The Stele of Davati ( ka, დავათის სტელა) is a cross-shaped
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
stele
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
, carrying a
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
, depicting
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
alongside the
archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...
s
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
and
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
, with one of the earliest inscriptions in Georgian ''
Asomtavruli script''. The upper part of the stele that is assumed to have been depiction of the ''
Feast of the Ascension
The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared by ...
'' is broken and lost. 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
Dusheti ( ka, დუშეთის მუნიციპალიტეტი) is a municipality of Georgia, in the region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Its main town is Dusheti. It has a population of 25,659 and an area of 2,981.5 km2.
Settlements ...
.
[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]
Hypothesis
The Georgian scholar Ramin Ramishvili conjectures that the combination of letters ႩႲႽ corresponds to the number 5320 (5000 + 300 + 20, correspondingly
Ⴉ +
Ⴒ +
Ⴝ , which may denote, according to
Georgian numerals
The Georgian numerals are the system of number names used in Georgian, a language spoken in the country of Georgia. The Georgian numerals from 30 to 99 are constructed using a base-20 system, similar to the scheme used in Basque, French for nu ...
, the year 284 BC, the alleged date of creation of the first
Georgian script
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 hor ...
.
[
]
See also
* Stele of Serapeitis
*Stele of Vespasian
The Stele of Vespasian ( ka, ვესპასიანეს სტელა) is a stele with Ancient Greek inscriptions found in 1867 at Armazi, near Mtskheta, Georgia in the ancient capital of the Caucasian Kingdom of Iberia. The stele memori ...
References
Bibliography
*Machabeli, K. (2008) Early Medieval Georgian Stone Crosses, Ministry of Culture and Sports of Georgia
The Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს კულტურისა და სპორტის სამინისტრო, ''sakartvelos kulturisa da sportis saministro'') was a governmental agenc ...
, Chubinashvili National Research Centre for History of Georgian Art and Monument Protection, {{ISBN, 978-9941-0-2109-1
External links
History of Georgia through Artifacts: Stele of Davati
on Georgian Public Broadcasting
Georgian Public Broadcaster ( ka, საქართველოს საზოგადოებრივი მაუწყებელი, ) is the national public broadcaster of Georgia.
History
It started broadcasting radio in 1925, and ...
Davati
Georgian inscriptions
5th-century artifacts
5th-century inscriptions
1985 archaeological discoveries