Ctesiphon: Imperial Capital of the Parthian and Sasanian Empires
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Iraq
- Primary era
- Classical
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Classical, Medieval
- Civilizations
- Parthian, Sassanid
- Site type
- City
On this page16 sections
History
Ctesiphon is an ancient city in Iraq, founded by the Parthians around 120 BC beside a military camp opposite Seleucia. It became the capital of the Parthian Empire around 58 BC, during the reign of Orodes II, and later remained the imperial capital of the Sasanian Empire. For more than six centuries, Ctesiphon stood at the center of political and economic power in Mesopotamia.
Parthian foundation and expansion
Mithridates I of Parthia established Ctesiphon beside the existing military camp, creating a settlement positioned across the Tigris from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia. Under Gotarzes I, Ctesiphon developed into an important political and commercial center. Its westward position probably offered greater security than earlier eastern capitals such as Mithradatkirt and Hecatompylos in Hyrcania, which were vulnerable to Scythian incursions.
Ctesiphon grew together with Seleucia and nearby settlements. Their close development created a cosmopolitan urban complex that eventually extended along both banks of the Tigris. This metropolitan area became known in Arabic as al-Mada’in, meaning “the Cities,” and in Aramaic as Mahuza.
The Sasanian imperial metropolis
The Sasanian Empire succeeded the Parthian dynasty between 224 and 226, and Ctesiphon retained its position as the principal imperial capital from 226. The city was greatly enlarged and became a multilingual and multi-religious center. Arameans, Persians, Greeks, and Assyrians lived there, while Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeism were practiced within the wider metropolitan area.
The urban complex consisted of several connected districts and cities. These included Ctesiphon, Aspānbar, Veh-Ardashir, Valashabad, Veh-Antiok-Xusrō, Darzanidan, Hanbu Shapur, Veh Jondiu-Khosrow, Nawinabad, and Kardakadh. Other lists also include Seleucia, Mahuza, and Sabaṭ. Together, these settlements formed a large urban concentration that was sometimes regarded as the world’s largest city during the late sixth and early seventh centuries.
Veh-Ardashir contained a large Jewish population and served as the seat of the patriarch of the Church of the East, a major East Syriac Christian institution whose patriarchal see supervised Christian communities across parts of the Iranian world and Central Asia. In 497, the East Syriac patriarch Mar Babai I established his see at Seleucia-Ctesiphon.
Sasanian rulers also used the area to settle deported populations. After Khosrow I conquered Antioch in 541, he founded Veh-Antiok-Xusrō near Ctesiphon for inhabitants transferred from the Syrian city. During the 540s, large numbers of people from other conquered Syrian cities were moved there as well. A figure of approximately 292,000 has been associated with these transfers, although that number is uncertain. Local inhabitants called the city Rumagan, while Arabic speakers used the name al-Rumiyya.
War with Rome
Ctesiphon was a principal Roman military objective during the Roman-Parthian and Roman-Sasanian wars. The Roman emperor Trajan captured it in 116, but his successor Hadrian returned it to Iran in 117 as part of a peace settlement. The Roman general Avidius Cassius took the city in 164 and later abandoned it when peace was restored. In 197, the Roman emperor Septimius Severus sacked Ctesiphon and enslaved thousands of its inhabitants.
Further campaigns followed under the Sasanians. In 233, the Roman emperor Severus Alexander advanced against Ctesiphon but suffered a major defeat near the city at the hands of Ardashir I, founder and first king of the Sasanian Empire. Emperor Carus captured and sacked Ctesiphon without opposition in 283, during a period of civil upheaval. The Roman military leader Galerius was defeated outside the city in 295 and returned the following year. The circumstances of the final Roman capture in 299, and the later return of the city to the Sasanian king Narses in exchange for Armenia and western Mesopotamia, remain uncertain.
Late Sasanian crisis
Ctesiphon remained an imperial center during the political struggles of the late sixth and early seventh centuries. In 590, Bahram Chobin of the House of Mihran drove Khosrow II from Iraq and took control of the region. Khosrow recovered it in 591 with Byzantine assistance. Ctesiphon later became less prominent after Khosrow established a new winter residence at Dastagerd.
In 627, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius besieged Ctesiphon. He withdrew after the Sasanians accepted his peace terms. A deadly plague reached the city and the western Sasanian Empire in 628, killing Khosrow II’s son and successor, Kavad II.
In 629, the Mihranid usurper Shahrbaraz briefly controlled Ctesiphon before supporters of Borandukht, Khosrow II’s daughter, assassinated him. The city then became involved in the continuing conflict between the Pahlav and Parsig factions. Pahlav represented Parthian aristocratic interests, while Parsig represented Persian aristocratic interests.
