Corduene

Corduene, (also known as Cordyene, Cardyene, Gordyene and Korduene) was a province of the Roman Empire located in the northern Mesopotamia. It was situated to the east of Tigranocerta (i.e., to the east and south of present-day Diyarbakir in south-eastern Turkey) and north-east of Hakkari Syriac sources and is described as a small vassal state between Armenia and Parthia in the mountainous area south of Lake Van in modern Turkey.^*" target="_blank" >Corduene was a fertile and friendly province, which acknowledged the sovereignty of Rome.Tigris and as the country of the Carduchians (now Bohtan), a wild, mountainous district south of Armenia.^*" target="_blank" >(For a map of the region in which this Kingdom was located see [http://www.bible.ca/maps/maps-roman-empire-peak-150AD.jpg). Modern Carduchis are called as Kurds.

Pompey and Corduene

Although both Phraates III and Tigranes the Great laid claim to this province, however it was conquered by the Roman troops under Pompey. After Pompey's success in subjugating Armenia and part of Pontus, and Roman advance across the Euphrates, Phraates was anxious to have a truce with the Romans. However, Pompey held him in contempt and demaded back the territory of Corduene. He sent envoys, but after receiving no answer, he sent Afranius into the territory and occupied it without a battle ^*. The Parthians who were found in possession were driven beyond the frontier and pursued even as far as Arbela in Adiabene. This area has also been part of Sassanid Empire for a part of its history.

Diocletian and Corduene

Corduene was conquered again by Diocletian in the 3rd century and the Roman presence in the region was formally recognized in a peace treaty signed between Diocletian and the Persians. Cordyene must also be sought on the left bank of the Tigris.

The name of the province appears again in the account of the battle between the Persians lead by Shapur II and the Romans lead by Julian the Apostate (and after Julian's death, lead by Jovian). It is documented to be a mountaineous region in the north of the Assyrian plains. The Romans started to retreat through Corduene after they could not besiege Ctesiphon [http://odur.let.rug.nl/~drijvers/ammianus/structure3.htm.

Following the defeat of Narseh, the Sassanid King, at the hands of the Romans in 296, a peace treaty was signed between the two sides, according to which the steppes of northern Mesopotamia, with Singara and the hill country on the left bank of the Tigris as far as Gordyene(Corduene), were also ceded to the victors(Romans) ^*.

Shapur's campaign against Corduene

In the spring of 360, Shapur II staged a campaign to capture the city of Singara (probably modern Shingar or Sinjar north-west of Mosul). The town fell after a few days of siege. From Singara, Shapur directed his march almost due northwards, and leaving Nisibis unassailed upon his left, proceeded to attack the strong fort known indifferently as Phoenica or Bezabde. This was a position on the east bank of the Tigris, near the point where that river quits the mountains and debouches upon the plain; though not on the site, it may be considered the representative of the modern Jezireh (Cizre in south-eastern Turkey), which commands the passes from the low country into the Kurdish mountains. It was much valued by Rome, was fortified in places with a double wall, and was guarded by three legions and a large body of Kurdish archers. Shapur, sent a flag of truce to demand a surrender, joining with the messengers some prisoners of high rank taken at Singara, lest the enemy should open fire upon his envoys. The device was successful; but the garrison proved staunch, and determined on resisting to the last. After a long siege, the wall was at last breached, the city taken, and its defenders indiscriminately massacred.^*

Modern Corduene

The word is no doubt the ancient representative of the modern Kurdistan, and means a country in which Kurds dwelt Now Kurds seem to have been at one time the chief inhabitants of the Mons Masius, the modern Jebel Karaj Dagh (Qerejdax) and Jebel Tur, which was thence called Cordyene, Gordyene, or the Gordisean mountain chain. But there was another and a more important Cordyene on the opposite side of the river. The tract to this day known as Kurdistan, the high mountain region south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia, was in the possession of Kurds from before the time of Xenophon, and was known as the country of the Carduchi, as Cardyene, and as Cordyene.[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16167/16167-h/raw7a.htm

The Greek General Xenophon tells in his book Anabasis of the retreat of the Greek army he was leading through Kurdistan in 401 BC after their unsuccessful expedition to Persia (Xenophon, 1949). When they reach Kurdish mountains, he asks their Persian guide about the people who live in the region. The Persian guide replies that they are a fierce warlike people called Karduchis who have never been subjected by any King. He adds that once the Persian king attempted to occupy their lands, but he failed after losing 100,000 soldiers. Xenophon decides to proceed with great caution, but his army immediately starts robbing and then burning Kurdish villages on its way. When the Kurds see this, they make fires on tops of mountains and hills to inform all regions that there is an invading army. Then they start a guerilla war against the invading forces. At last Xenophon after being bogged down for seven days decides to negotiate with the Kurds a safe pass through their mountains. He finds someone who speaks Kurdish to speak to them. He tells the translator to ask the Karduchis why they fight the Greek army. The Kurds say: It is you who are fighting us. You are invading our country and burning our villages and houses. When Xenophon promises to stop burning their villages, they allow Xenophon and his men to pass safely without any further trouble.

Eric Jensen states in his book:

"The thirty million Kurds of the Middle East have lived in Kurdistan before record of modern history was kept. The very first mention of the Kurds in history was about 3,000 BC, under the name Gutium, as they fought the Sumerians (Spieser). Later around 800 BC, the Indo-European Median tribes settled in the Zagros mountain region and coalesced with the Gutiums, and thus the modern Kurds speak a language related to Aryan languages (Morris)".

Modern Kurds are commonly identified with the ancient Corduene inhabited by the Carduchi.^*

Time Line of Corduene (Gordyene) History

To Urartu 800s-595 BC
To Persia 595-331 BC
To Alexander the Great 331-301 BC
To the Seleucid Empire 301-189 BC
Independent 189-90 BC
To Armenia 90-66 BC
To the Roman Republic 66-27 BC
To the Roman Empire 27 BC-AD 37
To Persia 37-47
To the Roman Empire 47-252
To Persia 252-287
To the Roman Empire 287-384
To Armenia 384-428
To Persia 428-653
To the Caliphate thereafter. ^*

References