On the Italian medieval map Tartaria d’Evropa, the Sea of Azov is called Mar delle Zabacche. The Italian dictionaries do not explain the word “zabacche” in any way. But Niko Chubinashvili’s Georgian dictionary (19th century) tells us that “ზაბაკი” [zabaki] means the same as “ზამბაკი” [zambaki], namely, “pearl”. Thus, Mar delle Zabacche is translated as “sea of pearls”. Today, nothing is known about the Azov pearls, and we do not know how things were in ancient times. It is interesting that the root "zabaki" is clearly related to the Spanish word "azabache", which means "jet", also "black amber", which is not mined in the sea. The second name of the Azov Sea and its surroundings - Meotida - is also beautifully and very interestingly interpreted from the Kartvelian point of view. As, actually, the word "Azov" is too.
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