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Stele of Davati

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stele of Davati
MaterialRelief
SizeHeight 61cm[1]
WritingGeorgian script
Created5th century
Discovered1985
Present locationSimon Janashia Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi
LanguageOld Georgian

The Stele of Davati (Georgian: დავათის სტელა) is a cross-shaped limestone[2] stele, carrying a bas-relief, depicting Virgin Mary alongside the archangels Michael and Gabriel, with one of the earliest inscriptions in Georgian Asomtavruli script.[3] Two other men depicted in the bas-relief could not yet be identified; maybe they are the sponsors of the stele.[4] The upper part of the stele that is assumed to have been depiction of the Feast of the Ascension is broken and lost.[5] It has been dated from the 4th to the 5th century. The stele was discovered in 1985 in a small Church of the Virgin in highland village of Davati, Dusheti Municipality.[6][7]

Hypothesis

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The Georgian scholar Ramin Ramishvili conjectures that the combination of letters ႩႲႽ corresponds to the number 5320 (5000 + 300 + 20, correspondingly [k] + [t] + [č]), which may denote, according to Georgian numerals, the year 284 BC, the alleged date of creation of the first Georgian script.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Machabeli, p. 119
  2. ^ Machabeli, p. 6
  3. ^ Machabeli, p. 120
  4. ^ Lordkipanidze, David (2018). Georgiens Geschichte in 33 Objekten [History of Georgia in 33 Objects]. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, ISBN 978-3-96311-045-0, p. 57 (in German).
  5. ^ Machabeli, p. 11
  6. ^ Abramishvili, G & Aleksidze, Z. (1990), "A national motif in the iconographic programme depicted on the Davati Stela". Le Muséon, Vol. 103. # 3-4: 283-292
  7. ^ a b Abramishvili, G; Aleksidze, Z (2012). "დავათის სტელა [Davati stele]". ენციკლოპედია "საქართველო", ტ. II [Encyclopaedia Georgia, Vol. 2] (in Georgian). Georgian National Academy of Sciences. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-99928-20-27-8.

Bibliography

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