Monolingual Inscription of Armazi
Monolingual inscription of Armazi is an Aramaic script and possibly Aramaic language on a stele. It was found in 1940 with the bilingual inscription of Armazi during the archeological excavations in the tomb N4 on the territory of Armazi (both stelae were used as tomb walls in the later period). The inscription has 14 lines and is scratched on the surface in Aramaic letters of Armazic type. According to the academician G. Tsereteli established, the monolingual inscription of Armazi was inscribed during the time of the Iberian king “Mihrdat (Mithridates II) the great king, the son of Pharasmanes the great king” (c. 70s AD).
The author of the monolingual inscription of Armazi was the Pitiakhsh Sharaga of King Mithridates, “son of Zevakh the Great” (compared to “Zevakh the Lesser” of the bilingual inscription of Armazi). It tells about the campaigns he conducted and the victories he achieved on behalf of King Mithridates (the following sentence is repeated several times in the inscription: “This victory, I won for you, king”). The inscription mentions Armenia ('rmyn), several geographical points with the suffix -yt (e.g., msknyt, msykyt and others), which makes us think of the presence of Georgianism in the text (F. Altheim and R. Stiehl believe that msykyt means “Mtskheta”). At the end of the text, there is a mention of “Asupharug, son of the Lord...” (this name can also be found on the stone with Greek inscription from Armazi and elsewhere).
Along with other Aramaic inscriptions of Iberia, the monolingual inscription of Armazi is an important source for studying the social life and state structure of Iberia. Certain political-historical and historical-geographical facts of Iberia of the 1st century are specified, the succession of some kings of Iberia (Pharasmanes —> Mihrdat), the titles of kings and high officials (“King the Great”, “Pitiakhsh”) and others are confirmed. Precisely translating the full text is still difficult.
Literature: გ ი ო რ გ ა ძ ე გ., ტოპონიმები არმაზის ერთენოვან არამეოგრაფიულ წარწერაში, კრ.: კავკასიის ხალხთა ისტორიის საკითხები, თბ., 1989; Церетели Г. В., Армазская надпись эпохи Митридата Иверийского, «Труды двадцать пятого международного конгресса востоковедов» (Москва, 9 – 16 авг. 1960 г.), т, 1, М., 1962; Altheim F., Steiel R., Die aramäische Sprache unter den Achaimeniden Bd. 1, Fr./M., 1963.
G. Giorgadze
