Georgian
Alphabet
B.C. III
The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri, and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the civilian royal script of the Kingdom of Georgia and mostly used for the royal charters, is now the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only by the Georgian Orthodox Church, in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.
The "living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet" was granted the national status of intangible cultural heritage in Georgia in 2015 and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.
The Knight in the Panther's Skin
The Knight in the Panther's Skin (Georgian: ვეფხისტყაოსანი, romanized:vepkhist'q'aosani pronounced [vepʰχistʼqʼaosani]
literally "the one with the skin of a tiger") is a Georgian medieval epic poem, written in the 12th or 13th century by
Georgia's national poet Shota Rustaveli.
A definitive work of the Georgian Golden Age, the poem consists of over 1600 Rustavelian Quatrains and is considered to be a "masterpiece of the Georgian literature". Until the early 20th century, a copy of this poem was part of the dowry of every bride.
Although the poem takes place in the fictional settings of "India" and "Arabia", events in these distant lands are but a colorful allegory of the rule of King Tamar of Georgia, and the size and glory of the Kingdom of Georgia in its Golden Age. It tells of the friendship of two heroes, Avtandil and Tariel, and their quest to find the object of love, Nestan-Darejan, an allegorical embodiment of King Tamar. These idealized heroes and devoted friends are united by courtly love, generosity, sincerity, and dedication. The poem is regarded as the "coronation of thought, poetic and philosophical art of medieval Georgia", a complex work with rich and transcending genres. It has been described as "epic", "chivalric romance", "epic romance" and "epic poem of lyric poetry. "Despite its formal complexity, it bears to this day "the Georgian vision of the world."