Mepe

Mepe (Old Georgian: ႫႴ; მეფე ; ) is a royal title used to designate the Georgian monarch, whether it is referring to a king or a queen regnant. The title was originally a male ruling title.

Etymology
The word is derived from Georgian word მეუფე (meupe) which literally means sovereign and lord. Some Georgian dialects has the term as ნეფე (nepe), all derived from common Proto-Kartvelian მფ/მეფე/მაფა (mp/mepe/mapa). Even though mepe has a female equivalent, დედოფალი (dedopali; ) it is only applied to the king's consort and does not have a meaning of a ruling monarch.

History
The term mepe was utilized since pre-Christian beginnings with Azo, but the role would get more structured during the reign of Pharnavaz I in the 3rd century BC. His successors, the Pharnavazid mepes would be titled as goliath who would possess 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀𐬵 (pharnah; ), the divinely endowed glory believed by ancient Persians to mark only a legitimate ruler, accompanied with დიდებაჲ (didebay; ) and სუე (sue; ). Georgian monarch's reign was known as მეფობაჲ (mepobay; ). Loss of pharnah and sue led to imminent death or overthrow of mepe.

In the late 6th century, the Sassanid Empire would abolish the Georgian kingship of the Kingdom of Iberia resulting in the interregnum stretching from c. 580 to 888 as a demoted principality. Despite the monarchy was in abeyance, and that royal governing disintegrated, the principality rulers would still continue to claim to be referred to as mepes and ჴელმწიფე (helmts'ipe; ). After 888 (or 889) restoration under next successive dynasty of mepe Adarnase IV, the new kingdom would emerge as the fusion of many lands and territories, that would lead towards a total Georgian unification, culminating in 1008.

In the 12th century, the Bagratid mepe David IV the Builder, who had established himself as the region's superlative political and military force, with his ambitious and sophisticated push for his kingdom's royal imagery promotion, the official style of a king would become imperial თჳთმპყრობელი (tuitmp'q'robeli; i.e. autokratōr) and მეფეთ[ა]მეფე (mepet[a]mepe;   ), similar to the Byzantine βασιλεὺς βασιλέων (basileus basileōn) and Persian شاهنشاه (shahanshah). David IV's royal projection of his grandiose title was partly aimed at a non-Georgian audience. Title Shahanshah was later totally usurped and consistently used by Georgian monarchs, denoting sovereignty over several Persianate subjects such as Shirvanshahs, the Shaddadids and the Eldiguzids. The royal cult of a monarch would reach its zenith with a female ruler, Tamar, whose execution of power would inaugurate the Georgian Golden Age, her being styled as Tamar, the mepe. Tamar was given the longest and more elaborate titles on the royal charters, listing all the peoples and lands that she ruled as a semi-saint mepetamepe. The Bagrationi mepe, with its royal legitimacy and ideological pillar, would rule Georgia for a millennium, from its medieval elevation down to the Russian conquest in the early 19th century.