Arbayistan

Arbāyistān
Province of the Sasanian Empire
  • 262–299
  • 363–638

Map showing the Roman-Sasanian borders
CapitalNisibis
Historical eraLate Antiquity
• Established
262
• Peace of Acilisene
363
• Annexed by the Rashidun Caliphate
638
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mesopotamia (Roman province)
Diyar Rabi'a
Today part of

Arbāyistān (Parthian: 𐭀𐭓𐭁𐭉𐭎𐭈𐭍 [ʾrb]ystn; Middle Persian: Arwāstān; Armenian: Arvastan)[1] or Beth Arabaye (Syriac: Bēṯ ʿArbāyē) was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity. Due to its situation and its road systems, the province was a source of income from commercial traffic, as well as a constant area of contention during the Roman–Persian Wars.[2]

The province reached across Upper Mesopotamia toward the Khabur and north to the lower districts of Armenia; it bordered Adiabene in the east, Armenia in the north and Asoristan in the south. On the west, it bordered the Roman provinces of Osroene and Mesopotamia.[3] The principal city of the Arbayistan province was Nisibis and it also included the fortress of Sisauranon.[3]

  1. ^ Frye (1983), p. 223.
  2. ^ Widengren (1986).
  3. ^ a b Jullien (2018), p. 234.