Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

ANCIENT GEORGIA
the fourth arch (pl.I-1b) is Pan. The figure illustrated in the fifth arch (pl.I-1f) expresses the mad Lycurgus.
The second vessel is divided in two scenes. In the first scene Belerophon is sitting on Pegasus (pl.I-c,
pl.II-2) while fighting the chimera (pl.I-2b). The other scene (pl.I-2d) depicts a woman sitting on the knees
of a man. The kneeling figure can be identified as Belerophon and the woman must be interpreted as
princess Phylonoe.An exact parallel of the ewers is kept at the Corning Museum of Glass. Its shape and
painting technology is fully analogous to the Khovle vessels and contains the same inscription on the
neck. A fragment in white glass and painted with the same technology was found in Dura Europos and at
Tanais excavations. It is assumed these vessels were made in the same workshop, even by the same master
around the end of the second or beginning of the third century AD in Antioch-on-Orontes. Notwithstanding
whether the hypothesis concerning their place of production is right or wrong, it is proved with confidence
that the five vessels from Khovle, Kerch, Tanais and Dura Europos were produced at the same workshop,
if not by one single master.
Tamaz Sanikidze
G. Chubinashvili National Center of Georgian Art History and Monuments Protection. Georgia
About the Main Stages in the History of the Rock-Carved Town of Uplistsikhe
The first sign of human activity on the cliff of Uplistsikhe can be traced to the beginning of the first
millennium BC. It was at that time that the formation of a theocratic community, later to reach hegemony in
Shida (Inner) Kartli, began (it is assumed that before Mtskheta, Uplistsikhe had been the capital of Kartli).
At the end of the fourth and the beginning of the third century BC, this long process was culminated by the
construction of the capital, the overall appearance and separate structures of which have been discovered
after excavating and cleaning the area.
The city was divided into three parts. Its urban and functional structure fully agrees with Strabo’s note,
which stated that one of the theocratic communities in the South Caucasus consisted of pagan priests,
theophorites (free servants of the cult) and hierodules (temple slaves).
On the west, the city was guarded by a steep cliff and on the east and the north by a strong wall. It had
four gates, a tunnel leading down to the Mtkvari River and a defensive ditch with a broad platform.
The caves made in the period of Antiquity can be classified into three distinct typological groups: i)
temples with a vaulted portico, characterized by a semi-circular vault topped by an open portico with
closed room(s) behind and an open yard-hall in front, of which simple and complex variants exist; ii) halltype
temples characterized by a hall with a flat ceiling and an open yard-hall in its front; iii) round, domed
temples.
Rock-carved temples followed the rules of aboveground (stone and timber) architecture. Pillars, pilasters,
bases, capitals, arches, vaults, beams, and caissons were widely used. Thus, a wide repertoire of building
art was employed.
During its six to seven hundred years of existence, the city lived a continuously vibrant life, which can
be evidenced by written records and rich archaeological material uncovered on the site.
But with the adoption of Christianity in the country, the role and significance of Uplistsikhe reduced
significantly. In the sixth century, however, a new revival of the site began. A large three-nave basilica,
partly carved in cliff, was constructed and former temples were converted into dwellings, some of which
were double-storied.
In the ninth to tenth century, Uplistsikhe became a prominent city and a citadel, which united all the
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