Charax Spasinu
ancient port at the head of the Persian Gulf, and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Characene
Charax Spasinu, also called Charax Spasinou, Charax Pasinu, Spasinu Charax (Koine Greek: Σπασίνου Χάραξ, romanized: Spasínou Kháraks), Alexandria (Ἀλεξάνδρεια) or Antiochia in Susiana (Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Σουσιανῆς), was an ancient port at the head of the Persian Gulf in what is now Iraq and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Characene.
Etymology
The name Charax, probably from ancient Greek Χάραξ, means "palisaded fort" and was applied to several fortified Seleucid towns. Charax was initially named Alexandria after Alexander the Great, and he perhaps even personally founded it. After destruction by floods, it was rebuilt by Antiochus IV (175-164 BC) and renamed Antiochia. It was at this time provided with a massive antiflood embankment almost 4½ km long by Antiochus's governor, Hyspaosines, and renamed "Charax of Hyspaosines."
There is a theory that Charax derives from the Aramaic word karkā, meaning "a fortification," but Charax is often attested at several other Seleucid towns with the meaning palisade.
Location of Charax
Charax was located on a large mound known as Jabal Khuyabir at Naysān near the confluence of the Eulaios/Karkheh and the Tigris as recorded by Pliny the Elder.
According to Pliny:
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, c. 50 BC—c.
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This entry incorporates text from “Charax Spasinu” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.