TOPONYM - HISTORICAL ARTIFACT Cover Image

ტოპონიმი – ისტორიული არტეფაქტი
TOPONYM - HISTORICAL ARTIFACT

Author(s): Nino Javelidze
Subject(s): Archaeology, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Social history, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: საქართველოს მეცნიერებათა ეროვნული აკადემიის გამომცემლობა
Keywords: Malkha; Mekhlesi; Malka; Meklesi; Makhlien; Mekhli; Kakul; Kikul; Kakulia; Kakula;

Summary/Abstract: Georgians lived in several settlements based on the holy land of the Middle Ages. The issue of the longevity of the founders of the villages - Malkha and Kakul - can be clarified by determining the origin of these toponyms. In modern scientific literature, it is said about the village of Kakul that originally Jews lived here, and in the late Middle Ages it was inhabited by Arabs, while its Arabic name “DairKakul” indicates that there was once a monastery in this place (Dair - monastery in Arabic). We understand the presence of Georgians in this village through Arabic documents of the late Middle Ages. There is no consensus on the ethnic identity of the founders of Malkha village. Some consider it a Georgian village, while others report that according to the inhabitants of Malkhi, they were Arabs, immigrated either from Iraq, or from Egypt, or from the Levant. Elucidation of the etymology of these two toponyms - Malkha and Kakul will give us the opportunity to show on the basis of which spoken language their meanings are explained and who were the founders and original inhabitants of these villages. According to the external form, the word Kakul can be connected with the Proto-Hittite-Mithanian name Kikuli, the Georgian surname Kakulia and the Etruscan word Kakula. Indeed, they are connected by a common base. In addition, the analysis of the content of Proto-Hittite-Mithanian and Etruscan words gives us the reason to conclude that Kikuli, which was originally the name of the chief groom of the Hittite king, who was engaged in the work of grooming and keeping war horses, then his name seems to have been generalized and in the Etruscan language, It is conceivable, he mentioned a horse soldier, a rider. In this regard, it is worth noting that in the Etruscan language, a soldier was generally referred to by another word. The linguistic and cultural ties between the Khats and the Etruscans are explained by the fact that the Etruscans originally lived in Asia Minor, and appeared on the Apennine Peninsula in the 10th-11th centuries BC. Thus, Proto-Hittites, Mithanians, Urartians, Georgians and Etruscans coexisted in a single cultural area in Asia Minor. As for the existence of surnames based on “Kikuli” in the Georgian language, this is explained by the common genetic roots of the Georgian tribesand the non-Indo-Germanic ethnic groups of Asia Minor, which is confirmed at the linguistic (word formation), religious and cultural levels. The toponym Malkha is outwardly connected with the toponym Mekhlesi, which was located in the kingdom of Egris in ancient times. In addition, it turns out that the toponyms Malkha (Malka) and Mekhlesi (Meklesi), in turn, derive from the ethnonym Makhlien-Makhelon-Melkhy, which is the name of one of the Georgian Tomels. According to ancient sources, the Makhlien-Makhelons lived in the southern part of the Kingdom of Egris - St. near Trebizond and the river In the Chorokhi Basin, as well as in its interior and in the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Egris, along the Black Sea coast - to Meotid Lake. In addition, the Melkhies lived on the land and water of the Vainakhs, and the Kists still call the Georgian enclave by the name of Melkhy, their settlements is found in the vicinity of Khevsureti. In a word, Malkha of the land is etymologically related to the Kolkheti toponym Mekhlesi and the ethnonym of the Georgian tribes MakhlienMakhelon-Melkhy. Thus, according to ancient Eastern, ancient and Georgian sources, the villages of Kakul and Malkha in the early Middle Ages were St. It was established on the land by Georgians, which is revealed by the Georgian geographical nomenclature (toponyms, ethnonyms) and also by the linguistic analysis of these words.

Toggle Accessibility Mode