მეფობის საკითხი კლასიკური ხანის კოლხეთში და არქეოლოგია

Abstract

If there is anything strange and questionable in the history of Georgia, it is undoubtedly the question of the identity of the kings of Colchis. At first glance, this problem should not have existed either, as information about the Colchian kings provides us with both ancient (Xenophon, Strabo, Pliny, Trogus) as well as Urartian cuneiform sources (inscription of Sarduri II). Naturally, I do not mean the references to the legendary Aeetes with Apollonius of Rhodes, Strabo, and various versions of the Argonauts. However, how legendary Aeetes maybe is still a matter of controversy, as in classical Colchis there was a strong notion that this person originated in the dynasty of the Colchian kings and all of them considered themselves his descendants.

The references of Xenophon and Pliny are important because they directly mention the existence of kings and, consequently, royal authority in Colchis. This information draws attention to another important detail – according to two different authors working at different times, the kings of Colchis are called the descendants of Aeetes. O. Lortkipanidze first paid attention to this circumstance and noted that by the descendants of the Aeetes, by the kings of Colchis were a tradition developed, whereby the kings of Colchis specifically indicated their divine origin (sons of Helios). In order to prove the existence of the royal government in Colchis, references of ancient Roman historian Trogus are examined. In the introduction to Book XXVII of Trogus, it is specially mentioned that it tells the story of the kings of Pontus, and “from it” the deeds of the kings of the Bosporan kingdom and Colchis.

Based on the archaeological data at our disposal, it is also possible that the luxurious burial complexes of Vani, Sairkhe, Itkhvisi, Mtisdziri or Dablagomi are specifically related to the reign of the king mentioned by Xenophon, the era of Kuji or Savlak. The Colchian king mentioned by Xenophon, the epoch of the king, his predecessor and his descendants include such reference monuments as Vani, Sairkhe, Pichvnari, Mtisdziri, Dablagomi, Itkhvisi, Achandara.