Abdissares


Abdissares ruled the kingdom of Sophene after the assassination of his father, Xerxes in 212 BC.
There are no known western sources for this king, only numismatic. His coins are almost similar to those of his father.
His name seems to include the Aramaic prefix "Abd" which means slave. Aramaic was widely used in that region, and yet why he would have such a name, compared to his Armenian father Xerxes or brother Orontes IV, is uncertain.
This may have been intended as a slur by the local Aramaic people, yet it is borne on his coins.
"Ssares" sounds like Zareh, and it was Zareh who overthrew Abdissares in 200 BC.
These coups were the work of king Antiochus III, which also resulted in Zareh's son Artaxias overthrowing Orontes IV to become King of Armenia.