Characene also known as Mesene, was a kingdom within the Parthian empire at the head of the Persian Gulf. Its capital was Charax Spasinou 'The Fort of Hsypaosines.' The city was an important port in the trade from Mesopotamia to India, and provided port facilities for the great city of Susa, further up the Tigris River. Parthia, or known in their native Iranian language as Ashkâniân [2] (also called the Arsacid Empire) was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. It was the second dynasty of... Map of the Persian Gulf. ... Mesopotamia (Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan between rivers; Aramaic name being Beth Nahrain house of rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... For other uses of the name Susa please see this page. ... Tigris River in Mosul, Iraq The Tigris (Kurdish: Tîj / Tûj / Tîr , Old Persian: Tigrā-, Pahlavi: Tigr, Syriac: ܕܩܠܬ; Deqlath, Arabic: دجلة; Dijla, Turkish: Dicle, Hebrew: חדקל; ḥiddeqel) is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of...

Characene was founded around 127 BC under Hsypaosines, and existed as an independent kingdom only for a short period before being conquered by the Parthians. Hyspaosines was originally a satrap installed by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Coin of Antiochus IV. Reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ...

After the Parthian conquest it remained a semi-autonomous country with its own kings. It disappeared as a separate kingdom with the fall of the Parthian empire.

Trajan, the Roman emperor, visited Charax in 116 AD, during his invasion of Parthia, and watched the ships leaving for India. He reportedly lamented the fact that he wasn't younger so that he could, like Alexander, have gone there himself. Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (September 18, 53 – August 9, 117), Roman Emperor (98-117), commonly called Trajan, was the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Roman Empire. ... Bust of Alexander the Great in the British Museum. ...

The kings of Characene are mainly known by their coins, consisting mainly of silver tetradrachms with Greek and later Aramaic inscriptions. These coins are dated (following the Seleucid era) providing a secure framework for the chronological placements of the kings. Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ... Seleucus I Nicator (Nicator, the Victor) (around 358–281 BC) was one of Alexander the Greats generals who, after Alexanders death in 323 BC, founded the Seleucid Empire. ...

The kings of Characene:

• Hyspaosines c. 127-124 BC
• Apodakos c. 110/09-104/03 BC
• Tiraios I 95/94-90/89 BC
• Tiraios II 79/78-49/48 BC
• Artabazos 49/48-48/47 BC
• Attambelos I 47/46-25/24 BC
• Theonesios I c. 19/18
• Attambalos II c. 17/16 BC - AD 8/9
• Abinergaos I 10/11; 22/23
• Orabazes I c. 19
• Attambalos III c. 37/38-44/45
• Theonesios II c. 46/47
• Theonesios III c. 52/53
• Attambalos IV 54/55-64/65
• Attambalos V 64/65-73/74
• Orabazes II c. 73-80
• Pakoros (II) 80-101/02
• Attambalos VI c. 101/02-105/06
• Theonesios IV c. 110/11-112/113
• Attambalos VII 113/14-117
• Meredates c. 131-150/51
• Orabazes II c. 150/51-165
• Abinergaios II (?) c. 165-180
• Attambalos VIII c. 180-195
• Maga (?) c. 195-210
• Abinergaos III c. 210-222

Further reading

• Schuol, Monika: Die Charakene. Ein mesopotamisches Königreich in hellenistisch-parthischer Zeit (= Oriens et occidens 1), Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-515-07709-X

• Sheldon A. Nodelman, A Preliminary History of Charakene, Berytus 13 (1959/60), 83-121, XXVII f.,