The culture of the nation is a great mirror of its past life, where can be found the most important signs of its world outlook.

“The culture of the mankind is shining like a multi-faceted diamond, like a ray-collecting kaleidoscope of manifold reflections, since it was created not by a single – or several nations, but the whole group and a complex of nations. Therefore, let no one claim the achievements of the world culture, to justify taking in hand the whip of the world hegemony” (57, pp.338-339).

Although “The Georgians, in the whole span of their ethno-cultural evolution, have never made any claim to any cultural hegemony over the world, their rich literature, brilliant architecture and fine arts, original alphabet and written language, solid science, wonderful music and impeccable choreography – have certainly deserved their place in the cultural treasury of the humankind”(72). Besides, the county’s “rich and abundant nature fed the fruitful individualism of the country. Each part bore the trace of its special spirituality, and for that reason, the Georgian culture was dramatically more thrilling, flexible and mobile – compared to that of the nations, leading their life in the heart of monotonous landscape and nature” (103, p.199).

Georgia, located at the center of the Caucasian region, with many tribes, has never been an isolated and completely closed country. On the contrary, the processes, taking place in the world, are echoed here, too, and influence the ethno-cultural evolution of the people. The researches often regarded Georgia and the entire Caucasia as a bridge, uniting Europe and Asia, as a kind of refugium gentium – shelter of people, or a large highway, with a number of nations and tribes, marching along it ominously and leaving the traces of their culture. But this does not signify, that “the Georgian culture, as well as the cultures of other Caucasian population – is a peripheral culture, that accumulated the elements of other cultures, brought from other hearths of civilization – so, in the better case, Georgia and Caucasia could appear a transmitting link, and through it the cultural achievements were sent from the North to the South, and from the West to the East, or vice versa… The Georgians, and the Caucasian peoples in general, have created an original civilization with its peculiar features, that ensure their prominence among other great or minor civilizations” (105, pp. 211-212).

According to Iv.Javakhishvili’s explanation, “Georgia, being on the border of Europe and Asia, was the accumulator and the connector of the cultures and education of the East and West, of the Christian and Islamic cultures. The Georgian culture originated and flourished on the national soil of Georgia, enriched by these two great trends” (123, p.306).

G.Kikodze observed, that “In the Middle Ages, Georgia played the role of an intermediary. It happily connected three important elements of culture – Byzantine, Oriental and the classical Hellenistic. This linkage happened in the way of creating a totally new national image, that clearly differs – both, from the Byzantine and Persian, and from the culture of Asia Minor”(103, p.196).
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And indeed, “The location of the country on the crossroad of Europe and Asia, and quite a high level of the Georgian ancient culture, ensured the accumulation of the best traditions of eastern and western cultures, and in spite of a rather developed cultural syncretism, the Georgian culture succeeded in preserving its original face. More than that: not a few nations and tribes appeared under the influence of the Georgian policy, and the Georgian culture accumulated separate elements of the ethnic culture of the Caucasian peoples, and on its own part, it accumulated – and enriched itself with separate elements of the cultural achievements of the Caucasian peoples. Therefore, the focus and charm of the Georgian civilization lies in its originality: it is not limited by a tight ethnic shell, and represents an impressive synthesis of manifold elements of the European, Asian and Caucasian civilizations (72). This particular situation provides for the possibility of evaluation of the Georgian culture, which was done by a Russian author, A.V.Lunacharsky, who declared once that: “Of all the countries, constituting the Soviet Union, it seems, Georgia appears to be the country of the oldest civilization”.

And, what is important, on the “Bridge of Peoples’ Fate”, in the turbulent region of the Caucasus, it was not at all easy to plant and inculcate the sapling of their individual culture, especially as Georgia being the main ground of that bridge had to repulse devastating invasions of the barbarians. K.Gamsakhurdia expressed that in the following way: “Georgia was completely transformed into a fortress, but in the midst of defensive battles, it succeeded in giving Merchule and Rustaveli, Beka Opizari and Giorgi Mtatsmindeli, our wonderful architects, extraordinary paintings, brilliant chroniclers and our rich folklore, the builders and decorators and painters of Dmanisi, Bolnisi, Tsughrughasheni, Mtskheta, Oshki, Ateni, Gelati and Kintsvisi to the world culture.