Conquest and decline
After the Sasanian defeat at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, Muslim Arab forces attacked Ctesiphon and occupied it in early 637. The Sasanian royal family, nobles, and troops had largely fled, although some soldiers were captured and substantial wealth from the imperial treasury was seized.
The Muslim commander Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas reached agreements with the inhabitants of Veh-Antiok-Xusrō and Veh-Ardashir. Those who remained accepted Muslim authority and paid jizya, a tax imposed on certain non-Muslim subject populations in return for recognition of Muslim rule and protected status. Those who wished to leave were permitted to do so. Salman al-Farsi was later appointed governor of Ctesiphon by the caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Much of the population subsequently left, although some Persians remained. Political and economic power shifted toward Basra, Kufa, and especially Baghdad, causing Ctesiphon to decline rapidly. By the end of the eighth century, the city had largely lost its population and importance.
Later reuse and archaeological work
During the Abbasid period, the caliph al-Mansur used Ctesiphon’s ruins as a source of building materials for Baghdad. He ordered the White Palace to be demolished and considered transporting its bricks for reuse, but abandoned the plan when the task proved too difficult. In 754, al-Mansur temporarily based his court at al-Rumiyya, where his commander Abu Muslim was killed.
In November 1915, the ruins became the scene of a major battle during the First World War. Ottoman forces defeated British troops advancing toward Baghdad and drove them back approximately 40 miles. The British force was later trapped and compelled to surrender during the siege of Kut.
German excavations and a joint German-American expedition took place in 1928-1929 and 1931-1932. An Italian expedition from the University of Turin, directed by Antonio Invernizzi and Giorgio Gullini, worked at Ctesiphon from the late 1960s into the 1970s. Its activities included restoration at the palace associated with Khosrow II. In 2013, the Iraqi government contracted work to restore the Taq Kasra, while serious neglect and accumulated rubbish around the palace area continued to affect the site.
Remains
Ctesiphon occupied the eastern bank of the Tigris, about 35 kilometers southeast of modern Baghdad, in the area of present-day Salman Pak. The urban area covered approximately 30 square kilometers. Its districts and associated settlements extended along both banks of the river, incorporating Seleucia and other neighboring communities into the metropolitan complex known as al-Mada’in.
Urban districts
The Old City
The oldest inhabited area stood on the eastern side of the urban complex. Islamic Arabic sources called it the Old City. The Sasanian royal residence known as the White Palace stood approximately one mile north of this area. It was a separate building from the Taq Kasra and had deteriorated by the early fourth century of the Islamic era.
Aspānbar and the eastern districts
The southern district, called Asbānbar or Aspānbar, was associated with prominent halls, luxurious facilities, games, stables, and baths. The Taq Kasra formed part of the Sasanian royal palace complex in this district. Other recorded districts included Valashabad, south of Veh-Ardashir, as well as Hanbu Shapur, Darzanidan, Veh Jondiu-Khosrow, Nawinabad, and Kardakadh.
Veh-Ardashir
On the western bank stood Veh-Ardashir, whose Middle Persian name means “the good city of Ardashir.” Jewish communities called it Mahoza, Christians called it Kokhe, and Arabic speakers called it Behrasir. The district contained the seat of the patriarch of the Church of the East and was a major component of the urban area opposite the older eastern settlement.
Royal architecture
Taq Kasra
The Taq Kasra, also called the Arch of Ctesiphon or the Iwan of Khosrow, is the most conspicuous surviving structure at Ctesiphon. An iwan is a large vaulted hall open on one side, a characteristic form of Iranian and Mesopotamian monumental architecture. The building was part of the royal palace and is generally dated between the third and sixth centuries AD.
The Taq Kasra is a monumental vaulted audience hall. Its construction has been attributed at different times to Shapur I, Shapur II, Khosrow I, and Khosrow II, but no single attribution is certain. The throne or audience hall was briefly used as a mosque after the Muslim conquest. Restoration work has focused on the structure, which remains the principal surviving remnant of the Sasanian palaces at Ctesiphon.
The White Palace
The White Palace was a separate Sasanian royal residence in the eastern part of the city. Later traditions sometimes confused it with the Taq Kasra under the general name “Arch of Khosrow.” Its association with the Old City and its later use as a source of building materials connect it to the changing physical character of Ctesiphon after the Abbasid foundation of Baghdad.
Archaeological areas and collections
The 1928-1929 expedition concentrated on Qasr bint al-Qadi in the western part of the site. Work during the 1931-1932 expedition investigated Ma’aridh, Tell Dheheb, the Taq Kasra, Selman Pak, and Umm ez-Za’tir. These investigations helped define the extent and internal organization of the wider urban complex.
The Italian excavations examined the opposite bank of the Tigris in the area identified as Veh-Ardashir, with particular attention to the palace associated with Khosrow II. Much of the archaeological material recovered during the excavations is preserved in museums, including the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
