Kingdom of Iberia
Kingdom of Iberia ქართლის სამეფო kartlis samepo | |||||||||||
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c. 302 BC – 580 AD | |||||||||||
Status |
(302–159 BC)
(65–63 BC, 40–36 BC, 30–1 AD)
(1–129 AD, 131–260 AD)
(260–265 AD)[5]
(298–363 AD)
(363–482 AD, 502–523 AD)
(523–580 AD) | ||||||||||
Capital | |||||||||||
Common languages | Mirian III | 317 AD[7] | |||||||||
• Direct Sasanian control and abolition of the monarchy | 580 AD | ||||||||||
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Part of a series on the |
History of Georgia |
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In
Its population, the Iberians, formed the nucleus of the Kartvelians (i.e.
In the 4th century, after the
The term "Caucasian Iberia" is also used to distinguish it from the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe.[11]
Name
The provenance of the name "Iberia" is unclear. One theory on the etymology of the name Iberia, proposed by Giorgi Melikishvili, was that it was derived from the contemporary Armenian designation for Georgia, Virkʿ (Armenian: Վիրք, and Ivirkʿ [Իվիրք] and Iverkʿ [Իվերք]), which itself was connected to the word Sver (or Svir), the Kartvelian designation for Georgians.[12] The letter "s" in this instance served as a prefix for the root word "Ver" (or "Vir"). Accordingly, in following Ivane Javakhishvili's theory, the ethnic designation of "Sber", a variant of Sver, was derived from the word "Hber" ("Hver") (and thus Iberia) and the Armenian variants, Veria and Viria.[12]
Historian Adolfo Domínguez Monedero argues that the name Iberian was given by Ancient Greeks to two different peoples located at the extremities of their world (in the Iberian Peninsula and the Caucasus) due to the mythical wealth associated with them (Tartessos and the Golden Fleece of Colchis).[13]
History
Early history
In
The Saspers (who were mentioned by Herodotus), may have played a crucial role in the consolidation of the tribes inhabiting the area.[citation needed] The Moschoi may have moved slowly to the northeast forming settlements as they traveled.[citation needed] One of these was Mtskheta, the future capital of the Kingdom of Iberia. The Mtskheta tribe was later ruled by a prince locally known as mamasakhlisi (“father of the household” in Georgian).
The written sources for the early periods of Iberia's history are mostly medieval Georgian chronicles, that modern scholarship interpret as a semi-legendary narrative.
The story of Alexander's invasion of Kartli, although legendary, nevertheless reflects the establishment of Georgian monarchy in the Hellenistic period and the desire of later Georgian literati to connect this event to the celebrated conqueror.[15]
His successors controlled the mountain passes of the
The period following this time of prosperity was one of incessant warfare as Iberia was forced to defend against numerous invasions into its territories. Some southern parts of Iberia, that were conquered from the
Roman period and Roman/Parthian rivalry
This close association with
While another Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, Iberia freely accepted the Roman Imperial protection. A stone inscription discovered at
The next two centuries saw a continuation of Roman influence over the area, but by the reign of King
From the first centuries of the Christian era, the cult of Mithras and Zoroastrianism were commonly practiced in Iberia. Excavation of rich burials in Bori, Armazi, and Zguderi has produced silver drinking cups with the impression of a horse either standing at a fire-altar or with its right foreleg raised above the altar.[17] The cult of Mithras, distinguished by its syncretic character and thus complementary to local cults within Georgian mythology, especially the cult of the Sun, gradually came to merge with ancient Georgian beliefs. It is even thought that Mithras must have been the precursor of St. George in pagan Georgia.[18] Step by step, Iranian beliefs and ways of life penetrated deeply the practices of the Iberian court and elite: the Armazian script and “language,” which is based on Aramaic (see Tsereteli), was adopted officially (a number of inscriptions in Aramaic of the Classical/Hellenistic periods are known from Colchis as well);[19] the court was organized on Iranian models, the elite dress was influenced by Iranian costume, the Iberian elite adopted Iranian personal names,[20] and the official cult of Armazi (q.v.) was introduced by King Pharnavaz in the 3rd century BC (connected by the medieval Georgian chronicle to Zoroastrianism)[21]
Between Rome/Byzantium and Persia
Decisive for the future history of Iberia was the foundation of the
However, in the Peace of Nisibis (298) while the Roman empire obtained control of Caucasian Iberia again as a vassal state and acknowledged the reign over all the Caucasian area, it recognized Mirian III, the first of the Chosroid dynasty, as king of Iberia.[citation needed]
Adoption of Orthodoxy and Sassanid Persian period
Roman predominance proved crucial in religious matters, since King Mirian III and leading nobles converted to Eastern Orthodoxy around 317 and declared Orthodoxy as state religion. The event is related with the mission of a Cappadocian woman, Saint Nino, who since 303 had preached Orthodoxy in the Georgian kingdom of Iberia (Eastern Georgia).
