FISAMETI

The same quote from the “Decree in Honor of Protogenes” mentioned in the article about “Savdarati” also speaks of a tribe called “Fisamites”:

“…The defectors reported that the Galatians and Scythians had formed an alliance and had gathered large forces, which would arrive in winter, and in addition, that the Fisamites, Scythians and Savdarates were looking for a fortified place, just as they were afraid of the cruelty of the Galatians...”

“Reader on the History of the Ancient World” edited by V. V. Struve, Vol. 2, “Uchpedgiz”, -M., 1951

In another source, the name of this tribe is written slightly differently – “Fisamates”. The name is impeccably broken down into Kartvelian morphemes, demonstrating its undoubted toponymic essence: FIS+AM+AT+I. They are interpreted as follows:

1. "Fisi" (ფისი) is "resin" (Chanturia's dictionary). 2. The suffix "-am" is a Megrelian adjective suffix, corresponding to the Georgian "-ian". You will find a huge number of words with this suffix in the dictionary of the Megrelian language by Otari Kajaia. Thus, "fisami" means "resinous". 3. The suffix "-at", as has been said many times, is a Megrelian toponymic analogue of the Georgian "-et". 4. The ending "-i" is a signature Kartvelian nominative ending.

So, the impeccable morpheme-by-morpheme reading of "Fisamati" gives us "the land of the resinous". And now the most interesting part. The Smoliane people are a well-known South Slavic tribe ("smola" means "resin" in Russian).