Editing Opis (section)

==History==

A text from year 8 of Ur III ruler [[Shu-Sin]] (c. 2037–2028 BC) details a journey of 22 women from Eshnunna to Nippur and back via Upi with the Upi/Nippur leg in both directions being fully on water.<ref>Astour, Michael C., "A Reconstruction of the History of Ebla (Part 2)", Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Volume 4, edited by Cyrus H. Gordon and Gary A. Rendsburg, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 57-196, 2002</ref>

A year name of the Old Babylonian ruler [[Apil-Sin]] (c. 1767 to 1749 BC) read "Year Apil-Sin built (the city wall of) Upi" (mu u2-pi2-e<sup>ki</sup> a-pil-<sup>d</sup>en.zu ba-du3).<ref>Charpin, D, "Histoire politique du Proche-Orient amorrite (2002-1595)", in: P. Attinger, W. Sallaberger and M. Wäfler (eds.), Mesopotamien: Die altbabylonische Zeit (Annäherungen 4 = OBO 160/4, Fribourg & Göttingen), pp. 25-480, 2004</ref>

Early in the reign of Old Babylon Empire ruler Hamurabi, grandson of Apil-Sin, after a conflict between Babylon, Mari, Eshnunna, and Elam resulted in Hamurabi being in control of the Upi area. A text from [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] showed diplomacy over that area's disposition:
{{blockquote|text="If he releases Mankisum, Upi, Shahadunu, and  the banks  of  the Tigris River three double-miles south of Upi — which is the border my grandfather Apil-Sin fixed - then, I will make peace with him. Otherwise, if I am to release Mankisum, he should  repay  me  (for)  my  efforts that I  expended  against the Sukkal of Elam for Mankisum. (Only) then may he take Mankisum and I (will take) Upi, Shahadunu and three double-miles south of Upi (along) the banks of the Tigris River."<ref>Miglio, Adam E., "The Beginning Of The End: Zimrilims’s War With Elam", Tribe and State: The Dynamics of International Politics and the Reign of Zimri-Lim, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, pp. 187-234, 2014</ref>
}}

From a text it is known that the Kassite ruler [[Burna-Buriash II]] (c. 1359–1333 BC) held an audience in Upi.<ref>Radau, Hugo, "RESULTS", Letters to Cassite Kings from the Temple Archives of Nippur, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1908, pp. 59-93, 1908</ref>

A [[Kudurru]] from the reign of [[Adad-apla-iddina]] (c. 1064–1043) excavated at Assur is dated at Opis.<ref>Frame, Grant, "A Kudurru Fragment from the Reign of Adad-apla-iddina", Altorientalische Forschungen", vol. 13, no. 1-2, pp. 206-211, 1986</ref>

In one of annals of Neo-Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (705–681 BC) it states:
{{blockquote|text="… I gave orders to sailors of the cities of Tyre (and) Sidon, (and) the land Ionia, whom I had captured. They (my troops) let (the sailors) sail down the Tigris river with them, downstream to the city of Opis. Then from the city of Opis, they lifted them (the boats) up onto dry land and dragged them on rollers to Sippar? and guided them into the Arahtu canal …"<ref>Corò, Paola, "Greek as Travellers in Near Eastern Sources", Literary Change in Mesopotamia and Beyond and Routes and Travellers between East and West. Proceedings of the 2nd and 3rd Melammu Workshops, Zaphon, pp. 113-133, 2019</ref>
}}

[[File:Ancient near east 540 bc.svg|thumb|Ancient Near East 540 BC]]
The Neo-Babylonians dug the Nār-Šarri (later Nār-Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur) canal between the [[Euphrates]] and the Tigris, which ended near Opis. The [[Neo-Babylonian]] king [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] (605–562 BC) built a long [[Median Wall|wall]] between the two rivers to protect against a potential [[Medes|Median]] invasion; the fortified line began at [[Sippar]] and continued eastward beyond the Tigris and ended near Opis.<ref>R. D. Barnett, "Xenophon and the wall of  Media", JHS 83, 1963</ref> In Nebuchadnezzar II year 40, 565 BC, a cuneiform document was written in Opis by a Judean trader, the first attestation of a Judean trader in Babylonia.<ref>Alstola, Tero, "Judean merchants in Babylonia and their participation in long-distance trade", Die Welt des Orients 47.1, pp. 25-51, 2017</ref>

In October 539 BC, the troops of the Babylonian king [[Nabonidus]] (556–539 BC) defended Opis against the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] commanded by [[Cyrus the Great]] (559–530 BC). The Babylonians were defeated and the native population revolted against its government. Without further fighting, Cyrus captured Babylon. Opis was located near the Persian [[Royal Road]], which connected the former [[Elam]]ite capital [[Susa]] to the [[Assyria]]n heartland around [[Erbil]] and, further to the west, the [[Lydia]]n capital [[Sardis]].<ref>A. T. Olmstead, "History of the Persian Empire", Chicago, 1948</ref> It is known that at the time of Nabonidus the city had a Šangû-Upia (“High-Priest-of-Opis”).<ref>Sandowicz, Małgorzata, "Companions of Nabonidus", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 110.2, pp. 161-175, 2022</ref>

In September 331 BC, the [[Macedon]]ian king [[Alexander the Great]] (336–323 BC) defeated [[Darius III of Persia]] (336–330 BC) at the [[Battle of Gaugamela]], and probably took possession of Opis about the same time as Babylon. A few years later, Alexander was forced by a mutiny at the [[Beas River|Hyphasis]] (now Beas) River to return from the long campaign in India, and his European troops revolted again at Opis (autumn 324 BC). In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, he took an oath of unity before 9,000 Persian and Greek troops at Opis.<ref>Roisman, Joseph, "Alexander and Discontent: The King and His Army in India and Opis, Mesopotamia", Alexander’s Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors, New York, USA: University of Texas Press, pp. 31-60, 2012</ref>  In a similar vein, he had married [[Stateira II|Stateira]] (the daughter of Darius) and celebrated a [[Susa weddings|mass marriage]] of his senior officers to Persian and other Eastern noblewomen at Susa just before coming to Opis.<ref>Nagle, D. Brendan, "The Cultural Context of Alexander's Speech at Opis", Transactions of the American Philological Association, vol. 126, pp. 151-172, 1996</ref>

[[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleukos I Nikator]] (306–281 BC), one of Alexander's [[Diadochi]] (Successors), founded the [[Seleucid Empire]] and built his Mesopotamian capital [[Seleucia on the Tigris|Seleukeia]] west of the river Tigris, some {{Convert|12|miles}} southwest of Opis.  The [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] city of Seleukeia rapidly eclipsed older Mesopotamian centers in the region like Babylon, [[Sippar]], and Opis.

In the 2nd century BC, the [[Parthian Empire]] conquered the eastern provinces of the Seleucid Empire, including Seleukeia and Opis. Both cities were, in their turn, largely eclipsed by the emergence of the new Parthian (and subsequently [[Sasanian Empire|Persian]]) capital [[Ktesiphon]] nearby, in-between Seleukeia and Opis.