The City of Aqua on Battista Agnese’s 1540 Map, by Denis Gopia
By Denis K. Gopia
City of Sukhum, Republic of Abkhazia
Historian–Medievalist
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Abkhazia
Proceedings of the Abkhaz State Museum, Issue VIII
Sukhum, 2023, pp.155-161
Translated by AbkhazWorld
The City of Aqua on Battista Agnese’s 1540 Map
Sukhum, the capital of the Republic of Abkhazia, is one of the most ancient cities in the world, with a history spanning more than 2,500 years.
Over the centuries, the city received different names from both peaceful and not entirely peaceful conquerors. With the arrival of the ancient Greeks in the second half of the 6th century BCE, a city-state arose on the site of modern Sukhum bearing the Greek name Dioscurias (Διοσκουριάς — “the Two Twins”) (Strabo, 1890, p. 103). However, by the 2nd century BCE, the city had become part of the Pontic Kingdom. At the end of the 1st century BCE and the beginning of the 1st century CE, as a result of the Roman–Pontic wars, the city became incorporated into the Roman Empire and received a new name, Sebastopolis (Arrian, 1890, p. 222).
During the period of the Abkhazian Kingdom, Georgian sources begin recording the city from the 11th century onward under the name Tskhum (Ekvtime Atoneli, 1986, p. 12).
With the appearance of the Venetian Republic and, later, the Genoese on the shores of the Black Sea in the 13th century, the city appears under the name Sauastopoli.[1] It is possible that the ancient name Sebastopolis, originating from the period of Roman rule, survived in Europe in a somewhat distorted form and found reflection both in written sources and on medieval maps. To Arab chroniclers, the city was known as al-Andjās (Ibn Saʿid al-Maghribī, 2009, p. 27) and also as Sukhum (Abū al-Fidāʾ, 2009, p. 109).
From the 16th century, when Abkhazia entered the Ottoman Empire, the city came to be known as Sukhum-Kale (“Fortress Sukhum”).
Among the Abkhaz themselves, the city has long been known as Аҟәа (Aq’wa). Abkhaz researchers hold differing views regarding the origin and antiquity of this toponym.
According to M. M. Trapsh,
“Apparently, Aq’wa is a very ancient name. This is indicated by the discovery of two gold staters of Colchian minting bearing the inscription Aku, dated to the 3rd century BCE. D. G. Kapanadze, transcribing the Greek inscription on these staters as Aki, omitted the labialised vowel o, whereas the staters in fact preserve the Greek transcription Ako (in the genitive case). G. Z. Shakirbai, who first drew attention to this, notes that the Greek inscription Ako on the Lysimachus staters must be rendered not as Aki, but as Aku. These coins are older than the coins issued by Dioscurias known today, for the latter date to the turn of the 2nd–1st centuries BCE.” (Trapsh, 1969, p. 217).
Trapsh further notes, drawing on Shakirbai’s view, that the name may relate to the Abkhaz expression for “mineral sulphur spring,” namely аӡытҟәа (adzytkwa), meaning “rotten/stale water” — that is, sulphurous water. Indeed, in the immediate vicinity of the city there are two such mineral sulphur springs; evidently they were known in antiquity as well (Trapsh, 1969, p. 216).
Researcher V. E. Kvarchia associates the name Aq’wa with the river Ҳәаҟьԥсҭа (Ha-kh’ypsta / Hak’ypshta), noting that:
“‘Ҳа-ҟәа’ literally means ‘piled stones,’ i.e., fortress. In the course of regular phonetic assimilation, initial ҳ before a was lost, yielding the modern form Аҟәа.” (Kvarchia, 2006, p. 85)
Linguist V. A. Chirikba similarly argues:
“The toponym Аҟәа (Aq’wa) ‘Sukhum’ is reliably derived on Abkhazian linguistic grounds from ħa-q’ʷa ‘stones piled on top of one another’; this likely referred to a stone-built fortress or fort.” (Chirikba, 2020, p. 135)
Aq’wa in Abkhaz Historiography and its Appearance on 16th-Century Maps
In Abkhaz historiography, it has become common to assert that the Abkhaz name for the city of Sukhum — Аҟәа (Aq’wa) — does not appear in historical sources prior to 1770, when Captain-Poruchik Yazykov “reports on the fortress Aku, its commander, inhabitants, and garrison” (Kudryavtsev, 1922, p. 151).
