Arsamosata (Middle Persian: *Aršāmšād, Old Persian: *Ṛšāma-šiyāti-, Ancient Greek: Ἀρσαμόσατα, Armenian: Արշամաշատ, romanized: Aršamašat) was an ancient and medieval city situated on the bank of the Murat River(called the Arsanias in classical sources), near the present-day city of Elazığ. It was founded in c. 240 BC by Arsames I,[1] the Orontid king of Sophene, Commagene and possibly Armenia.[2] The city served as a central center and royal residence of the Orontids of Sophene. The origin of its name is Persian, meaning "Joy of Arsames".[1] Naming cities such as the "joy of" or "happiness of" was an Orontid (and later Artaxiad) practice that recalled the Achaemenid royal discourse.[3]
It was left and destroyed in the 1st century BC. In the Middle Ages, it was called Ashmushat. In Roman and Byzantine times, it bore the names Armosota (Ἀρμόσοτα)[4] and Arsamosota (Ἀρσαμόσοτα).[5] It was also known in Byzantine times as Asmosaton.[6]: 247 It was called Shimshat in Arabic.[7] A prominent native of Arsamosata was the 10th-century poet Abu'l-Hasan Ali al-Shimshati.[7]
Arsamosata has been identified with the abandoned settlement site known as Haraba, [8]: 112 [9][10] located by the Murat River, near the east end of the Altınova plain, some 60 km east of Elazig,.[6] Much of the site now lies submerged under the waters of the Keban Dam. The hill that served as the former city's citadel now juts out toward the northeast into a shallow lake created by the dam.[8]: 112 The city itself appears to have been just below the hill on the southeast, although this is not entirely certain.[8]: 112
^ abCanepa 2018, p. 110.
^Marciak 2017, p. 123.
^Canepa 2021, p. 82.
^Polybius. The Histories. Vol. 8.25.
^Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 5.13.
^ abHoward-Johnston, James (2006). East Rome, Sasanian Persia and the End of Antiquity. Ashgate. ISBN 0-86078-992-6. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
^ abBosworth, C.E. (1997). "Shimshāṭ". In Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P.; Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IX (SAN-SZE)(PDF). Leiden: Brill. p. 442. ISBN 90-04-10422-4. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
^ abcSinclair, T.A. (1989). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume III. Pindar Press. ISBN 0907132340. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
^Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
^Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 89, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
Arsamosata (Middle Persian: *Aršāmšād, Old Persian: *Ṛšāma-šiyāti-, Ancient Greek: Ἀρσαμόσατα, Armenian: Արշամաշատ, romanized: Aršamašat) was an ancient...
plains region stretching from modern-day Elazığ to the ancient city of Arsamosata.: 139 Now called Altınova, or "golden plain", this is a fertile and well-watered...
Armenia. It affects the cities of Nicopolis, Neocaesarea (modern Niksar), Arsamosata, and Abarne, as well as the cultural areas of Anatolia (Asia Minor) and...
499. It affected the cities of Nicopolis, Neocaesarea (modern Niksar), Arsamosata, and Abarne. Northern Turkey lies across the mainly transform fault boundary...
personally led armies into Mesopotamia in 837, capturing Melitene and Arsamosata with a massive army numbering 70,000. Further battles and attacks would...
refuge in Armenian territory governed by King Arsames, founder of the city Arsamosata. Towards the end of 212 BC the country was divided into two kingdoms,...
massive Byzantine expeditionary force into Mesopotamia. He sacks the cities Arsamosata and Sozopetra—which some sources claim as the birthplace of Abbasid caliph...
nearby villages as well as the city of Arsamosata further east. By the late 11th century, Harput had eclipsed Arsamosata to become the main settlement in the...
of Diyarbakir (Amid), Tigranocerta, Dara, Tur Abdin (Cephas), Dadima, Arsamosata, and Citharizum. Its Armenian population remained until the Armenian genocide...
Montreal on 27 May 1934 and was appointed to the post of titular bishop of Arsamosata and auxiliary bishop of Montreal on 8 September 1955. His consecration...
II Callinicus and Laodice II. She married Xerxes of Armenia, King of Arsamosata, a city between the Euphrates and the Tigris Antiochis, a daughter of...
However, its largest settlement and only true city was Arsamosata, located further to the north. Arsamosata was founded in the 3rd century BCE and survived in...
Former Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad (2018-2022) and Titular Bishop of Arsamosata (since 2019), Bishop of St. Addai Chaldean Eparchy of Canada (since 2021)...
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