Archive

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• On Pharnavaz and the Georgian scriptChronicle tradition credits King Pharnavaz I (c. 302 BCE) with unifying Kartli and creating the Georgian alphabet.
• “The Knight in the Panther's Skin” — manuscriptShota Rustaveli's epic poem, composed at Queen Tamar's court, is the summit of medieval Georgian literature. (The poem t
• Treaty of Georgievsk, 1783The treaty by which Erekle II's Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti accepted the protection of the Russian Empire. A key document
• Act of Independence of Georgia, 1918On 26 May 1918 the Democratic Republic of Georgia was proclaimed — the first modern Georgian statehood.
• State flag of GeorgiaThe «five-cross flag»: a large St George's cross with four smaller Bolnisi crosses. Revived and adopted as the state fla
• Coat of arms of GeorgiaSt George on horseback slaying a dragon on a red shield; lion supporters and the motto «Strength is in unity». Adopted i
• National anthem «Tavisupleba»«Freedom» — Georgia's anthem since 2004. Music by Zakaria Paliashvili (from his operas), words by David Magradze.
• Treaty of Moscow: recognition of Georgia, 1920On 7 May 1920 Soviet Russia, by the Treaty of Moscow, unconditionally recognised Georgia’s independence — nine months be
• Dmanisi — earliest hominins of EurasiaDmanisi is the earliest reliably dated site of human presence in Eurasia: its fossils and stone tools are 1.85–1.77 mill
• Kotias Klde — Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers (aDNA)Ancient DNA from Kotias Klde cave defined the “Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers” (CHG), a distinct ancestral population that co
• Origins of winemaking & grapevine domesticationWine residue in Neolithic pottery (~6000 BCE) points to the South Caucasus as a centre of Vitis vinifera grapevine domes
• Kazbegi & the Greater CaucasusMount Kazbek (5,054 m) and the Gergeti Trinity Church — an emblem of Georgia's natural heritage and an anchor for the ar
• The Kartvelian language familyThe Kartvelian languages form an independent South Caucasian family: Georgian, Mingrelian, Laz and Svan. They are unrela
• The three Georgian scriptsGeorgian writing evolved through three historical forms — Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Their living coexistence
• Jewish RachaOni, Lailashi and the Jewish communities of mountain Racha: synagogues, the Lailashi Codex and the emptied quarters.
• Levan II Dadiani and the Kelasuri WallSixty kilometres of towers from the mouth of the Kelasuri to the Enguri, and an argument about who built them.
• Asureti: two communities of one villageThe German colony of Elisabethtal, the deportation of 1941 and the Racha families who moved into the emptied houses.
• Qvevri — the Georgian winemaking methodThe qvevri is a large clay vessel buried in the ground to ferment and age wine. Traditional Georgian qvevri winemaking i
• The newspaper Kavkaz (Tiflis, 1846–1917)Kavkaz was the oldest Russian-language newspaper of Tiflis, published from 1846 under the Viceroyalty. It carried offici
• The Caucasian Calendar, the Viceroyalty yearbookThe Caucasian Calendar was the official yearbook published in Tiflis from 1845 to 1917. Each volume held statistics of p
• Droeba, a Georgian newspaper (1866–1885)Droeba («Time») was one of the first and most influential Georgian-language newspapers, published in Tiflis in 1866–1885
• Iveria, the newspaper of Ilia Chavchavadze (1877–1906)Iveria was a journal, later a newspaper, founded by Ilia Chavchavadze in 1877; the chief organ of the Georgian national
• Pizzigani brothers' chart (1367): the five-cross flag of TbilisiA detail of the nautical chart of the Pizzigani brothers (1367) showing the city of Tbilisi flying a white flag with fiv
• The complete nautical chart of the Pizzigani brothers (1367)One of the oldest signed nautical charts (portolans) of Europe, drawn in Venice by the Pizzigani brothers in 1367. It co
• Pietro Vesconte's portolan (1321): the Georgian flag with roundelsA detail of the portolan of the Genoese Pietro Vesconte (1321) showing the eastern Black Sea. Over the Georgian coast fl
• The Ganja (Derbent) gate and the tomb of David IV at GelatiAt the southern gate of Gelati lies David IV the Builder — set so that those entering step on his slab; opposite, a leaf
• The Dmanisi archaeological siteThe site sits on a promontory at the confluence of the Mashavera and Phinezauri rivers, about 85 km southwest of Tbilisi
• Skull 5 (D4500) — the most complete early-Pleistocene skullCranium D4500 (found 2005) with mandible D2600 (2000) forms the most complete early-Pleistocene human skull. It pairs a
• The Dmanisi “old man” (Skull 4, D3444)Skull 4 (D3444 with mandible D3900) belonged to an aged, nearly toothless individual who had lost almost all his teeth l
• One species or several? The classification debateThe five Dmanisi individuals vary widely in brain size (546–730 cm³) and facial form. In 2013 Lordkipanidze and colleagu
• The Georgian Golden Age — overviewA synthetic essay on the 11th–13th centuries: from Didgori to Tamar's reign, covering politics, economy, art and literat
• How Pirosmani was discoveredA tavern by the station, futurists from St Petersburg and an exhibition in Moscow: 1912-1913.
• The summer of 2008: the run-up and the five days of August