Diauehi (

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

''დიაოხი,''

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...

''Diauehi'',

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''Taochoi'',

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Tayk Tayk ( hy, Տայք, Taykʿ) was a historical province of the Kingdom of Armenia, one of its 15 (worlds). Tayk consisted of 8 cantons: * Kogh * Berdats por * Partizats por * Tchakatk * Bokha * Vokaghe * Azordats por * Arsiats por There ...

'', possibly

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

''Daiaeni'',) was a

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

union located in northeastern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, that was recorded in

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n and

sources during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. It is usually (though not always) identified with the earlier Daiaeni (Dayaeni), attested in the Yonjalu inscription of the

Assyrian king The king of Assyria (Akkadian: ''Išši'ak Aššur'', later ''šar māt Aššur'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its ear ...

Tiglath-Pileser I's third year (1118 BC) and in later records by

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campai ...

(845 BC). While it is unknown what language(s) they spoke,Robert. H. Hewsen. ''The Geography of Ananias of Širak: Ašxarhacʻoycʻ, the Long and the Short Recensions''. 1992. https://archive.org/stream/TheGeographyOfAnaniasOfSirak/The%20Geography%20of%20Ananias%20of%20Sirak_djvu.txt they may have been speakers of a

Kartvelian Kartvelian may refer to: * Anything coming from or related to Georgia (country) * Kartvelian languages * Kartvelian alphabet, see Georgian alphabet * Kartvelian studies * Georgians {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

,A. G. Sagona. ''Archaeology at the North-East Anatolian Frontier'', p. 30.

, or

Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

language.

Location

Although the exact geographic extent of Diauehi is still unclear, many scholars place it in the Pasinler Plain in today's northeastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, while others locate it in the

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n–

marchlands as it follows the Kura River. Most probably, the core of the Diauehi lands may have extended from the headwaters of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

into the river valleys of

Çoruh The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'', tr, Çoruh, hy, Չորոխ ''Ch’vorokh'', el, Άκαμψις, ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İsp ...

Oltu Oltu (; ) is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is Necmettin Taşçı, from the AKP. The population was 31,087 in 2020. History An inscription found in Oltu’s castle has been dated to the ...

. The Urartian sources speak of Diauehi's three key cities—Zua, Utu and Sasilu; Zua is frequently identified with Zivin Kale and Utu is probably modern Oltu, while Sasilu is sometimes linked to the early medieval Georgian

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

Sasire, near Tortomi (present-day

Tortum Tortum ( ota, تورتوم) is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The population is 4,507 as of 2010. The current mayor is Muammer Yiğider from the Great Unity Party (BBP). History Tortum was par ...

, Turkey). The Diaeuhian city Šešetina may have corresponded to Şavşat, Turkey (Shavsheti in Georgian). The region of Diauehi seems to have roughly corresponded to,Levan Gordzeiani. "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.'' eds. Pavel S. Avetisyan, Roberto Dan and Yervand H. Grekyan. Archaeopress Archaeology. 2019. pp. 242-243

/ref> or bordered, the previous

Hayasa-Azzi Hayasa-Azzi or Azzi-Hayasa ( hit, URUḪaiaša-, hy, Հայասա) was a Late Bronze Age confederation in the Armenian Highlands and/or Pontic region of Asia Minor. The Hayasa-Azzi confederation was in conflict with the Hittite Empire in th ...

territory.

History

In the early 8th century, Diauehi became the target of the newly emerged regional power of

Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...

Menua Menua ( ariations exist hy, Մենուա), also rendered Meinua or Minua, was the fifth known king of Urartu from c. 810 BC to approximately 786 BC. In Armenian, Menua is rendered as ''Menua''. The name Menua may be connected etymologically to t ...

(810–785 BC) conquered part of Diaeuhi, annexing its most important cities: Zua, Utu, and Shashilu, and forcing the king of Diauehi, Utupursi(ni), to pay a tribute of gold and silver. Menua's son,

Argishti I Argishti I (), was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan. Alternate transliterations of the name include ''Argishtis'', ''Argis ...

