Mepe

The word is derived from Georgian word მეუფე (meupe)Klimov, p. 120 which literally means sovereign and lord.Rapp, p. 265Klimov, p. 196 Some Georgian dialects has the term as ნეფე (nepe), all derived from common Proto-Kartvelian მფ/მეფე/მაფა (mp/mepe/mapa).Klimov, pp. 195-215 Even though mepe has a female equivalent, დედოფალი (dedopali; {{lit.|queen}})Rapp, p. 286 it is only applied to the king's consort and does not have a meaning of a ruling monarch.Eastmond, p. 109

{{main|Style of the Georgian sovereign}}

The term mepe was utilized since pre-Christian beginnings with Azo, but the role would get more structured during the reign of Pharnavaz IRapp, p. 182 in the 3rd century BC.Rapp, p. 153 His successors, the Pharnavazid{{efn|name=b|The Pharnavazids were fascinated by the Persian structure of royal administration, yet cultivated close relations with the Hellenistic Seleucids.Rapp, pp. 11-277 The pre-Christian Georgian kings modeled themselves in a same heroic garb as in the Iranian epic cycle and imagery,Rapp, p. 154 also incorporating several allusions to the Hebrew Bible and Classical Syriac sources.Rapp, p. 141 The pre-Christian Georgian rulers identified Persia as the "land of heroes and giants", an exalted status that was never bestowed upon Rome or Byzantium.Eastmond (2017), p. 109}} mepes would be titled as goliathRapp, p. 155 who would possess 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀𐬵 (pharnah; {{lit.|royal radiance}}),Rapp, p. 205 the divinely endowed glory believed by ancient Persians{{efn|name=b}} to mark only a legitimate ruler,Rapp, p. 276 accompanied with დიდებაჲ (didebay; {{lit.|greatness}}) and სუე (sue; {{lit.|fortune; destiny}}).Rapp (2014), p. 228 Georgian monarch's reign was known as მეფობაჲ (mepobay; {{lit.|kingship}}).Rapp, p. 261Bakhtadze, pp. 1-4 Loss of pharnah and sue led to imminent death or overthrow of mepe.Rapp (2014), p. 230

In the late 6th century, the Sassanid Empire would abolish{{efn|name=c}} the Georgian kingship of the Kingdom of Iberia resulting in the interregnum stretching from {{c.}} 580{{efn|name=c|The Chosroids were dethroned immediately after the death of King Bakur III.Rayfield, location: 980 Bakur's sons would remain in the mountainous region of Kakheti;Rapp, p. 426 their royal pedigree would rule the region as titular princes styled as mtavari.Rapp, pp. 233-471}} to 888 as a demoted principality.Rapp, pp. 372-451Eastmond, pp. 5-6 Despite the monarchy was in abeyance, and that royal governing disintegrated, the principality rulers would still continue to claim to be referred to as mepes and ჴელმწიფე (helmts'ipe; {{lit.|sovereign}}).Bakhtadze, p. 3 After 888Rayfield, location: 1337Rapp, p. 337 (or 889)Bakhtadze, pp. 5-9 restoration under next successive dynasty{{efn|name=d}} of mepe Adarnase IV, the new kingdom would emerge as the fusion of many lands and territories, that would lead towards a total Georgian unification, culminating in 1008.Rapp, p. 231

