Abkhazians and the Sea, by Otar P. Dzidzaria (Dzari-ipa)
Otar P. Dzidzaria (Dzari-ipa) is an Abkhaz linguist, lexicologist and lexicographer. After graduating in 1976, he taught Abkhaz language and literature and later continued his research at the Institute of Linguistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He served as Head of the Department of Abkhaz Language and Dean of the Faculty of Philology at Abkhaz State University.
He is the author of the monographs Maritime Vocabulary in the Abkhaz Language (1989) and The Sea and the Abkhazians (2002), pioneering the study of Abkhaz maritime terminology. He earned his Doctor of Philological Sciences degree in 2006.
Translated by AbkhazWorld
Abkhazians and the Sea
Introduction
Against the background of the traditional way of life of the mountain peoples of the Caucasus, which has remained stable over several millennia, a special place undoubtedly belongs to the Abkhazians, whose area of settlement was fixed along the eastern coast of the Black Sea. (Among all the indigenous populations of the Caucasus, a similar specificity of life is revealed, apparently, only among the Laz,¹ whose historical fate also turned out to be closely bound up with the sea.) It is appropriate to mention that the Black Sea itself was sometimes called the Abaz Sea, that is, the Abkhaz Sea.²
Abkhaz mythology, folklore and language have preserved numerous testimonies to the close economic dependence of their life on the sea, which until very recently have only begun to be drawn into the orbit of serious research. One of the most striking pieces of evidence of this kind has been preserved in the active vocabulary of the people. The material basis of the present study, naturally, depended to a certain extent on the representation of maritime vocabulary (and, in particular, the corresponding terminology) in lexicographical collections of the Abkhaz language. However, in the course of work a quite obvious incompleteness of the latter, in the respect that concerns us, was revealed.
Unfortunately, this is explained primarily by the fact that, owing to the vicissitudes of the historical fate of the coastal Abkhazians, a significant stratum of Abkhaz vocabulary has gone out of active use. Therefore, the most important source of the material that interests us proved to be the reports of our remarkable informants – Abkhaz long-livers, recorded during expeditions in 1980–1982. Field material specifically oriented towards maritime themes was collected in the villages of Lykhny, Achandara, Mgudzyrkhua, Blabyrkhua (Gudauta district, Bzyb dialect), Adzyubzha, Chlou, Tamysh (Ochamchira district, Abzhywa dialect), Bzyb, Pitsunda (Bzyb dialect), as well as in Megrelian-speaking regions of Western Georgia.
A well-known stimulus to the search for the most ancient deposits of Abkhaz maritime vocabulary is provided by indications in Greek and Roman authors which, despite their fragmentary character, quite clearly bear witness to the development of maritime affairs among the Abkhazians already in the ancient period. The relevant testimonies of ancient authors are systematised and interpreted in such monographs as K. Gan’s Izvestiya drevnikh grecheskikh i rimskikh pisatelei o Kavkaze (1884) and V. V. Latyshev’s Izvestiya drevnikh pisatelei o Skifii i Kavkaze (1947). Particularly valuable in this respect are the works of mediaeval and later authors. The material contained in them is reproduced in the works of Abkhaz scholars; cf. G[eorgy]. A. Dzidzaria, Iz istorii morekhodstva v Abkhazii (Sukhum, 1959); Sh[alva]. D. Inal-ipa, O moreplavanii v Abkhazii v antichnyi period i feodal’nuyu epokhu (see: Trudy Abkhazskogo instituta yazyka, literatury i istorii, vol. XXX, Sukhum, 1959); idem, Novie dannye po istorii morekhodstva v Abkhazii (see: Stranitsy istoricheskoi etnografii abkhazov, Sukhum, 1971).
Although history has preserved no trace that would indicate whether there were outstanding seafarers among the Abkhazians or whether they possessed vessels of original construction, nevertheless, judging by the sources, at least the ancient Greeks and some other peoples constantly made use of their services.
- N. Lavrov, for example, explains the appearance of dolmens in the Caucasus as the result of distant maritime expeditions by Caucasian peoples at the boundary of the Neolithic and Early Metal (Eneolithic) periods. (See: Guazhba R., Gazeta “Apsny akhakwytra”, Sukhum, January 2000.)
