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Togarmah תֹּגַרְמָה
Thargamos and his sons. The order of the figures from left to right is: Movakan, Bardos,Kartlos,Hayk, Thargamos,Lekos, Heros,Caucas, Egros. An opening folio of theGeorgian Chronicles (Vakhtang VI redaction), 1700s.
Parents	...(see the completefamily tree) Lamech (great great grandfather) Noah (great grandfather) Japheth (grandfather) Gomer (father)

Togarmah (Hebrew:תֹּגַרְמָה,romanized: Toḡarmā,Armenian:Թորգոմ,romanized: Torgom,Georgian:თარგამოსი,romanized: Targamosi) is a figure in theGenerations of Noah in theBook of Genesis that represents the peoples known to theHebrews. Togarmah is among the descendants ofJapheth and is thought to represent some people located inAnatolia. Medieval sources claimed that Togarmah was the legendary ancestor of severalethnic groups in the Caucasus, includingArmenians andGeorgians.^[a]

Togarmah is listed inGenesis 10:3 as the third son ofGomer, and grandson ofJapheth, brother ofAshkenaz andRiphath. The name is again mentioned in theBook of Ezekiel as a nation from the "far north".Ezekiel 38:6 mentions Togarmah together with Tubal as supplying soldiers to the army ofGog.Ezekiel 27:14 mentions Togarmah together with Tubal, Javan and Meshech as supplying horses to theTyrians.

Most scholars identify Togarmah with the capital city calledTegarama by the Hittites and Til-Garimmu by the Assyrians.^[2] O.R. Gurney placed Tegarama in Southeast Anatolia.^[3]

Several later ethnological traditions have claimed Togarmah as the legendary ancestor of various peoples located in western Asia and the Caucasus. Jewish historianFlavius Josephus (37 – c. 100 AD) and the Christian theologiansJerome (c. 347 – 420 AD) andIsidore of Seville (c. 560 – 636 AD) regarded Togarmah as the father of thePhrygians. Several ancient Christian authors, including SaintHippolytus (c. 170-c. 236 AD),Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 263 – c. 339 AD), and bishopTheodoret (c. 393 – c. 457 AD), regarded him as a father ofArmenians. Medieval Jewish traditions linked him with several peoples:Turkic, including theKhazars.

Another Togarmah, this one being the son of bothTiras andGomer, is mentioned byArmenianMoses of Chorene (c. 480) andGeorgianLeonti Mroveli who regarded Togarmah as the founder of their nations along with otherCaucasian peoples.

According to Moses of Chorene'sHistory of Armenia and to Leonti Mroveli's medievalGeorgian Chronicles, "Thargamos" was thought to have lived inBabylon, before he received the "land between two Seas and two Mountains" (i.e. theCaucasus) in his possession. He then settled nearMount Ararat and divided his land among his sons:^[4][5]

1. Hayk (Հայկ) - first son of Thargamos, inheritedMount Ararat and founded theArmenian nation.
2. Kartlos (ქართლოსი) - settled in north-east from Ararat, founder ofKartli (Sa'kartvelo) who united other brothers and founded the Georgian nation.
3. Bardоs [ka] (ancestor of theAghbanians/Aghuanians/Aghuans)
4. Movkan [ka] (ancestors of the Movkans)
5. Lekos ancestors of the "Lek" tribe of the North Caucasus.
6. Heros (Herans [ka]) - settled in the eastern part of Ararat
7. Caucas (Kovkases) - settled beyond theCaucasus Range, ancestor of theIngush andChechens.
8. Egros [ka] (Egers) - settled between theBlack Sea andLikhi Range (Western Georgia)

Togarmah was linked to several medieval Turkic peoples by Jewish traditions. The Khazar rulerJoseph ben Aaron (c. 960) writes in hisletters:

You ask us also in your epistle: "Of what people, of what family, and of what tribe are you?" Know that we are descended from Japhet, through his son Togarmah. I have found in the genealogical books of my ancestors that Togarmah had ten sons.