In the 12th century,Rapp, p. 187 the Bagratid{{efn|name=d|The Bagratids restored the royal authority soon after they succeeded the Chosroids and seized the Principality of Iberia in 813.Eastmond (2017), p. 111Rapp, pp. 165-231-479 They brought rapid expansion and consolidation within Georgian polities. Bagrationi monarchs would base much of their culture modeling and competing intensely with the Byzantine emperors.Eastmond, p. 5 They frequently claimed saintly status and linked themselves with the divine, eucharistic symbolism, had Davidic lineage pretensions,Rapp, p. 370 their royal superiority always depicted haloes and crowns and surrounded by the warrior saints.Eastmond, pp. 118-121-201 12th century icon preserved in the collection of the Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai shows King David IV, styled as "pious emperor", standing next to Saint George and receiving the crown from Jesus Christ.Eastmond, p. 69 The Bagratid kings would expand their authority beyond the confines of Georgia itself, transforming the kingdom into an imperial power.Eastmond (2017), p. 112 Georgia's imperial "Byzantinization" would result in abandoning its traditional use of the Syro-Palestinian liturgy; in the presence of thousands of Georgian monks throughout Byzantine lands, including Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cyprus, Anatolia, Bulgaria, on Mount Athos; and the Byzantino-Georgian exchange of diplomatic marriages.Eastmond (2017), p. 113}} mepe David IV the Builder, who had established himself as the region's superlative political and military force,Rapp, p. 338 with his ambitious and sophisticated push for his kingdom's royal imagery promotion,Eastmond, pp. 70-71 the official style of a king would become imperialEastmond, pp. 59-60 თჳთმპყრობელი (tuitmp'q'robeli; {{lit.|absolute master}}Rapp, p. 396 i.e. autokratōr)Eastmond (2017), p. 114 and მეფეთ[ა]მეფე (mepet[a]mepe;Eastmond, p. 134Rayfield, location: 2194{{efn|name=e|The first Georgian king to assume the title "mepet[a]mepe" was Gurgen of Iberia,Bakhtadze, p. 29 but the term would become absolute and universal during and after David IV.Eastmond, p. 39Rapp, p. 501 Gurgen's title is elaborated by the Bagratid-commissioned chronicler Sumbat Davitis Dze, explaining Gurgen being a mepe, and a father, of another mepe. Gurgen ruled the Kingdom of the Iberians, while his son, Bagrat, led the Kingdom of the Abkhazians.Bakhtadze, pp. 20-22}} {{lit.|King of Kings}}), similar to the Byzantine βασιλεὺς βασιλέων (basileus basileōn) and Persian شاهنشاه (shahanshah).Rapp, p. 372 David IV's royal projection of his grandiose title was partly aimed at a non-Georgian audience.Eastmond, pp. 67-70 Title Shahanshah was later totally usurpedEastmond, p. 92 and consistently used by Georgian monarchs, denoting sovereignty over several Persianate subjects such as Shirvanshahs, the Shaddadids and the Eldiguzids.Rayfield, location: 2199 The royal cult of a monarch would reach its zenith with a female ruler, Tamar, whose execution of power would inaugurate the Georgian Golden Age, her being styled as Tamar, the mepe.Eastmond, p. 97 Tamar was given the longest and more elaborate titles on the royal charters, listing all the peoples and lands that she ruled as a semi-saint mepetamepe.Eastmond, pp. 162-178 The Bagrationi mepe, with its royal legitimacy{{efn|name=f|The Georgian kingship had stubborn and staunch devotion to rules of legitimismRapp (2014), pp. 230-231 and the dynastic succession as a new mepe should have had a biological connection and/or matrimony with an existing family.Rapp (2014), pp. 273-370 The Pharnavazids, Chosroids and Bagratids were related through descent, intermarriage and adoption.Rapp (2014), pp. 232-240}} and ideological pillar, would rule Georgia for a millennium, from its medieval elevation down to the Russian conquest in the early 19th century.Rapp, pp. 234-338

• Caesar, Roman title
• Basileus, Greek title
• Shah, Persian title
• Tsar, Slavic title

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• Rapp, Stephen H. (2014) The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature, Ashgate Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1-4724-2552-2}}
• Rapp, Stephen H. (2003) Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts; Peeters Bvba {{ISBN|90-429-1318-5}}
• Eastmond, A. (2017) Eastern Approaches to Byzantium: Papers from the Thirty-Third Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Warwick, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-1-351-94213-3}}
• Eastmond, A. (1998) Royal imagery in medieval Georgia, Pennsylvania State University, {{ISBN|978-0-271-01628-3}}
• Rayfield, D. (2013) Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia, Reaktion Books, {{ISBN|9781780230702}}
• Bakhtadze, M. (2015) Georgian titulature of Tao-Klarjeti ruling Bagrationi dynasty, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Institute of Georgian History Proceedings, IX, Tbilisi, Publishing Meridiani
• Klimov, G. (1998) Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages; Walter de Gruyter GmbH; {{ISBN|978-3-11-015658-4}}

{{Imperial, royal, and noble styles}}

Category:Royal titles

Category:Georgian words and phrases

Category:Honorifics

Category:Pharnavazid dynasty

Category:Chosroid dynasty

Category:Bagrationi dynasty

Category:Monarchs of Georgia (country)

{{italic title}}