The Foreign Service Journal, November 2010

50 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 etting east over the Black Sea past Yalta aboard an Air Georgia flight to deliver classified diplo- matic pouches to Embassy Tbilisi and make an overland delivery to Embassy Yerevan, I mar- veled at the dramatic sight of snow-capped Mount Elbrus. Europe’s highest peak at 18,510 feet, Elbrus dominated the landscape ahead. The volcanic peak towers over the geologic, re- ligious and political cleft between the Caucasus and the Tri- aleti (Lesser Caucasus) range that forms Georgia’s southern border with Turkey and Armenia. Alternately controlled by Greeks, Romans, Russians, Per- sians, Arabs and Turks, this ancient land between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea has been the scene of upheaval for centuries. Today it is home to a collection of powder kegs: the “independent republics” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia; Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan in the Russian Federation, bordering Georgia to the north; and Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, with ongoing, bitter enmities among them along Georgia’s southern border. With conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno- Karabakh still simmering, and with the 2014Winter Olympics slated for Sochi, Russia (on the Black Sea just 70 kilometers from the Georgia-Abkhazia border), the Caucasus is likely to generate front-page news for years to come. After a smooth landing in Tbilisi, I looked forward to trav- eling through this fascinating region. “The Place of Warm Springs” Tbilisi is an ancient city (Christianity was established there in 337), with the Mtkvari River (Kura is the Russian name) carving the spectacular Metekhi cliff as it flows through town. Atop the cliff sit the famous Assumption Church (built by a Georgian king in 1278) and a statue of King Vakhtang Gor- gasali (477-522) on horseback. He was the anti-Persian lib- eration movement leader who founded Tbilisi and the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic churches. Distinctive gin- gerbread houses are perched along the cliff face, with bal- conies protruding over the river. The legend of Tbilisi’s founding describes Gorgasali hunt- ing in the area when his falcon chased a pheasant into some hot springs. When Gorgasali saw the steam rising from the water, he asked that a city be built there. (In Georgian, Tbil- isi means “the place of warm springs.”) The springs still exist today, as does the spectacular Narikala Fortress (built in the fourth century), which looms above the sulphur baths and overlooks the city from a rocky precipice. By 645, Arabs had captured Tbilisi and installed an emir to rule the region. Tbilisi became a major trading center connected to other capitals of the Arab world, but the Umayyad Arabs were never able to conquer the western Georgian region of Abkhazia. In the 11th century, the famous Georgian king, David the Builder, expelled the Seljuk Turks, promoted Christianity, liberated Tbilisi and made it the Georgian capital. (The Georgian Orthodox Church canonized him after his death for his accomplishments.) The Kingdom of Georgia reached its peak in 1204 when Constantinople fell, leaving Georgia as the strongest Christian state in the Middle East until the F ROM M OUNT E LBRUS TO A RARAT A N OVERLAND COURIER TRIP FROM T BILISI TO Y EREVAN PASSES THROUGH CENTURIES OF HISTORY WHERE G REEK , R OMAN , P ERSIAN AND A RAB CULTURES MEET . B Y J AMES B. A NGELL James B. Angell has served in Washington, D.C., Seoul and Bangkok (twice). He is currently deputy regional diplomatic courier director in Frankfurt, his second tour there. J