| Orontid dynasty | |
|---|---|
| Country | Kingdom of Armenia Kingdom of Sophene Kingdom of Commagene |
| Founded | 6th century BC (Armenia) 260 BC (Sophene) 163 BC (Commagene) |
| Founder | Orontes I Sakavakyats (legendary) Orontes I (historical) |
| Current head | Extinct |
| Final ruler | Orontes IV (Armenia) Mithrobazane II (Sophene) Antiochus IV (Commagene) |
| Titles | King of Greater Armenia |
| Dissolution | 200 BC (Armenia) 95 BC (Sophene) 72 AD (Commagene) |
| Cadet branches | Artaxiad dynasty[1][2] Artsruni dynasty[3] Gnuni dynasty[4] |
| History of Armenia |
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| Timeline • Origins • Etymology |
The Orontid dynasty, also known as the Eruandids or Eruandunis, ruled the Satrapy of Armenia until 330 BC and the Kingdom of Armenia from 321 BC to 200 BC. The Orontids ruled first as client kings or satraps of the Achaemenid Empire and after the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire established an independent kingdom. Later, a branch of the Orontids ruled as kings of Sophene and Commagene. They are the first of the three royal dynasties that successively ruled the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (321 BC–428 AD).
- ^ Garsoian 2005.
- ^ Garsoian, Nina (2004). "ARMENO-IRANIAN RELATIONS in the pre-Islamic period". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
However, the recent discovery in Armenia of boundary stones with Aramaic inscriptions, in which the ruler Artašēs proclaims himself "the son of Zareh" and an "Eruandid king" (Perikhanian, 1966), demonstrates that both "generals" [Artaxias and Zariadris], far from being Macedonians, belonged in fact to the earlier native dynasty, albeit probably to collateral branches, and that the Eruandids, or Artaxiad/Artašēsids as they came to be known, with their Iranian antecedents, continued to rule Armenia as before. An unexpected corroboration of this dynastic continuity is also provided by Xenophon's much earlier choice of the name "Tigranes" for the crown prince of Armenia in his historical romance, the Cyropaedia (Xen., Cyr. 3.1.7). (...) Except for the occasional princes imposed by the Romans, none of whom succeeded in consolidating himself on the throne, all the dynasties to rule pre-Islamic Armenia were of Iranian stock.
- ^ Chahin, M. (2001). The Kingdom of Armenia: A History. Psychology Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0700714520.
The Artsruni Princes were, like the Artaxiads, related to the ancient Orontid line.
- ^ Toumanoff 1961, p. 53.