The area of modern-day Georgia was inhabited by Homo erectus after the Paleolithic era. The people of Proto-Georgia first appeared in the written history of the 12th century BC. The first date dates from **** were found in Georgia , where a 6,000-year-old **** jar was found. Archaeological discoveries and references to ancient sources reveal the first elements of political and state formation characterized by the 7th century BC and later advanced metallurgy and goldsmithing techniques. In fact , early metallurgy associated with the Slaveri-Shamu culture began in Georgia in the 7th millennium. The classical period saw the rise of several Georgian kingdoms , headed by Colchis to the west and Iberia to the east. In the twentieth century of the fourth century , a unified state of Georgia - an early example of developed state organization under one state and an elite classification - was established. In Greek mythology , Colchis was the location of the Golden Fly, directed by Jason and Argonauts, in Apollonius Radius' epic Argonautica. The inclusion of the Golden Fly in the Puranas may have originated from the local practice of scattering the sun's dust from the river. Known to its natives as Igrisi or Lajica , Colchis was also the battlefield of the logical battle of war between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Persia. Georgia, which is now the short-lived conquest of the Roman Republic in 6 BC , has been the primary target of 800 years of long-running Irano-Roman geopolitical rivalry and the end of the war. From the first century A.D. , Gemini , Buddhism and Zoroastrianism were common in Georgia. In 336 AD , King Mirian III declared Christianity to be the state religion , providing a great impetus to the development of literature and art, and ultimately played a significant role in the formation of a united Georgia nation . The second became like the established religion and was widely practiced there.