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

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Contents
I. Along the European–Asian Border: An Introduction
	1. A conflict-ridden present age
	2. A unique geography
	3. Peoples and languages
	4. Objectives and sources
II. The Formation of the Landscape and the Early Humans of the Palaeolithic
	1. The formation of the Caucasus Mountains and the history of the neighbouring seas – The Black Sea and Caspian Sea
		Excursus: Did the Great Flood take place on the Black Sea?
	2. Homo georgicus – The first early humans outside Africa
	3. Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in the North and South Caucasus
III. Prehistoric Cultures: From the Neolithic to the Iron Age
	1. The southern Caucasus
		1.1 The Shulaveri-Shomutepe-Aratashen culture
		1.2 The Chalcolithic cultures of Sioni and Leila Tepe
		1.3 The Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Kura-Araxes culture
		1.4 The Kurgan cultures of the Middle Bronze Age
		Excursus: The invention of the wheel and the wagon
		1.5 The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age
		1.6 Early tribal organizations, war alliances and confederations
		1.7 Colchis in prehistoric times
	2. The northern Caucasus
		2.1 Chalcolithic settlements and early low burial mounds
		2.2 The Early Bronze Age cultures of Maikop
		2.3 The Middle and Late Bronze Age Dolmen culture
		2.4 The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Priel’brus culture
IV. The First Caucasian State, Greek Emporia and Northern Horse Peoples
	1. Urartu/Biainili – The first Caucasian state
		1.1 The founding of Biainili
		1.2 Biainili fights with the Neo-Assyrian Empire for supremacy in the Middle East
		1.3 Neo-Assyria’s renewed ascent and Biainili’s demise
		1.4 Biainili’s fall
	2. Horsemen from the North and Greek trade colonies
		2.1 Cimmerians
		2.2 Immigrant Scythians and autochthonous Maiotes
		2.3 Greek emporia in the north-western Caucasus
		2.4 Sarmatians, Alans and the Hun invasion
V. The South Caucasus under Achaemenid Supremacy, Armenian Kingdoms and Pontus
	1. Achaemenid supremacy
	2. The Hellenization of Colchis
	3. Early kingdoms of Armenia
		3.1 Armenian dynasties of the Orontids/Yervanduni and early Artaxiad
		3.2 Tigranes the Great, Pontus and the Mithridatic Wars
		Excursus: The eight deities of the Armenian pantheon
		3.3 Late Artaxiad: Armenia between Rome and Parthia
		3.4 Roman client-rulers of Pontus
VI. Roman-Parthian Condominiums in the South Caucasus
	1. Remarks on early historiography
	2. The Kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) and Lazica
		2.1 Legendary ancestors and the Parnavazids
		2.2 Iberia in Rome’s political orbit
	3. Caucasian Albania in pre-Islamic times
	4. Armenia
		4.1 Armenia as a Roman–Parthian condominium
		4.2 Armenia between Sassanid and Roman sovereignty
VII. The Introduction of Christianity as a State Ideology and the Division of the South Caucasus
	1. The legends of apostolic missionary work
	2. Armenia and the tradition of Gregory the Illuminator
		2.1 Syrian-Mesopotamian and Greek-Cappadocian influences
		2.2 King Trdat IV and Gregory the Illuminator
		2.3 Peculiarities of early Armenian Christianity
		2.4 A power struggle between kings and church leaders, and Armenia’s division
		2.5 The third missionization of Armenia and the end of the monarchy
		Excursus: Mesrop Mashtots and the invention of the Armenian script
	3. Kartli: From King Mirian III to the abolition of the monarchy
		3.1 The legend of St Nino and the Christianization of Kartli
		3.2 Kartli under Persian sovereignty
	4. The conversion of Albania and the Apostolic Church of Caucasian Albania
	5. Lazica and the initial Christianization of the North Caucasian Alans
		5.1 The Lazic Wars
		5.2 The Christianization of Lazica, Alania and Svaneti and the veneration of military saints
	6. Persian hegemony in Armenia, Georgia and Albania
	7. Alienation between the Caucasian church hierarchies
VIII. Between Caliphate, Byzantium and Khazars
	1. South Caucasian principalities under Islamic rule up to the battle of Bagrevand in 772
	2. The rise of the Bagratid dynasties
		2.1 The emergence of the Kingdom of Armenia
		Excursus: Paulicians and Tondrakians
		2.2 The emergence of the Georgian Kingdom of Sakartvelo
	3. The Kingdom of the Khazars
	4. The Kingdom of Alania
	5. Muslim dynasties of Albania and the invasion of the Seljuks
		5.1 The Sajids
		5.2 The Sallarids
		5.3 The Rawwadids
		5.4 The Shaddadids
		5.5 The Yazidids and Hashimids
	6. The kingdoms of Armenia, Byzantine rule and the Seljuk conquest
		6.1 The Armenian kingdoms
		6.2 The Byzantine annexation of Armenia
		6.3 The Seljuks conquer Armenia
		6.4 Ani under the rule of the Shaddadids
IX. Outlook
Appendices
	I. Population statistics by country
	II. Long-established languages of the Caucasus by language family
	III. Chronology of the most important Caucasian dynasties
Notes
Bibliography
List of Maps
Photo credits
Acknowledgements
Indexes
	Concepts
	People
	Places