Dzalisa Settlement

(Materials for the Study of Georgian-Iranian Relations in the 3rd-4th Centuries AD)

Abstract

Cultural and economic relations between Georgia and Iran, according to the archaeological materials, started in the 4th mill. BC.

One of the most interesting periods in Georgian-Iranian relations was the Sassanid epoch. In the sites of this period excavated in Georgia, many Sasanian artifacts were discovered. Among them are several bullae. Some of them depict portraits of Iranian shahs, and some are related to the Sasanian royal administration. These bullae, which belong to Shahs or representatives of the royal family, were discovered in the historical Georgian region of Kartli at two sites, namely Dzalisa and Uplistsikhe.

Dzalisa Settlement is located in the municipality of Mtskheta in the village of Dzalisi. The settlement, which dates back to the Antique period and Early Middle Ages, was built on both banks of Narekvavi River, 20 kilometers northwest of the city of Mtskheta.

The settlement is identified with the town of Dzalisa (Dzalissa) of the Antique period, which is mentioned by the Greek geographer of the 2nd century AD, Claudius Ptolemy (Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαίος 87-165 AD) in his Geography, along with other towns of Iberia.

The excavations of 2017-2019 brought to light unknown sides of the history of not only Dzalisa, but also the history of Kartli/Iberia. Excavations have shown an important Iranian trace there. Special attention must be paid to the discovery of the bullae of the royal administration of Iran, in one of the architectural complexes in Dzalisa. Prior to these excavations, the history of the town of Dzalisa was only related to the Roman world. All architectural complexes excavated in Area I are of Roman style. This fact quite rightly connected the origin of the city with the policy pursued by the Roman Empire in Kartli/Iberia.

The information of Claudius Ptolemy and the data of archaeological excavations show that the city was already one of the important centers of Kartli in the 2nd century and was strongly influenced by Roman culture.

An important change in the history of Kartli/Iberia took place in the 3rd century. This change is connected with the military-political activity of Sasanian Iran against the Roman Empire. One of the important areas of the conflict was the South Caucasus. The kingdom of Kartli/Iberia, which was an ally of the Roman Empire in the 1st-2nd centuries AD, also entered the sphere of Iran’s active policy. The first military campaign in the South Caucasus was organized by the Iranian Shah Ardashir I (230-240). Shapur I achieved great success in this direction. As it seems, exactly at the beginning of Shapur I’s reign, the states of the South Caucasus were taxed. In 242, the Roman Emperor Gordian III started a military campaign against Iran. He achieved some success but died in 244. Subsequently, the Iranians launched a massive attack on South Caucasus and conquered Iberia, Albania, and Armenia. Hormizd-Ardashir, the son of Shapur I, later Shah Hormizd I of Iran (270-271 AD) became the great king of Armenia. Roman hegemony in the East ended in 260 when Shapur I captured the emperor Valerian. A contemporary of Shapur I was the Iberian king Amazasp (230-265), who is mentioned together with Iranian nobles in the inscription of the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.

The confrontation between Iran and Rome, which took place in the second half of the 3rd century, ended in 299 with the Peace of Nisibis. According to this treaty, Rome retrieved its hegemony in the Caucasus. The treaty was infringed by Shapur II in the 330s. In 337, Shapur II entered Armenia and renewed the war between Iran and Rome. In 363, another treaty was signed. According to it, the border was established along the Euphrates River. Armenia fell under Iranian influence and Iberia under Roman. Rome appointed Saurmag II (363-378) as king of Iberia. In 364, the emperor of Rome died, and Shapur II made a new move, assigning Aspagur (Varaz-Bakur) as the ruler of Iberia. For the town of Dzalisa and the Kingdom of Kartli/Iberia, the treaty of 387 between Shapur III and Rome was significant. According to it, most of Armenia and Iberia came under Iranian influence.

We believe that the town of Dzalisa used to be an important post of Shapur III in Iberia. That is how one could explain the discovery in Dzalisa of a big number of packages from the Sassanian administration.

On the territory of Dzalisa, six bullae were discovered. Three of them are small clay balls with images characteristic to the Sassanian glyptic. The other three are big and belong to the royal administration. On one of the bullae there is a portrait of a Shah. According to Prof. Touraj Daryaee this is a portrait of Shah Shapur III.

Taking into account the existing information, we can say that a large complex excavated in the 2nd district of Dzalisa belongs to the 3rd-4th cc. AD. The bullae, discovered during excavations, indicate that the complex was destroyed at the end of the 4th century. It was destroyed by strong fire, and it was never brought back to life after this catastrophe. In the area surrounding the complex, burial vaults were built in the 5th century, but in such a way that the remnants of the complex were not damaged.