Georgian Sources for Early Judaism (forthcoming)

The title of this article came to my mind after I read a number of scholarly works (mainly in English) about Georgian Bible translation. The peculiar jumble of correct and incorrect information, as well as outdated and stereotypical statements about Georgia and Georgian Bible translation compelled me to exert some effort to improve this unsatisfactory situation.

Journal Phasis - Greek and Roman Studies, 2013

Despite the intensive cultural relations with Syrians during the ages, there are very few pieces of writings translated from Syriac to Georgian, all of them being rendered at the earlier stage of the Georgian literature. During the research of the Georgian translations of the blessed Theodoret’s writings, two of them appeared to be directly rendered from the Syrian source: the Life of Julian-Saba (the 2 nd chapter of the Historia Philothea, preserved in the cod. Sin. Georg. 6, copied in 981) and the Life of Jacob from Nisibis.

Cultural Intertexts, 2019

The paper studies the editing history of the Bible's Georgian translations (BGTs), covering the pre-Soviet, Soviet and post-Soviet eras. The main goal of the article is to identify the essential textual and editorial markers of the editions carried out in these three different epochs. Actuality of the research is conditioned by the fact that in Georgian reality (and not only), the field of the Editorial Studies is still considered as an applied part of the Textual Scholarship, associated with publishing and the scientific boundaries between these two disciplines are not clearly delineated yet, despite the fact that the Georgian editors have always conducted editorial work alongside with the textual one since the early middle ages. This is especially obvious in the example of the editions of the BGTs, which appeared in the early years of Christianity (5 th-6 th cc.) and occupy one of the honourable places on the world cultural map alongside the Latin, Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, Arabic, and Aramaic translations. The Georgian textual criticism and editorial studies developed within the practice of: a) producing manuscripts of the BGTs (before invention of the printing press), b) editing them (in the print era) and c) making electronic editions (in the digital era). In the article, I do not deal with the issue of producing manuscripts, but only with the history of printed editions and with a few electronic editions. The research has shown that, despite ideological pressure in the Soviet era, thanks to the Georgian scientists, the editions of the BGTs spiritually and intellectually fed the Georgian national being and strengthened its national identity.

Despite the intensive cultural relations with Syrians during the ages, there are very few pieces of writings translated from Syriac to Georgian, all of them being rendered at the earlier stage of the Georgian literature. During the research of the Georgian translations of the blessed Theodoret's writings, two of them appeared to be directly rendered from the Syrian source: the Life of Julian-Saba (the 2 nd chapter of the Historia Philothea, preserved in the cod. Sin. Georg. 6, copied in 981) 1 and the Life of Jacob from Nisibis. The Life of Jacob, the extended version of the 1 st chapter of the Historia Philothea is preserved in two manuscripts: S 1141, 2 the so-called Shatberdi Collection (10 th c., 248v-256r, a leaf is missing between ff. 250/251, consequently 5-7 chapters) and A 165 (17 th-18 th cc., a copy of S 1141, preserves ch. 1-2, 10-11). The Life of Jacob was edited after the cod. S 1141 by Bakar Gigineishvili and Elguja Giunashvili. 3 The Greek source of the work was published by P. Canivet and A

As it turned out, translation of the Vulgate (the Bible in Latin) was the crucial factor in Christian West for development of national statehood (A. Hastings). The same seems to be true in case of Georgia. ... By the case of Israel, the Holy Scripture gives example how all other nations are supposed to behave. Biblical teaching of chosen nation was transformed into national ideology in the West. It acquired political content. ... Presented materials corroborate the fact of similarity of national ideals in the Middle Ages’ West Europe and Georgia. ... INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: THE GEORGIAN MANUSCRIPT HERITAGEAt: KORNELI KEKELIDZE GEORGIAN NATIONAL CENTRE OF MANUSCRIPTS. Tbilisi

Scandinavian Journal of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 2021

he conversion to Christianity of three Caucasian states on the eastern fringes of the Roman Empire, Armenia, Kartli/Iberia, and Albania, was a turning point in the history of the Late Antique Caucasus. 1 In the 320s, King of Kartli Mirian III and his wife Nana became Christians as a consequence of apostolic activities of a Roman woman, named Nino. 2 According to the Georgian tradition, supported by Greek and Latin sources, King Mirian III wrote a letter to Emperor Constantine, informing him of his conversion and asking him to send high-ranking ecclesiastics to his kingdom. 3 Accounts of correspondence between Mirian and Constantine notwithstanding, the evidence is thin that the emperor was involved in the conversion of the royal house of Kartli. Christianity came to Kartli from Syria and Jerusalem and Cappadocia rather than from the core of the Roman Empire. Archeological materials show that Christianization in Kartli had advanced long before the royal conversion. Christian burials and symbols related to Christianity that date to the third century have been found throughout Kartli. 4 1 The article is written within the frame of the research programme Retracing Connections (https://retracingconnections.org/) financed by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (M19-0430:1).

istorical sou.rces suggest that Christianity played an important role in the Caucasus from an early period. Armenia was officiaily converted in 301 b1, St Gregory the Illuminator, and, according to Greek and Syriac records, there was simiiar activity in Georgia. Georgian traditions record tu,o 1st century apostles: Simon the Canaanite is described as being buried in the WesU Saint Andrew ls recorded as having been active in the East and West. Documents identify a bishopric on the Black Sea coast by 325, and a bishoPapparently from this regionpartlcipated in the Councll of Nicaea in 325.