Some Remarks on Qulḫa

Over the Mountains and Far Away Studies in Near Eastern history and archaeology presented to Mirjo Salvini on the occasion of his 80th birthday edited by Pavel S. Avetisyan, Roberto Dan and Yervand H. Grekyan Archaeopress Archaeology Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way Summertown Oxford OX2 7LG www.archaeopress.com ISBN 978-1-78491-943-6 ISBN 978-1-78491-944-3 (e-Pdf) © Archaeopress and authors 2019 Cover image: Mheri duṛ/Meher kapısı. General view of the ‘Gate of Ḫaldi’ (9th century BC) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Printed in England by Oxuniprint, Oxford. This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com Contents Editorial.......................................................................................................................................................................................... iv Foreword ......................................................................................................................................................................................... v Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................................................. vi Bīsotūn, ‘Urartians’ and ‘Armenians’ of the Achaemenid Texts, and the Origins of the Exonyms Armina and Arminiya.. 1 Gregory E. Areshian Human Images from the Eastern Urartian Periphery: Anthropomorphic Sculpture of Syunik on the Cusp of the 2nd and 1st Millennia BC ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 Hayk Avetisyan, Artak Gnuni, Gagik Sargsyan and Arsen Bobokhyan Cult-Places of Ancient Armenia: A Diachronic View and an Attempt of Classification ........................................................ 19 Pavel Avetisyan and Arsen Bobokhyan The Elamite Tablets from Armavir-Blur (Armenia): A Re-Examination ............................................................................... 34 Miqayel Badalyan, Gian Pietro Basello and Roberto Dan Šiuini: The Urartian Sun god ..................................................................................................................................................... 46 Miqayel Badalyan Protective Clay Figurines in the Urartian Fortresses............................................................................................................... 58 Atilla Batmaz Mesopotamians and Mesopotamian Learning at Hattusa, Thirty Years On .......................................................................... 65 Gary Beckman Too Many Horns in the Temple of the God Hadad of Aleppo at the Time of the Ebla Archives! ........................................ 71 Maria Giovanna Biga The Roots of the Urartian Kingdom: The Growth of Social Complexity on the Armenian Plateau Between Ancient Bronze and Early Iron Ages .......................................................................................................................................... 74 Raffaele Biscione Thoughts about the Audience-Hall of Naramsin at Tell Asmar-Ešnunna ............................................................................. 90 Felix Blocher The Urartian God Quera and the Metamorphosis of the ‘Vishap’ Cult.................................................................................. 98 Arsen Bobokhyan, Alessandra Gilibert and Pavol Hnila Laḫmu, ‘The Hairy One’, and the Puzzling Issue of Mythology in Middle Assyrian Glyptic Art ....................................... 106 Dominik Bonatz The First Gilgamesh Conjectures About the Earliest Epic ...................................................................................................... 114 Giorgio Buccellati Ayanis Fortress: Only a Military Fortress or More? .............................................................................................................. 120 Altan Çilingiroğlu Granaries in Urartu and Neighboring States and the Monumentalization of Administrative Records .......................... 134 Birgit Christiansen Hasanlu, the Southern Caucasus and Early Urartu ................................................................................................................ 144 Megan Cifarelli The King of the Rock Revisited: The Site of As-Sila (Tafila, Jordan) and the Inscription of Nabonidus of Babylon...... 157 Rocío Da Riva A New Painting Fragment from Erebuni and an Overview of Urartian Wall Paintings ..................................................... 