Armenia and the Land of the Mazkut‘ (3rd–5th Centuries AD): Written Sources and Archaeological Data

Abstract

Since the early 4th century, ancient Armenian authors (P‘awstos Buzand, Movsēs Xorenac‘i, Agat‘angełos, Movsēs Dasxuranc‘i, the Ašxarac‘oyc) begin to mention the Land of the Mazk‘ut‘ (Arm. ašharh Mazk‘t‘acʻ), located in the East Caucasus. The Sarmato-Alan burial mounds of plain Daghestan of the 3rd–5th centuries (Lvov, Palasa-Syrt, etc.) are attributed to this ethnic community. In 216 AD these tribes invaded Armenia through the Derbent pass (Arm. durn Čoray) (Khorenatsi 2,65), and took part in the Armenian-Iranian war in the middle of the 3rd century. At the beginning of the 4th century the post of “bdeašx from the Mazk‘ut‘s” (Agatangełos. 874) appears in administrative apparatus of Armenia, which shows the military and strategic value of the Land of Mazk‘ut‘s. At the same time, the family dynastic ties are apparently established between the ruling houses of Armenia and the kingdom of the Mazk‘ut‘ (Ašxen, Ašxadar, Trdat, Sanesan, Xosrow). The importance of this kingdom can be seen by the events of the 330s’—the struggle for the Armenian throne after the king Trdat’s death in c. 330 AD, in which the different tribes led by Sanesan, the King of the Mazk‘ut‘, took active part. The discontinuance of the Mazk‘ut‘ burial mounds in the middle of the 5th century might be explained, on the one hand, by the possible annexation of the Mazk‘ut‘ by the Huns during the invasion of Transcaucasia and the seizure of the Derbent pass in circa 440 AD; on the other hand, by the subsequent forceful displacement of the Mazk‘ut‘s and the Huns from the territory to the south of Derbent along with the strengthening of Sasanian Iran in the East Caucasus in the 440s’ and regain of control over the Derbent pass, which can be traced both in written sources (Ełishe, History of Karka de Beth Selok) and fortification monuments (mud-brick fortifications of Derbent and Torpakh-kala).