Welcome to the kingdom of Colchis
About the Kingdom
Colchis was a region surrounded by Pontus, the Black Sea, the Corax
River (probably the current Bzybi, in Abkhazia, Georgia), the Greater
Caucasus range (between Colchis and the Sarmatian Kingdom), Iberia,
the Moschici Mountains (today the Lesser Caucasus) and Armenia.
However, the southern border of the Colchis varied according to the
classical authors: thus, Strabo starts the region at Trebizond, while
Ptolemy do to extend the Bridge until the river Phase (current Rioni).
We know today that Pitsunda was the last cited colche located in the
north of the country.
It is in this region that the legends of Jason and the Argonauts were
born, who went there to seek the Fleece of gold of the magician Medea.
The name "Colchis" appears for the first time in the works of
Aeschylus and of Pindar. Older writers referred to the region as Ééa
(the residence of the king mythical Aeetes and his sister Circe).
Arrien draws up a list of Colches rivers which according to him were
only simple mountain torrents: the Chariéis, the Chobus (or Cobus),
the Singame, the Tarsarouras, the Hippus, the Astelephus and the
Chrysorrhoes. The principal cities of Colchis were Dioscourias (called
Sebastopol by the Romans, today Soukhoumi), on the banks of the
Pont-Euxin, Sarapana (the current Chorapan), Phasis (the current
Poti), Pityus (present-day Pitsunda), Apsaros (present-day Gonio),
Surium (present-day Vani), Archéopolis (today Nokalakevi), Macheiresis
and Cyta, also called Cutatisium (now Kutaisi), a traditional place of
the birth of Medea.
Story
The eastern region of the Black Sea was home to a well-developed
culture during protohistory, the " Kolkhys culture", close to the
Kobane culture, which emerged during the Middle Bronze Age. In at
least some parts of Colchis, the process of urbanization seems to have
been very well advanced from the late 2nd millennium BC. AD, centuries
before the establishment of the Greeks. The Colchic Bronze Age late
(15th to 8th century BC) saw the development of skills in smelting and
metal casting. Sophisticated agricultural tools were made and some
land was very fertile, thanks in particular to a “perfect” climate.
Colchis was inhabited by several close but distinct tribes, notably
established on the shores of the Black Sea. The main tribes were the
Machelonites, the Heniochites, the Zydretes, the Lazes, the
Tibarenites, the Mossyneques, the Abasques, the Svanes, the Sanigetes,
the Geloniens and the Melanchlaenites. These tribes differed
completely from the nations surrounding them in their language and
their appearance.
Diaokhi (Daïaène, Taokhi) is the proto-Georgian entity which preceded
Colchis.