History of the Caucasus: Volume 1: At the Crossroads of Empires

ISBN-13: 9781788310079 / Angielski / Twarda / 2021 / 392 str.

Christoph (Independent Scholar) Baumer

Opis

“Magnificent [and] wondrous.” The Spectator "Rich and illuminating." Literary Review "Phenomenally accurate." History Today "Stunning." The Morning Star "Sweeping." The New European "A wonderful book." Current World Archaeology "In a class of its own." The Caspian Post A landscape of high mountains and narrow valleys stretching from the Black to the Caspian Seas, the Caucasus region has been home to human populations for nearly 2 million years. In this richly illustrated 2-volume series, historian and explorer Christoph Baumer tells the story of the region’s history through to the present day. It is a story of encounters between many different peoples, from Scythians, Turkic and Mongol peoples of the East to Greeks and Romans from the West, from Indo-European tribes from the West as well as the East, and to Arabs and Iranians from the South. It is a story of rival claims by Empires and nations and of how the region has become home to more than 50 languages that can be heard within its borders to this very day. This first volume charts the period from the emergence of the earliest human populations in the region – the first known human populations outside Africa - to the Seljuk conquests of 1050CE. Along the way the book charts the development of Neolithic, Iron and Bronze Age cultures, the first recognizable Caucasian state and the arrival of a succession of the great transnational Empires, from the Greeks, the Romans and the Armenian to competing Christian and Muslim conquerors. The History of the Caucasus: Volume 1 also includes more than 200 full colour images and maps bringing the changing cultures of these lands vividly to life.

Recenzje

Baumer sets out the wonders of the past, sometimes doing so valley by valley. This is a real treat: a rare book whose images do justice to the text and vice versa. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Peter Frankopan The Spectator

Spis treści

I At the edge of Europe and Asia - An Introduction1. A Time of Conflict2. A Special Geography3. Peoples and Languages4. Objectives and SourcesII The Formation of the Landscape and Early Humans of the Palaeolithic1. The Origin of the Caucasus Mountains and the History of the Adjacent Seas - Black Sea and Caspian Sea Excursus: Did the Flood take place near the Black Sea?2. Homo Georgicus: First Early Humans Outside Africa3. Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens in the North and South CaucasusIII Prehistoric Cultures: From the Neolithic to the Iron Age1. The Southern Caucasus1.1 The Shulaveri-Shomu-Aratashen culture1.2 The Chalcolithic cultures of Sioni and Leila Tepe1.3 The Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Kura-Araxes Culture1.4 The Kurgan Cultures of the Middle Bronze Age Excursus: The invention of wheel and cart1.5 Late Bronze Age and Iron Age1.6 Early Tribal Organizations, War Alliances and Confederations1.7 The Colchis in Prehistoric Times2. The Northern Caucasus2.1 Chalcolithic Settlements and Early, Flat Tumuli2.2 The Early Bronze Age Cultures of Maikop 2.3 The Middle and Late Bronze Age Dolmen Culture2.4 The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Pri-Elbrus CultureIV. A First Caucasian state, Greek Empires and Northern Equestrian Peoples 1. Urartu/Biainili: The First Caucasian State1.1 The Creation of Biainili1.2 Biainili Struggles with Assyria for Supremacy in the Middle East1.3 Rise of Assyria and Weakening of Biainili1.4 Biainili's Decline2. Equestrian Peoples from the North and Greek Trading Colonies2.1 The Cimmerians2.2 Immigrant Scythians and Autochthonous Maiotes2.3 Greek Emporia in the North-western Caucasus2.4 Sarmatians, Alans and the Hun InvasionV. The South Caucasus under Achaemenid Sovereignty, Armenian Kingdoms and Pontos1 The Achaemenid Sovereignty2 The Hellenization of the Colchis 3. Early Kingdoms of Armenia3.1 Armenian Dynasties of the Orontides/Yervanduni and Early Artaxiad3.2 Tigranes the Great, Pontos and the Mithridaic Wars Excursus: The eight deities of the Armenian pantheon3.3 Late Artaxiad: Armenia between Rome and Parthia3.4 Roman Patronage of PontosVI Roman-Parthian Condominiums in the South Caucasus1. Comments on Early Historiography in the Southern Caucasus2. The Kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) and Lazica2.1 Legendary Ancestors and the Parnavazids2.2 Iberia in the Orbit of Rome 3. Caucasian Albania in pre-Islamic Time4. Armenia 4.1 Armenia as a Roman-Parthian Condominium4.2 Armenia between Sasanid and Roman SovereigntyVII The Introduction of Christianity as a State Ideology and the Political Division of the South Caucasus1. Legends of Apostolic Missionary Work2. Armenia and the Tradition of Gregori the Enlightener2.1 Syrian-Mesopotamian and Greek-Cappadocian Impulses2.2 King Trdat IV and Gregori the Illuminator2.3 Characteristics of Early Armenian Christianity2.4 A power struggle between King and Catholics and the division of Armenia Excursus: Mesrop Mashtots and the invention of the Armenian script3. Kartli: From King Mirian III to the Abolition of the Monarchy3.1 The Legend of St. Nino and the Christianization of Kartli3.2 Kartli Under Persian Sovereignty4 The Conversion of Albania and the Apostolic Church of Caucasian Albania5 Lazica and a First Christianization of the North Caucasian Alans5.1 The Lazican Wars5.2 The Christianization of Lazica, Alania and Svanetia and the veneration of military saints6. The Persian Hegemony in Armenia, Georgia and Albani7. The Alienation Between the Caucasian Church Hierarchies VIII Between Caliphate, Byzantium and Khazars1. Southern Caucasian Principalities under Islamic Rule until the Battle of Bagravand in 7722. The Rise of the Bagratid dynasties2.1 The Emergence of the Armenian Kingdom Excursus: Paulikians and Tondrakians 2.2 The Formation of the Georgian Kingdom of Sakartvelo3. The Empire of the Khazars in the Northern Caucasus4. The Kingdom of Alanya in the North-western Caucasus5. Muslim Dynasties of Albania and the Invasion of the Seljuks5.1 The Sayids5.2 The Sallarids5.3 The Rawwadids5.4 The Shaddadids5.5 The Yazidids and Hashimids6. The Kingdoms of Armenia, Byzantium and the Seljuk Conquest6.1 The Armenian Kingdoms6.2 The Byzantine Annexation of Armenia6.3 The Seljuks Conquer Armenia6.4 Ani under the Rule of the Shaddadids IX. OutlookAppendicesI. Population statistics by countryII Ancient established languages of the Caucasus by language families III Chronology of the most important Caucasian dynastiesNotesBibliographyList of MapsPhoto creditsAcknowledgementsIndexConceptsPeoplePlaces

O autorze

Christoph Baumer is a leading explorer and historian of Central Asia. He is President of the Society for the Exploration of EurAsia and is a member of the Explorers' Club, New York, and of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, London.