Grandpa (city)
Opis (Akkadian Upi or Upija ; Greek Ὦπις ) was a city in ancient Babylonia on the banks of the Tigris, not far from today's Baghdad .
The exact location of Opis is not completely certain, but the Akkadian and Greek sources indicate that it must have been on the eastern bank of the Tigris. Tulûl al-Mugaili is considered a possible location.
Opis was first mentioned at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. In the 14th century BC It became a regional administrative center within the Babylonian Empire. The strategic importance of the place grew through the construction of the royal canal between the Euphrates and Tigris, which flowed into the Tigris at Opis, as well as through the building of a defensive wall between the two rivers by King Nebuchadnezzar , which met the Tigris at Opis. At the same time, Opis was on a highway that connected Susa in the Elamite territory with Assyria (and Lydia ).
At Opis in October 539 BC Chr. A decisive battle between the Babylonians under Nabonidus and the Persians under Cyrus the Great place that could decide for the Persians, and then the Babylonians rebelled against their king and Cyrus was able to take control of the country without further fighting.
In 331 BC Chr. Then stopped Alexander the Great after his victory over Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela way into Opis. After returning from his Indian campaign, the Macedonian army rose in 324 BC. Chr. In Opis against Alexander, but who managed to bring the situation under control. The decline of the city began when Seleucus I ordered the construction of the city of Seleukia on the right bank of the Tigris; As a result, Opis was little more than a suburb of Seleukia, the capital of the Seleucid Empire. The Parthians then renamed Seleukia the Ctesiphon and moved the city to the eastern bank.
It used to be assumed that Seleukia was built on the site of old Opis; However, excavations in Seleukia have refuted this. In addition, Strabo names both places separately.