The Emesene (or Emesan) dynasty, also called the Sampsigeramids[3] or the Sampsigerami[4] or the House of Sampsigeramus[5][6] (Arabic: آل شمسيغرام, romanized: ʾĀl Šamsīġirām),[7][8][9] were a Roman client dynasty of Syrian priest-kings known to have ruled by 46 BC from Arethusa and later from Emesa, Syria, until between 72 and 78/79, or at the latest the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161).

Iamblichus, the famous Neoplatonist philosopher of the third century, was one of their descendants, as was empress Julia Domna, matriarch of the Severan dynasty.

[10][11] Some members of the family such as Julius Bassianus, father of Julia Domna, are described in Roman sources as "a priest of the Sun, whom the Phoenicians, from whom he sprang, call Elagabalus".

[12] Since Emesa was well outside the traditional and geographical boundaries of Phoenicia,[13] some modern historians consider the use of "Phoenician" in these sources a pseudo-ethnic label; one that arose from the political creation of Syria Phoenice by Septimius Severus in 194.

[20] It is said that Emesa and its surrounding had a strong presence of Arabic-speaking people at the time, although the ancient name of the city appears to be Aramaic.

[26] Sampsiceramus I (Imperial Aramaic: 𐡔𐡌𐡔𐡂𐡓𐡌, romanized: Šamšigeram) was the founding Priest-King of the Emesene dynasty who lived in the 1st century BC and was a tribal chieftain or Phylarch.

The ancestors of Sampsiceramus I were Arabs[22] who had travelled the Syrian terrain, before deciding to settle in the Orontes Valley[22] and South of the Apamea region.

After the death of Antiochus XIII, Sampsiceramus I was confirmed in power and his family was left to rule the surrounding region under Roman suzerainty.

[29] The kingdom's boundaries extended from the Beqaa Valley in the West to the border of Palmyra[22] in the East, from Yabrud in the South to Arethusa in the North and Heliopolis.

[29] During his reign, Sampsiceramus I built a castle at Shmemis on top of an extinct volcano and rebuilt the city of Salamiyah which the Romans incorporated in the ruled territory.

In time, Sampsiceramus I established and formed a powerful ruling dynasty and a leading kingdom in the Roman East.

[22] An example on how wealthy Emesa was, ancient pieces of jewellery have been found at the necropolis of Tell Abu Sabun, suggests that the engineering work demanded to be constructed along the lake.

Prior to succeeding his father, Iamblichus I was considered by Cicero in 51 BC (then Roman Governor of Cilicia), as a possible ally against Parthia.

[28] Shortly after Iamblichus I became priest-king, he had become prudent and supported the Roman politician Julius Caesar in his Alexandrian war against Pompey.

She divorced him because she fell in love with Marcus Antonius Felix, a Greek Freedman who was the Roman Governor of Judea, whom she later married.

78 or 79 AD)[42]), "from the Fabia tribe, also known as Seilas, son of Gaius Julius Alexion," was the builder of the so-named Tomb of Sampsigeramus that formerly stood in the necropolis of Tell Abu Sabun, as recorded on an inscription said to have belonged to the monument.

According to Maurice Sartre, the owner's Roman citizenship, attested by his tria nomina, strongly supports relatedness to the royal family.

Partly due to the influence and rule of the Emesene dynasty, Emesa had grown and became one of the most important cities in the Roman East.

[46] What is known about the Emesene dynasty and their kingdom is from surviving archaeological evidence, as the ancient Roman historical sources do not provide a lot of information about them.

[47] The remains of the Tomb of Sampsigeramus were blown up with dynamite by the Ottoman authorities c. 1911, in order to make room for an oil depot.

[48][49] Coins have survived from the Emesene dynasty; the earliest known ones being issued for celebrating the cult of El-Gebal under the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, 138-161.