Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon was an ancient city in modern Iraq, located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, about 35 kilometres southeast of Baghdad. For over eight hundred years, it served as a royal capital for the Iranian empires during the Parthian and Sasanian periods. From 226 to 637 AD, Ctesiphon was the administrative capital of the Sasanian Empire, until it was conquered by Arab forces.

The city grew into a rich commercial center, merging with nearby cities along the river, including the Hellenistic city of Seleucia. Together, these areas were sometimes called "The Cities" or Mahuza in Arabic, meaning al-Mada'in. At its peak in the late 6th and early 7th centuries, Ctesiphon was considered the largest city in the world by some accounts.

Ctesiphon faced many challenges throughout its history. It fell to the Romans three times during the Roman–Parthian Wars and again once during Sasanian rule. A major battle, the Battle of Ctesiphon in 363 AD, also took place there. After the Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD, the city began to decline and was largely abandoned by the end of the 8th century. Today, the most famous remaining structure is the Taq Kasra, known as the Arch of Ctesiphon.

Names

The name Ctesiphon comes from the Ancient Greek word Ktēsiphôn. It might be a Greek version of a local name that sounded like Tisfōn or Tisbōn. During the time of the Sasanian Empire, people wrote the city's name as Tyspwn in different Iranian languages.

Today, in Arabic, the city is called Ṭaysafūn or al-Mada'in, which means "The Cities" because it was a big area with many towns. The Armenian name for the city was Tizbon. The city is also mentioned in old books like the Book of Ezra and the Talmud, where it has different names.

Location

Ctesiphon is located near Al-Mada'in, about 35 kilometers southeast of modern Baghdad in Iraq. It sat along the Tigris River and covered an area of 30 square kilometers, which is more than twice the size of the ancient city of Rome.

The Taq Kasra was part of the royal palace in Ctesiphon. It dates from between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD and can still be seen in the Iraqi town of Salman Pak.

History

Ctesiphon was founded in the late 120s BC as a military camp across from the city of Seleucia. It grew to become an important political and commercial center during the rule of the Parthian Empire, eventually becoming the capital around 58 BC. The city merged with nearby Seleucia and other settlements to form a large, diverse metropolis.

When the Sasanian Empire took over in 226, Ctesiphon became their capital as well. The city expanded and thrived, known in Arabic as al-Mada'in. It had many districts, each with its own features, such as the "Old City" where the Sasanian kings lived, and Veh-Ardashir, which was home to many wealthy Jews and important religious leaders. Ctesiphon faced challenges from Roman leaders who tried to capture it several times over the years. Later, in the mid-630s, Muslim forces from Arabia defeated the Sasanians and took control of Ctesiphon, leading to its decline. As new cities like Baghdad rose to prominence, Ctesiphon slowly turned into a ghost town. In World War I, the ruins of Ctesiphon were the site of a major battle between Ottoman and British forces.

Population and religion

Ctesiphon was a city with many different kinds of people. It was home to Arameans, Persians, Greeks, and Assyrians. People in Ctesiphon practiced several religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.

In the year 497, an important Christian leader named Mar Babai I chose to live in Ctesiphon and led many missions eastward from there. There were also some Manicheans, a different kind of religious group, who lived in Ctesiphon even after new rulers took over the city. Later, in the ninth century, the remaining Manicheans moved their leaders to Samarkand along the Silk Road.

Archaeology

A group from the German Oriental Society led by Oscar Reuther dug at Ctesiphon in 1928–29, mainly at a place called Qasr bint al-Qadi on the western side of the site. Later, in the winter of 1931–1932, another team from German State Museums and The Metropolitan Museum of Art kept digging at spots like Ma'aridh and Taq-i Kisra, led by Ernst Kühnel.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a team from the University of Turin worked on the other side of the Tigris River, which they called Veh Ardashir. They mostly worked on fixing up the palace of Khosrow II. In 2013, the Iraqi government planned to restore the Taq Kasra to make it a place for tourists to visit.