Amazasp III or Hamazasp I ( ka, ამაზასპ III, Latinized as ''Amazaspus'') was a king of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...

(also natively known as

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

; in ancient

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) from 260 to 265 AD. According to

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

he may have been a scion of the

Pharnavazid dynasty The Pharnavazid ( ka, ფარნავაზიანი, tr) is the name of the first dynasty of Georgian kings of Kartli (Iberia) preserved by '' The Georgian Chronicles''. Their rule lasted, with intermissions, from the 3rd century BC to t ...

, while Richard N. Frye states that he was an Iranian, possibly related to the royal

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

family. The name Amazasp derives from

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

''*Hamazāsp'', ultimately from

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

''Hamāzāspa''. Although the precise etymology of ''*Hamazāsp''/''Hamāzāspa'' remains unresolved, it may be explained through

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

''*hamāza-'', "colliding/clashing" + ''aspa-'', "horse" i.e. "one who possessed war steeds". Although Amazasp III is unfortunately unknown to the High Medieval & Georgian literary traditions, some Georgian chronicles do record two early kings named Amazasp. However, Amazasp III is indeed attested in a contemporaneous text of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

, an Old Persian written source, and in the tri-lingual inscription found in

Ka'ba-ye Zartosht The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht ( fa, کعبه زرتشت), or the Cube of Zarathustra, is a stone quadrangular stepped structure in the Naqsh-e Rustam compound beside Zangiabad village in Marvdasht county in Fars, Iran. The Naqsh-e Rustam compound als ...

Temple in which is the lists of the Princedom of Wirričān (

) as among the Persian dependencies and Protectorates and testifies to an privileged diplomatic position of its Princedom. Hamazasp, III was said to be of high rank in the contemporaneous Court Hierarchy of the Persian Sasanian dynasty and entirely of the Old Persian world. He is mentioned early in the tri-lingual inscription only following the names of King Ardashir of

Adiabene Adiabene was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it eventually gained control of N ...

, King Ardashir of Kirman, and also Queen Denag of Meshan, and preceded by a long list of minor princes, ministers, and

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with cons ...

al Dukes and Temple Ruler’s of the Royal cities of the Empire. Professor Cyril Toumanoff has suggested that Amazasp III was ‘helped’ to be proclaimed King by the influence of energetic Sasanian High King

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

as a helpful

anti-king An anti-king, anti king or antiking (german: Gegenkönig; french: antiroi; cs, protikrál) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. OED "Anti-, ...

to the ''although Romano-phile'' Prince

Mihrdat II of Iberia Mihrdat II ( ka, მირდატ II, Latinized as ''Mithridates''), of the Arsacid dynasty, was a king of Iberia (natively known as Kartli; ancient Georgia) from 249 to 265 AD. He is known exclusively from the medieval Georgian chronicles wh ...

, who is known only and exclusively from the Georgian chronicles. Another Sasanian inscription, of the Zohroastiani

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rev ...

indeed alludes to a sunset invasion of Iberia (and of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

) some time after 260. Amazasp III seems to have been dispossessed of the throne in 265, the moment, precisely, when Shapur’s imperial activity was definitely coming to an end.Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', p. 293. Peeters Bvba . Some modern historians such as Sir Giorgi Tsereteli, Dr T'amila Mgaloblishvili, and Prof.

Stephen H. Rapp Stephen H. Rapp Jr is an American professor and scholar of history, with a focus and primary research investigating the Roman Empire, ancient Iran, Armenia and Georgia. He is a professor of history at Sam Houston State University. Education and c ...

mainly identify King Hamazasp with Lord-Prince Habzā: a king of the Waručān who are mentioned in some of the early

manichaean Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD ...

texts discovered by Zee German scientific expeditions of 1908 & early 1914; (in the West Asian), Xinjian Regions, and its Turpan oasis. In an interesting aside, another document from this collection refers to an unnamed proud High-Prince of Waruzān, who appears to have impressed the Manichaeans by his perspectives on learning and knowledge.T‘amila Mgaloblishvili and Stephen H. Rapp Jr. (2011), "Manichaeism in Late Antique Georgia?," pp. 269–274, in ''In Search of Truth: Manichaica, Augustiniana & Varia Gnostica'', Jacob Albert van den Berg ed. Leiden—Boston: Brill, .

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amazasp 03 Of Iberia Arsacid dynasty of Iberia Vassal rulers of the Sasanian Empire 3rd-century monarchs in Asia