Colchian
Quick Summary
The Colchians were an ancient people inhabiting Colchis, a region located at the eastern end of the Black Sea in modern-day Georgia. This area, primarily the valley of the Phasis (Rioni) River, was known in Greek mythology as the home of Medea and the destination of the Argonauts, a land rich in mythical wealth and sorcery.123
Historically, Colchis was colonized by Greeks from Miletus. The native Colchians traded goods such as gold, slaves, hides, and linen with them. The exact ethnic origins of the Colchians are unclear, though the historian Herodotus described them as being of Egyptian descent. After the 6th century BCE, Colchis experienced periods of rule under the Achaemenian Persian Empire, Mithradates VI, and eventually Rome. Later, it became an important buffer state between the Sasanian and Byzantine empires before being incorporated into Russian Georgia.1
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Caucasus…diversity since early times: the Colchians, for example, as described in the 5th century bce by the Greek historian Herodotus, were black-skinned Egyptians, though their true origin remains unclear. In subsequent centuries, successive waves of peoples migrating across Eurasia added to and were molded by the more established groups in…
Read More…diversity since early times: the Colchians, for example, as described in the 5th century bce by the Greek historian Herodotus, were black-skinned Egyptians, though their true origin remains unclear. In subsequent centuries, successive waves of peoples migrating across Eurasia added to and were molded by the more established groups in…
Read More
Transcaucasia…diversity since early times: the Colchians, for example, as described in the 5th century bce by the Greek historian Herodotus, were black-skinned Egyptians, though their true origin remains unclear. In subsequent centuries, successive waves of peoples migrating across Eurasia added to and were molded by the more established groups in…
Read More…diversity since early times: the Colchians, for example, as described in the 5th century bce by the Greek historian Herodotus, were black-skinned Egyptians, though their true origin remains unclear. In subsequent centuries, successive waves of peoples migrating across Eurasia added to and were molded by the more established groups in…
Read More