Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Philology, Department of Classical Philology and Institute of Sciences of Religion, San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University (Madrid), Faculty of Christian and Classical Literature San Justino, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Humanities: Institute of Classical, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Institute of Georgian History, Institute of Archaeology, Bascology Center & School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Caucasus University start accepting applications for the Second International Conference "Two Iberias: Two Gates of Europe".

It is known that Greek and Roman historians called the region corresponding to modern Georgia Eastern Iberia, in contrast to Western Iberia, i.e. the Iberian Peninsula, currently Spain and Portugal. The Greek geographer Strabo attributed the name Iberians both to the Iberians of the Caucasus and to the "Western Iberians" (Geography, XI, II, 19). These far from each other regions were for centuries the extreme points of various empires (Roman, Byzantine, Arabian, Ottoman...) and served as gateways for the passage of many different civilizations and boundaries for the idea of Europe. In Antiquity, both Iberias were the limits of the civilized world. No wonder mythology considered they were otherworldly gates to the unknown, as the legends of the Hesperides, the Amazons and the travels of Heracles go to show.

This conference is dedicated to the study of the ancient cultures of Caucasian Iberia and Spanish Iberia and their medieval reception, including parallels and presumed contacts. The idea of a link between both extremes of the oikoumene, which was established in Antiquity, has a long reception up to the 15th century, which marks a historical caesura for Eurasian culture, especially in these peripheral countries. The study of the ancient notion of Iberia up to this moment of transformation, marked by the events of 1453 and 1492, can throw new light upon the reuse of some classical ideas –e.g., Heracles’ Columns, the Amazons– in a changing political and ideological context.

After the success of the I International Conference T w o I b e r i a s - Two Gates of Europe (Tbilisi State Univ. & Caucasus Univ., June 12-14, Tbilisi 2024) this is a second joint endeavor of these universities aiming at establishing a stable Spanish-Georgian cooperation on these research areas.

Suggested sessions:

1- Eastern Iberia as the Gateway of Europe: myth and history
2-Western Iberia as the Gateway of Europe: myth and history
3- Two Iberias - a link through the ages?
4- The Two Iberias under Byzantine rule
5- The Two Iberias under Islamic rule
6- Palaeo-Iberian languages (Eastern and Western)
7- Georgian and Spanish Literatures: relations and translation
8- Particular development of Christianism in the Two Iberias.
9- Political History of the Two Iberias in comparative perspective
(ancient and medieval)
10- Historical Geography of the Two Iberias in comparative perspective
(ancient and medieval)

Key-note speakers (provisional):

H.E. Alexander Chkuaseli (Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Kingdom of Spain)
Prof. Dr. Vakhtang Licheli (Director of Institute of Archaeology; Ivane
Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia).
Prof. Dr. Bernard Outtier (Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS.
Visiting Professor at St. Damasus University, Madrid, Spain)
Prof. Dr. Irene Pajón Leyra (Department of Classics, University of Seville,
Spain)
Prof. Dr. Kakha Shengelia (President of Caucasus University, Georgia)
Prof. Dr. Juan Signes Codoñer (Department of Classics, Complutense
University of Madrid, Spain)

Organizing Committee (in alphabetical order):

Chairs:

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Encarnación Castro Páez (Department of Ancient
History, University of Málaga, Spain)
Prof. Dr. David Hernández de la Fuente (Department of Classics,
Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekaterine Kobakhidze (Institute of Classical, Byzantine
and Modern Greek Studies, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia)

Members (UCM):

Daniel de la Fuente
María Sánchez Sergueeva
Daniel Sanroman

Scientific Committee (provisional, in alphabetical order):

Chairs:
Prof. Dr. Ana Isabel Jiménez San Cristóbal (Director of the Institute of
Religious Studies, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain)
Acad. Prof. Dr. Jaba Samushia (Rector of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State
University, Georgia)
Prof. Dr. Kakha Shengelia (President of Caucasus University, Georgia)
Prof. Dr. Isabel Velázquez Soriano (Head of the Department of Classics,
Complutense University of Madrid, Spain)

Members:

Emeritus. Prof. Dr. Pedro Barceló (Institute of Ancient History, University
of Potsdam, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Filippo Carlà-Uhink (Institute of Ancient History, University of
Potsdam, Germany)

Prof. Dr. Guranda Chelidze (School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Caucasus University, Georgia)
Prof. Dr. Gonzalo Cruz Andreotti (Department of Ancient History,
University of Malaga, Spain)
Prof. Dr. Levan Gigineishvili (Director of the Institute of Classical,
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State
University, Georgia)
Prof. Dr. Pilar González Casado (Dean of the Faculty of Christian and
Classical Literature Saint Justine, Director of the Interfaculty Department of
Languages, San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University, Madrid, Spain)
Prof. Dr. Francisco J. González Ponce (Department of Classics, University
of Seville, Spain)
Prof. Dr. Levan Gordeziani (Head of the Department of History of the
Ancient World, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia)
Prof. Dr. Annegret Plontke-Luening (Department of Ancient History,
Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Timo Stickler (Department of Ancient History, Friedrich Schiller
University of Jena, Germany)

Institutions supporting the conference:

Among others, the following institutions, organizations and research groups
will collaborate with the conference:
Embassy of Georgia in the Kingdom of Spain (Madrid)
Bósforo. Grupo de Investigación sobre la Antigüedad tardía y Bizancio
(Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
Sociedad Española de Estudios Clásicos
Sociedad Española de Iranología
Sociedad Española de Bizantinística

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

We encourage both experienced researchers, young scholars and PhD students to participate in the conference.

Dates of the conference: September 10-12, 2026
Working languages of the conference: English and Spanish
Conference Fee: Regular registration 150 EUR (for postgraduate students: 75 EUR)
Half an hour will be allocated to each speaker (paper - 20 min., discussion - 10 min.).
Please send your abstracts (300-600 words) and a brief CV (100-150 words) by April 1, 2026 to the following e-mail address
conference2iberias2@gmail.com Subject: Two Iberias II.
Along with the abstract and CV the following information about the author should be provided:
❖ Name and surname;
❖ Affiliation and position;
❖ Contact information (phone and email);
❖ Language of the paper;
The authors will be notified of the Scientific Committee’s decision at the end of May, 2026. All the information regarding acceptance, inscription and
program will be published at www.ucm.es/conference2iberias2 (under construction)
The conference program will be prepared in May-June 2026.
The selected papers will be published after blind peer-review in a prestigious academic publisher to be announced at the end of the conference.
For any questions feel free to contact the organizers by e-mail at conference2iberias2@gmail.com or to their addresses e.castro@uma.es,
davidahe@ucm.es, ekaterine.kobakhidze@tsu.ge.