ABSTRACT
Parthia is a large region located between the north-eastern edge of the Iranian Plateau and the foothills of the Kopet Dagh Mountains in Central Asia. During the Achaemenid period, the region of the Kopet Dagh was part of the Achaemenid province of Parthava-Parthia. During the Hellenistic and Parthian periods, the area of the Kopet Dagh continued to belong to the province of Parthia-Hyrcania. Under the rule of the Parthian kings Arsakes I, Mithradates I and Mithradates II this region constituted the cradle of Parthian power and the setting of the first Arsakid royal foundations such as Old Nisa in Turkmenistan.
