A Newly Discovered Monument of Persian-Achaemenid Architecture in South Caucasus

Abstract

In the second half of the 20^th century, the monuments of Persian-Achaemenid architecture discovered as a result of archaeological excavations in Western Azerbaijan (Saritepe), Northern Armenia (Beniamin), and Eastern Georgia (Gumbati, Tsikhiagora at Kavtiskhevi) allowed us to judge the strong influence of the Achaemenid culture in the South Caucasus in the 5^th-4^th centuries BCE. However, archaeological investigations in Karajamirli (Azerbaijan) and on Alazani Valley – Gumbat/Saaklemo (Georgia) from 2006 to 2023, demonstrated that we can discuss not only Persian-Achaemenid influence, but also Persian presence in the South Caucasus.
The nearly equal distances (60–100 km) from the pillared palaces of Saaklemo/Gumbati and Saritepe to Karajamirli prompt us to consider the division of the territory into administrative units: if Karajamirli served as the satrap’s seat, Saaklemo/ Gumbati and Saritepe might have been the provincial hubs of this satrapy (according to Herodotus, the XI satrapy [Hdt. III.92]).
The right bank of the Alazani River in Kakheti is the location of all monuments of Achaemenid architecture unearthed so far. On the left bank of Alazani, a monument similar to the above was recently found. Approximately five kilometers south of the village of Chabukiani in the Lagodekhi municipality, in the Alazani grove, on the flattened top of a Bronze Age kurgan, was a trench dug by graverobbers. In this trench, a bell-shaped base carved out of limestone was discovered.
The column base of Chabukiani has more complicated ornamentation than the bell-shaped bases of Saritepe, Gumbati, Beniamin, and Karajamirli, and it is identical to the bases of Saaklemo (Radiocarbon dating reveals an earlier date for Saaklemo than 400 BCE).
According to Burkhardt Wesenberg’s classification of Persian-Achaemenid bellshaped bases, four types are distinguished. Chabukiani and Saaklemo bases show some similarity with its C and D types, but we think it should be considered as a different type (fifth).
All of the Persian-Achaemenid structures found in the South Caucasus thus far are located in the steppes. The building, which column base we described above, lies on top of the hill (kurgan), suggesting that it may have had a cult role.