Parthians

The Parthians were an Iranian people whose empire at its height extended from the Euphrates River to eastern Iran, making them the dominant power east of Rome from the second century BC to the third century AD. They were formidable mounted archers, famous for the Parthian shot — firing arrows while retreating on horseback — and repeatedly defeated Roman legions attempting to expand eastward.

Parthians are mentioned in Scripture only once, in Acts 2:9, where they appear first in the list of Jewish diaspora communities present in Jerusalem at Pentecost who heard the disciples speaking in their own native languages. This places Jewish communities within the Parthian empire — corresponding to ancient Media, Persia, Elam, and Mesopotamia — among the earliest witnesses to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Jewish diaspora in Parthia was substantial, descended partly from the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations of the eighth and sixth centuries BC.