ჯუანშერ ჯუანშერიანი ცხოვრებაÁ ვახტანგ გორგასლისა მშობელთაÁ და თჳთ მის დიდისა და ღმრთისმსახურისა მეფისაÁ, რომელი უმეტესად სხუათა განთქუმულად გამოჩნდა ყოველთა მეფეთა ქართლისათა

Abstract

Recent years have seen an increase in interest in medieval Georgian historiography. Many interesting studies are being produced. New editions and translations of texts are appearing. This is probably for several reasons. On the one hand, the material is vast, very interesting and still little developed. On the other hand, in the last two decades, it has received reliable research, which has resulted in a completely different perspective on Georgian medieval historiography. The work of the 11th century Georgian historian Juansher Juansheriani’s Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali is one of the complex and important monuments of medieval Georgian literature. It contains important information concerning not only Georgia, but also neighbouring countries and peoples (North Caucasus, Armenia, Caucasian Albania, Byzantium and Western Asia), their participation and role in the history of Georgia and the entire South Caucasus region. Closer analysis of the text itself leads to the conclusion that the Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali is an invaluable source, hence the increasing number of studies on specific aspects of the text today. Two works by Juansher have survived, The Life of Vakhtang Gorgasali and The Martyrdom of Saint Archil. It is generally assumed that the author of the texts dates back to the 11th century, while it seems that these works were written as early as the 8th century. It is also believed that the author of these texts may have been Leonti Mroveli, who wrote, among other things, The Lives of the Georgian Kings. The text includes a full translation and footnotes. All earlier editions and Old Georgian manuscripts were taken into account during the translation. Pages in brackets follow the pagination of the text contained in Kartlis Tskhovreba.