Journey to Sakartvelo

In the summer of the year 2000 I traveled through the republic of Sakartvelo, in English known as Georgia. Devastated by a civil war in the early 1990s, this jewel of the former Soviet Empire has lost much of its supportive settings but certainly not its shine. I took nearly 400 photos. They are ordered by location but I have not yet found the time to annotate them. To view them click on the map.


(Map taken from the United Nations Environment Program's database.)

Geography

Sakartvelo is the largest and historically best documented of the Caucasian nations. Also it is the most fertil part of the Caucasus, making it its natural center. Located between the higher and the lesser Caucasus, between the Black and the Caspian See, the region is neither European nor Asian. It is a world in its own. Though small, it can compete with and rule out entire continents in terms of historical impact, natural and cultural diversity and geostrategic importance.

The ancient silk road passed through Georgia, exposing it to ideas and goods from east and west alike. The north south passage on the other hand is allmost totally blocked. The Higher Caucasus like a massive wall seperates the many North Caucasian nations from the south. Locals cross the barrier at many points, but there is only a single passage that is open all year and that allows for the transportation of goods by trucks. Also there are many small regions both to the north and to the south of the big barrier that are virtually unaccessible and that are home to a rainbow of strong, lively and independent tribes.

History

There is evidence of early metallurgy in the Caucasus and given the richness of natural resources it might have played a major role in its development. Many crop and cattle thrieve in fertile Georgia and may in part have been domesticated there. Most outstanding, Sakartvelo is the natural home of the vine, which has over 600 indigenous varieties and yields enormous amounts of high quality grapes. It is not uncommon for a small city backyard to provide for hundreds of liters of fine homemade wine. To appreciate the importance of such developments one must understand that the utilization of iron and the cultivation of superior crop and cattle enabled the Indo-European race to take over much of the northern hemisphere some 3000 years ago, including most of the previously superior Middle East. The homeland of this race is believed to be the northern plains of the Caucasus.

In ancient historic times western Sakartvelo was known as the kingdom of Colchis and is the setting for stories such as Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece and the myth of the Greek god Prometheus who was chained to the Caucasus for giving fire to mankind. Georgians are strong and heroic fighters. Neither Alexander the Great nor Roman General Pompey dared to cross their southern frontiers. Others did and there is a long and bloody history of Georgian commandos fighting of invading armies: Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Persians, Lesgians and Russians. The recent losses of the Russian army in Chechnya give a good impression of the futility of such efforts. But weakened by a terrible civil war Sakartvelo suffered the perhaps biggest loss in its entire history only ten years ago: the west-most province of Abkhazeti (Abkhazia), once home to half a million Georgians and the location of some of its oldest monuments, has become a Russian puppet republic, prohibited to Georgians.

The most productive period in historical time was the reign of king David "the Builder" and his daughter Tamar in the 12th century. Many beautiful monuments date from this time, as does the masterpiece of Georgian literature, Shota Rustavelis Knight in the Tiger's Skin.

Language

The Georgian literary language is Kartul. Together with its twins Swan, Mingrelian and Laz which are spoken in some western provinces it forms an isolated group of languages unrelated to anything else. It is known as the South Caucasian Group. North of the Higher Caucasus there are other isolated groups, the big ones being the North-West Group headed by Cherkessian and the North-East Group headed by Chechenian. The Caucasus is actually home to some 80 indigenous languages. Caucasian languages tend to be hard, having extensive phonetic ranges and elaborate grammars that make them a rich but tiresome subject to study. Caucasians themselves are reportedly quick at learning other languages, suggesting that the complexity of their languages and the ability to preserve a language within a very small community is explained not only by geographic isolation but by genetic factors too.

Of all the indigenous Caucasian nations only the Georgians have developed their own alphabet. It is strictly phonetic, every distinctive sound having its own character. The origins of this alphabet are obscure. Though the oldest surviving Greek inscriptions are almost thousand years older than the oldest surviving Georgian inscriptions, ancient Georgian characters show no clear sign of being derived from Greek characters. Nor do they resemble Aramaic, Hebrew or Akkadian characters. Even though the oldest surviving inscriptions date from the Christian period, their elaboration, the fact that the script at that point must already have undergone massive development and the frequent contact of Georgians with the surrounding literate nations suggest a scribal history that stretches far into pre-Christian times.

Religion

Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion of Sakartvelo. Christianity was adopted very early by the Georgians and by 350 a.D. it had become the religion of the state. Early government adoption is no proof of an early wide acceptance, but the numerous Christian monuments of a very early date plus the unbendable adherence to the faith even under strong external pressure show that Christianity is the natural choice of faith for Georgians. Even under communist rule baptism and public confession of faith was common, in contrast to other soviet republics.

The Georgian church is autokephalos, having its own patriarch and being subject to no foreign religious authority. Though kin to Russian Orthodoxy in spirit, the two are only indirectly linked via Greek Orthodoxy and there is much resentment against Russian influence. The time of Russian dominance has brought no less destruction to the Georgian church than has the rule of non Christian Turks, Arabs and Persians.

There is also an ancient Jewish community, centered mainly in the west of the country. Georgian Jewry has preserved rites different from mainstream Judaism which together with other evidence suggests that its roots may date back to the time of the Babylonian Exile, some 500 B.C.

Culture

In Sakartvelo, wine drinking and toasting is the backbone of an elaborate social conduct of almost religious proportions. To drink wine means to sit for many hours and to let the conversation follow an ancient course of themes, each one introduced in due order by the Tamada , the head of the table. Whenever it is the time to proceed to the next theme the Tamada raises the glass and starts a speech to honor, praise or otherwise benefit the subject of the theme, it being the faith, the children, the economy, the memory of the deceased or whatever is dear to the heart of the people. After he has finished others take over and add details, which might lead to a lengthy discussion on the subject, with people occasionally lifting the glass and showing the intention to drink, what finally everyone will do, toasting to the benefit of the theme and loudly saying Gaumadjos!. In this way each drinker might consume several liters of wine during the banquet. But there is no urge to drink. It is completely fine to just take a nib and join in the toast.

Music and poetry are another favorite pastime of the Georgians. Besides being of outstanding beauty, the elaborate polyphone character of Georgian music has been of much interested to music scientist. In the past it was equally important for a man to excel in singing as it was to excel in battle. Even in remote mountain villages I found it common for people to have a piano in the living room and sit together making music and singing ancient and modern polyphone melodies. I still wonder how they got the pianos up there.

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