It is also known that the Heniochi,³ mentioned by many seafarers and travellers, were very experienced in seafaring carriers⁴ on the Black Sea. In Strabo’s Geography we read: “… the Achaeans, the Zichi and the Heniochi live by piracy at sea, and, sailing in their camarae, attacking at times merchant ships, at times a locality or even a city, they rule the sea. At times the rulers of the Bosporus assist them by granting them anchorages, the purchase of provisions and the sale of plunder.”⁵
All these reports give grounds to suppose that the Abkhazians in the past were closely connected with the maritime history of their coast.
As is well known, Abkhazia repeatedly became an object of expansion by Scythian and Gothic hordes, Greek colonists, Roman and Turkish conquerors, which, as a rule, hindered its economic development.⁶
The emergence of neighbouring states, the development of their navies, the increase in the volume of maritime trade and the expansion of the geographical horizon of peoples naturally led to an acute struggle for predominance and supremacy along the sea routes. Under these circumstances, the development of seafaring among the Abkhazians themselves was often hampered. The Abkhazians, it seems, never succeeded in creating their own large-tonnage sea-going vessel. Nonetheless, they built small craft successfully.⁷ Abkhazia was particularly renowned for its ship timber.⁸ In shipbuilding various species of wood were used – mainly tall coniferous trees: pine, fir, cedar, stone pine, juniper – which were employed in the construction of merchant and warships.⁹ Those parts of the ship’s hull which had to be bent were made of mulberry, ash, elm and plane, while beech was used for planking. Masts were made of fir.¹⁰ Where necessary, timber was first bent in its green state and then dried.¹¹ (River craft were built of oak, as it was less subject to decay in fresh water.)¹² From large trunks dug-out monoxylous canoes were made, capable of navigating both sea and river routes.¹³
According to the excavations of L. N. Solov’ev, in Abkhazia, already in the Neolithic layer of the settlement of Kistrik wedges and stone adzes occur, evidently used for making primitive boats; in the next, Eneolithic layer nets and pebble sinkers are found; in the Early Bronze Age, heavy sinkers used for fishing during sea voyages appear.¹⁴
On the basis of evidence from ancient written sources, archaeological material and also information from Abkhaz informants, we may distinguish two main Abkhaz types of ship, determined by their construction and purpose: type 1 – merchant-war-pirate vessels of medium size (resembling medium-sized Hellenistic ships); type 2 – various, including sea-going, monoxylous craft (dug-outs) of different sizes (larger ones for piracy and smaller ones for crossing rivers).
For the purpose of solving our concrete linguistic task, it is useful to dwell briefly on the economic, ethnic and cultural history of the people. This will help us to gain a deeper insight into the historical-cultural world to which the Abkhazians belong.
The sea has always had enormous economic significance for Abkhazia. To begin with, the population evaporated salt from seawater. A number of industrial settlements have been discovered, the remains of which give a clear idea of the method of salt evaporation that, in an almost unchanged ancient form, continued to be used even in the nineteenth century.¹⁵ The memory of salt production has also been preserved in Abkhaz folklore. To this day a riddle is current: “Born of water, raised by the sun, on seeing its mother it dies” (salt). In the past, the Abkhazians often drove their livestock to the sea to drink “salty water” (amyzʒy).¹⁶
The most important significance of the sea for the economy of the region undoubtedly lay in the development of seafaring. The Black Sea has served as the arena of lively international contacts since time immemorial.¹⁷ The main stimulus for the development of seafaring in Abkhazia was trade. The Abkhazians primarily sold timber, honey, wax and furs, and sometimes also goods seized during pirate attacks on ships. In later times some trade in captives also spread. In the Roman historian Pliny we find indications that valuable species of timber were exported from Abkhazia to Greece, India and other countries, and exchanged for ivory and other valuables of the time.¹⁸ Pliny is also the source of the information that in Dioscurias (now Sukhum) three hundred tribes speaking different languages gathered, and that later the Romans conducted their affairs here allegedly with the aid of one hundred and thirty interpreters.¹⁹ There is a suggestion that the windows and doors of the famous temple of Ephesus, burnt down by Herostratus, were made of Abkhaz chestnut. The rafters of the famous cathedral of Rennes in France, as is clear from the description of the builders of the cathedral, were likewise made of Abkhaz chestnut.²⁰
The intensive trade of local seafarers with merchants from the Mediterranean states of the ancient world prompted certain improvements in shipbuilding and navigation among the Abkhazians themselves. If at an early stage of their development the Abkhazians knew only the primitive boat dug out of a single trunk (used for fishing), then in the conditions of more large-scale trade a vessel with a hold and sail-rigging appears. Later still, this gives way to an even more advanced Abkhaz ship of the trireme-type – aghba (aӷба).
