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Opis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, seeOpis (disambiguation).
Opis
Opis is located in Iraq
Opis
Shown within Iraq
LocationBaghdad Governorate,Iraq
RegionMesopotamia
TypeSettlement

Opis(AkkadianUpîorUpija/Upiya;Ancient Greek:Ὦπις) was an ancient Near East city near theTigris,not far from modernBaghdad.The equivalence of Opis and Upi are now usually assumed but not yet proven. Early on it was thought that the ideogram for Upi might refer toKeshorAkshak.[1]Its location is not yet known with certainty though Tall al-Mujailāt has been proposed. That site has also been suggested as the location of the ancient city ofAkshak.[2]

Location[edit]

AkkadianandGreektexts indicate that it was located on the east side of the Tigris, near theDiyala River.[3] The precise site of the city has been uncertain for a long time, though at one point thought to be near or under the city ofSeleucia. [4]The site of Tel Abir was also proposed as the location of Opis.[5][6]

Several texts suggest that Upi is in the same area as the city ofAkkad,also unlocated, and in the area betweenSipparandEshnunna.[7]

A similar Kudurru of Marduk-nadin-akhe

Recent geographical surveys of ancient Mesopotamia tentatively identify Opis with the mound called Tall al-Mujailāt (also Tulūl al-Mujaili` or Tulūl Mujaili` or el-Mjel'aat), 20 miles southeast of the modern city ofBaghdad,15 kilometers north of ancientCtesiphon,and 47 miles northeast of ancientBabylon.[8][9][10]The site has an extent of 500 meters by 200 meters with a maximum height of 6.5 meters above the plain. Surface material showed occupation from the Early Dynastic through the Neo-Babylonian periods.[11]

AKudurrudated to the 13th year of Second Dynasty of Isin rulerMarduk-nadin-ahhe(c. 1095–1078 BC) was found at Tulūl al-Mujaili`. It was recorded at "the city Opis". The land in question was part of the city of Dur-Sharrkin "Fortress of Sargon" (location unknown). Not to be confused with the much later Neo-Assyrian fortress.[12]

History[edit]

A text from year 8 of Ur III rulerShu-Sin(c. 2037–2028 BC) details a journey of 22 women from Eshnunna to Nippur and back via Upi with the Upi/Nippur leg in both directions being fully on water.[13]

A year name of the Old Babylonian rulerApil-Sin(c. 1767 to 1749 BC) read "Year Apil-Sin built (the city wall of) Upi" (mu u2-pi2-ekia-pil-den.zu ba-du3).[14]

Early in the reign of Old Babylon Empire ruler Hamurabi, grandson of Apil-Sin, after a conflict between Babylon, Mari, Eshnunna, and Elam resulted in Hamurabi being in control of the Upi area. A text fromMarishowed diplomacy over that area's disposition:

"If he releases Mankisum, Upi, Shahadunu, and the banks of the Tigris River three double-miles south of Upi — which is the border my grandfather Apil-Sin fixed - then, I will make peace with him. Otherwise, if I am to release Mankisum, he should repay me (for) my efforts that I expended against the Sukkal of Elam for Mankisum. (Only) then may he take Mankisum and I (will take) Upi, Shahadunu and three double-miles south of Upi (along) the banks of the Tigris River."[15]

From a text it is known that the Kassite rulerBurna-Buriash II(c. 1359–1333 BC) held an audience in Upi.[16]

AKudurrufrom the reign ofAdad-apla-iddina(c. 1064–1043) excavated at Assur is dated at Opis.[17]

In one of annals of Neo-Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (705–681 BC) it states:

"…I gave orders to sailors of the cities of Tyre (and) Sidon, (and) the land Ionia, whom I had captured. They (my troops) let (the sailors) sail down the Tigris river with them, downstream to the city of Opis. Then from the city of Opis, they lifted them (the boats) up onto dry land and dragged them on rollers to Sippar? and guided them into the Arahtu canal…"[18]

Ancient Near East 540 BC

The Neo-Babylonians dug the Nār-Šarri (later Nār-Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur) canal between theEuphratesand the Tigris, which ended near Opis. TheNeo-BabyloniankingNebuchadnezzar II(605–562 BC) built a longwallbetween the two rivers to protect against a potentialMedianinvasion; the fortified line began atSipparand continued eastward beyond the Tigris and ended near Opis.[19]In Nebuchadnezzar II year 40, 565 BC, a cuneiform document was written in Opis by a Judean trader, the first attestation of a Judean trader in Babylonia.[20]

In October 539 BC, the troops of the Babylonian kingNabonidus(556–539 BC) defended Opis against thePersianscommanded byCyrus the Great(559–530 BC). The Babylonians were defeated and the native population revolted against its government. Without further fighting, Cyrus captured Babylon. Opis was located near the PersianRoyal Road,which connected the formerElamitecapitalSusato theAssyrianheartland aroundErbiland, further to the west, theLydiancapitalSardis.[21]It is known that at the time of Nabonidus the city had a Šangû-Upia ( “High-Priest-of-Opis” ).[22]

In September 331 BC, theMacedoniankingAlexander the Great(336–323 BC) defeatedDarius III of Persia(336–330 BC) at theBattle of Gaugamela,and probably took possession of Opis about the same time as Babylon. A few years later, Alexander was forced by a mutiny at theHyphasis(now Beas) River to return from the long campaign in India, and his European troops revolted again at Opis (autumn 324 BC). In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, he took an oath of unity before 9,000 Persian and Greek troops at Opis.[23]In a similar vein, he had marriedStateira(the daughter of Darius) and celebrated amass marriageof his senior officers to Persian and other Eastern noblewomen at Susa just before coming to Opis.[24]

Seleukos I Nikator(306–281 BC), one of Alexander'sDiadochi(Successors), founded theSeleucid Empireand built his Mesopotamian capitalSeleukeiawest of the river Tigris, some 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Opis. TheHellenisticcity of Seleukeia rapidly eclipsed older Mesopotamian centers in the region like Babylon,Sippar,and Opis.