However, the toponym Acua[2] (Aq’wa) can already be found on the 1540 map of the medieval cartographer Battista Agnese, and again on the 1561 map of the renowned Venetian cartographer Giacomo Gastaldi. A close examination of these maps reveals that both Abkhazia and the city of Aq’wa are displaced far inland, toward the northern slopes of the Caucasus, while the region corresponding to Abkhazia is labelled Mingrelia. This cartographic distortion later provided some scholars (primarily Georgian authors) with grounds to claim that the Abkhaz were allegedly newcomers to their historical homeland — an argument not supported by academic scholarship.
For example, in a Georgian-authored volume on the history of Abkhazia, the editors reproduced a fragment of Gastaldi’s map accompanied by the following commentary:
“On the northern Caucasus, particularly in the middle reaches of the River Kuban, is marked Absvasregi with its main settlement Asua. It is entirely clear that the modern Abkhaz (absua / apsua) at that time still lived in the northern Caucasus. According to the same map, Mingrelia encompasses the entire territory of present-day Abkhazia. After the apsua settled in north-western Mingrelia, the newcomers gave the town Tskhumi/Sukhum the name Asua, brought from the northern Caucasus, from Avsvasregi.”
(Ocherki iz istorii Gruzii. Abkhazia, 2009, map no. 14)
Georgian researchers not only misread the names of Abkhazia on the map, but also appear not to have noticed their own logical inconsistency. If the modern Abkhaz (apsua) had indeed been newcomers to Abkhazia and had brought with them an exonym “Abkhaz,” then how does the name “Abkhazia” appear simultaneously on the northern Caucasus together with the city of Aq’wa?
According to the authors’ claim, “Abkhazia” is a Georgian region that has always been located on the Black Sea coast. Following their argument to its logical conclusion, one would be forced to assume that the Abkhaz — allegedly arriving later — also carried the name “Abkhazia” with them into what is today Abkhazia. This, however, contradicts the very argument the authors attempt to make.
In short, the cartographic placement of Abkhazia and the city of Aq’wa on the northern Caucasus cannot be taken as historical evidence of Abkhaz migration. The claim collapses upon basic analysis and is not supported within academic scholarship.
+ Georgian Myths vs. Historical Facts: The Reality of Abkhazian History
+ Giorgi Soselia's Critique of Pavle Ingorokva's 'Giorgi Merchule' and the Misrepresentation of Abkhazian History
+ Rewriting History? A Critique of Modern Georgian Historiography on Abkhazia
+ Toponymy of the Sukhum-Akua Region According to Medieval Narrative and Cartographic Sources, by Denis Gopia
Cartographic Distortions in the Works of Battista Agnese and Giacomo Gastaldi
If we set aside the untenable theory advanced by certain Georgian authors and turn instead to the complete 1540 map of Battista Agnese and the 1561 map of Giacomo Gastaldi published in Antonio Lafreri’s atlas, we observe that both cartographers commit significant errors that explain why Abkhazia and its capital Аҟәа (Aq’wa) appear on the northern slopes of the Caucasus.
Battista Agnese, and following him Giacomo Gastaldi, relied on several written and cartographic sources from different time periods, which likely produced the numerous inaccuracies preserved in their maps.
See also: Georgian Myths vs. Historical Facts: The Reality of Abkhazian History
The following points illustrate these distortions:
1. The Misplacement of Circassia (Circassi Regi)
Between the rivers Kuban and Don, the map depicts “Circassi Regi” — Circassia.
However, in the actual 16th century, both cartographic and written sources situate Circassia primarily between the Black Sea coast and the River Kuban, not extending as far as the Don.
This indicates a reliance on older geographic descriptions rather than contemporaneous data.
2. The “Caitachi Regi” Error (Pechenegs Misplaced by Six Centuries)
To the west of Mingrelia, the map shows a region labelled “Caitachi Regi”, containing two cities, “Zichia” and “Anagosia.”
- The term “caitachi” corresponds to the Pechenegs, who inhabited the area between the Kuban and the Don in the 10th century, not the 16th.
- Their appearance on the map of Agnese (and Gastaldi) thus reflects the use of ancient or outdated sources, not the political situation of their own time.
Moreover, these groups are placed on the lands historically belonging to the Sadz and Ubykhs, which never in history housed Pecheneg populations.
The “cities” Zichia and Anagosia must instead be read as the lands (not towns)
– Zichia (the historical land of the Zich people), and
– Abkhazia.
3. The Mislocation of “Vati”
On the map, the settlement “Vati” is positioned within the territory of Abkhazia.
In reality, Vati was an older name for Batumi, located far south, in present-day Adjara (Gordeev, 2014, p. 109).
This confirms that medieval European cartographers often conflated coastal settlements of the eastern Black Sea.
