The Kingdom of Lazica ( Georgian : ეგრისი , Egrisi ; Laz : ლაზიკა , Laziǩa ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Λαζική , Lazikḗ ), sometimes called Lazian Empire , was a state in the territory of west Georgia in the Roman period , from about the 1st century BC. Created as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Colchis and the gaining of independence by the tribal-territorial units included in it in 131 AD.
21-740: In the Svan language , the Svans refer to the Mingrelia (Samegrelo) region as Lazan, La- is the Svan territorial prefix and Lazan means "the land of the Zans". By the mid-3rd century, Lazica was given partial autonomy within the Roman Empire and developed into a kingdom. Throughout much of its existence, it was mainly a Byzantine strategic vassal kingdom that briefly came under Sasanian Persian rule during
42-569: A region in northwest Georgia . They speak the Svan language and are mostly bilingual also in Georgian . Both these languages belong to the Kartvelian (South Caucasian) language family . In the pre-1930 Soviet census, the Svans were categorized as a separate ethnic group ( natsionalnost ). The self-designation of the Svan is Mushüan , which is probably reflected in the ethnonym Misimian of
63-403: A significant role in the country's economy, the center of which was the port of Phasis. Trade was carried out mainly with Pontus and Bosporus (Crimea), which were under Roman control at the time. Leather , fur and other raw materials, as well as slaves , were exported from the country in large quantities. In exchange, they imported salt , bread , wine , expensive fabrics and weapons . It
84-453: Is a Kartvelian language spoken in the western Georgian region of Svaneti primarily by the Svan people . With its speakers variously estimated to be between 30,000 and 80,000, the UNESCO designates Svan as a "definitely endangered language ". It is of particular interest because it has retained many features that have been lost in the other Kartvelian languages. Like all languages of
105-775: Is believed that the destruction of free trade and the introduction of a monopoly by the Romans in Lazica was one of the reasons for the Lazic war. The primary currency used in Lazica for trade was the Roman Antoninianus until the 4th century. Afterwards it was replaced by the Byzantine Solidus . Hypomnensticum of Theodosius and Theodore of Gangra Svan language Svan ( ლუშნუ ნინ lušnu nin ; Georgian : სვანური ენა , romanized : svanuri ena )
126-523: Is used in familiar and casual social communication. It has no written standard or official status. Most speakers also speak Georgian . The language is considered endangered, as proficiency in it among young people is limited. Svan is the most differentiated member of the four South-Caucasian languages and is believed to have split off in the 2nd millennium BC or earlier, about one thousand years before Georgian and Zan split from each other. Soviet ethnologist Evdokia Kozhevnikova extensively documented
147-753: The Lazic War . The kingdom fell to the Muslim conquest in the 7th century. Lazica in the 8th century successfully repelled the Arab occupation and formed part of the Kingdom of Abkhazia from c. 780, one of the early medieval polities which would converge into the unified kingdom of Georgia in the 11th century. The parts of the Lazian Empire were Suani , Scymni , Western Abasgia , Eastern Abasgia ( Apsilia ), Misimiani and their rulers would be appointed by
168-401: The 4th–6th centuries. However, some remnants of pre-Christian beliefs have been maintained. Saint George (known as Jgëræg to the locals), a patron saint of Georgia , is the most respected saint. The Svans have retained many of their old traditions, including blood revenge , although this tradition has been declining over time and as law enforcement takes hold. Their families are small, and
189-519: The Caucasian language family, Svan has a large number of consonants. It has agreement between subject and object, and a split-ergative morphosyntactic system . Verbs are marked for aspect , evidentiality and "version" . Svan retains the voiceless aspirated uvular plosive , /qʰ/ , and the glides /w/ and /j/ . It has a larger vowel inventory than Georgian; the Upper Bal dialect of Svan has
210-614: The Classical authors. The Svans are usually identified with the Soani mentioned by Greek geographer Strabo , who placed them more or less in the area still occupied by the modern-day Svans. In the Russian Empire and early Soviet Union Mingrelians and Svans had their own census grouping, but were classified under the broader category of Georgian in the 1930s. They are Georgian Orthodox Christians, and were Christianized in
