JEWISH MIGRATION TO KARTLI IN THE 1ST CENTURY CE: THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF THE VESPASIAN ERA AND THE STATUS OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE KINGDOM OF KARTLI

This study is based on a historical-source-critical and interdisciplinary approach Using the historical-chronological method, it examines the military and political events of the second half of the 1st century CE, the consequences of the fall of Jerusalem, and the historical context of the reign of Vespasian. Written sources describe several stages of Jewish migration to Kartli, some aspects of which remain subjects of scholarly debate. The available evidence provides a basis for considering the migration of Jews to Kartli in the 1st century CE, when Jerusalem was destroyed under the Flavian dynasty and Jewish populations dispersed to various parts of the world. One of these migratory groups also reached Kartli, where its members settled. Events in the eastern territories of the Roman Empire, particularly the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, should be examined within the broader context of Roman eastern policy. At the same time, the chronological stages of Jewish migration to Kartli described in Georgian sources should be treated as elements of historical tradition, certain details of which require further independent verification. Comparing written accounts with archaeological and epigraphic evidence makes it possible to reconstruct more fully the prolonged process through which the Jewish community in Kartli emerged, its connections with historical developments in the Near East, and the particular circumstances of its establishment within the local social environment.