The religion would become a strong tie between Georgia and Rome (later Byzantium) and have a large scale impact on the state's culture and society. Iranian elements in Georgian art gradually ceased with the adoptation of Eastern Orthodoxy in the fourth century.[24]
However, after the
The early reign of the Iberian king Vakhtang I dubbed Gorgasali (447–502) was marked by the relative revival of the kingdom. Formally a vassal of the Persians, he secured the northern borders by subjugating the Caucasian mountaineers, and brought the adjacent western and southern Georgian lands under his control. He established an autocephalic patriarchate at Mtskheta, and made Tbilisi his capital. In 482 he led a general uprising against Persia and started a desperate war for independence that lasted for twenty years. He could not get Byzantine support and was eventually defeated, dying in battle in 502.
Fall of the kingdom
The continuing rivalry between
At the beginning of the 7th century the truce between Byzantium and Persia collapsed. The Iberian prince Stephan I (c. 590 – 627), decided in 607 to join forces with Persia in order to reunite all the territories of Iberia, a goal he seems to have accomplished. But Emperor Heraclius's offensive in 627 and 628 brought victory over the Georgians and Persians and ensured Byzantine predominance in western and eastern Georgia until the invasion of the Caucasus by the Arabs.[citation needed]
Arab period and restoration of the kingship
The
Eastern and Western Iberians
The similarity of the name with the old inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula, the 'Western' Iberians, has led to an idea of ethnogenetical kinship between them and the people of Caucasian Iberia (called the 'Eastern' Iberians).
It has been advocated by various ancient and medieval authors, although they differed in approach to the problem of the initial place of their origin. The theory seems to have been popular in medieval Georgia. The prominent Georgian religious writer George the Hagiorite (1009–1065) wrote about the wish of certain Georgian nobles to travel to the Iberian peninsula and visit the local Georgians of the West, as he called them.
See also
References
- ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 26, 29, 417.
- ^ Ronald Grigor Suny. The Making of the Georgian Nation. p. 15.
- ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 29–35.
- ^ Braund pp.233–237
- ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 35–36.
- ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. p. 38.
- ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. p. 39.
The year 317 is the only one that century when a total eclipse of the sun was visible at Mtskheta. To convert before the Council of Nicaea in 325.
- ISBN 978-0-521-20092-9. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ISBN 0-253-20915-3.
- ^ William Coffman McDermott, Wallace Everett Caldwell. Readings in the History of the Ancient World. p. 404.
- ^ Mikaberidze, p. 360
- ^ Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1978, p. 306.
- ISSN 1989-9904.
- ISBN 90-429-1318-5, 9789042913189. P. 275. "While P’arnavaz may in fact be a fabrication, it is more feasible that over time the memory of the historical P’arnavaz accumulated a legendary facade."
- ISBN 90-429-1318-5.
- ^ Rapp 2014, p. 230-231.
- ^ Machabeli, pp. 37, 51–54, 65–66
- ^ Makalatia, pp. 184–93
- ^ Braund, pp. 126–27
- ^ Braund, pp. 212–15
- ^ Apakidze, pp. 397–401
- ^ Spaeth 2013, p. 133.
- ^ Hitchins 2001, pp. 464–470.
- ^ "GEORGIA iii. Iranian elements in Georgian art and archeology". Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-1442241466p 528
- ISBN 0253209153. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
Sources
- Braund, David. Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BC-AD 562 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) ISBN 0-19-814473-3
- Hitchins, Keith (2001). "GEORGIA ii. History of Iranian-Georgian Relations". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. X, Fasc. 4. pp. 464–470.
- Rapp, Stephen H. (2014). The Sasanian World Through Georgian Eyes: The Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature. Routledge.
- ISBN 978-0521113960.
Sources
- Roger Rosen, Jeffrey Jay Foxx. Georgia: A sovereign country of the Caucasus
- Thomson, Robert W. Rewriting Caucasian History (1996) ISBN 0-19-826373-2
- Lang, David Marshall. The Georgians (London: Thames & Hudson, 1966)
- Schleicher, Frank. Iberia Caucasia. Ein Kleinkönigreich im Spannungsfeld großer Imperien. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2021.
- Toumanoff, Cyril. Studies in Christian Caucasian History. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1963