Aramaic is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, southeastern Anatolia, Eastern Arabia and Sinai Peninsula, where it has been continually written and spoken in different varieties for over three thousand years.
Manichaeism is a former major world religion, founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian prophet Mani, in the Sasanian Empire.
Rūm, also romanized as Roum, is a derivative of Parthian (frwm) terms, ultimately derived from Greek Ῥωμαῖοι. Both terms are endonyms of the pre-Islamic inhabitants of Anatolia, the Middle East and the Balkans and date to when those regions were parts of the Eastern Roman Empire.
In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli, known after its core province, which during Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages was a significant monarchy in the Caucasus, either as an independent state or as a dependent of larger empires, notably the Sassanid and Roman empires. Iberia, centered on present-day Eastern Georgia, was bordered by Colchis in the west, Caucasian Albania in the east and Armenia in the south.
The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the civilian royal script of the Kingdom of Georgia and mostly used for the royal charters, is now the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only by the Georgian Orthodox Church, in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.
The Canaanite languages, sometimes referred to as Canaanite dialects, are one of three subgroups of the Northwest Semitic languages of the Semitic languages branch of the Afroasiatic languages family, the others being Aramaic and Amorite. These closely related languages originate in the Levant and Mesopotamia, and were spoken by the ancient Semitic-speaking peoples of an area encompassing what is today Israel, Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, as well as some areas of southwestern Turkey (Anatolia), western and southern Iraq (Mesopotamia) and the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia.
Gugark was the 13th province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia. It now comprises parts of northern Armenia, northeast Turkey, and southwest Georgia.
Amazasp II was a king (mepe) of Iberia and the last in the P'arnavaziani line according to the medieval Georgian chronicles. A son and successor of P'arsman III, he is assumed to have ruled in the latter quarter of the 2nd century, from 185 to 189 according to Cyril Toumanoff.
Khvarenah (also spelled khwarenah or xwarra(h): Avestan: 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀𐬵 xᵛarənah) is an Avestan word for a Zoroastrian concept literally denoting "glory" or "splendour" but understood as a divine mystical force or power projected upon and aiding the appointed. The neuter noun thus also connotes "(divine) royal glory", reflecting the perceived divine empowerment of kings. The term also carries a secondary meaning of "(good) fortune"; those who possess it are able to complete their mission or function.
Amazasp III or Hamazasp I was a king of Iberia from 260 to 265 AD. According to Cyril Toumanoff he may have been a scion of the Pharnavazid dynasty, while Richard N. Frye states that he was an Iranian, possibly related to the royal Sasanian family.
Adarnase I or Adrnerse, of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from 627 to 637/642.
Adarnase was a late 8th-century nobleman of Iberia and the founder of the Georgian Bagratid dynasty. He established himself in Tao-Klarjeti as a vassal of the Chosroid dynasty of Iberia and, as a matter of inheritance, acquired more lands, setting stage for the elevation of the Bagratids—in the person of his son Ashot I—to the principate of Iberia.
Nekresi is a historic and archaeological site in eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, between the town of Qvareli and the village of Shilda, at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus mountains. It is home to the still-functioning Nekresi monastery, founded in the 6th century.
The Bolnisi inscriptions are the Old Georgian inscriptions written in the Georgian Asomtavruli script on the Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral, a basilica located in Bolnisi, Bolnisi Municipality, Georgia. The inscriptions are dated AD 493/494. The construction of the basilica commenced in AD 478/479. Bolnisi inscription yields the most explicit reference to Peroz I, the Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire. Construction of the basilica might have been connected to the accession of Peroz; their builders being encouraged in their efforts by the imperial construction projects.
The Jvari inscriptions are the Old Georgian inscriptions written in the Georgian Asomtavruli script on the Jvari Monastery, a basilica located near Mtskheta, Georgia. Per Professor Wachtang Djobadze, inscriptions mention Georgian princes Stephen I of Iberia, Demetrius the Hypatos and Adarnase I of Iberia, however, Professor Cyril Toumanoff disagrees with this view and identifies these individuals with Stephen II of Iberia, Demetrius and Adarnase II of Iberia, respectively. Inscriptions are dated to the late sixth-early seventh centuries.
The Stele of Serapeitis is a funerary stele with bilingual inscriptions written in Ancient Greek and Armazic, a local idiom of Aramaic, found in 1940, at Armazi, near Mtskheta, in the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Iberia. The stele memorialises a short-lived Georgian princess named Serapeitis. The inscriptions mention Georgian monarchs, Pharnavaz I and Pharasmanes II, and other members of aristocracy. The inscriptions are dated 150 AD. It is known as KAI 276.
The Stele of Vespasian is a stele with Ancient Greek inscriptions found in 1867 at Armazi, near Mtskheta, Georgia in the ancient capital of the Caucasian Kingdom of Iberia. The stele memorialises reinforcement of the fortification of Armazi walls by Emperor Vespasian. Additionally, the inscription mentions two emperors Titus, Domitian and two kings Mihrdat I of Iberia, Pharasmanes I of Iberia and prince royal Amazaspus. The inscription is dated to 75 AD. The top of the stele is lost. According to Professor David Braund, the missing text was in Latin or Armazic. Cyril Toumanoff identifies Amazaspus as King Amazasp I of Iberia, though it can be prince royal Amazaspus, son of Pharasmanes I of Iberia, who is known from the Epigram of Amazaspos found in Rome.
Sasanian Iberia refers to the period the Kingdom of Iberia was under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire. The period includes when it was ruled by Marzbans (governors) appointed by the Sasanid Iranian king, and later through the Principality of Iberia.
Vezhan Buzmihr was an Iranian nobleman who served as the marzban of Sasanian Iberia. He was headquartered in Tbilisi and was succeeded as marzban by Arvand Gushnasp.
Bidaxsh was a title of Iranian origin attested in various languages from the 1st to the 8th-century. It has no identical word in English, but it is similar to a margrave, toparch and marcher lord. The etymology of the term is disputed, and it has been interpreted as literally meaning "the eye of the king," "second ruler" or "vice king." The word was borrowed into Armenian as Bdeašx (բդեաշխ), and into Georgian as Pitiaxshi (პიტიახში) and Patiaxshi (პატიახში).