…In every epoch, they used to bury our country in dust and ashes, but a successive explosion of the Georgians’ creative energy and the successive revival of the Georgian culture – like that of the Phoenix - would duly follow, the same as Greek sculptures, which had been routinely buried by Italian monks, but nevertheless, perfect creations would reappear from the earth” (57, p.324).

The XIX century Hungarian traveller, Janosh Beshe wrote about the Georgians: “Georgians definitely deserve a closer attention, their knowledge should be valued and appreciated in various fields of science and art. These hard-working people are perfect in land cultivation, cherishe vines and make wonderful wines”.

This excerpt, unfortunately, is a true reflection of the truth, unflattering for us – indeed, too little is known about the Georgians in the world. This may sound paradoxical, but for the majority of foreigners, Georgia and the Caucasus still remain a kind of terra incognita, while for the minority, these words are spontaneously associated with far away exotic lands. This condition is explained by a long political and cultural isolation of Georgia from western world of Christianity, when the European society was practically deprived of possibilities to get in touch with the achievements of the Georgian culture, and the Islamic East and the Christian Orthodox Russia were only aiming at the ethno-cultural absorption and assimilation of Georgia. And ironically, there was time, when the innovators of European culture – the Greeks of the Hellenistic period, had much more amount of positive information about the ancestors of the Georgians – the Kolkhis and Ibers, than they had about the peoples living on the European continent, and in the process of historical development, appeared in the avant-garde of the civilized world.
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The fact remains, that at the period when the Old Greeks created the legends and myths about the gold-rich Kolkheti and its cultural fame and fabulous treasures, those regions of Europe, where 20 centuries later the English, German and French civilizations began to flourish, as a rule, were considered only to be the places of habitat of the “Barbarians” from the point of view of creativity.

According to the works of Greek and Latin authors of the Hellenic period, prior to Old Germans, Spanish and Celt nations, the Kolkhis and Ibers had earned the privilege of being included in the honourable list of the culturally advanced (i.e. “non-barbaric”) peoples or tribes. This is proved by a few cases of referring them as “enlightened Ibers” and “hard-working, able Kolkhis”, and especially, a VI century Greek writer, Agatia’s statement about the Lazis – immediate descendants of the Kolkhis, being “a strong and courageous tribe”, that “they are not Barbarians, nor do they lead a barbarous life, and due to the relations with the Romans, they gave their lives the image of statehood and legislation” (5, p.51). Although, the given qualification clearly exaggerates the role of the Romans in the promotion of the Lazis, but on the whole, we are given a clear idea of how great was the opinion of the Byzantines – generally so chary of praise – about the cultural faculties of the West-Kartvelian tribe.

The cultural evolution of Georgia began in the ancient period and since that period was characterized by its intensive character – and considering the exceptional geographic location of the country and wonderful climate and natural conditions – appears completely natural. The remnants of the ancient material cultures on the Georgian territory (the Mtkvari-Arax, Trialeti, Kolkhuri and others), prove that our ancestors since very old times had adjusted to the hastened rhythm of the cultural life and provided quite a solid ground for further cultural revival and ethno-cultural integration of the Kartvelian tribes.

As it is stated in a research, “The sources of the old Georgian culture still await their general acclaim. The complex analysis of written and object materials, prompts the idea to consider the III-II millennium B.C. Georgia, as a civilized country. This early civilization of Ibero-Caucasus, from the very first stage of its formation, developed on local grounds, its characteristic feature was originality, and being next to the old civilization of the Asia Minor, it held not a secondary, but its own first place”(97, p.50).

