Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

Classical Period) and restricted by a specific theme (zoomorphic representations):
1. The unity of artistic and stylistic features typical of Colchian Bronze culture defines the nature of
not only one artistic phenomenon, but rather the character of the entire pre-Christian art and its further
evolution;
2. An important segment of Bronze culture in Western Transcaucasia in the first millennium BC is
dominated by polymorphic creature images associated in Georgian folklore with one of the most popular
image - a griffon. At the initial stage, this image represented a cosmic tri-hypostatic creature that related to
the three worlds. Over the centuries, the mythological image became simpler and more natural;
3. The diadems dating from early Classical Period are the product of the further transformation of the
expressive correlate of the content formed in the early centuries of the first millennium;
4. A polymorphic, fantastic creature characteristic of early Classicle Period jewelry is replaced by a
figure of identical content – a stylized tree and a rosette;
5. The variants of similar representations recur on late Classical Period head ornaments (Kldeeti,
Gonio and Loo).
Ori Soltes
Georgetown University. USA
Defining Georgianness in Antiquity
By the time history arrives into the last two thousand years or so of pre-Christian antiquity, Georgia is
already establishing itself as a crossroads and meeting point for diverse cultures and traditions. The shaping
of “Georgianness,” both from the perspective of some of those key cultures-notably the early Assyrian,
Achaemenid Persian, the Greek and the Roman-and from the perspective of Georgia herself, is an important
issue. The question of how exactly Georgia is referred to and understood by others and that of how she
interweaves aspects of those others with her own unique personality is continuously being implicitly addressed
throughout this time. What may we infer from stories and traditions that emerge from outside and
within what is becoming Georgia during that long period-and even more so, from the artifacts of diverse
media exhibiting diverse stylistic elements that have emerged archaeologically from so many significant
ancient sites-regarding this double, interwoven issue? How do we distinguish what is Georgian from what
is not, in terms of style, subject and artist identity, across an astonishing array of artifacts? What is set in
motion as a process of synthesis and definition that will continue for the two millennia that carry out of that
era to our own?
Vakhtang Shatberashvili
Archaeological Research Center of National Museum of Georgia. Georgia
Two Painted Glass Jugs from the Village Khovle
Two vessels with gilded and cold painted decorations were found in the village Khovle in 2004. The
decoration on the body divide the vessels into two registers with identical borders above, between and
below. The neck of both vessels contains a gilded inscription in Greek capitals “H XAPIC”, i.e. “Grace”.
The body of the first vessel is divided into five vertical, equal parts via the arches outlined with reddishbrown
paint. The figure depicted in this (pl.I-1e) first arch must be the young, beardless Dionysus. Figures
depicted in the second (pl.I-1d, pl.II-1) and third (pl.I-1c) archs are not yet identified. The figure depicted in
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ANCIENT GEORGIA