Artavasdes I of Armenia

Artavasdes I (also spelled Artawazd, Armenian: Արտավազդ Առաջին) was the Artaxiad king of Armenia from 159 BC to 115 BC. He was the son and successor of Artaxias I.

Artavasdes I
King of Armenia
Reign159 BC – 115 BC
PredecessorArtaxias I
SuccessorTigranes I
Died115 BC
IssueArtaxias I of Iberia
Tigranes II (?)
DynastyArtaxiad
FatherArtaxias I
ReligionZoroastrianism

Artavasdes' name is the Latin attestation of an Old Iranian name Ṛtavazdā, identical to the Avestan Ašavazdah, presumably meaning "powerful/persevering through truth".[1] In c. 120 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates II (r. 124–91 BC) defeated Artavasdes I and made him acknowledge Parthian suzerainty.[2] Artavasdes was forced to give the Parthians Tigranes as a hostage, who was either his son or nephew.[2][3]

According to Professor Cyril Toumanoff, Artavasdes I can be identified with the Armenian king who, according to the medieval Georgian annals, interfered in Iberia at the request of local nobility and installed his son, Artaxias, on the throne of Iberia, thereby inaugurating the Iberian Artaxiad dynasty.[4]

References
  1. Schmitt 1986, p. 653.
  2. Olbrycht 2009, p. 165.
  3. Garsoian 2005.
  4. Rapp 2003, p. 282.

Sources
  • Garsoian, Nina (2005). "Tigran II". Encyclopaedia Iranica.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2009). "Mithridates VI Eupator and Iran". In Højte, Jakob Munk (ed.). Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom. Black Sea Studies. 9. Aarhus University Press. pp. 163–190. ISBN 978-8779344433. ISSN 1903-4873.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rapp, Stephen H. (2003). Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts and Eurasian Contexts. Peeters. ISBN 978-2-87723-723-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Schmitt, R. (1986). "Artavasdes". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 6. p. 653.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Artavasdes I of Armenia
Preceded by
Artaxias I		 King of Armenia
159 BC – 115 BC		 Succeeded by
Tigranes I


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