171 Roberto Dan, Yeghis Keheyan, Nelli Hovhannisyan, Artur Petrosyan, Yelena Atoyants, Priscilla Vitolo and Boris Gasparyan New Observations Regarding the Urartian Inscription of the Tul-e Talesh Bracelet ........................................................ 187 Maryam Dara Nouvelles réflexions relatives à la fin du royaume d’Ourartou – la forteresse d’Erebuni vers la fin du VIIe siècle av. J.-C. .............................................................................................................................................................................. 191 Stéphane Deschamps, François Fichet de Clairfontaine and Mary Karapetyan Quand dieu aide les vainqueurs................................................................................................................................................ 203 Jean-Marie Durand i The Relationship between State and Nomads in the Urartian Kingdom.............................................................................. 207 Aylin Ü. Erdem Alcune considerazioni sulla posizione di Uršum e Ḫaššum/Ḫaššuwa: dal commercio paleo-assiro al regno di Ḫattušili I................................................................................................................................................................................ 212 Massimo Forlanini L’espressione (ANA) PANI NP nei colofoni ittiti ....................................................................................................................... 220 Rita Francia From Khazane Kapoussi/Hazine Kapısı to Analıkız: Rethinking a Place at Tušpa Citadel................................................ 231 Bülent Genç Some Remarks on Qulḫa ............................................................................................................................................................ 241 Levan Gordeziani The Problem of the Origin of the Urartian Scribal School .................................................................................................... 244 Yervand Grekyan The Cross Statue as a Symbol of Christianizing Armenia ...................................................................................................... 263 Grigor Grigoryan Oshakan Tomb No. 25 Revisited................................................................................................................................................ 266 Michael Herles Urartian Envoys to Ashurbanipal’s Court – Some Remarks on the Assyro - Urartian Relations in the First Half of the 7th Century BC ....................................................................................................................................................... 283 Krzysztof Hipp The ‘City of Ḫaldi’ in the Land of Uaza .................................................................................................................................... 292 Simon Hmayakyan Urartian Inscriptions at the Van Museum. A New Collection .............................................................................................. 296 Kenan Işık Towards the Reconstruction of the Hurro-Urartian Protolanguage .................................................................................... 304 Margarit Khachikyan A New Rock-Cut Tomb in Van Fortress/Tushpa ..................................................................................................................... 307 Erkan Konyar Upper Euphrates Political Geography Reconsidered.............................................................................................................. 312 Aram Kosyan The Urartian Rock-Cut Chamber at Yelpin / Armenia ........................................................................................................... 317 Stephan Kroll Le terre di Urartu nella descrizione di Strabone .................................................................................................................... 324 Gianfranco Maddoli The Armenian Patronymic Arcruni.......................................................................................................................................... 331 Hrach Martirosyan Iron Age Luvian tarrawann(i)- ................................................................................................................................................... 337 H. Craig Melchert An Echo of Assyria in Plutarch’s Life of Alexander ................................................................................................................ 346 Sarah C. Melville Lo strano caso del Sig. VITA+RA/I, scriba ‘4’ alla corte ittita ................................................................................................ 