Diauehi
Encyclopedia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, mentioned in the Urartian
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
inscriptions. It is usually (though not always) identified with Daiaeni of the Yonjalu inscription of the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n king Tiglath-Pileser I
Tiglath-Pileser I
Tiglath-Pileser I was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian period . According to Georges Roux, Tiglath-Pileser was "one of the two or three great Assyrian monarchs since the days of Shamshi-Adad I"...
’s third year (1118 BC). Although the exact geographic extent of Diauehi is still unclear, many scholars place it in the Pasinler Plain in today’s northeastern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, while others locate it in the Turkish-Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
marshlands as it follows the Kura River
Kura River
Kura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...
. Most probably, the core of the Diauehi lands may have extended from the headwaters of the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
into the river valleys of Çoruh to Oltu
Oltu
Oltu is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is İbrahim Ziyrek . The population is 19,969 .-History:...
. The Urartian sources speak of Diauehi’s three key cities – Zua, Utu and Sasilu; Zua is frequently identified with Zivin Kale and Ultu is probably modern Oltu
Oltu
Oltu is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is İbrahim Ziyrek . The population is 19,969 .-History:...
, while Sasilu is sometimes linked to the early medieval Georgian toponym Sasire, near Tortomi (present-day Tortum
Tortum
Tortum is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.The population is 4,507 as of 2010.There are 4 different ethnic group in the district.Ethnicity distribution*Turkish*Hemshin*Kurdish*Zaza- External links :...
, Turkey).
Several modern scholars believe Diauehi may have emerged as a tribal union of possible proto-Georgians
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
in the post-Hittite period, in about the 12th century BC
12th century BC
-Overview:The 12th century BC is the period from 1200 to 1101 BC. Although many human societies were literate in this period, most individual persons mentioned in this article ought to be considered legendary rather than historical...
. This federation was powerful enough to counter the Assyrian forays, although in 1112 BC its king Sien
Sien of Diauehi
Sien was a king of the ancient people of Diauehi in northeastern Anatolia . In 1112 BC, he led a large coalition of the tribes to counter the Assyrian advances in the north. The Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I routed the allies...
was defeated and taken prisoner by Tiglath-Pileser I
Tiglath-Pileser I
Tiglath-Pileser I was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian period . According to Georges Roux, Tiglath-Pileser was "one of the two or three great Assyrian monarchs since the days of Shamshi-Adad I"...
. In 845 BC, Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II....
finally subdued Diauehi and downgraded its king Asia
Asia of Diauehi
Asia was a king of the ancient people of Diauehi in northeastern Anatolia . He was forced to submit to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, in 845 BC, after the latter had overrun Urartu and made a foray into Diauehi....
to a client ruler. In the early 8th century, Diauehi became the target of the newly emerged regional power of Urartu
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
. Both Menuas
Menuas of Urartu
Menua was the fifth known king of Urartu, an ancient country in the Eastern Anatolia, from circa 810 BC to approximately 786 BC.A younger son of the preceding Urartuan King, Ishpuini, Menua was adopted as co-ruler by his father in the last years of his reign...
(810-785 BC) and Argishtis I
Argishtis I of Urartu
Argishti I was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 785 BC to 763 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan....
(785-763 BC) campaigned against the Diauehi king Utupurshi
Utupurshi of Diauehi
Utupurshi was a king of the ancient people of Diauehi in northeastern Anatolia . Defeated and subdued by the Urartian king Menuas , he later revolted against Argishtis I , but was again defeated and had to cede several provinces to Urartu and to pay an annual tribute.-References and further...
, annexing his southernmost possessions and forcing him to pay tribute, which included copper, silver and gold. Extremely declined in these wars, Diauehi was finally destroyed by the blow from the Qulha (Colchis
Colchis
In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...
) tribes in the west. It seems to have happened in the 760s BC, when the last recorded account about Diauehi dates from. However, its name may have survived as Taochi (Taochoi) of the Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Tao
Tao-Klarjeti
Tao-Klarjeti is the term conventionally used in modern history writing to describe the historic south-western Georgian principalities, now forming part of north-eastern Turkey and divided among the provinces of Erzurum, Artvin, Ardahan and Kars...
of the Georgians and Tayk
Tayk
Tayk was a historical province of the Greater Armenia, one of its 15 ashkars . Tayk consisted of 8 cantons:* Kogh* Berdats por* Partizats por* Tchakatk* Bokha* Vokaghe* Azordats por* Arsiats por....
of the Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
ns.
Further reading
- Ronald Grigor SunyRonald Grigor SunyRonald Grigor Suny is currently director of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies and the Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History at the University of Michigan, as well as Emeritus Professor of political science and history at the University of Chicago...
, The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition (December 1994), Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-20915-3, page 45 - Antonio Sagona, Claudia Sagona, Archaeology At The North-east Anatolian Frontier, I: An Historical Geography And A Field Survey of the Bayburt Province (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) (Hardcover), Peeters (January 30, 2005), ISBN 90-429-1390-8
- Georgia. (2006). Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
. Retrieved February 14, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service - Kavtaradze, G. L., An Attempt to Interpret Some Anatolian and Caucasian Ethnonyms of the Classical Sources, Sprache und Kultur, # 3 (Staatliche Ilia Tschawtschawadse Universitaet Tbilisi für Sprache und Kultur Institut zur Erforschung des westlichen Denkens). Tbilisi, 2002. http://www.scribd.com/doc/2449326
- Melikishvili, G. A., Diauehi. The Bulletin of Ancient History, vol. 4, 1950. (Publication in Russian) С. Д. Гоготидзе, Локализация «стран» Даиаэн-Диаоха.