Kvashilava, Gia, 2010. On Reading Pictorial Signs of the Phaistos Disk and Related Scripts (2). Rosette (in Georgian and English)

After the thorough study and analysis of Assyrian cuneiform
inscriptions (Tiglath-Pileser I, 1115/1114-1077/1076 BC) G.
Melikishvili (1954, 22 and ff., 407-408; 1970, I, 369, 369 3 , 370)
read Kil i 1 (Kir i: Luckenbill 1926, I, 92, 270) which he
identified with (also see: Lordkipanidze 1986, 45; Gordeziani
2007, III, 469; Gordeziani 2009, 83).
According to Urartian sources (Sarduri II, 750-748 and 744-
742 BC), G. Melikishvili (1962, 320 and ff.; 1970, I, 386-389,
39-40; 2004, 98, 107-109) identifies the Qul a 2 form with
1 . ”It should be noted that many researchers [e.g., C. F. Lehmann-Haupt, I.
M. Diakonoff, and others] read the name Kil- i as ab- i. The first sign
( ) is raed not only as Kil and ab, but as some others syllables, too”
(Melikishvili 1970, I, 369 3 ).
In one of the inscriptions Tiglath-Pileser I says: ”Tukulti-apil-Ešarra,..
who conquered country ab i till ‟the Big Sea‟. According to Assyrian
inscriptions ‟the Big Sea‟ is ‟the Upper Sea‟, and G. Melikishvili (1970, I,
367-369) argues that this is the Black Sea.
I think that the same cuneiform signs of the inscription given above denote
the country ab i (comp. ab- i/a, a-ab- i/a-: CAD 1956, 6, 15) that was
not situated to the South of the lake Vani, and in this case the country of
Chalybes ( : Herodotus I, 28; Suida 1705, III, 652) was meant.
My point of view is supported by Assyrian root ab- i, where - i is a
Hurrian-Urartian suffix (Melikishvili 1970, I, 382, 364); it corresponds to Greek
-. The process: Colchian * - [*xaləb-] > * - [*xaəb-] > * -
[*xab-], where -* - [-*lə-] > -* - [-*ə-] > -ø- is reflexive. This process takes
place in the local Bandza-Martvili speech of Senaki dialect in Mingrelia. E.g.,
/ / / / [dzalami/dzaljami/dzajami/dzaami/
dzami] – very (Kipshidze 1914, 373; Kajaia 2001, I, 18; 2002, II, 372, 374).
The abovesaid allows the acceptance of both readings the Assyrian cuneiform
sign as KUR Kil- i and KUR ab- i. They both are connected to the name of the
country of Chalybes – Colchis that lay at ’the Big Sea‟ (the Black Sea).
2 . Urartian KUR qul- a-i, KUR qu-ul- a-i-di, KUR qu-ul- a- a-li-e- i – Kulkha,
Colchis (155 C, 2; 155 D, 3, 6, 9: Marr, Orbeli 1922, 47-51; Sayce 1929, 95-96;
Melikishvili 1953, #4; Haroutyunyan 2001, 519), where [u] occurs instead of [o]
as the vowel [o] was not reflected in cuneiform script (Tatishvili 2009, 23).
In Urartian inscription (155 D, 5) in the name of a king of Colchis the
first syllable in unfortunalely erased I [1]-šá- i only the last part -šá- i is still
there (Melikishvili 1953, #4; 1970, I, 388).
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