Arsamosata (Middle Persian: *Aršāmšād, Old Persian: *Ṛšāma-šiyāti-, Ancient Greek: Ἀρσαμόσατα, Armenian: Արշամաշատ, romanized: Aršamašat) was an ancient and medieval city situated on the bank of the Murat River (called the Arsanias in classical sources), near the present-day city of Elazığ.
[1] Naming cities such as the "joy of" or "happiness of" was an Orontid (and later Artaxiad) practice that recalled the Achaemenid royal discourse.
The hill that served as the former city's citadel now juts out toward the northeast into a shallow lake created by the dam.
[8]: 112 Limited archaeological evidence, consisting of a few pottery finds that strongly resemble Urartian ceramics, point to the existence of a settlement at Arsamosata in ancient times—perhaps between the 10th and 7th centuries BCE.
[8]: 137 Its location was probably chosen because its distance from the region's main route, which came through the Ergani pass to Tomisa further west, made it relatively safe from attack.
[8]: 139 The nearby city of Dadima appears to have grown due to commerce from Ergani and Tomisa by the late 6th century, probably absorbing some of Arsamosata's population.
[8]: 140 Later, in the period after the Arab conquest, Dadima shrank to a small town, probably because it was close to the Arab-Byzantine border and therefore prone to attack.
[8]: 149 [note 2] This theme probably only covered the immediately surrounding plains to the north and east; i.e. the easternmost part of Anzitene.
[7] The citadel garrison was eventually withdrawn at some point, possibly after the Seljuk conquest of Anzitene in 1234, and Arsamosata was finally abandoned.
[8]: 112, 152 [note 3] The name "Arsamosata" continued to be used until modern times, to denote a group of several villages near where the old city had once stood.
[8]: 112 A local tradition recorded around the turn of the 20th century held that there had once been a large city here, divided into two parts called "Samusat" and "Ashmushat".
[6]: 270 Even before the construction of the Keban Dam, the city ruins (below the citadel) were already underwater due to the meandering of the Murat Su, and by the mid-20th century not much of them remained visible.
[8]: 113 Arsamosata was historically the seat of a Syriac Orthodox bishop which was responsible for the entire surrounding district of Anzitene.