부산대학교 도서관

[formerly Tiflis] Capital city of Georgia, on the banks of the River Kura. Its name is derived from tbili (Georg.: ‘warm’), referring to the local sulphuric springs. Excavations have revealed that the site was originally settled in the 4th millennium bc. By the 4th century ad a fortress (now called the Narikala) existed at the summit of the hill on the river’s right bank. During the reign of King Vakhtang Gorgasali (reg 447–502) Tbilisi became an important economic centre, with trade routes linking it to eastern Transcaucasia, Armenia, Iran and Syria. Under his son Dachi (reg 522–34) the capital of the east Georgian kingdom of Kartli was transferred from Mtskheta to Tbilisi. Around 626 the city withstood the attack of the Byzantine emperor Heraklios (reg 610–41), but it fell to the Arabs in the 730s. It was liberated in 1122 by King David III (reg 1089–1125) and served as the capital of the united Georgian state until its decline in the late 15th century. After this period the city was frequently attacked by the invading Iranian and Turkish armies until Georgia’s annexation by Russia in ...