Azerbaijan in antiquity

Azerbaijan in antiquity covers the history of the territory of today's Azerbaijan in the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout much of Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, as well as the Caucasus. The antique period in the territory of Azerbaijan was observed during the existence of the Atropatene in the south and Caucasian Albania in the north starting from the fourth century BC. These states were independent states that emerged in this region after the decease of the Alexander the Great and the collapse of his empire in the East in 323 BC.

Background

After the collapse of the primitive community structure in the territory of Azerbaijan, the early tribal units began to emerge which were in close relations with Mesopotamia at the end of the 4th millennium and the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. The state that emerged after the collapse of these state institutions was Mannea. The kingdom of Mannaeans (9th-6th century BC) was one of the oldest kingdom known in the territory where today's Azerbaijani people mostly populated, which had relations with Assyria and Urartu. From the end of the 8th century BC, beginning of the 7th century BC, the Cimmerians and Scythians, as well as the Saksas and Massageteans began to play an important role in the military-political history of this territory because of the incursions made here and settlement in the territory of Azerbaijan (7th century BC).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

The Southern Caucasus was eventually conquered by the Achaemenids around the 6th century BC. The Achaemenids in turn were defeated by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE and it led to the rise of Hellenistic culture in this region.[9][10]

Atropatene and Albania were part of the Achaemenid Empire in the form of tribes such as albans, sakasens, myukies, matiens, mards (amards), cadusians during the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BC), which emerged immediately after the fall of the Medes in Iran. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, these states became independent as a result of the collapse of their empire.[1][11][12][13][14][15]

In ancient Greek and Roman author’s works

Antique Greek-Roman authors such as Herodotus, Ptolemy, Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus, Strabo, Gaius Julius Solinus, and Arrian (who mentioned albans for the first time among them) and others mentioned Albania and Atropatene in their works.[1][13]

The Greek author Strabo, in his book “Geography” describes the ethnic groups living in Atropatene and draws the names of nations like the cadusians, the amards, and the tapurs. He writes: "Media is divided into two parts. One part of it is called Greater Media, of which the metropolis is Ecbatana. The other part is Atropatian Media, which got its name from the commander. Atropates, who prevented also this country, which was a part of Greater Media, from becoming subject to the Macedonians".  = Speaking about Albania, Strabo noted that " at the present time, indeed, one king rules all the tribes, but formerly the several tribes were ruled separately by kings of their own according to their several languages. They have twenty-six language". He also describes the activities that Albanians carried out such as semi nomadic cattle-breeding, advanced craftsmanship, training horses, gardening and other fields.[16][17]

Herodotus gave information about the Albanian tribes and the Magh, Caspian, and Udin tribes in his "History". Hecataeus of Miletus wrote about Caucasian Albania in his "Historical Geography".[18]

Atropatene    

Borders

The state of Atropatene mainly covered Southern Azerbaijan and some southern regions of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan. The Zagros Mountains stretched from the western part of the country. The city of Gazaka (also known as Ganzak) was the capital of Atropatene and was located in south-east of Lake Urmia.[1][17][19]

Name

At the end of the 4th century BC, the northwestern province of Media was left from historical Media. This province entered the historical literature as Media-Atropatene or just Atropatene. One of the Greek authors, Plutarch called Atropatene as “Media” or “Atropatene”.[17][12]

According to the most ancient sources, the name of the state is associated with the name of Atropates, the commander of the Achaemenid dynasty. Some scholars believe that Atropatene means "belonging to Atropata" (state) and is the primary form of modern name of Azerbaijan. some believe that the name of Atropates was derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire. This name was changed to Aturpatakan, Adurbadagan, Āḏarbāyjān , Azerbaijan, and finally the modern version was adopted during the Arab Caliphate. According to the other theory, the word "Atropatene" comes from the name of a famous Zoroastrian priest Adarbad.[12][20][21][22]

History

In 331 BC, during the Battle of Gaugamela between the Achaemenid ruler Darius III and Alexander the Great, albans, sakasens, cadusians fought alongside the army of Achaemenid in the army of Atropates. After this war, which resulted in the victory of Alexander the Great and the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, Atropates expressed his loyalty to Alexander. In 328-327 BC, Alexander appointed him governor of Media. At the Partition of Babylon held after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, the satrapy of Media was divided into 2 parts: Little Media (the northwestern part, from Syria to Aras river basin) and Great Media (the eastern part) of which only the former was left to Atropates. Atropates refused to obey to the diadochi after the death of his son-in-law Perdiccas in 321 BC and declared his satrapy an independent kingdom. This kingdom was known to the Greeks as Media Atropatene or just Atropatene.[1][17][13][12][20][23][24][25][16][26]

