MAGISTROS KAIAN IBERIAN

Abstract

The Byzantine seals are numerous and some of them present valuable information about the Georgians who lived in Byzantium. One among those seals from the private collection of Dimitri Theodoridis was published in 2010. This is a unique sample and it has no analogy.The seal that was published by J.- C. Cheynet and D. Theodoridis bears the name of Καίανι μάγιστρ(ον) τὸν Ἰβήρον on the reverse of the seal. According to the above-mentioned authors it belongs to certain Georgian magistros unknow from historical source and his name resembles “Vaanes”. But the personal name on the seal has no analogies in other cases. They have dated the seal to the second half of the 11th century. Activities of Gregory Pakourianos in Balkans and popularity of St. Demetrios (depicted on the obverse of the seal) in the same area was also noticed.In accordance with our investigation, the name that we see on the reverse of the seal has been found in the Georgian versions of “Shahnameh” (The Book of Kings). According to Shahnameh”, Kaian was the founder of the royal Persian dynasty and his name is very popular in this novel. In the Georgian versions of “Shahnameh” the name “Kaian” is frequently used to designate everything royal, as well as it is used as a personal name. Therefore it is obvious that “Kaiani” was the original name of the patron of the seal. The ethnonym “Iberian” on the seal means that he was a Georgian and presumably had no ancestors in Byzantium that is a reason why he omits the name of his father from the seal, who was unknown for the Byzantines unlike his place of origin. Hence he was the first generation from his Georgian noble family in Byzantium. Kaian arrived in Byzantine Empire and served there in the military service. Depiction of St. Demetrios in the military outfit leads us to this opinion. As a Georgian he must have been in the circle of Empress Martha-Maria Bagrationi and he bore the Byzantine court title of magistros. He held this title in the second half of the 11th century and in the beginning of the 12 century, not exceeding to the first quarter of the 12th century.