Akhaltsikhe (Georgian: ახალციხე[aχaɫtsʰiχe]), formerly known as Lomsia (Georgian: ლომსია), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (mkhare) of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and the Samtskhe–Javakheti region. It is situated on both banks of the small river Potskhovi (a left tributary of the Kura), which divides the city between the old city in the north and new in the south.
Akhaltsikhe is the Georgian name of the town, which literally means "new fortress". It is attested in Arabic sources as Akhiskha (and Akhsikhath), in Persian as Akhesqeh (also spelled as Akheshkheh), and in Turkish sources as Ahıska.[2][3][4] The Azerbaijani village of Axısxa is also named after it, due to the population of the village originating from Akhaltsikhe.[5]
History
Akhaltsikhe c. 1887
The town is mentioned among the settlements conquered by general Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri during the reign of Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiya I (661–680). During the Mongol domination of Georgia, local rulers of the House of Jaqeli, who ruled the feudal principality of Samtskhe-Saatabago, were invested with the title of atabeg and were allowed to be autonomous. In contemporaneous Persian and Turkish sources, these Jaqeli rulers were referred to as Ḳurḳūra, which derives from Qvarqvare—the name of several Jaqeli rulers.[2]
In 1579, during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590, the Ottomans took the town. In the ensuing period, the Ottomans implanted Islam and Ottoman customs. In 1625, the town became the centre of the Akhalzik Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire known as Ahıska and it held a resident Ottoman pasha. The town rose to strategic importance and became a leading hub of the Caucasian slave market.[2] By the late 17th century, the town was home to 400 households, consisting of a mixed population of Turks, Armenians, Georgians, Greeks and Jews.[6]
The highland environment between Akhaltsikhe and Aspindza presents a varied and complex array of archaeological features in different locations, elevations and topographies. This includes the alluvial flood-plain of the Kura River, all the way to the high grasslands.[citation needed]
Human habitation is attested already in the Early Bronze Age (4th millennium BC) and later. Artifacts from the Roman and medieval periods are also strongly represented in the area.[citation needed]
Amiranis Gora
The important archaeological site of Amiranis Gora is located on the northeastern outskirts of Akhaltsikhe.[18] It was excavated by Tariel Chubinishvili.[19] The earliest carbon date for Amiranis Gora is 3790-3373 cal BC. It was obtained from the charcoal of the metallurgical workshop which belonged to the earliest building horizon of Amiranis Gora[20] This indicates a division of metallurgical production into extractive and processing branches.[21]
Amiranis Gora is an important reference point for the study of the Early Bronze Age Kura–Araxes culture, also known as the Early Transcaucasian Culture. The many references include the architecture, burial practices, material culture and metallurgy.[22][23][24] Amiranis Gora is one of the best sites with fixed stratigraphy of the Kura-Araxes culture. The carbon date for the Kura-Araxes material at Amiranis Gora is 3630-3048 cal B.C., which is very early.[21]
^Floor, Willem M. (2008). Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers. p. 140. ISBN978-1933823232.
^Azərbaycan Toponimlərinin Ensiklopedik Lüğəti [Encyclopedic Dictionary of Azerbaijani Toponyms] (PDF) (in Azerbaijani). Vol. 1. Sharg-Garb Publishing and Printing House. 2007. p. 34. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2019-03-30. Axısxa: Sabirabad r-nunun eyniadlı i.ə.v.-də kənd. Kür çayının sol sahilində, şirvan düzündədir. 1944-cü ildə Gürcüstanın Axısxa r-nundan Qazaxıstana və Orta Asiyaya sürgün edilmiş, 60-cı illərdə isə Azərbaycana köçmüş türk ailələri tərəfindən salınmış yaşayış məntəqəsi onların köhnə məskənlərinin adı ilə adlandırılmışdır. Mənbələrdə axısxa/axsıxa Axalsix qalasının adı, Axal isə təkə-türkmənlərin yaşadığı yer kimi izah olunur.
^Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. pp. 206–213. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
^Chubinishvili, T. N. Amiranis Gora: masalebi Mesxetʻ-Javaxetʻis użvelesi istoriisatʻvis ამირანის გორა: მასალები მესხეთ-ჯავახეთის უძველესი ისტორიისთვის [Amiranis Gora: Materials on the Ancient History of Meskhet-Javakheti] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: Sabchota Saqartvelo. OCLC21445209.
^Kushnareva, K. Kh.; Chubinishvili, T. N. (1970). Drevnie kulʹtury I︠U︡zhnogo Kavkaza: (V-III tys. do n.ė.) Древние культуры Южного Кавказа (V-III тыс. до н.э.) [Ancient Cultures of Southern Caucasus (5th-3rd millennia BCE)] (in Russian). Leningrad: Nauka. p. 114, fig. 5.1. OCLC3011868.
^Palumbi, G. (2008). The Red and Black: Social and Cultural Interaction between the Upper Euphrates and Southem Caucasus Communities in the Fourth and Third Millennium BC. Studi di Preistoria Orientale 2. Università di Roma "Sapienza". ISBN9788890424007.
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