The Zydretae ( ka, ზიდრიტები) (Zudrêtai or Zudreitai) were an ancient people of

Colchis In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the ...

recorded by the Classical accounts as dwelling on the coast of the

Pontus Euxinus The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

(Black Sea), on the southern side of the Apsarus river (modern-day

Çoruh The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'' , , ''Chorokh'', , , ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İspir, Yusufeli, and Artvin, along the Kelkit-� ...

/Chorokhi in the borderlands of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

), and between the Machelonoi and the Lazi tribes. The early 2nd century

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

author

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; ; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of ...

lists several neighboring and probably ethnically related tribes on a west to east orientation: the Sannoi (

Sanigs The Sanigs () were a tribe inhabiting historical Heniochia, northwest shore of Kingdom of Colchis(modern day northwestern Georgia). Their ethnic identity is obscure and is the subject of a controversy. They are first attested in the works of Pli ...

), Drilae, Machelonoi, Heniochoi, Zudreitai, and Lazoi (''Perip.'' 1 1.1-2). The anonymous (probably post-4th century) ''Periplus Ponti Euxini'' places them further south between the Akamosis and Archabis rivers.Edwards, Robert W. (1988), The Vale of Kola: A Final Preliminary Report on the Marchlands of Northeast Turkey, p. 129-130. ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', Vol. 42. Little is known about the Zydretae's social and political life, but at that time when Arrian described them (), they seem to have been subjected to the king of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

in eastern Georgia.

References

Ancient peoples of Georgia (country) Tribes in classical historiography Colchis {{Georgia-hist-stub