Parthia
Parthia was an ancient Parthian empire in Asia. It included what is now Iran, part of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
 Parthian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 60 BCE. | |
| Languages | Parthian language |
|---|---|
| Religions | Zoroastrianism |
| Capitals | Ctesiphon, Hecatompylus |
| Area | Middle East |
| Existed | 238 BCE–228 CE |
Parthians were excellent horsemen and archers. In battle, mounted Parthians often discharged their arrows back towards the enemy and pretended to flee.
In 250 BC, the Parthians succeeded in founding an independent kingdom, which in the 1st century BC grew into an empire extending from the Euphrates to the Indus and from the Amu Darya to the Indian Ocean. They expanded by successfully expelling the Seleucids from Persia and establishing the second freat Persian Empire.
- See Crassus for an account of their defeat of a Roman army.
Parthia Media
This is a filler for wherever a coat of arms is missing (in an infobox, for example). – You can find more information about coats of arms on WikiProject Heraldry and vexillology.
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This is a filler for wherever a coat of arms is missing (in an infobox, for example). – You can find more information about coats of arms on WikiProject Heraldry and vexillology.
Xerxes I tomb, Parthian soldier circa 470 BCE
Parthia (𓊪𓃭𓍘𓇋𓍯𓈉, P-rw-t-i-wꜣ), as one of the 24 subjects of the Achaemenid Empire, in the Egyptian Statue of Darius I.
Coin of Andragoras, the last Seleucid satrap of Parthia. He proclaimed independence around 250 BC.
Parthian horseman now on display at the Palazzo Madama, Turin.
Coin of Mithridates I (R. 171–138 BC). The reverse shows Heracles, and the inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ "Great King Arsaces, friend of Greeks".
Reproduction of a Parthian archer as depicted on Trajan's Column.
A sculpted head (broken off from a larger statue) of a Parthian soldier wearing a Hellenistic-style helmet, from the Parthian royal residence and necropolis of Nisa, 2nd century BC
Other websites
- Parthia.com - with an extensive bibliography
- History of Parthia
- The Establishment and Development of Christianity in the Parthian Empire in Transoxiana 6.
- Parthia (Old Persian Parthava) Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
