A coin of King David IV with Asomtavruli inscription reading ႫႴႤ^[a]ႠႴႧႵႰႬႩႾႧႱႾႧ (mpe~apt~k~rn~kkht~skht) meaning "King, [of the] Abkhazians, Iberians, Ranis, Kakhetians, Armenians".^[1]

An Asomtavruli fresco inscription of Tamar at Bertubani Church of David Gareji reading ႧႠႫႠႰ ႫႤႴႤႧ ႫႤႴႤ^[a] (tamar mepet mepe) meaning "Tamar, King of Kings".^[2]

Mepe (Old Georgian: ႫႴ;^[a] Georgian: მეფე [mepʰe]; meh-PEH) is a royal^[4] title used to designate the Georgian monarch, whether it is referring to a king or a queen regnant.^[5][6] The title was originally a male ruling title.^[7]

The word is derived from Georgian word მეუფე (meupe)^[8] which literally means sovereign and lord.^[9][10] Some Georgian dialects has the term as ნეფე (nepe), all derived from common Proto-Kartvelian მფ/მეფე/მაფა (mp/mepe/mapa).^[11] Even though mepe has a female equivalent, დედოფალი (dedopali; lit. 'queen')^[12] it is only applied to the king's consort and does not have a meaning of a ruling monarch.^[13]

The term mepe was utilized since pre-Christian beginnings with Azo, but the role would get more structured during the reign of Pharnavaz I^[14] in the 3rd century BC.^[15] His successors, the Pharnavazid^[b] mepes would be titled as goliath^[20] who would possess 𐬓𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀𐬵 (pharnah; lit. 'royal radiance'),^[21] the divinely endowed glory believed by ancient Persians^[b] to mark only a legitimate ruler,^[22] accompanied with დიდებაჲ (didebay; lit. 'greatness') and სუე (sue; lit. 'fortune; destiny').^[23] Georgian monarch's reign was known as მეფობაჲ (mepobay; lit. 'kingship').^[24][25] Loss of pharnah and sue led to imminent death or overthrow of mepe.^[26]

In the late 6th century, the Sassanid Empire would abolish^[c] the Georgian kingship of the Kingdom of Iberia resulting in the interregnum stretching from c. 580^[c] to 888 as a demoted principality.^[30][31] 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; lit. 'sovereign').^[32] After 888^[33][34] (or 889)^[35] restoration under next successive dynasty^[d] 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.^[36]

In the 12th century,^[37] the Bagratid^[d] mepe David IV the Builder, who had established himself as the region's superlative political and military force,^[46] with his ambitious and sophisticated push for his kingdom's royal imagery promotion,^[47] the official style of a king would become imperial^[48] თჳთმპყრობელი (tuitmp'q'robeli; lit. 'absolute master'^[49] i.e. autokratōr)^[50] and მეფეთ[ა]მეფე (mepet[a]mepe;^[51][52][e] lit. 'King of Kings'), similar to the Byzantine βασιλεὺς βασιλέων (basileus basileōn) and Persian شاهنشاه (shahanshah).^[57] David IV's royal projection of his grandiose title was partly aimed at a non-Georgian audience.^[58] Title Shahanshah was later totally usurped^[59] and consistently used by Georgian monarchs, denoting sovereignty over several Persianate subjects such as Shirvanshahs, the Shaddadids and the Eldiguzids.^[60] 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.^[61] 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.^[62] The Bagrationi mepe, with its royal legitimacy^[f] and ideological pillar, would rule Georgia for a millennium, from its medieval elevation down to the Russian conquest in the early 19th century.^[66]

• Caesar, Roman title
• Basileus, Greek title
• Shah, Persian title
• Tsar, Slavic title

• Rapp, Stephen H. (2014) The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4724-2552-2
• Rapp, Stephen H. (2003) Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts; Peeters Bvba ISBN 90-429-1318-5
• Eastmond, A. (2017) Eastern Approaches to Byzantium: Papers from the Thirty-Third Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Warwick, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-351-94213-3
• Eastmond, A. (1998) Royal imagery in medieval Georgia, Pennsylvania State University, ISBN 978-0-271-01628-3
• Rayfield, D. (2013) Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia, Reaktion Books, ISBN 9781780230702
• Bakhtadze, M. (2015) Georgian titulature of Tao-Klarjeti ruling Bagrationi dynasty, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Institute of Georgian History Proceedings, IX, Tbilisi, Publishing Meridiani
• Klimov, G. (1998) Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages; Walter de Gruyter GmbH; ISBN 978-3-11-015658-4