In the 2nd century BC, theParthian Empireconquered the eastern provinces of the Seleucid Empire, including Seleukeia and Opis. Both cities were, in their turn, largely eclipsed by the emergence of the new Parthian (and subsequentlyPersian) capitalKtesiphonnearby, in-between Seleukeia and Opis.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Ungnad, Arthur, "Zur Lage von Upî-Opis", Zeitschrift Der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 133–35, 1913
  2. ^Gentili, Paolo, "Opis E Le Altre", Studi Classici e Orientali, vol. 51, pp. 25–53, 2005
  3. ^Clark Hopkins, "A Bird's-eye View of Opis and Seleucia", Antiquity, vol. 13, iss. 52, pp. 440-448, December 1939
  4. ^R. H., "Excavations in Iraq", The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 17, no. 7, pp. 133-135, Jul 1930
  5. ^[1]William Horsburgh Lane, "Babylonian Problems", J. Murray, 1923
  6. ^Luckenbill, D. D., "The Site of Opis", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 148–51, 1924
  7. ^Wall-Romana, Christopher, "An Areal Location of Agade", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 205–45, 1990
  8. ^S. Parpola and M. Porter, "The Helsinki Atlas of the Near East in the Neo-Assyrian Period", Helsinki, 2001ISBN9789514590504
  9. ^P. Högelmann and K. Buschmann, "Östlicher Mittelmeerraum. Das achämenidische Westreich von Kyros bis Xerxes (547–479/8 v. Chr.)", in Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, B IV 23, 1986
  10. ^R. J. Talbert, "Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World", Princeton 2000ISBN9780691049458
  11. ^[2]Adams, Robert M., "Land Behind Baghdad: A History of Settlement on the Diyala Plains", Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1965
  12. ^[3]K. al-Admi, "Kudurru of Maroduk-nadin-ahhe, IM 90585", Sumer 38, Sumer 38, pp. 121-133, 1982
  13. ^Astour, Michael C., "A Reconstruction of the History of Ebla (Part 2)", Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Volume 4, edited by Cyrus H. Gordon and Gary A. Rendsburg, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 57-196, 2002
  14. ^Charpin, D, "Histoire politique du Proche-Orient amorrite (2002-1595)", in: P. Attinger, W. Sallaberger and M. Wäfler (eds.), Mesopotamien: Die altbabylonische Zeit (Annäherungen 4 = OBO 160/4, Fribourg & Göttingen), pp. 25-480, 2004
  15. ^Miglio, Adam E., "The Beginning Of The End: Zimrilims’s War With Elam", Tribe and State: The Dynamics of International Politics and the Reign of Zimri-Lim, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, pp. 187-234, 2014
  16. ^Radau, Hugo, "RESULTS", Letters to Cassite Kings from the Temple Archives of Nippur, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1908, pp. 59-93, 1908
  17. ^Frame, Grant, "A Kudurru Fragment from the Reign of Adad-apla-iddina", Altorientalische Forschungen ", vol. 13, no. 1-2, pp. 206-211, 1986
  18. ^Corò, Paola, "Greek as Travellers in Near Eastern Sources", Literary Change in Mesopotamia and Beyond and Routes and Travellers between East and West. Proceedings of the 2nd and 3rd Melammu Workshops, Zaphon, pp. 113-133, 2019
  19. ^R. D. Barnett, "Xenophon and the wall of Media", JHS 83, 1963
  20. ^Alstola, Tero, "Judean merchants in Babylonia and their participation in long-distance trade", Die Welt des Orients 47.1, pp. 25-51, 2017
  21. ^A. T. Olmstead, "History of the Persian Empire", Chicago, 1948
  22. ^Sandowicz, Małgorzata, "Companions of Nabonidus", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 110.2, pp. 161-175, 2022
  23. ^Roisman, Joseph, "Alexander and Discontent: The King and His Army in India and Opis, Mesopotamia", Alexander’s Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors, New York, USA: University of Texas Press, pp. 31-60, 2012
  24. ^Nagle, D. Brendan, "The Cultural Context of Alexander's Speech at Opis", Transactions of the American Philological Association, vol. 126, pp. 151-172, 1996

Further reading[edit]

  • Lendle, Otto, "Xenophon In Babylonien: Die Märsche Der Kyreer von Pylai Bis Opis", Rheinisches Museum Für Philologie, vol. 129, no. 3/4, pp. 193–222, 1986
  • [4]Levy, Selim J., "Harmal Geographical List", Sumer, vol. 3, iss. 2, pp. 50-83, 1947
  • [5]Ross, J., "A Journey from Baghdad to the Ruins of Opis and the Median Wall", in Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. 11, pp. 121–136, 1841
  • Saporetti, Claudio, "Opis E Il Muro Della Media", Egitto e Vicino Oriente, vol. 27, pp. 95–102, 2004
  • Fritz Wüst, "Die Meuterei von Opis (Arrian VII, 8; 11, 1-7)", Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 418–31, 1954
  • Fritz R. Wüst, "Die Rede Alexanders Des Grossen in Opis, Arrian VII 9-10", Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 177–88, 1953
  • Zaia, Shana, "Everything Must Go: Consequences of State Projects and Controlling the Levant for the Eanna Temple (591–590 BCE)", Altorientalische Forschungen 48.1, pp. 159-188, 2021

External links[edit]

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