This is the name of ancient Kiev fortress with unknown etymology. Constantine Porphyrogennetos mentions it as 'Sambatas', but the part to analyse is 'Sambat', free of the Greek ending.
If looked at from Kartvelian angle, it becomes transparent instantly. First, the word is a totally Kartvelian toponymic structure: Sa + amb + at. The construction is tautological, since it has both the sa-prefix and the at-suffix (Zan analogue to the Kartvelian et-suffix, according to Marr), like Saprangeti and Saberdzneti, mentioned in this blog more than once.
Hence, Sambat perfectly interprets as 'land/country of amba'. The word 'amba' can be found easily in Margalitdze's dictionary where it means 'father', Thus, Sambat equals to 'land of fathers'. Or fatherland.
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