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''Mepe'' ( ka, მეფე ) is a title used to designate the Georgian monarch, whether it is a
''Mepe'' ( ka, მეფე ) is a title used to designate the Georgian monarch, whether it is a King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
or a Queen regnant
A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reignin ...
. The word is derived from Georgian word ''"me-u-pe"'' which literally means sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
and lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...
. Even though ''mepe'' has a female equivalent, დედოფალი (''dedopali,'' literally meaning ''queen'') it is only applied to the king's consort and does not have a meaning of a ruling monarch.Royal Imagery in Medieval Georgia, Antony Eastmond, p109
Later, after David IV
David IV, also known as David the Builder ( ka, დავით აღმაშენებელი, ') (1073–1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th king of United Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125.
Popularly considered to be ...
, the official style of Georgian kings became "mepetmepe" (King of Kings
King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
), similar to the Byzantine "Basileus Basileōn" and Persian Shahanshah. Title Shahanshah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
was also separately used by Georgian monarchs, denoting sovereignty over several Persianate subjects such as Shirvanshahs
''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...
and Atabegate of Azerbaijan.
See also
*Eristavi
''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine ''strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, i ...
* Batoni
*Batonishvili
''Batonishvili'' ( ka, ბატონიშვილი) (literally "a child of batoni (lord or sovereign)" in Georgian) is a title for royal princes and princesses who descend from the kings of Georgia from the Bagrationi dynasty and is suffixe ...
*Aznauri ''Aznauri'' ( ka, აზნაური, ; pl. ''aznaurni'', აზნაურნი, or ''aznaurebi'', აზნაურები) was a class of Georgian nobility.
The word derives from Middle Persian ''āznāvar'', which, in turn, corresponds ...
*Mtavari
''Mtavari'' ( ka, მთავარი) was a feudal title in Georgia usually translated into English as Prince or Duke.
The earliest instances of the use of ''mtavari'' are in the early Georgian hagiographic texts dated to the 5th century. From ...
References
Royal titles Georgian words and phrases Honorifics Noble titles of Georgia (country) Bagrationi dynasty Monarchs of Georgia {{italic title