Antiochus III (223-187 B.C.) came to power in the State of Seleucids which was one of the states that emerged in the east after the death of Alexander the Great. In 223 B.C. his march against Atropatene resulted in victory. Consequently, the king of Atropatene - Artabazanes accepted the ascendency of Seleucids and became dependent on it, on the other hand, interior independence was preserved. At the same time, the Roman Empire came into sight in the Mediterranean basin and was trying to spread its power in the East. At the battle of Magnesia Seleucids were defeated by Romans in 190 B.C and Atropatene became independent again. Thus, Parthia and Atropatene considered Rome a threat to their independence and therefore allied themselves to the struggle against Rome. After the battle between Rome and the Parthians in 38 BC, the Romans won and the Roman general Antony attacked Fraaspa (36 BC), one of the central cities of Atropatene. The city was surrounded by strong defenses. After a long blockade, Antony receded, losing approximately thirty-five thousand soldiers.[1][17][13][27]

In the face of Parthian attempts to annex Atropatene; Atropatene began to draw closer to Rome, thus, Ariobarzan II, who lived in Rome for about ten years, came to power in Atropatena in 20 BC probably with the nomination by Augustus. After the death of the last king, Ariovasdes, Atropatene became dependent on the Arshakids dynasty of the Parthian state in 20 AD and remained part of it until it came under the Sasanian Empire rule (until 226).[1][12][17]

Religion in Atropatene

The population of Atropatene worshipped the Zoroastrian religion and it was connected with the name of Zoroaster. Because of the fire was deified in the Zoroastrianism, other name of the religion was  fire-worshipping. The holy book of the Zoroastrian religion is "Avesta"and one of the main temples was located in Gazaka.[1][17]

Hellenism in Atropatene

The emergence of new states in the South Caucasus coincided with the Hellenistic period, and the states affected by Alexander the Great's eastern campaign were influenced by Hellenism. The settlement of thousands of Greeks and Macedonians in the Caucasus had a serious impact on socio-political and socio-economic processes. Greek inscriptions on the temple of Karaftu caves, a cultural example of Atropatene, show the influence of Hellenistic language, writing and legal norms on the South Caucasus. The urban culture in Atropatene, the existence of cities such as Gazaka, Fraaspa, Fanaspa is also an indicator of Greek influence.[1][2][17][13][28]

Albania

Borders

After the death of Alexander the Great, ancient state was established named Albania in the territory of modern Azerbaijan and in several southern regions of Dagestan. Albania was bordered by Sarmatia, Iberia and Atropatene. Albania's borders extended to the Caspian Sea in the east. Gabala was the first capital of ancient Albania, covering the territory of the modern Azerbaijan Republic, and in the Middle Ages the capital was moved to Barda.[1][2][13][29][30][31]

Archaeological finds indicate that Albania was at the center of international trade and Albanian tribes maintained relations with the western and northern regions of the Caucasus, Central Asia, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and the Aegean world.[1][14]

Name

According to one of the approaches on the origins of the name of the country, the word Alban, which sounds like "Alban", "Alpan", had Turkish roots. Based on the ancient Turkish word "alp // alb" (daring, courageous, plucky, lucky, brave), it can be said that the name Albania means "country of the brave".[2]

History

In 331 BC, during the Battle of Gaugamela between the Achaemenid ruler Darius III and Alexander the Great, Albans fought alongside the army of Achaemenid in the army of Atropat.[1][32][29]

The Roman general Gnaeus Pompey invaded Albania in 66 BC to gain control of the trade route from India to the Black Sea coast and Greece to the Caucasus. According to Strabo, the Roman legionaries won this battle, known as the Kura (Cyrus) River battle, and the Albanian ruler sent envoys and signed a peace treaty with Rome. After this incident, Pompey attacked Iberia and the Iberian ruler declared his allegiance to Rome.  According to Plutarch, in 65 BC Pompey attacked Albania again, because during the attack on Iberia, the Albanians infuriated Pompey with a sudden blow from behind. The Albanian army, led by the Albanian ruler's (Oroezes) brother Cosis, consisted of 60,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. The battle near the Alazan River resulted in Roman victory over the Albanians because of the military trick of Pompey.  Despite the victory, Pompey did not move inland and stopped marching and returned. After that, the general Antony marched to the Caucasus again in 36 BC and subjugated these states, but the local dynasties remained in power.[1][13][31][30][33]

Religion

The ancient Albanians practiced astral religions before Christianity. According to Strabo, the sky god-Zeus, the sun god-Helios and the moon goddess Selene were worshiped by Albanians. Belief in the heavenly and celestial bodies was associated with the ancient beliefs of the Turks. According to academician Naila Valikhanli, “Sources informing about the pre-Islamic religious beliefs of the Azerbaijani people showed that in the mixed northern part of the country, especially Nakhchivan, at that time, along with Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, believes in natural forces as Sun, Earth, Water, and Moon were observed.[32]

Hellenism in Albania

During archeological excavations, coin mints named after Alexander the Great in northern Azerbaijan showed that extensive trade and cultural ties were established with the Hellenistic world during this period. From the middle of the first millennium BC, metallurgy and metalworking, pottery and weaving were developed in Albania and the influence of Greece and Rome traditions was observed.  The existence of roof tile production in Albania in the 3rd century BC reflects the influence of the Greeks on the urban culture here.[1][13]

See also

References
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