Kingdom of Iberia

For other uses, see Kingdom of Iberia (disambiguation) and Iberia (disambiguation).
Kingdom of Iberia
ქართლის სამეფო
kartlis samepo
c. 302 BC – 580 AD
Flag of Iberia, Kartli
Colchis and Iberia
Colchis and Iberia
Status

(302–159 BC)

(65–63 BC, 40–36 BC, 30–1 AD)

(1–129 AD, 131–260 AD)

(260–265 AD)[5]

(298–363 AD)

  • Vassal state of Sassanid Persia

(363–482 AD, 502–523 AD)

  • Direct Sassanid Persian rule

(523–580 AD)

  • Annexation by Sassanid Persia

(580–588 AD)

Capital
Common languagesGreek–Aramaic (language of governance, literacy and culture)[7]
Old Georgian (literacy and native language)[8]
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraAntiquity
• Reign of Pharnavaz I
c. 302 BC 
317 AD[9]
• Direct Sasanian control and abolition of the monarchy
 580 AD
 Succeeded by
Principality of Iberia
Part of a series on the
History of Georgia
Prehistoric Georgia
Ancient history
Middle Ages
Early modern history
Modern history
History by topic
Not to be confused with the Kingdom of the Iberians or the Iberian Union.

In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia (Ancient Greek: Ἰβηρία Iberia; Latin: Hiberia; Parthian: wurğān; Middle Persian: wiručān) was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli (Georgian: ქართლი), 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.[10] Iberia, centered on present-day Eastern Georgia, was bordered by Colchis in the west, Caucasian Albania in the east and Armenia in the south.

Its population, the Iberians, formed the nucleus of the Kartvelians (i.e. Georgians). Iberia, ruled by the Pharnavazid, Artaxiad, Arsacid and Chosroid royal dynasties, together with Colchis to its west, would form the nucleus of the unified medieval Kingdom of Georgia under the Bagrationi dynasty.[11][12]

In the 4th century, after the Christianization of Iberia by Saint Nino during the reign of King Mirian III, Christianity was made the state religion of the kingdom. Starting in the early 6th century AD, the kingdom's position as a Sassanian vassal state was changed into direct Persian rule. In 580, king Hormizd IV (578–590) abolished the monarchy after the death of King Bakur III, and Iberia became a Persian province ruled by a marzpan (governor).

The term "Caucasian Iberia" is also used to distinguish it from the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe.[13]

  1. ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 26, 29, 417.
  2. ^ Ronald Grigor Suny. The Making of the Georgian Nation. p. 15.
  3. ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 29–35.
  4. ^ Braund pp.233–237
  5. ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. pp. 35–36.
  6. ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. p. 38.
  7. ^ A. Furtwängler, I. Gagoshidze, H. Löhr and N. Ludwig(2008) - Iberia and Rome. Page - 25-26
  8. ^ History of Georgia 2012, p. 165.
  9. ^ Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. p. 39. The year 317 is the only one that century when a total eclipse of the sun was visible at Mtskheta. To convert before the Council of Nicaea in 325.
  10. ^ Ehsan Yarshater (1983). The Cambridge History of Iran: The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods. Cambridge University Press. pp. 520–. ISBN 978-0-521-20092-9. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  11. ^ Ronald Grigor Suny. The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press, p. 13 ISBN 0-253-20915-3.
  12. ^ William Coffman McDermott, Wallace Everett Caldwell. Readings in the History of the Ancient World. p. 404.
  13. ^ Mikaberidze, p. 360