King of Adiabene | |
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Details | |
First monarch | Abdissares |
Last monarch | Ardashir II |
Formation | 2nd century BC |
Abolition | AD 379 |
The kings of Adiabene were the rulers of Adiabene, an ancient kingdom which existed in Northern Mesopotamia from the second century BC to the fourth century AD. Adiabene was successively a vassal state of the Seleucid (second century BC), Parthian (second century BC to third century AD) and Sasanian (third to fourth century AD) empires and was geopolitically important since it often found itself located on the frontier between the Iranian empires in the east and the Roman Empire in the west. Though at times equated with ancient Assyria by contemporary authors,[1] the only known ruler of Adiabene of apparent local Mesopotamian descent was the kingdom's first ruler, Abdissares, whose name was of Aramaic origin. The names of the later known kings of Adiabene all appear to be of either Iranian, or in a few cases Greek, origin.