Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

ANCIENT GEORGIA
Teimuraz Bibiluri
Mtskheta State Archaeological Museum. Georgia
Temple of Apollo in Great Mtskheta
Many of the key points from the history of Greater Mtskheta of the time when it was the capital remain
largely unaddressed to the present day. Strangely enough, this is also true for the history of that very spot in
Greater Mtskheta where the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral stands.
According to Georgian chronicles (Conversion of Georgia, The Life of St Nino, and The Life of Georgian
Kings by Leonti Mroveli), at least through the 320-330s, royal gardens, also referred to as the “King’s
Eden”, stood at this location, and the first church (or at least the pillars) on this spot was built by using a
local tree, namely a cedar of Lebanon or a cypress.
Byzantine authors (Rufinus, Socrates, Sozomen) only refer to the building of a church, but Syrian and
Coptic manuscripts substantially revise the information given in Georgian-Byzantine records. The compilation
of these data suggests that Apollo’s Oracle with marble columns (it is impossible to establish its function
from the Coptic synaxarion) stood in front of the building of a Christian church and it was the “removal
of these columns and their placement in the chancel barrier that they wanted but failed to (Synodic text from
the Borji papyrus); “... the virgin pleaded to Jesus Christ and after that the columns shifted themselves into
the church”.
The note given in these written sources is further supported by Corinthian capitals of the second century
AD unearthed in the sanctuary of Svetitskhoveli. (Remember - the marble columns were to be placed in the
chancel barrier.)
The existence of Apollo’s Oracle in the King’s Eden is evidenced by the grave in stone box uncovered
nearby, which contains highly interesting inventory, including a writing tool, the silver case of which was
adorned with a gilt relief of nine muses (Apollo – Musagete) arranged in three friezes. Furthermore other
arguments for its existence include the healing of the highest ecclesiastical authority in the country bearing
a theophoric name, “Khvara” (the Sun), given by St Nino in “Eden” and not by blackberry bushes as
was the case with others, including the Queen; the origin of the name of the female guardian of the Eden,
Anistos from the Greek onomastics, etc.
Comparing the existing data and taking into account respective parallels, it is reasonable to assume that
i) the sun worshipping was an official religion of the Kingdom of Kartli; ii) temples worshipping the sun
were located in the close vicinity to Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and Barbareti Church.
Amiran Kakhidze
Batumi State University and the Archaeological Museum. Georgia
Michael Vickers
Jesus College, Oxford. Great Britain
Trade, Economic and Cultural Connections between Athens and Colchis in the Classical Period
(According to the Material Obtained by the Joint Georgian-British Expedition to Pitchvnari)
The Hellenic ethnos, which seems to have been related to Athos – the centre of mainland Greece – first
appeared at the ancient settlement of Pitchvnari in the early Classical period. Beginning from that time and
throughout the Classical period, Attica enjoyed hegemony in the realm of commercial and cultural relations.
Samples of especially rich and diverse material culture have been obtained by the joint Georgian-
British expedition to Pitchvnari during its ten years of research. The most notable in this regard is a Greek
47