231-514: The IV-V centuries AD large cities appeared in Lazica such as: Archeopolis, Rhodopolis and Kotayon, and the population of the coastal areas increased, mainly in the areas of Phasis. The architecture of the fortresses of Lazica, located at the key points of the main trade and military routes from the shores of the Black Sea to Iran, show the influence of Byzantine architecture Maritime trade played
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#1732772227884252-514: The Svan language during her fieldwork in Svaneti in the 1920s and 1930s. The Svan language is divided into the following dialects and subdialects: The consonant inventory of Svan is more or less the same as that of Old Georgian . That is, compared to Modern Georgian, it also has /j/ , /q/ and /w/ , but the labiodental fricative only appears as an allophone of /w/ in the Ln dialect. Furthermore,
273-479: The husband is the head of his family. The Svan strongly respect the older women in families. Typically bilingual, they use both Georgian and their own, unwritten Svan language . Prior to the 19th century, many Svans were monolingual, only knowing the Svan language. The most common Y-chromosomal haplogroup among the Svans is G2a (90%), in the second place is the Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1a (5%), in
294-563: The kings of Lazica with the formally upon the approval of the Byzantine emperor. In the early 4th century, the Christian eparchy (eastern bishopric) of Pityus was established in this kingdom, and as in neighboring Iberia Christianity was declared as an official religion in AD 319. Other ancient episcopal sees in Lazica include Rhodopolis , Saesina, and Zygana. Bishop Stratophilus of Pityus
315-506: The low front /æ/ (except for Lashkh) and the front rounded vowels /œ/ and /y/ (also except for Lashkh). The front rounded vowels are often realized as diphthongs [we] and [wi] and are therefore sometimes not treated as separate phonemes. The alphabet, illustrated above, is similar to the Mingrelian alphabet , with a few additional letters otherwise obsolete in the Georgian script : These are supplemented by diacritics on
336-460: The most vowels of any South-Caucasian language, having both long and short versions of /a ɛ i ɔ u æ ø y/ plus /ə eː/ , a total of 18 vowels (Georgian, by contrast, has just five). Its morphology is less regular than that of the other three sister languages, and there are notable differences in conjugation . Svan is the native language of fewer than 30,000 Svans (15,000 of whom are Upper Svan dialect speakers and 12,000 are Lower Svan), living in
357-521: The mountains of Svaneti , i.e. in the districts of Mestia and Lentekhi of Georgia, along the Enguri , Tskhenistsqali and Kodori rivers. Some Svan speakers live in the Kodori Valley of the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia . Although conditions there make it difficult to reliably establish their numbers, there are only an estimated 2,500 Svan individuals living there. The language
378-487: The uvular consonants /q/ and /q’/ are realized as affricates, i.e. [q͡χ] and [q͡χʼ] . The vowel inventory of Svan varies between different dialects. For instance, Proto-Svan phonemic long vowels occur in the Upper Bal, Cholur and Lashkh dialects, but have been lost in the Lentekh and Lower Bal dialects. Compared to Georgian, Svan also have a central or back unrounded high vowel /ə/ (realized as [ɯ]~[ɨ] ),
399-599: The vowels (the umlaut for front vowels and macron for length), though those are not normally written. The digraphs are used in the Lower Bal and Lentekh dialects, and occasionally in Upper Bal; these sounds do not occur in Lashkh dialect. Svans The Svans ( Svan : შვანარ , Shvanar ; Georgian : სვანი , Svani ) are an ethnic subgroup of the Georgians (Kartvelians) living mostly in Svaneti ,
420-629: Was among the participants of the First Council of Nicaea in 325. The first Christian king of Lazica was Gubazes I ; in the 5th century, Christianity was made the official religion of Lazica. Later, the nobility and clergy of Lazica switched from the Hellenic ecclesiastic tradition to the Georgian, and Georgian became the language of culture and education. The Bichvinta Cathedral is one of oldest monuments of Georgian Christian architecture. It
441-517: Was constructed by King Bagrat III of Georgia (978-1014, an Orthodox saint). The information about the cities of Lazica were preserved in the works of Byzantine historians. The list of cities mentioned in Byzantine sources were: The most significant fertile and rich area of Lazica was the Rioni river valley. A densely populated part of the territory of Colchis, where most of the Laz cities were located. In
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