Arsamosata

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, near the present-day city of Elâzığ. It was founded in c. 240 BC by Arsames I, the Orontid king of Sophene, Commagene and possibly Armenia. The city served as a central center and royal residence of the Orontids of Sophene. The origin of its name was Persian, meaning "Joy of Arsames". Naming cities such as the "joy of" or "happiness of" was an Orontid (and later Artaxiad) practice that recalled the Achaemenid royal discourse.

It was left and destroyed in the 1st century BC. In the Middle Ages, it was called Ashmushat. In Roman and Byzantine times, it bore the names Armosota (Ἀρμόσοτα) and Arsamosota (Ἀρσαμόσοτα). It was also known in Byzantine times as Asmosaton.^: 247 It was called Shimshāṭ in Arabic. A prominent native of Arsamosata was the 10th-century poet Abu'l-Hasan Ali al-Shimshati.

Arsamosata has been identified with the abandoned settlement site known as Haraba, ^: 112 located by the Murat Su, near the east end of the Altınova plain, some 60 km east of Elazig,. Much of the site now lies submerged under the waters of the Keban Dam. The hill that served as the former city's citadel now juts out toward the northeast into a shallow lake created by the dam.^: 112 The city itself appears to have been just below the hill on the southeast, although this is not entirely certain.^: 112