Two Iberias - Two Gates of Europe, Tbilisi, June 12–14, 2024

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Humanities: Institute of Classical, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Institute of Georgian History, Institute of Archaeology, Bascology Center; Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Philology, Department of Classical Philology and University Institute of Sciences of Religion & School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Caucasus University start accepting proposals for the First International Conference "Two Iberias: Two Gates of Europe".

It is known that Greek and Roman historians called the region corresponding to modern Georgia Eastern Iberia, in contrast to Western Iberia, i.e. the Iberian Peninsula, currently Spain and Portugal. The Greek geographer Strabo attributed the name Iberians both to the Iberians of the Caucasus and to the "Western Iberians" (Geography, XI, II, 19). These far from each other regions were for centuries the extreme points of various empires (Roman, Byzantine, Arabian, Ottoman...) and served as gateways for the passage of many different civilizations and boundaries for the idea of Europe. In Antiquity, both Iberias were the limits of the civilized world. No wonder mythology considered they were otherworldly gates to the unknown, as the legends of the Hesperides, the Amazons and the travels of Heracles go to show.

This conference is dedicated to the study of the ancient cultures of Caucasian Iberia and Spanish Iberia and their reception, including parallels and presumed contacts. The idea of a link between both extremes of the oikoumene, which was established in Antiquity, has a long reception up to the 15th century, which marks a historical caesura for Eurasian culture, especially in these peripheral countries. The study of the Ancient notion of Iberia up to this moment of transformation, marked by the events of 1453 and 1492, can throw new light upon the reuse of some classical ideas –e.g., Heracles’ Columns, the Amazons– in a changing political and ideological context.

Suggested sessions:

• Eastern Iberia as the Gateway of Europe: myth and history in Antiquity and its Reception
• Western Iberia as the Gateway of Europe: myth and history in Antiquity and its Reception
• Two Iberias - a link through the ages? Problems of historical and linguistic relations of Mediterranean cultures

The conference will be in a hybrid format. We encourage both experienced researchers, young scholars and PhD students to participate in the conference. The working languages of the conference are English and Georgian.