4. The Displacement of the Kingdom of Imereti (Iberi Regi)
The Kingdom of Imereti, historically situated west of Kartli (Georgia), appears on the map north of Kartli, and includes a settlement named “Kremukh.”
Yet archaeological and historical research demonstrates that:
“Territorially and chronologically, the region of Kremukh coincides entirely with the well-known Belorechensk kurgan burial complex (14th–15th centuries), near the town of Belorechensk, northwest of Maikop. Excavated between 1896–1907 by N. I. Veselovskii and published by V. P. Levashova in 1953, the complex was attributed to the Circassian clan of the Abadzekhs.”
(Kuznetsov, 2001, p. 129).
Thus, the map not only relocates Imereti northward but assigns to it archaeological sites belonging to an entirely different cultural area.
5. The Misplacement of Kartli (Iberia)
Further east, above what corresponds roughly to present-day Dagestan, the map shows “Zviria,” which should represent Iberia (Kartli) — the ancient Georgian kingdom.
This incorrect placement again indicates a confusion of ethnonyms and historical-geographic zones drawn from incompatible sources.
Aq’wa as “Capital of Abkhazia” in Medieval Cartography
Studying these maps, the Adyghe scholar S. Kh. Khotko observed:
“Abkhazia, indicated as ABACVAS REGI, is shifted to the northern slope [of the Caucasus], and this may create the illusion that we are dealing with the earliest cartographic evidence of the presence of Abaza population in Circassia. Such a population, in the form of the Abaza-Tapanta, had indeed already been present in the mountainous sector of eastern Trans-Kuban territory, but it is hardly likely that information about this could have been so quickly recorded on contemporary maps. Clarification is provided by the inscription aqua, which is presented as the main settlement of the ‘abacuassic region’. Aq’wa (Аҟәа) is the Abkhaz name of Sukhum. Accordingly, the cartographer, evidently quite certain that there should be an Abkhazia between Mingrelia and Circassia, found a place for it, but displaced it far from the coast.” (Khotko, 2017, p. 62).
Later cartographers simply reproduced the error of Battista Agnese, relying on his material without correcting the displacement.
Sources of Error: Second-hand Information and Composite Traditions
What, then, might explain such crude mistakes by eminent cartographers?
The cartographers themselves did not travel through these regions; instead, they compiled their maps from diverse and often second-hand sources. It is known, moreover, that one of their informants was the Russian envoy in Rome, Dmitrii Gerasimov (1465–1536), who assisted them in drawing up their maps and provided them with information:
“…which he himself had collected from many people, since, as he admitted, he had not travelled over the whole territory of the country.” (Starkov, 1994, p. 9).
This can be clearly seen if we consider another map by Battista Agnese reproduced in V. F. Starkov’s work: here, the land of Mingrelia is located in the North Caucasus, and “in place of Lithuania, Livonia is erroneously indicated” (Starkov, 1994, p. 9), and so forth.
Such inaccuracies were by no means rare in medieval cartography. On the map of Isaac Massa, published by the historian and founder of historical cartography in Ukraine, V. A. Kordt, the region “Sonscha” (Svaneti) is shown in the North Caucasus, north of Abkhazia. A similar picture is presented in the map of Nicolaes Witsen, and so on.
Thus, we may conclude that the Abkhaz name of the city of Sukhum, Аҟәа (Aq’wa), was already known in the Middle Ages, at the very least by the early 16th century, as the capital city of Abkhazia, even if medieval European cartographers placed it erroneously on the northern slopes of the Caucasus.
Footnotes
[1] Vesconte, Petrus. Atlas de la Méditerranée et des côtes atlantiques de l’Europe. Genoa, 1320.
National Library of France.
URL: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b550070918/f4.item.r=Vesconte,%20Petrus.zoom
[2] La descrittione della prima parte dell’Asia con i nomi antichi & moderni / by G. Gastaldi …
Reissued by A. Lafreri. Engraved by J. Bossius.
Venice, 1561.
National Library of Israel.
[3] Battista Agnese. Portolan Chart of Europe Showing the British Isles, fol. 7v. 1540.
British Library.
URL: https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/001add000021592u000070v0.html
[4] Isaac Massa. Novissima Russiae Tabula. London, 1635.
In: Kordt, V. A. Materials on the History of Russian Cartography.
Kiev, 1910, Plate XLIV.
[5] Nicolaes Witsen. Exactissima Asiae delineatio in praecipuas regiones.
National Library of France.
URL: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b530890447/f1.item.r=Nicolaes%20Witsen.zoom
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