Abdsamiya (

Hatran Aramaic Hatran Aramaic (Aramaic of Hatra, Ashurian or East Mesopotamian) designates a Middle Aramaic dialect, that was used in the region of Hatra and Assur in northeastern parts of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), approximately from the 3rd century BC to t ...

: 𐣯𐣡𐣣𐣮𐣬𐣩𐣠) was a king of

Hatra Hatra (; (); ) was an ancient Arab city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The ruins of the city lie northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. It is considered the richest archaeologi ...

, an ancient city and kingdom in ancient

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. He reigned from about AD 180 to 205. Abdsamiya was the son of king

Sanatruq I Sanatruq I (also spelled Sanatruk I; Hatran Aramaic: 𐣮𐣭𐣨𐣣𐣥𐣲) was the first king of Hatra, an ancient city in northern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). He is known from more than 20 inscriptions found at Hatra and reigned from ...

and the father of

Sanatruq II Sanatruq II ( Hatran Aramaic: 𐣮𐣭𐣨𐣣𐣥𐣲 snṭrwq) was the last king of Hatra (an ancient city in nowadays Iraq), ruling from about AD 205 to 240/41. He was the son of king Abdsamiya and is attested by nine inscriptions discovered a ...

. Abdsamiya is known from eight inscriptions found at

. One of them reports the building of a porticus for the king and is dated to year 504 of the

Seleucid era The Seleucid era ("SE") or (literally "year of the Greeks" or "Greek year"), sometimes denoted "AG," was a Calendar era, system of numbering years in use by the Seleucid Empire and other countries among the ancient Hellenistic period, Hellenistic ...

(AD 192/93). Another inscription appears on a statue and is dated to AD 201/202. Abdsamiya is most likely also mentioned by

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...

(3.1.3),Hatra on Iranica.com
/ref> where he is named as ''Barsemias,'' there he is reported to have supported

Pescennius Niger Gaius Pescennius Niger (c. 135 – 194) was a Roman usurper from 193 to 194 during the Year of the Five Emperors. He claimed the imperial throne in response to the murder of Pertinax and the elevation of Didius Julianus, but was defeated by a ...

against

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

in AD 192.

References

Literature

*Michael Sommer: ''Hatra. Geschichte und Kultur einer Karawanenstadt im römisch-parthischen Mesopotamien.'' von Zabern, Mainz 2003, {{ISBN, 3-8053-3252-1, p. 23-24. 2nd-century Arab people 3rd-century Arab people Hatra 2nd-century monarchs in the Middle East Vassal rulers of the Parthian Empire