The Chvabiani Gospels (H-1791) and the Fragment Preserved in the Mestia Museum (SMHE N 491)
The paper identifies the manuscript of the Gospels (referred to as "The Muzhali First Gospels" in the scientific literature of the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century), whose traces were not seen among the handwritten Gospels preserved in Svaneti or taken from Svaneti. On the basis of the paleographic-codicological and textological analyses, it is proved that the manuscript called "The Muzhali First Gospels" is codex H-1791, which is preserved in Fund H of Korneli Kekelidze National Center of Manuscripts (NCM). It is also determined that one part of this manuscript (153 pages) transcribed in 1213-1216 in the savannah of the Monastery of the Black Mountain remained in Chvabiani, while another was taken to Mestia and afterwards, to Tbilisi, where it is presented in the collection of the Historical-Ethnographic Society (NCM, H-1991). As a result of the research, it was determined that the four-page fragment (SMHE N 491; K-8) preserved in the Mestia Museum under the name the Chvabiani Gospels is a part of H-1791. The paper raises the question that this fragment as well as the manuscript H-1791 should be called the Chvabiani Gospels. Both the manuscript H-1791 and the Chvabiani fragment, which is preserved in Mestia, contain 157 (not 153) pages.
Keywords: fragments kept in the Mestia Museum, manuscripts of the Gospel from Svaneti, old Georgian manuscripts, the Chvabiani Gospels
The Medieval Georgian Literature and the Oriental Context
The article emphasizes the necessity of researching the medieval Georgian literature in the regional and global contexts and the need to understand it as a national writing as well as an important part of the literary processes of the world. The article discusses the main factors that should be considered while researching the relations of the medieval Georgian literature and oriental writing. Moreover, it analyses what "Eastern context" means for the Georgian secular literature and which facts should be paid attention for an adequate, excessive assessment of the Persian-Georgian literary relations.
The present research highlights the importance of the genre of the folk dāstān for the study of the Georgian secular writing and Western-Eastern literary connections. It is concluded that the Georgian verbal creativity of the Middle Ages was not only an object of the Eastern or Western influence, but sometimes it was a link between these two worlds.
Keywords: Amiran-Darejaniani, popular romance, medieval Georgian writing, Persian literature, Visramiani
The Representation of the Abkhazian Mystery in Galaktion Tabidze’s Poem “To the First Heads”
The paper discusses the mythological archetypes of Galaktion Tabidze's poem "To the First Heads". The research shows that the poem is based on the old Abkhazian holiday of Easter and the revival of the forces of nature. The paper analyzes the specific mythological parallels drawn between Galaktion Tabidze's poem and the Abkhazian mystery by using the comparative and structural research methods.
Keywords: Abkhazian mystery, archetypes, Galaktion Tabidze
ლიდერი and კომანდა in the New Georgian Military Terminology
The article discusses the terminological problems that have arisen after the start of the military relations between Georgia and NATO. It deals with the difficulties that the language faces when a lot of new terms are simultaneously introduced and uncontrollably established. The article discusses two new terms.
Keywords: command, law on the state language, leader, military terms, normalization of the literary language
The Problem of the Authorship of De Sectis and the Old Georgian Translation of the Treatise Presented in “Dogmatikon” of Arsen Vachesdze
The article discusses the issue of authorship of the treatise "Scholia of Theodore, the most pious Abba and the wisest philosopher, which philosophizes as necessary on both holy and foreign writings” presented in "Dogmatikon" by Arsen Vachesdze. This work is known in the Western scientific literature as De Sectis.