, the Taq-i Kisra, Selman Pak and
Umm ez-Za'tir under the direction of Ernst Kühnel.
In
the late 1960s and early 1970s, an Italian team from the University
of Turin directed by Antonio Invernizzi and Giorgio Gullini [it]
worked at the site, which they identified not as Ctesiphon but as
Veh Ardashir. Work mainly concentrated on restoration at the palace
of Khosrau II. In 2013, the Iraqi government contracted to restore
the Taq Kasra, as a tourist attraction.
Gallery
:
Ctesiphon
Gallery
![](Tagkasra.jpg)
1824
drawing by Captain Hart
![](640px-ArchOfCtesiphon.jpg)
Remains
of Taq Kasra in 2008
![](Stamp_Iraq_1923_3a.jpg)
1923
Iraqi postage stamp, featuring the arch
![](640px-Ctesiphon,_Iraq,_1932.jpg)
Remains
of the Kasra arch in Ctesiphon in 1932
![](Ctesiphon_Exhibition_-_Pergamonmuseum_Berlin_2017.jpg)
Ctesiphon
Exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Ctesiphon