Medieval Georgian Historical Literature (VIIth–XVth Centuries)

Abstract

Georgia was, at the time of the Russian annexation at the beginning of the last century, the only country in Christendom whose socio-political and cultural development dated uninterruptedly from Classical times. Yet hers are perhaps the only important history and culture that are almost totally unknown to the West. Needless to say, this lack of familiarity extends to the Georgian historical writings as well. However, whereas Georgian history and culture are simply little known, regarding the Georgian historical sources there exist also misunderstanding and misinformation. Nevertheless, the value of these sources and their importance, not only for the history of Caucasia, but generally for that of the Christian East, have now found universal recognition among specialists. Therefore, a presentation of a systematic account, based on the latest research, of these monuments of Georgian historical literature, should be of interest to Western scholars. But no such presentation has, to our knowledge, ever been attempted. To do this is the aim of the present study.