The Historical Geography of Gordyene

Abstract

Ancient Gordyene originated as the country of the Karduchoi who lived in the mountains north of modern Cizre and south of the Bohtan River (see Xenophon’s description of the march of the Greek army of “the Ten Thousand”). The origin of the Karduchoi is not entirely certain: they were either remnants of Urartian tribes or of Semitic origin. It is most likely due to the migration that after Xenophon’s times (401 BCE) the Karduchoi expanded into the Upper Tigris valley as marked by the Assyrian Khabur to the east. To the west, Gordyene likely expanded beyond the Bohtan River into the territory later known as that of Arzanene (before the time of the 3 rd Mithidatic War – 74 or 73–63 BCE). Likewise, Gordyene expanded north of the Bohtan River – in the sources from the late 3 rd and 4 th c. CE one can see traces of the political influence of Corduena (and/or of the human migration of its people) over the Bohtan into Moxoena and Rehimena. Gordyene was an urbanized and wealthy country throughout its history due to natural resources such as naphtha, bitumen, amomum, wine and corn. What is more, ancient Gordyene owed its political importance to its strategic location on the course of the upper Tigris. Not surprisingly, the most important cities in Gordyene were located on the Tigris, and apparently their primary function was to guard important river crossings and access points to mountain passes.