Heniochi

Heniochi in a map of the voyage of the Argonauts by Abraham Ortelius, 1624

Heniochi (Georgian: ჰენიოხები) (Greek: Ἡνίοχοι, Heníochoi) means chariot or charioteers, they were an ancient tribe inhabiting northwest shores of Colchis (present-day Abkhazia) and some say Phasis area. They are attested by a number of ancient historians and others alike, namely: Aristotle, Artemidorus Ephesius, Ovid, Pliny the Elder, Arrian, Strabo and others. It is pointed out that they lived in a quite wide area from Dioscurias (Greek: Διοσκουριάς), to Trabzon. The first mentions of this people is contained in the cuneiform inscriptions found in Urartu, which date back to the 8th century BC.

References

• Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 11, pg.624, Tb. 1987.
• D. Asheri, "The Achaeans and the Heniochi. Reflections on the Origins and History of a Greek Rhetorical Topos", quoted from Tsetskhladze, Gocha R. (1998). The Greek colonisation of the Black Sea area: historical interpretation of archaeology. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 271. ISBN 978-3-515-07302-8.