რომაული მუზარადი აღმოსავლეთ საქართველოდან

Abstract

The Roman helmet was accidentally unearthed in 1986 in Kakheti, in the village Zemo Kedi. Today it is in the funds of Dedoplistskaro Regional Historiscal Museum (inventory number 3145). The bronze helmet is damaged, it has a half-circled shape, for making it more solid, it has a bronze girdle attached to the forehead, and on the security plate of a neck it has three horizontal girdles. There are six holes made by a large nail on the plate where ornaments were supposed to be attached, probably in a way as it was on the helmet discovered in Colchester. Helmet was, perhaps, equipped with plates securing the cheeks which are not preserved. Described helmet belongs to the helmets of legionaries. Helmets of this kind were found in Germany, Britain and they are dated by 1st c. A.D. It is difficult to say how this helmet found its way to Zemo Kedi, but several assumptions can be put forward. Deriving from the topography of the helmet discovery, it is probable that the Romans might have maintained lookout checkpoint near the Ibero-Albanian border in the vicinity of Zemo Kedi. Maybe this helmet was linked with the military formation dispatched to Iberia by Emperor Hadrian as a “gift”. In any case, one thing is clear: the above mentioned archaeological find is one of the important evidences of the close Ibero-Roman military and political interaction, that is also supported by other artefacts of different type. On the territory of Eastern Georgia – in Mtskheta, Zguderi, Nastakisi – there are finds of commodities proved to be of Roman manufacture: bronze and silver bowls, cups, pateras, batiliums, mirrors and others. Certain part of these items might have been donations and awards of Roman Emperors to the nobles of Iberia for their pro-Roman orientation and their participation in the Roman military campaigns. It should be noted that in the cultural layer of Dedoplisgori ancient settlement, dating to 1st c. B.C. - 1st c. A.D., armors of Roman type, so called “loriks”, were unearthed too. Therefore, Roman helmet excavated in the village of Zemo Kedi is interesting find from many points of view; the helmet up to nowadays remains unique item not only for Georgia, but also for the whole Caucasus; it supports idea that the Roman military presence in Iberia indeed took place; and from Iberia the Empire controlled Albania to ensure that the borders of the Roman power were secure.