354 Clelia Mora From Petroglyphs to Alphabet. A Brief Characterization of the Writing Culture of Pre-Christian Armenia .................. 359 Artak Movsisyan New Iri-Saĝrig Ration Distribution and Related Texts ........................................................................................................... 371 David I. Owen Le melograne della basilica di Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.................................................................................................... 381 Neda Parmegiani On the Ethnic Origin of the Ruling Elite of Urartu ................................................................................................................. 386 Armen Petrosyan Solak 1. Una fortezza urartea nella valle del Hrazdan, Armenia ......................................................................................... 391 Artur Petrosyan, Roberto Dan and Priscilla Vitolo Un piccolo frammento di una lunga storia: un cammello a Tell Barri/Kahat (Siria) ......................................................... 401 Raffaella Pierobon Benoit ii New Ways of Etymologizing Certain Fragments of the Cuneiform Inscription of Tanahat .............................................. 418 Ashot Piliposyan A Note about an Ewer of Probable Anatolian Production, from One of the Tombs of the Assyrian Queens at Nimrud 426 Frances Pinnock Armenian Toponyms in the ‘Patria Quae Dicitur Parthia’ according to the Cosmographia of Ravennas Anonymus .... 434 Daniel T. Potts Updates on Verbal Transitivity and Nominal Ellipsis in Hittite ........................................................................................... 438 Jaan Puhvel The Assyria-Urartu Relationship and the Political Role of Mercenaries ............................................................................. 440 Julian Edgeworth Reade Zur Frage des Weiterlebens urartäischer Namen in achaimenidischer Zeit ....................................................................... 457 Rüdiger Schmitt Auf der Suche nach einem Reichsgott für Urartu .................................................................................................................. 465 Ursula Seidl Everyday Life in Trialeti (South Caucasus) in the Middle and the Second Half of the 2nd Millennium BC .................... 476 Nino Shanshashvili and Goderdzi Narimanishvili A New Fragment of an Inscription of Rusa, Son of Argišti, from the susi Temple of Bastam, Iran .................................. 501 Marie-Claude Trémouille, Roberto Dan, Keomars Haji Mohammad and Ebrahim Bodaghi ‘Excavating’ Looted Tombs at Pessinus (2011-2013)............................................................................................................... 511 Gocha R. Tsetskhladze The Bronze Stamp Seals of Marlik: Evidence of Bronze Age Links with Eastern Iran and Central Asia ......................... 525 Ali A. Vahdati and Amir Saed Mucheshi Beyt’a Mêzînê A Trace of the Qur’anic Influence on the Yezidi Oral Religious Tradition.................................................. 532 Vardan Voskanian The Ethno-Cultural Diversity of Central Anatolian Early Iron Age Inhabitants ................................................................ 537 Jak Yakar The Mighty Weapon of Tarhunt................................................................................................................................................ 544 Ilya Yakubovich Illiterate Urartians: Writing and the Ayanis Outer Town ..................................................................................................... 560 Paul Zimansky iii Some Remarks on Qulḫa Levan Gordeziani Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Abstract: Qulḫa, attested in the Annals of Sarduri II, is identified with Greek Colchis.The popular assumption that Diau(e)ḫi ceased to exist after Argishti I’s campaign(s) and was mainly divided between Urartu and Colchis is mostly based on the fact that Diauḫi disappears from the texts and Sarduri II confronts Colchis in the region, which was earlier associated with Diauḫi. While this is a valid assumption, it is not the only one. Qulḫa could have been used as an alternative designation for the same political unit as Diauḫi. Keywords: Qulḫa, Colchis, Diau(e)ḫi, Urartu 11´ [KI]ŠIB AN.BAR za-du-bi DUB-t[e] 12´ [U]RUil-da-mu-šá te-ru-bi 13´ [É].GALMEŠ URUMEŠ GIBIL-bi 14´ ḫar-ḫar-šú-bi KUR-ni a-tú-bi 15´ ’a-še MUNUSlu-tú pa-ru-b[i] 16´ mDsar5-du-ri-še a-li-[e] 17´ i-ku-ka-ni MU ši-iš-ti-n[i] 18´ uš-ta-di KURu-i-te-ru-ḫi-e-d[i] It is a great honour for me to have an opportunity to express my deepest respect for Professor Salvini with this modest contribution. I am grateful for his generous support, whether through advice or books, and I always remember the inspiring moments when I watched his magic actions with the Urartian inscriptions at the Georgian National Museum. Qulḫa is mentioned four times in Urartian texts. All of the references are made in the Annals of Sarduri II, in two different contexts describing two campaigns – presumably, those of 749 and 746 BC.1 ‘Sarduri dice: partii verso il paese di Qulḫa, (e lo) occupai(?). La città di <Il>damuša, città reale (capitale) di Meša, re colco (di Qulḫa), che era fortificata, la espugnai in battaglia insieme con i (suoi) abitanti, (e la) detti alle fiamme. Sconfissi la guarnigione (gli uomini irdi), che erano là per (la difesa) del paese di Qulḫa. Fabbricai un sigillo del ferro, una iscrizione posi nella città di Ildamuša. Fortezze e villaggi detti alle fiamme e distrussi. Maschi e femmine deportai. Sarduri dice: lo stesso anno di nuovo mossi in spedizione contro il paese di Uiteruḫi’. In one case, during his campaign against Qulḫa, Sarduri defeats King Ḫaḫa of Ḫuša and deports him and his people to Urartu. In the same year, the campaign takes a turn towards Abilianiḫi: CTU A 9-3 II2 1´ ...[uš-ta-di] 2´ KURqu-ul-ḫa-i-di Dḫal-di-ni-ni al-su-i-ši-[ni] 3´ [m]ḫa-ḫa-a-ni MAN KURḫu-šá-a-al-ḫi LÚUNMEŠ-ra-[ni] 4´ [e]-di-ni ta-áš-mu-ú-bi pa-ru-bi e-er-si-du-[bi] 5´ KURe-ba-ni-ú-ki-e mDsar5-du-ri-še a-li-[e] 6´ [i]-ku-ka-ni šá-a-li LÚA.SIMEŠ uš-ta-a-li 7´ [KUR]a-bi-li-a-ni-ḫi-ni-e-di The same text also describes a raid into the land of UeduriEtiuni (line 48’). All of the lands mentioned, including Qulḫa are to be sought, with a varying degree of certainty, in the South Caucasus. ‘mi diressi] verso il paese di Qulḫa, in virtù della grandezza di Ḫaldi imprigionai(?) Ḫaḫa, il re del paese di Ḫuša, insieme con la (sua) gente, (li) portai via e li trapiantai nel mio paese. Sarduri dice: nello stesso anno le truppe mossero contro il paese di Abilianiḫi’. Nowadays, Qulḫa of the Urartian texts is unanimously identified with Greek Colchis.4 The fact that the word ‘iron’, used only once in the surviving Urartian inscriptions, appears in this very context can serve as an additional argument for the identification and localisation of Qulḫa.5 In the second case, Sarduri II captures Ildamuša, the royal city of King Meša of Qulḫa, destroys it and annihilates the troops stationed there. The campaign continues to Uiteruḫi: To my knowledge, Qulḫa was first equated with Colchis by Tsereteli.6 MÂTUḲu-ul-ḫa-i-di is simply translated as ‘nach dem Lande Kolchis (gr. Κόλχοι, Κολχίς: ein georgischer Stamm bzw. Gebiet)’ without any arguments. Piotrovskij7 is not familiar with this identification and is critical about the attempt to associate Uelikuḫi with Colchis.8 Melikishvili9 was the first to provide arguments for this identification, localisation of Qulḫa and its relationship with Diau(e)ḫi, which remain relevant today as well: CTU A 9-3 III3 2´ [m]D[sar5-du]-ri-še a-li-[e] 3´ uš-ta-[di KURqu]-ul-ḫa-i-di 4´ [ba-ad]-gu-lu-bi URU<il>-[da-mu]-šá-ni 5´ URU MAN-nu-si mme-šá-[i] MAN-[i] 6´ KURqu-ul-ḫa-ḫa-li-e-[i] 7´ [a]-gu-nu-[ni] ma-nu gu-nu-šá-[a] 8´ [ḫ]a-ú-bi UNMEŠ-ra-ni GIBIL-b[i] 9´ LÚir-di a-li KURqul-ḫa-i 10´ [i]š-ti-ni ma-nu za-áš-gu-bi Diakonov and Kashkai 1981: 69; Salvini 1995: 70-71. Salvini 1995: 71. 6 Tsereteli 1928: 43. 7 Piotrovskij 1944: 27, 84. 8 Piotrovskij 1944: 27. 9 Melikishvili 1950: 26ff. 4 5 Salvini 1995: 64ff. Cf. Grekyan 2015: 109. Transliteration and translation of Salvini (2008: 421-422). 3 Transliteration and translation of Salvini (2008: 423-424). 1 2 241 Studies Presented to Mirjo Salvini Ḫušani / Ḫušalhi, which Argišti mentions twice in the context of his campaign to Diauḫi, appears integrated into the neighbouring unity of Qulḫa in the times of Sarduri II. After Argishti’s destruction of Diauḫi, some of its parts might have either continued to exist as independent entities or integrated into larger neighbouring political units. Evidently, the same happened to Ḫušani / Ḫušalhi. This suggests the immediate neighbourhood of Qulḫa and Diauḫi, which (given the similarity of the names) may support the hypothesis of Qulḫa’s ___location in the historical area of Colchis, west or northwest from Diauḫi.10 the north of Diauḫi, south-west of Çıldır