Darial Gorge
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The Darial Gorge is found in the Caucasus in modern day Georgia near the border with Russia. It is at the east base of Mount Kazbek, pierced by the river Terek for a distance of 8 metres between vertical walls of rock (1800 m/5900 ft). It is mentioned in the Georgian annals under the names of Ralani, Dargani, Darialani; the Persians and Arabs knew it as the Gate of the Alans; Strabo calls it Porta Caucasica and Porta Cumana; Ptolemy, Fortes Sarmatica; it was sometimes known as Portae Caspiae (a name bestowed also on the "gate" or pass beside the Caspian Sea at Derbent); and the Tatars call it Darioly. It has also been referred to as the Iberian Gates. It has been proposed as one of the locations of the legendary Gates of Alexander.
Being the only available passage across the Caucasus, it has been long fortified — at least since 150 B.C. In Russian poetry it has been immortalized by Lermontov in the poem The Demon. The Russian fort, Darial, which guarded this section of the Georgian Military Road, is at the northern end of the gorge, at an altitude of 1447 m (4746 ft).
Contemporary Muslim scholars believe Darial Gorge refers to the wall of Dhul-Qarnayn mentioned in the verses of the Qur'an[1]. Local Armenians called this wall "Behag Gurai" (meaning "The passage of Cyrus").[2]
[edit] References
- ^ 18:83-98
- ^ Iranians in the Qur'an and Traditions by Ali Abtahi (ISBN 964-6760-40-6)
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