The existence of tribal organisation in the Caucasus already in the period of developed Bronze Age is an established historical fact. “And where we have an early flowering of the tribal system, we may also expect an early differentiation of ethnic groups, which is often attested by local archaeological cultures.”²¹ According to some researchers, the most ancient components of the tribal structure on the Black Sea coast are the Apsils, Abasgians, Adygs (Zikhs) and others, in whose tribal names some scholars discern the roots psy, ʒy – “water, river”. The element psy is sometimes discerned even in the self-designation of the Abkhazians, Apswaa, interpreted in this case as “people of the water”, “people of the land of water”, “coastal (littoral) inhabitants”.²²
In Abkhaz conceptions, the sea (amshyn) is both “the largest reservoir of water – the ocean – and the most ordinary phenomenon, which must be familiar to absolutely every person. Not to know or to forget its name is impossible, just as it is unthinkable that a person would not remember his own name.”²³ In one of the works by Sh. D. Inal-ipa already mentioned, an Abkhaz saying is cited: amshyn haʒy zkhash’t’y zyeish (“like someone who has forgotten the name of the sea”). “This is said of a person who cannot recall the name of some quite ordinary object or phenomenon.”²⁴
The Abkhazians do not conceive of the surrounding world without two geographical factors – the sea and the mountains. The sea and the mountains even form terminologically in the Abkhaz language an inseparable complex gei-shkhei (“everywhere”, “in all places”; literally, “both shore and mountain”); cf. also aga bgytsi a-shkha bgytsi (“a littoral leaf and a mountain leaf” – in the sense that even such distant leaves may one day meet).²⁵ At the same time, the Abkhazians have always imagined the sea as lying to the west of their place of residence. Whereas sunrise is referred to as “the sun has risen” (amra gylt) or “the sun has risen from behind the mountains” (amra a-shkha iaavyt), the notion of sunset is expressed by the words “the sun has entered into the water (sea)” (amra zaa lyt) or “the sun has rolled down” (amra tashaeit).
The study of maritime vocabulary within the Abkhaz lexicon appears highly topical not only for solving specifically linguistic problems (for example, for normalising relevant usage in the sphere of the literary language), but also for working out a number of issues related to the history of the people.
Despite the generally recognised urgency in Caucasian studies of research into specialised lexicon in particular languages,²⁶ up to the present there has existed only the most general idea of the special position of maritime vocabulary in the Abkhaz language in comparison with other Caucasian languages and, in particular, those related to it – the Adyghe and Ubykh languages. Moreover, its specific composition has not yet even been identified. Meanwhile, the recording and analysis of this lexical stratum in all its historical fullness (many of its elements fall into the category of “departing” vocabulary) are a necessary condition for the development of broader problems of Abkhaz lexicology, which, in our view, will make a certain contribution to the study of the composition of specialised lexicon in the Abkhaz language.
The materials of this work may be of use in lexicographical practice, for example in the creation of an appropriate specialised dictionary, in the preparation of various translation dictionaries, an explanatory dictionary of Abkhaz, as well as in the compilation of etymological dictionaries of Abkhaz and of the Abkhaz-Adyghe languages.
The author considers it a pleasant duty to express sincere gratitude to Doctor of Philological Sciences, Academician [A. K. Shagirov]; Head of Section, Department of Caucasian Languages, Institute of Linguistics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Doctor of Philological Sciences [G. A. Klimov]; Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR [B. A. Serebryakov]; Professor, Corresponding Member [G. A. Dzidzaria]; Head of Section, Institute of National Schools, Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor [N. B. Ekba]; Abkhaz ethnographer, Professor of Abkhaz State University Yu. G. Argun; Head of Department of the Abkhaz State Museum R. Gozhba; historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences T. A. Achugba; linguist, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor V. E. Kvarchia; editor of the book L. E. Argun – for their valuable advice and assistance in preparing the present work.
