Khaldi
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- For the Urartian god of this name, see Khaldi (god).
The Khaldi are considered to have been the oldest indigenous population of the south-eastern shore of the Black Sea (now part of Turkey). They were related in proximity and probably also in language to the Hattians, an ancient people of Asia Minor, whose Hattic language is now believed to have been related to the Circassianlanguage group. Some historians consider modern Georgians being their descendants (Khaldi → Kardu → Kartvels). Another ancient ethnic group possibly associated with the Khaldi are the Kardu. (The Khaldi discussed here bear no relation to Babylon's Chaldea.) Also Modern Kurds who lived in the same region for millenia are considered by some scholars to be descendants of ancient Khaldis.
The Khaldi, and neighboring tribes Khalib/Chalybes, Mossynoikoi, and Tubal/Tabal/Tibarenoi, were among the first ironsmith nations.
The main sources for the history of the Khaldi are: well-known works by Homer, Strabo, and Xenophon.
As late as in Roman times, the Chaldaei (i.e. Khaldi) are mentioned as a tribe immediately neighboring the Chalybes in Pontic Cappadocia, or the Pontus Cappadocicus section of the Roman province of Pontus.