Abgar VII was king of

Osroene Osroene or Osrhoene (; ) was an ancient kingdom and region in Upper Mesopotamia. The ''Kingdom of Osroene'', also known as the "Kingdom of Edessa" ( / "Kingdom of Urhay"), according to the name of its capital city (now Urfa, Şanlıurfa, Turkey), ...

from . His primary goal was to remain independent of both the major powers in the region, the Roman and the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...

s. Toward this end, he supported the Roman Emperor Trajan's military campaign into

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 ...

against the Parthian king

Osroes I Osroes I (also spelled Chosroes I or Khosrow I; ''Husrōw'') was a Parthian contender, who ruled the western portion of the Parthian Empire from 109 to 129, with a one-year interruption. For most of his reign he contended with the rival king Vo ...

in , ending an era of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

n neutrality toward the Roman Empire. However, in , Abgar also supported a Parthian revolt against Trajan. The Roman general Lusius Quietus responded promptly by capturing and sacking Edessa. Abgar VII died at this time. Sources do not agree on what happened after Abgar VII's death. Warwick Ball reports that

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

appointed

Parthamaspates of Parthia Parthamaspates was a Parthian prince who ruled as a Roman client king in Mesopotamia, and later of Osroene during the early second century AD. He was the son of the Parthian emperor Osroes I. Biography After spending much of his life in Rom ...

as a puppet king of captured territories including Osroene in . He also reports that the Romans reinstated the Abgar dynasty in with the accession of

Ma'nu VII Ma'nu VII was king of Osrhoene from . He was the first of the Abgarid dynasty to be restored after Abgar VII supported a Parthia Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. ...

. , by contrast, report that there was a span of two years following Abgar VII's death where Edessa had no king before the Abgar dynasty was reinstated by the

Emperor Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

in as a client kingdom of Rome.

Citations

References

* * * Kings of Osroene Year of birth unknown 116 deaths 2nd-century Arab people Abgarid dynasty 2nd-century monarchs in the Middle East People of the Roman–Parthian Wars {{Syria-bio-stub