Kamnaskires III was a king of the Elymais

Elymais

Elymais or Elamais was a semi-independent state of the 2nd century BC to the early 3rd century AD, frequently a vassalary under Parthian control, and located at the head of the Persian Gulf in the present-day region of Khuzestan, Iran...

. The Elymais was a Parthian

Parthian Empire

The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...

 vassal kingdom in nowadays South-western Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. Following the dating on his coins he reigned from about 82/81 BC to 75 BC.

Kamnaskires III is mainly known from his coins on which he is depicted in an Iranian style, while earlier rulers of the Elymais followed on their coins Greek models. Next to the image of the king appears on the coins the portrait of Anzaze

Anzaze

Anzaze was a queen of the Elymais . She appears on coins together with king Kamnaskires III . They perhaps ruled together as on the coins she is called βασιλίσσης...

 who was most likely his wife and perhaps even a co-regent. Kamnaskires III appears also in cuneiform texts (as Qabinaschkiri), where there is a reference of an uprising in the Elymais. As respond the Parthian king Orodes I send troops. It is unknown whether he managed to gain again control over the Elymais. However, with Kamnaskires III starts a line of kings of the Elymais, minting their own coins, perhaps indicating some kind of independency.

Literature

• G. J. P. McEwan: A Parthian Campaign against Elymais in 77 B.C., in: Iran, 24 (1986), pp. 91-94
• D. T. Potts: The Archaeology of Elam, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999, p. 392