Hellenistic period The city of Samosata was founded sometime before 245 BC on the previous
Neo-Hittite site of
Kummuh by the
Orontid king of
Sophene,
Sames I. He may have founded the city in order to assert his claim over the area, a common practice amongst
Iranian and
Hellenistic dynasties, such as
Cappadocia,
Pontus,
Parthia and
Armenia. The city was built in a "sub-
Achaemenid" Persian
architectural form, similar to the rest of Orontid buildings in
Greater Armenia. Naming cities such as Samosata (
Middle Persian *Sāmašād;
Old Persian *Sāmašiyāti-) the "joy of" or "happiness of" was an Orontid (and later
Artaxiad) practice that recalled the Achaemenid royal discourse. Samosata served as one of the most important royal residences of the Orontid kings of Sophene. from Samosata Like other early-Orontid royal residences, Samosata experienced a sudden shift in its architectural style under the Orontids of
Commagene due to their close involvement in the
Greco-Roman world. During this period, Samosata was most likely populated by a variety of peoples, descended from
Arameans,
Assyrians,
Neo-Hittites,
Armenians, and
Persians. Samosata was amongst the places where its ruler
Antiochus I Theos () founded sanctuaries that contained inscriptions about his cult as well as reliefs of his
dexiosis with
Apollo-
Mithras.
Roman period In 73 AD, Samosata as well as the rest of Commagene was incorporated into the
Roman Empire. It may have been during this event that the
Syriac letter of
Mara bar Serapion was composed. The letter makes mention of an
Aramaic-speaking elite in Samosata that studied
Greek literature and
Stoic philosophy. Under the Roman emperor
Hadrian (), Samosata was given metropolis status along with
Damascus and
Tyre.
Roman legions were later placed in Samosata to discourage the
Sasanian Empire (224–651) from attacking it. In 260, it was the first city that was sacked by the Sasanian emperor
Shapur I () following his capture of the Roman emperor
Valerian (). Shapur I is known to have had coins minted in the same fashion as the Roman
antoninianus, which he may have taken from the material used in the mint of Samosata. It was at Samosata that
Julian II had ships made in his expedition against
Shapur II, and it was a natural crossing-place in the struggle between
Heraclius and
Chosroes in the 7th century. Samosata was the birthplace of several renowned people from antiquity such as
Lucian (
c. 120–192) and
Paul of Samosata (fl. 260).
Medieval history '' The Arabs conquered Commagene from the Byzantines in 640.
Safwan bin Muattal, a
sahabi and commander during the
Muslim conquests, was buried in Samosata. In the tenth century, the town, which was the second biggest in the region after
Melitene, was recaptured by the Byzantines. In June 966, Samosata was the venue of an exchange of prisoners between the Byzantine Emperor
Nikephoros II Phokas and his Muslim foe
Sayf al-Dawla. After the collapse of Byzantine authority in the region, the town fell into the domain of the Armenian
Philaretos Brachamios. At some point after that it fell into the hands of a certain Baluk, on of Amīr Ghāzī, who is mentioned among the army of
Ridwan of Aleppo which besieged Edessa in 1095. While he managed to fend off an
expedition in 1098 under
Baldwin of Boulogne send by the ruler of Edessa,
Thoros, he later had to sell the town to Baldwin for 10,000 gold coins upon which it belonged to the
county of Edessa. Warfare in the
13th century devastated Samosata.
Rukn ad-Din Sulayman Shah II of the Anatolian
Seljuks captured Samosata in 1203. The
Anushtegins conquered and looted the town in 1237. The Mongol Emperor
Hülagü Khan conquered Samosata in 1240 and the
Beylik of Dulkadir conquered the town as well. Samosata was temporarily absorbed into the
Ottoman Empire by
Bayazid I in 1392, and in 1401 it was destroyed by
Timur. In 1516, the Ottoman Sultan
Selim I recaptured it for the Ottomans who renamed it Samsat. It lost its old importance in the Ottoman administration and became the centre of a
sanjak.
Modern times During Turkey's
republican period, the population of the town decreased. In 1960, Samsat was made a district center and connected to the province of
Adıyaman. The city of Samsat was evacuated from the old settlement on 5 March 1988 due to the construction of the
Atatürk Dam. A new location for the settlement was announced through Law No. 3433 on 21 April 1988. The historical Samsat was submerged in 1989 as the dam created the
Atatürk Reservoir. The new town was built beside the new waterline by the Turkish government to house the displaced residents. The new town of Samsat was destroyed by an earthquake on 2 March 2017. The city was largely rebuilt afterwards.
In Christianity In the Christian
martyrology, seven
Christian martyrs were crucified in 297 in Samosata for refusing to perform a pagan rite in celebration of the victory of
Maximian over the
Sassanids: Abibus, Hipparchus, James, Lollian, Paragnus, Philotheus, and Romanus.
Paul the
Dynamic Monarchian Bishop of Antioch was born in Samosata in 200;
Saint Daniel the Stylite was born in a village near Samosata;
Saint Rabbulas, venerated on 19 February, who lived in the 6th century at
Constantinople, was also a native of Samosata. A
Notitia Episcopatuum of
Antioch in the 6th century mentions Samosata as an autocephalous metropolis (''Échos d'Orient'', X, 144); at the synod that reinstated
Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople (the Photian Council) of 879, the See of Samosata had already been united to that of
Amida, present-day Diyarbakır. By 586, the titular of Amida bore only this title, meaning the union took place between the 7th and the 9th centuries. Earlier
bishops included Peperius, who attended the
Council of Nicaea (325);
Saint Eusebius of Samosata, a great opponent of the
Arians, killed by an Arian woman (c. 380), honoured on 22 June; Andrew, a vigorous opponent of
Cyril of Alexandria and of the
Council of Ephesus. Chabot gives a list of twenty-eight
Syrian Miaphysite bishops. The Syrian bishopric probably lapsed in the 12th century. Samosata is included in the
Catholic Church's list of
titular sees, but no further
titular bishops have been appointed for that eastern see since the
Second Vatican Council. ==Archaeology==