Amazasp I ( ka, ამაზასპი) was a king of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...

(

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

, modern eastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) whose reign is placed by the early medieval Georgian historical compendia in the 2nd century. Professor

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

suggests 106–116 as the years of his reign, and considers him to be the son and successor of Mithridates I of Iberia who is known from epigraphic material as a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

ally. Toumanoff also identifies him with the Amazaspus of the

Stele of Vespasian The Stele of Vespasian ( ka, ვესპასიანეს სტელა) is a stele with Ancient Greek inscriptions found in 1867 at Armazi, near Mtskheta, Georgia in the ancient capital of the Caucasian Kingdom of Iberia. The stele memor ...

and Xepharnuges of the Stele of Serapit. The name Amazasp derives from

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

''*Hamazāsp'', ultimately from

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

''Hamāzāspa''. Although the precise etymology of ''*Hamazāsp''/''Hamāzāspa'' remains unresolved, it may be explained through

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

''*hamāza-'', "colliding/clashing" + ''aspa-'', "horse" i.e. "one who possessed war steeds". The Georgian chronicles report Amazasp’s joint ten-year rule with Derok (Deruk) and record Armazi as his seat (whereas Derok’s residence was at

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა, tr ) is a city in Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. Itis located approximately north of ...

). Many modern scholars, however, consider the Iberian dyarchy a pure legend and argue that Amazasp was king in his own right.Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', p. 289. Peeters Publishers, .

References

2nd-century monarchs in Asia Pharnavazid kings of Iberia {{Georgia-royal-stub