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Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon

📷 Wikimedia Commons

Where in the world

Iraq

The site

Ctesiphon rose on the eastern bank of the Tigris in what is now Iraq, serving as a royal capital of the Parthian and Sasanian empires for over eight centuries. Founded around 120 BCE, this rich commercial metropolis was by some accounts the largest city in the world before falling to Arab conquest in 637 CE. Ctesiphon changed hands repeatedly in the Roman-Parthian Wars, a prize at the heart of ancient Persia.

Field notes

civilizations
Persian (Achaemenid)
types
City
built
120 BCE
occupied
120 BCE — 637 CE
country
Iraq

See it in 3D

3D capture Taq Kasra - Arch of Ctesiphon Bashar ↗

Figures of this place

Laid to rest, born or died at Ctesiphon

Mani✶
Maniborn here3rd century prophet and founder of Manichaeism
Khosrow I†
Khosrow Idied hereShahanshah of the Sasanian Empire from 531 to 579
Khosrow II✶
Khosrow IIborn hereThe 24th Sassanid emperor (590–628)
Salman the Persian†
Salman the Persiandied herecompanion of Muhammad; first Persian convert to Islam
Kavad I✶
Kavad Iborn hereSasanian King of Kings (488–531)
Boran†
Borandied here25th Sasanian Emperor (629–632)
Hormizd IV✶
Hormizd IVborn hereThe 23th Sassanid Emperor (579–590)
Ardashir III†
Ardashir IIIdied hereThe temporary ruler of the Sassanid Empire (628–630)

Chronicle

What happened at Ctesiphon

  1. 165 CEBattle of Ctesiphon
  2. 198 CEBattle of Ctesiphon
  3. 263 CEBattle of Ctesiphon
  4. 363 CEBattle of Ctesiphon
  5. 395 CEHunnic raid of 395
  6. 629 CESiege of Ctesiphon
  7. 637 CESiege of Ctesiphon

Nearby sites

Babylon ~63 km
Babylon Iraq
Nippur ~124 km
Nippur Iraq
Uruk ~220 km
Uruk Iraq
Ur ~277 km
Ur Iraq