lake,15 which closely corresponds to the localisation of Qulḫa in present-day Göle. However, is there any evidence of Ḫuša being a part of first Diauḫi and later Qulḫa? There are no direct clues. Anyway, both Diauḫi and Qulḫa appear as large ‘lands’ (states or political conglomerates) that incorporate or may incorporate lesser ‘lands’ (political or territorial units).16 Some scholars identify Ildamuša, the royal city of King Meša of Qulḫa as a prototype of Artanuj(i).17 Artanuj(i) is a city of Klarjeti/ Kłarjkh, which in special literature is identified with Urartian Katarza.18 The fact that Ildamuša-Artanuj is mentioned as a Colchian city, while Katarza disappears from the Urartian texts after Argishti I’s campaign against it, leads Harutyunyan19 to conclude that Katarza must have been part of Qulḫa at the time of Sarduri II’s campaign. The popular assumption that Diauḫi stopped existing after Argishti I’s campaign(s)20 and was mainly divided between Urartu and Colchis is mostly based on the same logic. I share the opinion regarding the identity of the two names. I would, however, favour a more cautious and precise statement – specifically, that Greek Colchis derives from Urartian Qulḫa. Sarduri II’s campaign slightly preceded the Greeks’ appearance in the region. Hence, the Greeks must have adopted a ‘ready’ name for the territory or its inhabitants. Nevertheless, it is difficult to argue to what extent the same ethno-political conditions were sustained over centuries, and whether the name referred to the same area or people in the Urartian and Classical Greek texts. It should be noted that the terms Colchis, Colchoi do not have the same value in all Greek sources.11 Sometimes, mostly in mythological contexts, those terms reger to the entire eastern Black Sea littoral from Trapezus to Pitius, extending far to the east. In other cases, it is a much smaller land – the present-day western Georgia from Apsaros to Dioskurias – to which the terms allude. Moreover, even in case of one author, Herodotus, who does not make a distinction between his contemporary and mythical Colchis, there are different name versions in different contexts: he uses Aia in Colchis or Aia-Colchis to denote the land of Medea, the destination of Argonauts (1.2, 7.193, 7.197), and the land of Colchi (1.104) or the Colchians (2.104-105, 3.97, 4.37, 4.40) – a typical Greek practice of denoting a state by the name of its inhabitants – to narrate other stories from more or less historical times. While this is a valid assumption, it is not the only one. There are several reasons for the ‘disappearance’ of a country from the historical records: the country is completely destroyed, no longer of interest to the chronicler or victorious over the land of the chronicler himself. It also should not be ruled out that a country may have several names, especially if it is large and its borders are not strictly defined. Suffice it to mention a few well-known examples: the Achaioi, Danaioi and Argeioi (all Greeks described by Homer), the Assyrian Nairi and Urartu, and the Hittite Azzi and Hayasa.21 The Urartians themselves called their own country Biainili in Urartian and Nairi in Assyrian. Some of the lands invaded by the Urartians must have been devastated, indeed, if the actual spoils from the campaigns were at all close to the figures mentioned in the texts. On the other hand, a single mention of Babylon22 rather indicates an episodic encounter, while the ‘disappearance’ of Assyria from the Urartian texts must have been the consequence of an Assyrian victory, about which we learn from the Assyrian sources.23 The Cimmerian invasion at the end of the 8th century BC must have altered the ethno-political map of the region. Hence, we may ask the following legitimate questions: what exactly could the name Qulḫa refer to and how was it related to other lands in the region, Diauḫi first of all. After invading Qulḫa, the Urartian campaign in the South Caucasus changed direction and concentrated on the territory of the present-day Republic of Armenia. The reasons for this Unlike Diauḫi, Katarza and many other places names having equivalents in Greek as well as in Armenian and Georgian, which contributes to their identification and localisation, Qulḫa does not have such counterparts, apart from the Greek Colchis.12 However, Qulḫa may be formed by the Hurrian or Kartvelian suffix -ḫ from a local name with the stem kol-,13 which corresponds to Armenian Kol and Georgian Kola (modern Turkish Göle), an area north-east from Diauḫi. It belongs now to the province of Ardahan, while in the classical and medieval times, together with Ardahan/Artaan, it was associated with Tajkh/Tao (=Diauḫi) rather than with Colchis. Cf. Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan) 2001: 508. For the countries integrated into the unity of Diauhi, see e.g. Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan) 2001: 503. 17 Armenian and Georgian Artanuj, Turkish Ardanuç. Kapancyan 1948: 16; Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan) 2001: 509; cf. Diakonoff and Kashkai 1981: 44. 18 See e.g. Diakonoff and Kashkai 1981: 48. For the discussions regarding localisation, see also Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan) 2001: 512; Gordeziani 2011: 35ff. 19 Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan) 2001: 519. 20 While attempting to restore the order of the events described in the Annals, Melikishvili (1960: 242ff.) came to a conclusion that Argishti campaigned twice against Diauḫi, in his second and nineteenth years. Although Melikishvili’s reconstruction of the events is justly rejected by Salvini (1995: 58ff.), the probability of Argishti’s second campaign should not be ruled out. Cf. Grekyan 2015: 108, which likewise mentions two campaigns, in the sixth and eighth years. 21 Full identity of these pairs of names may raise doubts but it is certain that they are almost synonymous. Cf. Bryce 1998: 160ff.; del Monte and Tischler 1978: 59-60; Melikishvili 1960: 7ff.; Salvini 1995: 18ff. 22 If Babilu truly refers to Babylon; cf. Diakonoff and Kashkai 1981: 18. 23 See e.g., Salvini 1995: 72ff. 15 16 According to Melikishvili,14 Huša, mentioned in the context of Argishti I’s campaign against Diauḫi (CTU A 8-3 I 8; A 8-7 5) and Sarduri II’s campaign against Qulḫa, is to be located to Also cf. Salvini 1995: 70. See. e.g., Lordkipanidze 2002: 124ff. 12 The Georgian equivalent of Herodotus’ and Strabo’s Colchis, most probably, is Egrisi, while Kolxeti is a later Georgianised form of Greek Colchis; cf. Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan) 2001: 519. 13 Gordeziani 2007: 469ff.; Gigineishvili 2016: 264; cf. Inadze 2009: 34. Cf. -ḫi- in Urartian (Salvini and Wegner 2014: 20). 14 Melikishvili 1960: 400. 10 11 242 Levan Gordeziani: Some Remarks on Qulḫa are difficult to identify in the absence of written records. What can be established is that the region was not completely devastated since the names of certain countries or peoples – Qulḫa, Diauḫi, Katarza, Zabaḫa and many others – continued to exist in the Greek, Armenian and Georgian traditions. Bibliography Asatiani, S. 2011. The Kingdom of Aietes, in Acts of the International Kartvelological Conference: 130–133. Tbilisi. Bryce, T. 1998. The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford: Oxford University Press. del Monte, G. and J. Tischler 1978. Die Orts- und Gewässernamen der hethitischen Texte (Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cunéiformes 6). Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert. Diakonoff, I.M. 1968. Predystorija armjanskogo naroda. Istorija Armjanskogo nagor’ja s 1500 po 500 g. do n.ē. xurrity, luvijcy, protoarmjane. Yerevan: Izdatel’stvo AN Armjanskoj SSR. Diakonoff, I.M. and Kashkai, S.M. 1981. Geographical Names according to Urartian Texts (Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cunéiformes 9). Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert. Gigineishvili, B. 2016. Historical-etymological dictionary of the Georgian language, vol.1, a-m. Tbilisi: Georgian National Academy of Sciences. Gordeziani, L. 2009. Studies in Ancient History. Tbilisi: Logos. Gordeziani, L. 2011. To the Interpretation of CTU A 3-4. Phasis: Greek and Roman Studies 13-14: 31–41. Gordeziani, L. forthcoming. Traces of a Treaty in Urartian Texts? in Acts of the IX. International Congress of Hittitology, 01-07 September 2014, Çorum. Ankara. Gordeziani, R. 2007. Mediterranea-Kartvelica, vol. III. Tbilisi: Logos. Gordeziani, R. 2014. Aia, in: Caucasus Antiquus, Encyclios disciplina, vol. II, 1: 58–59. Tbilisi: Logos. Grekyan, E. 2015. The Regnal Years of the Urartian Kings Argišti Menuaḫi and Sarduri Argištiḫi, Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies 9/1: 91–124. Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan), N.V. 2001. Korpus urartskix klinoobraznyx nadpisej (KUKN). Yerevan: Izdatel’stvo ‘Gitut˓yun’ AN RA. Inadze, M. 2009. Problems of the History of Ancient Colchis. Tbilisi: Artanuji. Kapancyan, G. 1948. Hayasa – kolybel’ armjan. Yerevan: Izdatel’stvo AN Armjanskoj SSR. Kavtaradze, G.L. 2005. The Ancient Country of Taokhians and the Beginnings of Georgian Statehood. Sprache und Kultur 5-6: 92–114. Kavtaradze, G.L. 2006. The Issues of the Developement of Georgian Statehood. Tbilisi: Universal. Kemertelidze, T. 2001. The Ethnic Identity of the South-West Trans-Caucasian Population in the Late Bronze Age, in The Essays of Academician Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art, 7. Tbilisi: 11–15. Lordkipanidze, O. 2002. The Origins of Georgian Civilisation. Tbilisi: Tbilisi University Press. Melikishvili, G.A. 1950. Diauḫi. Vestnik drevnei istorii 4: 26–42. Melikishvili, G.A. 1960. Urartskie klinoobraznye nadpisi (UKN). Moscow: Nauka. Piotrovskij, B.B. 1944. Urartu. Yerevan: Izdatel’stvo AN Armjanskoj SSR. Salvini, M. 1995. Geschichte und Kultur der Urartäer. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. Salvini, M. 2008. Corpus dei testi urartei (CTU), vol. I-III (Documenta Asiana VIII/1-3). Roma: Istituto di studi sulle civilità dell’egeo e del vicino oriente. Salvini, M. and I. Wegner 2014. Einführung in die urartäische Sprache. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag. Tsereteli, M. v. 1928. Die neuen ḫaldischen Inschriften König Sardurs von Urartu (um 750 v. Chr.), Ein Beitrag zur Entzifferung des Ḫaldischen. Heidelberg: Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung, Heidelberg (Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Bd. XVIII, Jahrgang 1927-1928). As mentioned, the Cimmerian invasion marked a turning point in the life of the region and its people. Other influential events include the appearance of the Greeks in the Black Sea littoral and the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire. The more or less clear picture as offered in the Greek sources was shaped later. Therefore, I do not find it justifiable to apply this picture to the 9th/8th century BC or the earlier period, whether consciously or unconsciously. If we return to the question of Diauḫi and Qulḫa relations with this understanding, we may come to the conclusion that their unconditional delimitation as two separate political entities is mainly rooted in the historical knowledge shaped later in classical and medieval times, while arguments for their at least partial identification will acquire legitimate grounds. According to the majority of scholars, Diauḫi of the Urartian texts is the equivalent of Daiaeni of the Assyrians.24 Furthermore, one can make certain assumptions regarding the identity of Daiaeni and Hayasa of the Hittite texts.25 Hayasa-Daiaeni suggests parallels with legendary Aia, which is understood either as synonymous with Colchis or as the name of its city.26 Moreover, neither cuneiform texts nor Greek mythography mention two competitive entities with more or less equivalent power in the region. According to Asatiani,27 the regional leader King Uṭupurši, who fought against Urartu for many years, could have been a prototype of the Aietes of Greek myths. To conclude, Qulḫa could be used as an alternative designation for the same political unit as Diauḫi. The reasons for using a different name could be various: a shifting of the capital, a change of the dynasty (such as Meša of Qulḫa after Uṭupurši of Diauḫi), the interest of Sarduri II in fighting an enemy undefeated by his predecessors,28 etc. If ko-ki-da and ko-ki-dejo attested in Linear B texts from Crete (KN Sd 4403, 4430, Fh 5465) and a doubtful reading kil-ḫi in some texts of the Assyrian king Tiglathpileser I (RIMA 2, A.0.87.3 , A.0.87.4, A.0.87.16) are correctly interpreted as corresponding to Colchis,29 we may assume, that the derivatives of *kolḫ- were used as alternative names to Aia-Hayasa-Daiaeni for an important land/coalition on the eastern/south-eastern coast of the Black Sea since the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Of course, this article makes no claim to provide the ultimate solution to the questions posed. I simply offer hypotheses with the hope that they might give rise to a new and enlightening interdisciplinary discussion. Melikishvili 1960: 424; Diakonoff and Kashkai 1981: 26; Salvini 1995: 55; Harutyunyan (Arutjunjan) 2001: 503. 25 Diakonoff 1968: 209ff.; Kemertelidze 2001: 13; Kavtaradze 2005: 106; Kavtaradze 2006: 39. 26 Kavtaradze 2005: 106, with bibliography; Gordeziani 2014: 58. 27 Asatiani 2011: 130ff. 28 For the conflict between Minua and Uṭupurši see Gordeziani (forthcoming). 29 Cf. Gordeziani 2009: 81ff. 24 243