Saspeires (, , sasp'erebi, other names include Saspers, Saspines, Sapinians, and Sapirians) are a people of uncertain origin mentioned by Herodotus.The Persian Army and Tribute Lists in Herodotus , A. G. Laird Classical Philology Vol. 16, No. 4 (October 1921), pp. 305–326 According to the most widespread theory, they are a Kartvelian tribe. The toponym of modern-day city İspir and ancient region of Speri is thought by some to be derived from their name.T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", Volume 2, 1989, p272. According to Rayfield, Diauehi is mentioned in the Greek records as Taochoi, but Herodotus in 450 BC refers to them as Sasperi. the name Sper with a Georgian prefix of place Sa-, which evolved into the term Iberian.
The Saspires were originally associated with the Caucasian Iberians and appear to have emerged from the Lesser Caucasus to the east.Diakonoff, 1984 The Alarodians, Colchians, and Saspires were joined in one command, and all were dressed alike.Herodotus, Histories, Book 7, Chapter 79 The Colchians themselves, were not classified as belonging to any Satrapy. The Colchians, however, attended the army of Xerxes as auxiliaries. The incredible number of tribes of Mount Caucasus is spoken by ancient as modern historians.Mr. Tooke's Russia, vol. 2Memoir of the Map of the Countries between the Euxine and the Caspian, 1788 According to some authors, they constituted a significant part of the population of the early Georgian Kingdom of Iberia and played a large role in the ethnogenesis of the Georgian nation.
See also İspir Speri
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