Orontid dynasty
Some historians state that the Orontids were of Iranian origin,[5][6][1][7][8] and suggest that it held dynastic familial linkages to the ruling Achaemenid dynasty.
[b] He argues that the Orontids established their rule in the Urartian capital Tushpa in 6th century BC, as that kingdom was collapsing.
Per Yeremian, the Orontids originally came from the vicinity of Musasir (in modern-day northern Iraq),[c] but because of the forced relocation policies of the Urartians, they came to form an Armenian enclave in the Hurro-Urartian-populated region around Lake Van.
[13] Despite the Hellenistic invasion of Persia, Persian and local Armenian culture remained the strongest element within society and the elites.
Ervand had surrounded himself by the Hellenized nobility and sponsored the establishment of a Greek school in Armavir, the capital of the Ervanduni kingdom.
[25][26] While there is no direct evidence of the Orontids' religion prior to Antiochus I of Commagene, their Iranian background and connection to the Achaemenid dynasty make it highly plausible that they followed some form of Zoroastrianism.
[28] Information about the Orontids is fragmentary, and historians' reconstruction of their history and genealogy is tentative and mainly based on evidence from inscriptions and coins.
[35] Suren Yeremian used Xenophon's and Khorenatsi's accounts to argue that Eruand the Short-Lived and his son Tigran were actual Orontid kings of Armenia in the 6th century BC.
[36] In Cyril Toumanoff's view, the succession of Tigran after Eruand in Khorenatsi's version allegorically represents the Artaxiad dynasty succeeding the Orontids.
[37] Commenting on Khorenatsi's account, Igor M. Diakonoff did not rule out that the Orontids had married into a pre-existing Armenian royal house.
[15] In 401 BC, Orontes I appears as the Satrap of Armenia and the son-in-law of Artaxerxes II, having married the latter's daughter Rhodogune.
[45] Some historians doubt whether Mithrenes ever actually ruled in Armenia, as the Macedonians never established firm control over the country.
The Mount Nemrut inscriptions bear a partially legible name following that of Orontes II, which one scholar read as Mithranes.
[45] The Macedonian general Neoptolemus is mentioned as Satrap of Armenia not long after the death of Alexander the Great, but he seems to have failed to take control of the country, possibly because of Orontes's resistance.
[49] Diodorus also refers to Ardoates, whom he calls King of Armenia, and who helped Ariarathes II of Cappadocia break away from the Seleucids.
[29]Starting from 301 BC Armenia is included within the sphere of influence of the Seleucid Empire, but it maintained a considerable degree of autonomy, retaining its native rulers.
In Nemrut Dagi, opposite the statues of Gods there are a long row of pedestals, on which stood the steles of the Greek ancestors of Antiochos.
[52] Khorenatsi makes Eruand and Artashes members of the Arsacid dynasty and contemporaries of the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus (1st century AD).
