Seleucia

Seleucia

Seleucia, also called Seleucia-on-Tigris, was a big city in ancient Mesopotamia. It stood on the west side of the Tigris River in what we now call the Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. The city was built around 305 BC by Seleucus I Nicator. It was the first capital of the Seleucid Empire.

Seleucia stayed important for trade and Hellenistic culture even after the capital moved to Antioch. When the Parthians took control in 141 BC, the city kept growing.

The city was destroyed in 165 AD by the Roman general Avidius Cassius. After that, Seleucia slowly disappeared and was forgotten for many years. Archaeologists found the site again in the 1920s, bringing new interest to this once-great ancient city.

Names

Seleucia (Ancient Greek: Σελεύκεια, Seleúkeia) is named after Seleucus I Nicator. He grew an older town and made it the capital of his empire around 305 BC. It was the biggest and most important of the many cities to bear its name. People sometimes called it Seleucia-on-Tigris or Seleucia on the Tigris (Latin: Seleucia ad Tigridem) after the name of its river.

Writings from the Church of the East meetings called the city Salīq (Syriac: ܣܠܝܩ) or sometimes Māḥôzē (Syriac: ܡܚܘܙ̈ܐ) when talking about the main city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.

The Sassanids named the eastern part of the city Veh-Ardashir (Persian: ویه‌اردشیر); Arabs called it Bahurasīr.

History

Seleucid Empire

Seleucia was the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, founded by Seleucus I Nicator. Seleucus was a leader after Alexander the Great died. Later, the main capital moved to Antioch in northern Syria, but Seleucia stayed important for trade and culture.

The city was built near where the Tigris River meets a major canal from the Euphrates, making it a busy trading place. In its early years, Seleucia was one of the largest cities, with big walls and a large population.

In 141 BC, the Parthians took over the city, and Seleucia became important for their empire too. Ancient records say it may have held up to 600,000 people at its peak.

Sasanian rule

Later, a new city named Veh-Ardashir was built across the river by the Persian emperor Ardashir I. Over time, Seleucia became less important and was abandoned as the Tigris River changed its path.

Christian communities grew in the area, and Seleucia became a key center for the Church of the East. Important meetings were held there, and leaders were chosen to guide the church.

Archaeology

The site of Seleucia was found in the 1920s by archaeologists searching for Opis.

Starting in 1927, teachers from the University of Michigan led digs at the site for the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. They discovered many items, such as coins, beads, and metal tools. Later, from 1964 to 1968 and again in the 1980s, a team from the University of Turin also searched the area and found an important building with thousands of seals, all styled in Greek ways.

In a wall from a later time, they found an old brick marked from the year 821 BC, from the days of the Neo-Assyrian people.