b.c., Mithradates was on his way to Hyrcania.[1] The cause of his departure from Mesopotamia at this critical juncture in his campaign was probably a raid by the Sacae, who shortly before 165 b.c. had been forced from their homeland in Turkestan by the Yüeh-chi[2] and by this time were certainly close to the eastern borders of Parthia. The forces in Mesopotamia were turned over to a Parthian commander, and Mithra dates never returned to that region, for the remainder of his reign was occupied with campaigns in southern and central Parthia.[3] His departure from the Land
- ↑ Justin xli. 6. 6–9, after the Median campaign, omits the capture of Babylonia and then speaks of Mithradates' setting out for Hyrcania. Orosius v. 4. 16 preserves the tradition of activity in the east between the first and second campaigns of Demetrius; cf. p. 25. See also discussions of British Museum tablet Sp. I 176 by Kugler, Von Moses bis Paulus, pp. 342 f., and T. G. Pinches, The Old Testament in the Light of Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia (2d ed.; London, 1903), p. 484 and p. 553, n. Kugler dates the tablet astronomically to Kislimu, 171 s.e., i.e., December, 141 b.c. The passage concerned here says, as translated by Strassmaier for Kugler:
"In the same month I heard that Arshaka the king and his troops in (Pinches, 'to') the city of Arqania, the king (Pinches omits) . . . . . On the 6th the Elamites with their soldiers marched against the city of Apamea on the river Ṣilḫu . . . . ." Elsewhere in the tablet Seleucia is mentioned.
- ↑ See pp. 55 f.
- ↑ I Maccabees 14:1–3 states positively that Demetrius was captured (see p. 25) by a Parthian general. Other sources on the campaign do not mention Mithradates. Note that Justin xxxvi. 1. 5 f. says that Demetrius, captured not long after Mithradates left Mesopotamia, was sent to Hyrcania; the logical inference is that he was sent to the Parthian monarch. Cf. British Museum tablet SH 108 (see p. 22, n. 99), line 20, Olmstead's restoration:
"That month (Ululu or later), on the 3d day, Nica[tor the king was made prisoner]."
Farther on the text mentions "Arshaka the king" and "Seleucia."
