Charax Spasinu

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Charax Spasinu

Charax Spasinu, or Charax Pasinu, Charax Spasinou , Alexandria (Greek: ??e?a?d??a), and Antiochia in Susiana (Greek: ??t???e?a t?? S??s?a???) was an ancient port at the head of the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
, and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Characene

Characene

Characene, also known as Mesene, was a kingdom within the Parthian Empire at the head of the Persian Gulf. Its capital was Charax , "The Fort of Hyspaosines"....
.

The exact location of Charax is unknown. The name Charax (from Greek ???a?) literally means 'palisaded fort', and was applied to several fortified Seleucid towns.

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Persian Gulf

Characene

Tigris

The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq....
Rivers. Another possibility is that the town was lost when its dike collapsed and/or one of the rivers in the delta changed course. According to Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
:

"The town of Charax is situated in the innermost recess of the Persian Gulf, from which projects the country called Arabia Felix. It stands on an artificial elevation between the Tigris on the right and the Karún on the left, at the point where these two rivers unite, and the site measures two [Roman] miles [3 km] in breadth. . . . It was originally at a distance of 1¼ miles [1.9 km] from the coast, and had a harbour of its own, but when Juba [Juba II

Juba II

Juba II or Juba II of Numidia was a king of Numidia and then later moved to Mauretania. His first wife was Cleopatra Selene II, the last Ptolemaic dynasty Monarch and daughter to Greece Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony....
, c. 50 BCE—c. CE 24] published his work it was 50 miles [74 km] inland ; its present distance from the coast is stated by Arab envoys and our own traders who have come from the place to be 120 miles [178 km]. There is no part of the world where earth carried down by rivers has encroached on the sea further or more rapidly. . . ."

Charax was originally named Alexandria, after Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
, and was perhaps even personally founded by him. After destruction by floods, it was rebuilt by Antiochus IV (175-164 BCE) and renamed Antiochia. It was provided with a massive antiflood embankment almost 4½ km long by Antiochus's governor, Hyspaosines

Hyspaosines

Hyspaosines or Aspasine was the first king of Characene. He is mainly known from coins, but also appears in texts of cuneiform script ....
, and renamed "Charax of Hyspaosines."

Although it was nominally a vassal

Vassal

A vassal in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudal of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fiefdom....
of the Seleucids and, later, the Arsacids, it seemed to retain a considerable degree of autonomy at times. It became a centre for Arab trade, largely controlled by the Nabataeans, at least until they became assimilated by the Romans in 106 CE.

Charax was a rich port with ships arriving regularly from Gerrha

Gerrha

Gerrha , was an ancient city of Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf. More accurately, the ancient city of Gerrha has been determined to have existed near or under the present fort of Uqair....
, Egypt, India, and beyond. It was also the beginning of the overland trade route from the Persian Gulf to Petra

Petra

Petra is an Archaeology site in the Arabah, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor in a Depression among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah , the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba....
and Palmyra

Palmyra

Palmyra was in ancient times an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 120 km southwest of the Euphrates....
.

It was visited in 97 CE by the Chinese envoy, Gan Ying

Gan Ying

Gan Ying , was a Han Chinese military ambassador who was sent on a mission to Rome in AD 97 by the Chinese general Ban Chao.Although Gan Ying probably never reached Rome, he is, at least in the historical records, the Chinese who went the furthest west during antiquity and he gathered what information he could....
??, who referred to it as ?? (Pinyin: Yuluo; reconstructed ancient pronunciation *ka-ra), who was trying to reach the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
via Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
but, after reaching the Persian Gulf was convinced to turn back by the Parthians.

In 116 CE the Roman Emperor Trajan

Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
visited Charax Spasinu – his most recent, easternmost and shortest-lived possession. He saw the many ships setting sail for India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, and wished he were younger, like Alexander had been, so that he could go there himself.

It was enlarged by an Arabian chieftain, Spasines and afterward named Spasines and Charax Spasinou after him. It was a major trading center of late antiquity as evidenced by the hoards of Greek coins recovered during excavations there.

Isidore of Charax

Isidore of Charax

Isidorus Characenus, commonly translated Isidore of Charax, was a geographer of the 1st century BCE/1st century CE about whom nothing is known but his name and that he wrote at least one work....
, a 1st century geographer, came from Charax Spasinu.