Schematic drawing of an ancient Abkhaz ship
- Nose part (apynk’a,ԥсыынҵа)
- Fore-end of the bow (apynk’a-k’ak’ats’a, ԥынҵахақәцә)
- Superstructure (akhyrgyla, ахыргыла)
- Ram (apynk’a-zvyr, аԥынҵақәаыр)
- Anchor (apyrsal, аԥырсал)
- Stern part (akygra, акыӷәра)
- After-end of the stern (akygra-k’ak’ats’a, акыӷәрақәацә)
- Curved part (aʒghaҕ, аҵәаҳә)
- Aft superstructure (akhyrgyla, ахыргыла)
- Gangway / ladder (akhalağa, ахалага)
- Rudder (apsky, аԥсҟы)
- Hull (akhamts, ахәамц)
- Side (ship’s side) (akhygra, ахыӷәра)
- Bottom (apsry, аԥсры)
- Oar-ports (openings for oars) (akylhara, акылҳара)
- Oars (aʒeua, ажәҩа)
- Thole-pins / rowlocks (arʒwy, арҵәыҩ)
- Mast (amyzgyty, амызгәыҭ)
- Foot of the mast (amyzgyty-shat’a, амызгәыҭшьаҭа)
- Upper part of the mast (amyzgyty-k’ak’ats’a, амызгәыҭхықәцә)
- Rope / cable (aghbashakha, аӷбашаха)
- Side stays (lateral ropes) (aghbashakha, аӷбашаха)
- Sail (apra, аԥра)
- Yard (apra-khy, аԥрахы)
- Ropes for the yard (aghbashakha, аӷбашаха)
- Halyard (apra-lbaagaga, аԥралбаагага)
- Chain (ahewagyʒ, аҳәагәыжь)
- Image of an animal (aʒmakhy, аџьмахы)
Footnotes
¹ Kartvels, including the Laz, appeared on the coast of the Black Sea later, not earlier than the second half of the first millennium BCE.
² Melikset-Bek L. M., Po sledam peripla Arriana // Trudy AbNII, t. XXX, Sukhum, 1959, s. 109.
³ Heniochi – tribal designation of inhabitants of the Black Sea region; they are the same as the Apsils, Abasgians, Abaski. (See: Fadeev A., Kratkii ocherk istorii Abkhazii, ch. I, Sukhum, 1934, s. 66.)
⁴ Literally “hauliers”, “carriers”.
⁵ Latyshev V. V., Izvestiya drevnikh pisatelei o Skifii i Kavkaze // Vestnik drevnei istorii, 4, 1947, s. 263.
⁶ Latyshev V. V., Izvestiya drevnikh pisatelei o Skifii i Kavkaze // Vestnik drevnei istorii, 4, 1947, s. 263.
⁷ Latyshev V. V., Ukazannoe sochinenie, s. 213–214.
⁸ Anchabadze Z., Dzidzaria G., Druzhba izvechnaya, nerushimaya, Sukhumi, 1972, s. 6.
⁹ Ocherki istorii Karachaevo-Cherkesii, Stavropol, 1976, s. 78.
¹⁰ Latyshev V. V., Ukazannoe sochinenie, s. 216.
¹¹ Peters B. G., Morskoe delo v antichnykh gosudarstvakh Severnogo Prichernomor’ya, Moscow, 1982, s. 77.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Solov’ev L. N., Novyi pamyatnik kul’turnykh svyazei Kavkazskogo Prichernomor’ya v epokhu neolita i bronzy – stoyanki Vorontsovskoi peshchery // Trudy AbNIII, t. XXIX, Sukhum, 1958, s. 136–137.
¹⁵ Dzidzaria G. A., Ukazannoe sochinenie, s. 86.
¹⁶ Litvinov M., Chernoye more, St Petersburg, 1881, s. 19.
¹⁷ Abshilava A. A., Istoriya promyshlennosti Abkhazskoi ASSR 1921–1941 gg., Tbilisi, 1969, s. 24.
¹⁸ Gan K., Ukazannoe sochinenie, s. 106.
¹⁹ Abshilava A. A., Ukazannoe sochinenie, s. 24.
²⁰ Inal-ipa Sh. D., Voprosy etnokul’turnoi istorii abkhazov, Sukhum, 1976, s. 219.
²¹ Idem, Stranitsy istoricheskoi etnografii abkhazov, Sukhum, 1971, s. 4.
²² Ibid., s. 377.
²³ Ibid.
²⁴ Ibid.
²⁵ Cf. Chikobava A. S., “Otraslevaya leksika i nauchnaya aktual’nost’ ee izucheniya” // Ezhegodnik iberiisko-kavkazskogo yazykoznaniya, II, Tbilisi, 1975, s. 27–36.