Saurmag I.

Saurmag I (Georgian: საურმაგი) was the second king of Iberia . He ruled the country from 234–159 BC. Chr., Succeeding his father Parnawas I .

Surname

The name Saurmag is derived from the iranoid Sauro-m (ates) and the diminutive suffix -aka. An alternative name comes from the tradition of a letter from Ammianus Marcellinus , in which the latter describes a later king as Sauromaces II.

Life

Shortly after taking office, he had to deal with a revolt by the Erist'avis (heads of administrative districts). These forced the ruling family to go into exile, whereby those found protection with the Durdzuki population. With the help of the Aznauri, Ovsi ( Ossetians ) and Durdsuken (today's Chechens and Ingush ), however, the uprising was put down, as Saurmag I and his supporters recaptured K'art'li and, with the exception of pardons for some, wiped out the opposing party and the families socially degraded. From his supporters as well as other groups within the empire, he formed a new elite in order to establish a loyal aristocracy alongside the Erist'avi. Nevertheless, not all Erist'avis were disempowered and later rulers tried to bind them closer to themselves again.

He continued the construction work on Armazi, which his father had started and which later became the acropolis of the capital . Still, they should only end under his son.

Contacts and dependencies with the southern Seleucid Empire also existed under Saurmag I, possibly with the order to secure the Orontid dynasty in neighboring Armenia , which was influenced by the Seleucids. Under the rule of Saurmag I, the heyday of the Iberian Empire continued and the rule consolidated, also with the help of an active settlement policy. At that time Iberia comprised what is now eastern Georgia , as well as south-western and eastern areas of western Georgia. According to historical sources, this area was not inhabited by a single ethnic group, but by many different groups. Archaeological sources, however, cannot capture these different groups. Since the 4th and 3rd centuries BC In the entire area largely similar burial methods, ceramics and settlement types can be observed. Differences are more indicative of a social stratigraphy.

The marriage policy, in which his father had primarily oriented himself towards the North Caucasus, led Saurmag I in a different direction by marrying the daughter of the high Persian official from Bardavi (Albania). There were two daughters, but they could not inherit the throne in Iberia. One of them married the Persian Mirian Nebrotiani (a relative of Saurmag's wife), who became his adoptive son, while the other was married to K'uji, the Erist'avi of Egrisi, who had already had an aunt of Saurmag I's wife . With Saurmag I, the inheritance of the throne and power to the respective son established itself, visible in the assumption of rule by his adoptive son, which was strictly observed in the following centuries. This procedure was still unusual when his father Parnawas I took office, where kings were probably installed and powers were distributed over several functions.

He also introduced the cult of Aynina / Ainina and Danana / Danina, whose cult sites were built along the road to Mc'xet'ia . But these could probably not soar to become main gods. It is assumed that these are celestial deities, which are connected with Hittite-Asia Minor deities.

Sources and dating problems

Strabon's geography does not contain a historical introduction to Iberia, but only descriptions of the landscape and population, as well as general explanations of administration and rule. The main sources date from the 9th to 11th centuries, although parts probably go back to earlier sources (probably from the 5th century). These are the "Life of Kings", the "Life of Nino" and the "Chronicle of K'art'li".

The problem here is that the early Georgian historical works provide almost no direct chronological information, but only a good deal of relative information. In addition, these historical works are often accompanied by myths, legends and epics or merged with other historical facts that occur in different epochs and are projected onto them. These king lists and stories partly do not match. There are also conflicts with foreign lists. According to Toumanoff (1969) "Iberian history can only be adequately treated in the context of the history of the neighboring states, that is, Armenia, Iran and the Romans."

literature

• Heinz Fähnrich : History of Georgia. Brill, Leiden, Boston 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-18601-9 .
• Ot'ar Lort'k'ip'anije: Old Georgia (Colchis and Iberia) in Strabon's geography. New scholias. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1996, ISBN 90-256-1101-X .
• Stephen Harold Rapp: Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Ann Arbor 1997, ISBN 978-0-591-30828-0 .
• Cyril Toumanoff: Chronology of the Early Kings of Iberia. In: Traditio. 25 1969, pp. 1-33.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Cyril Toumanoff: Chronology of the Early Kings of Iberia. In: Traditio. 25 1969, pp. 1-33. P. 9.
2. ↑ Stephen Harold Rapp: Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Ann Arbor 1997, ISBN 978-0-591-30828-0 , p. 278.
3. ^ ^{A b} Heinz Fähnrich: History of Georgia. Brill, Leiden, Boston 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-18601-9 , p. 95.
4. ↑ Ot'ar Lort'k'ip'anije: The old Georgia (Colchis and Iberia) in Strabon's geography. New scholias. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1996, ISBN 90-256-1101-X , p. 138.
5. ↑ Stephen Harold Rapp: Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Ann Arbor 1997, ISBN 978-0-591-30828-0 , pp. 277-280.
6. ↑ Iberia . In: Theodor Klause, Ernst Dassmann, Georg Schöllgen (Hrsg.): Reallexikon für antike und Christianentum . tape 17 , 1996, ISBN 3-7772-9611-2 , pp. 22 .
7. ↑ Stephen Harold Rapp: Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Ann Arbor 1997, ISBN 978-0-591-30828-0 , p. 283.
8. ^ Iberia . In: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (eds.): The new Pauly . tape 5 , 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , pp. 877, 878 .
9. ↑ Stephen Harold Rapp: Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Ann Arbor 1997, ISBN 978-0-591-30828-0 , p. 272.
10. ↑ Iberia. In: Theodor Klause, Ernst Dassmann, Georg Schöllgen (Eds.): Volume 17, 1996, ISBN 3-7772-9611-2 , pp. 16, 17.
11. ↑ Ot'ar Lort'k'ip'anije: The old Georgia (Colchis and Iberia) in Strabon's geography. New scholias. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1996, ISBN 90-256-1101-X , pp. 137, 138.
12. ^ ^{A b} Heinz Fähnrich: History of Georgia. Brill, Leiden, Boston 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-18601-9 , p. 96.
13. ↑ Stephen Harold Rapp: Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Ann Arbor 1997, ISBN 978-0-591-30828-0 , p. 281.
14. ↑ Ot'ar Lort'k'ip'anije: The old Georgia (Colchis and Iberia) in Strabon's geography. New scholias. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1996, ISBN 90-256-1101-X , pp. 213-216.
15. ↑ Stephen Harold Rapp: Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Ann Arbor 1997, ISBN 978-0-591-30828-0 , p. 295.
16. ↑ Iberia. In: Theodor Klause, Ernst Dassmann, Georg Schöllgen (Eds.): Volume 17, 1996, ISBN 3-7772-9611-2 , p. 32.
17. ^ Cyril Toumanoff: Chronology of the Early Kings of Iberia. In: Traditio. 25 1969, p. 1.
18. ^ Cyril Toumanoff: Chronology of the Early Kings of Iberia. In: Traditio. 25 1969, p. 8.

predecessor	Office	successor
Parnawas I.	King of Georgia 234–159 BC Chr.	Mirian I.