Ancient kingdom, northwestern
Mesopotamia. Located between the
Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, it was situated across the modern frontier of Turkey and Syria, with its capital at Edessa (modern
Sanliurfa, Tur.). Founded in
c. 136
BC, it commanded strategic trade and military routes (1st century
BC – 2nd century
AD). At different times it was allied with either
Parthia or
Rome. The kingdom was abolished by the Roman emperor
Caracalla in
AD 216. In the 4th – 7th centuries
AD it was dominated by the wars between the
Byzantine Empire and the Persian S
as
anian dynasty. Under various Arab dynasties, it became a centre of reaction against Hellenism and the headquarters of Chaldean Syriac literature and learning. It fell to the Muslims in 638.
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