Pharnavaz I () was a king (mepe) of Kartli, an ancient Georgian kingdom known as Iberia in classical antiquity. The Georgian Chronicles credits him with being the first monarch founding the kingship of Kartli and the Pharnavazid dynasty, while other independent chronicles, such as The Conversion of Kartli make him the second Georgian monarch. Based on the medieval evidence, most scholars locate Pharnavaz's rule in the 3rd century BC: 302–237 BC according to Prince Vakhushti of Kartli, 299–234 BC according to Cyril Toumanoff and 284–219 BC according to Pavle Ingoroqva. Pharnavaz's rise, advent and expansion of the Iberian monarchy was directly tied to the victory of Alexander the Great over the Achaemenid Empire. Pharnavaz ruled under the suzerainty of the Seleucid Empire.
Life According to the Georgian royal annals, Pharnavaz descended from Uplos, son of Mtskhetos, son of Kartlos, who was one of the powerful and famous eight brothers, who from their part were descendants of Targamos, son of Tarsi, the grandson of Japheth, son of the Biblical Noah. He is not directly attested in non-Georgian sources and there is no definite contemporary indication that he was indeed the first of the Georgian kings. His story is saturated with legendary imagery and symbols, and it seems feasible that, as the memory of the historical facts faded, the real Pharnavaz "accumulated a legendary façade" and emerged as the model pre-Christian monarch in the Georgian annals. According to the c. 800 chronicle The Life of Kings, Pharnavaz had a distinguished genealogy, tracing back to Kartlos, the mythical ethnarch of Kartli. His paternal uncle, Samara, held the position of mamasakhlisi ("father of the house") of the Georgian tribes around Mtskheta. Pharnavaz's mother is claimed to have been a Persian woman from Gabai, whom Prince Teimuraz of Georgia and Patriarch Anton I of Georgia identify with a daughter of King Darius III. The entire story of Pharnavaz, although written by a Christian chronicler, abounds in ancient Iranian-like imagery and mystic allusions, a reflection of the archaeologically confirmed cultural and presumably political ties between Iran and Kartli of that time. The name "Pharnavaz" is also an illustrative example with its root par- being based upon the Persian farnah, the divine radiance believed by the ancient Iranians to mark a legitimate dynast (cf. khvarenah). The dynastic tag Parnavaziani ("of/from/named for Pharnavaz") is also preserved in the early Armenian histories as P'arnawazean (Faustus of Byzantium 5.15; fifth century) and P'arazean (History of Armenia 14; probably the early fifth century), an acknowledgment that a king named Pharnavaz was understood to have been the founder of a Georgian dynasty. Pharnavaz is also mentioned in the Stele of Serapit. Perhaps the most artistically rounded section of the Georgian annals, the narrative follows Pharnavaz's life from birth to burial. Aged 3, small Pharnavaz's family is destroyed, and his heritage is usurped by Azon installed by Alexander the Great during his campaign in Kartli. Alexander's invasion of Iberia, remembered not only by the Georgian historical tradition, but also by Pliny the Elder (4.10.39) and Gaius Julius Solinus (9.19), appears to be memory of some Macedonian interference in Iberia, which must have taken place in connection with the expedition mentioned by Strabo (11.14.9) sent by Alexander in 323 BC to the confines of Iberia, in search of gold mines. Pharnavaz is brought up fatherless, but a magic dream, in which he anoints himself with the essence of the Sun, heralds the peripeteia. He is persuaded by this vision to "devote [himself] to noble deeds". He then sets off and goes hunting. In a pursuit of a deer, he encounters a mass of treasure stored in a hidden cave. Pharnavaz retrieves the treasure and exploits it to mount a loyal army against the tyrannical Azon. He is aided by Kuji of Colchis, who eventually marries Pharnavaz's sister. The rebels are also joined by 1,000 soldiers from Azon's camp; they are anachronistically referred to by the author as Romans, and claimed to have been entitled by the victorious Pharnavaz as aznauri (i.e., nobles) after Azon (this etymology is false, however). The main threads of Pharnavaz's story - a fatherless boy hidden and raised in a remote mountains, a forgotten lineage, his dreams, sacral kingship, solar imagery, the hunt, discovery of cave-concealed treasure etc. are reminiscent of legends about Iran's founding kings, like Cyrus the Great and Ardashir I. Pharnavaz's self-anointment may have been a later Sasanian inspiration, as some early Shahanshahs crowned themselves.
Reign
In the ensuing battle, Azon is defeated and killed, and Pharnavaz becomes the king of Kartli at the age of 27. He is reported to have acknowledged the suzerainty of the Seleucids, the Hellenistic successors of Alexander in the Middle East, who are afforded by the Georgian chronicles the generic name of Antiochus.
ფარნავაზ წარავლინნა მოციქულნი წინაშე მეფისა ანტიოქოს ასურასტანისა, და წარსცა ძღუენი დიდ-ძალი. და აღუთქუა მას მსახურება, და ითხოვა მისგან შეწევნა ბერძენთა ზედა. ხოლო ანტიოქოს შეიწყნარა ძღუენი მისი, და უწოდა შვილად თჳსად, და წარმოსცა გჳრგჳნი. Pharnavaz sent his apostles towards the King Antiochus of Assyria, and gave him huge gifts. And promised to serve him, and asked him for help against the Greeks. And Antiochus received his gifts, and called him a son, and gave him the crown. Pharnavaz is also said to have patterned his administration upon an "Iranian" model.
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