He then goes on to enumerate ten names:^[6][7] These names are reconstructed by Korobkin (1998)^[8]

1. Agyor (Orkhon Uyghurs?)
2. Tiros (or scribal error for **Twrq, meaningTurks?)
3. Ouvar (Avars)
4. Ugin (orUguz, possiblyOghuz Turks)
5. Bisal (Pechenegs?)
6. Tarna (cf. aTarniach people who fled to the Avars from theTurks)
7. Khazar (Khazars)
8. Zanor (orJanur) (cf. aZabender people who fled to the Avars from theTurks)
9. Balnod (likely scribal error forBulgar, meaningBulgars)
10. Savir (Sabirs)

The anonymous Jewish author of the medieval historical chronicleJosippon lists the ten sons of Togarmas in hisJosippon^[9][10][11] as follows:

1. Kwzar (כוזר) (theKhazars)
2. Pyṣynq (פיצינק) (thePechenegs)
3. ˀln (אלן) (theAlans)
4. Bwlgr (בולגר) (theBulgars)
5. Knbynˀ (כנבינא) (Kanbina?)
6. Ṭwrq (טורק) (possibly theGöktürks)
7. Bwz (בוז) (Flusser corrected this to כוז **Kwz forGhuzz "Oghuzes", east of the Khazars)
8. Zkwk (זכוך) (Zakhukh? or זיכוס **Zykws = Zikhūs, meaning theNorthwest CaucasianZygii?^[11][12]) (or aZabender people who fled to the Avars from theTurks)
9. ˀwngr (אוגר) (Ungar; either theHungarians or theOghurs/Onogurs)
10. Tolmaṣ (תולמץ) (cf. the Pecheneg tribe Βορο-ταλμάτ < *Boru-Tolmaç mentioned by Byzantine emperorConstantine VII).

In an 11th-century Arabic translation of Josippon by a Yemenite Jew:^[11] Togorma's tribes are these:

1. al-Khazar (Khazars)
2. al-Bajanāq (Pechenegs)
3. al-Ās-Alān (Alans)
4. al-Bulġar (Bulgars)
5. [...]
6. [...]
7. [...]
8. Khyabars (Kabars? orSabirs?)
9. Unjar (Hungarians orOghurs/Onogurs)
10. Ṭalmīs (cf. the Pecheneg tribe Βορο-ταλμάτ < *Boru-Tolmaç mentioned by Byzantine emperorConstantine VII).

In theChronicles of Jerahmeel,^[13][14] the three "children" are listed as:

1. Abihud
2. Shāfaṭ
3. Yaftir

And the ten "families"^[15][16] are listed as:

1. Cuzar (theKhazars)
2. Pasinaq (thePechenegs)
3. Alan (theAlans)
4. Bulgar (theBulgars)
5. Kanbinah
6. Turq (possibly theGöktürks)
7. Buz (possibly scribal error for **Kwz, meaningOghuz Turks)
8. Zakhukh (scribal error for **Zykws, meaningZygii?) (or aZabender people who fled to the Avars from theTurks)
9. Ugar (either theHungarians or theOghurs/Onogurs)
10. Tulmes (cf. the Pecheneg tribe Βορο-ταλμάτ < *Boru-Tolmaç mentioned by Byzantine emperorConstantine VII)

Another medievalrabbinic work, theBook of Jasher,^[17][18] give the names:

1. Buzar (possibly scribal error forKuzar, meaningKhazars)
2. Parzunac (thePechenegs)
3. Elicanum (theAlans?)
4. Balgar (theBulgars)
5. Ragbib
6. Tarki (possibly theGöktürks)
7. Bid (possibly scribal error for **Kuz, meaningOghuz Turks)
8. Zebuc (scribal error forZykws, meaningZygii?) (or aZabender people who fled to the Avars from theTurks)
9. Ongal (Hungarians orOghurs/Onogurs)
10. Tilmaz (cf. the Pecheneg tribe Βορο-ταλμάτ < *Boru-Tolmaç mentioned by Byzantine emperorConstantine VII)).

In the 18th century, the FrenchBenedictine monk and scholarCalmet (1672–1757) placed Togarmah inScythia andTurcomania (in theEurasian Steppes andCentral Asia).^[19]

Bodonchar Munkhag

• Georgian mythology
• Prehistoric Armenia
• Hebrew Bible nations
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• Japheth
• Noach (parashah)

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