(785–763 BC), campaigned against the Diauehi kingdom in 783.Trevor Bryce. ''The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire''. Routledge. 2009. p. 193. Argishti I defeated King Utupursi, annexing his possessions․ In exchange for his life, Utupursi was forced to pay a tribute including a variety of metals and livestock. Toward the end of his reign, Argishti I led yet another campaign against Utuspursi, who led a rebellion against the Urartians.

Possible ethno-linguistic identification

Diauehi is considered by some as a locus of

Proto-Kartvelian The Proto-Kartvelian language, or Common Kartvelian ( ka, წინარექართველური ენა, tr), is the linguistic reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Kartvelian languages, which was spoken by the ancestors of th ...

; it has been described as an "important tribal formation of possible proto-Georgians" by

Ronald Grigor Suny Ronald Grigor Suny (born September 25, 1940) is an American historian and political scientist. Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan and served as director of the Eisenberg In ...

(1994). According to

Robert H. Hewsen Robert H. Hewsen (May 20, 1934 – November 17, 2018) was an American historian and professor of history at Rowan University. He was an expert on the ancient history of the South Caucasus. Hewsen is the author of ''Armenia: A Historical Atlas'' (2 ...

, they may have been speakers of a language unrelated to any other in the Caucasus region. However, they are mentioned by

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

as Xaoi, which Hewsen etymologizes as a Greek form of the

endonym, Hayk'. Massimo Forlanini proposed a connection between the name of the Diaeuhi tribe, Baltu, and the Hayasan deity, Baltaik. He also compared these to the name of the Hayasan mercenary, Waltahi.

Connection to Daiaeni (Dayaeni)

Some scholars have linked the Diaeuhi to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Daiaeni (Dayaeni) tribe, mentioned in 12th century BC Assyrian sources as being part of the Nairi confederation.James Henry Breasted, ed. ''Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia''. University of Chicago Press. p. 81. 1926. https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ancient_records_assyria1.pdf This connection is mainly due to the phonetic similarities of the names Daiaeni and Diaeuhi. The Daiaeni were powerful enough to counter the Assyrian forays, although in 1112 BC their king, Sien, was defeated by Tiglath-Pileser I. Sien was captured and later released on terms of vassalage. Daiaeni appeared again in Assyrian texts nearly three centuries later when King Asia of Daiaeni (850–825 BC) was forced to submit to the Assyrian king

in 845 BC, after the latter had overrun Urartu and made a foray into Daiaeni. As the Daiaeni of Assyrian records seem to have been located further south than the Diaeuhi of Urartian records, Robert H. Hewsen and

Nicholas Adontz Nicholas Adontz (, ''Nikoghayos Adonts’'', also spelled Adonts; ; January 10, 1871 – January 27, 1942) was an Armenian historian, specialist of Byzantine and Armenian studies, and philologist. Yuzbashyan, Karen. s.v. Adonts', Nikoghayos G ...

proposed that the Diaieni originally inhabited a region between

Palu Palu, which is officially known as the City of Palu (Indonesian: ''Kota Palu''), is the capital and largest city of Central Sulawesi. Palu is located on the northwestern coast of Sulawesi and borders Donggala Regency to the north and west, Pari ...

and either

Mush Province In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social medium to which mult ...

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...

. They then moved north to

Kars Province Kars Province ( tr, Kars ili; ku, Parêzgeha Qersê; hy, Կարսի նահանգ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northeastern part of the country. It shares part of its closed border with Armenia. The provincial capital is the city of ...

, where they battled the Urartians and later encountered Greek mercenaries, including

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

. They subsequently moved further northwest.

Archibald Sayce The Rev. Archibald Henry Sayce (25 September 18454 February 1933) was a pioneer British Assyriologist and linguist, who held a chair as Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford from 1891 to 1919. He was able to write in at least twe ...

suggested that Daiaeni was named after an eponymous founder, Diaus, and thus meant "people of the land/tribe of Diau(s)".A.H. Sayce. ''Cambridge Ancient History, vol. XX''. (1925). pp. 169–186

/ref>

Location

History

Possible ethno-linguistic identification

Connection to Daiaeni (Dayaeni)

Onomastics

Daiaeni rulers

Diauehi rulers

Diauehi Tribes

Diauehi Districts

Diauehi Cities

See also

References

Explanatory notes

Further reading