Abdissares

Abdissares (also spelled Abdissar) was the first king of Adiabene, ruling sometime in the first half of the 2nd-century BC. He was initially considered to be the ruler of Sophene in scholarship, due to stylistic similarities between his coins and the ones in Commagene and Sophene. However, this has now been debunked.[1][2][3] It has now been established that Abdissares' name—contrary to the Sophenian kings—was not of Iranian origin, but of Semitic, meaning "servant of Ishtar," a name primarily used by Semitic inhabitants. The goddess Ishtar enjoyed great popularity in heartland of ancient Assyria, where Adiabene was located.[3]

Coin of Abdissares

Moreover, it has also been discovered that Abdissares used the Greek epithet [Α]ΔΑΙΑΒΗΝΟΥ ("of Adiabene") on his coins (which are to be dated c. 164 BC).[3][4] Adding geographical or ethnographical (or political) terms on Hellenistic coin engravings was uncommon. The modern historian de Callataÿ has suggested that Abdissares may have added this epithet to highlight his royal rights to Adiabene in the midst of facing geopolitical challenges.[3] According to Maciej Grabowski, Abdissares used the epithet to promulgate the establishment of the Kingdom of Adiabene.[3] It has been surmised that Abdissares rose to kingship as a result of the disintegration of Greek Seleucid rule in the Near East. During this period, many local rulers took advantage of the Seleucid weakness to form their own kingdoms, such as Armenia, Sophene, Gordyene and Kommagene.[5][3]

On the obverse of Abdissares' coins, a portrait of him is displayed, wearing the same tiara worn by the satraps of Achaemenid era. The same type of tiara is worn by a king portrayed on the Batas-Herir rock relief in northern Iraq, which has led to the suggestion that the rock relief is a depiction of Abdissares.[3] The reverse of Abdissares' coins depicts an eagle.[3]