So, we have reasons to believe, that “The age of flourish of the Greek-Hellenic civilization and a wide diffusion of the Hellenic cultural and historical circle, Georgia met not with a low “barbarian”, but with a highly developed and original culture”(72), which is perfectly illustrated by the facts of close relations of ancient Kolkheti and Greece, we can as well say – the facts of equal rights and relations. It is acknowledged, that the legend of Argonauts – a gem of the treasury of the world mythology, presents in the clearest way the cultural relations of ancient inhabitants of the Aegean basin – with Aia-Kolkheti, the western union of the Kartvelian tribes. This myth perfectly reflects the real past of the famed Bronze Culture, known in the special literature as the “Kolkhian culture”, with its deep roots of strength and power. Its careful study proves that “Kolkheti is one of the cradles of old civilization… The Greeks imagined – and linked Kolkhida with the notion of gold, medicine and military power… The Golden Fleece, taken to Greece, symbolizes acquiring the rules and skills of the extraction of gold – as a book and records written on the skin, or it could be a certain mysterious knowledge, which proved the Kolkhis had outdistanced the Greeks… (see pages 206-211) This myth is supported by excavated treasures”(61, pp.259-260).
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Although the nomadic Cymmerian hordes put an end to the old kingdom of Kolkheti at the end of the VIII B.C., but great cultural traditions were adequately continued by the new kingdoms of Kolkheti – Egrisi, and Iveria – Kartli, which appeared equal to the deserved fame and reputation of their ancestors. The findings of archaeological excavations, carried out in the ruins of the towns of Egrisi and Kartli, revealed a number of objects of gold, silver and other materials (adornments, tableware, arms); the quality of work and mastery of their creation, as well as their decoration, on the one hand – proves the highest level of local art and highest professional skills of local masters and artisans, and on the other hand – signifies the existence of strong and close ties with the Hellenic world and the Near East. Certainly, the process of cultural development among the Kartvelian tribes did not cease later, and for many centuries, the cultural and educational processes continued to develop, which at several periods of history was exemplary for the cultural life in the whole Caucasus.

The Georgian language became a real crown of the Georgian cultural treasury. As Catholicos of Georgia, Ilia II wrote in his New Year Epistle in 1986: “It takes several centuries – for people to develop their culture, language, character; the level of art, literature and science is the index and proof of its genius. Yet, the clearest expression of the nation’s soul is the language. It is a mysterious and unexplained treasury, requiring special care and attention. The Georgian language is deep, boundless, wise, modest – and unsurpassable, like reason and love. Its source is as unknown, as of Melkisedek Mamamtavari. It implies the whole Georgia… it is as beautiful, as a rose first flourished in spring, and its azure attire is as pleasing as the life-giving rays of the rising sun, the sky is its source, the Lord is its creator and protector. His word is sharp as the sword of David Aghmashenebeli, strong and hard as Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, and tender as morning dewdrops hanging on a flower-petal like a pearl… The language needs care and special consideration, as a precondition of our happiness”.

While evaluatiing the Georgian language, as the most important phenomenon of the Georgian culture, we must remember the fact, that “Many nations of the old civilization no longer speak the languages that they had in earlier epoch. For the present-day Greeks, the Old Greek is alien, for Italians – Latin, the languages of European nations also underwent complete transformation. Equally great is the difference between the Old and New Armenian, Old Slavic and New Russian. But unlike them, the Georgian language has not changed essentially and has practically remained the same, and a modern reader perfectly understands the language of Iacob Khutzesi, Giorgi Merchule and Shota Rustaveli. The language used in church, including the written language, was not much separated from the temporal Georgian. In spite of a number of accumulated elements, the Georgian lexical fund, basically, remained unchanged”(97, pp.444-445).
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Apparently, the Georgian written language and literacy has its sources in the pre-Christian Age. According to researchers, the Georgian alphabet, which is one of the most perfect among the 14 recorded alphabets, must have been created either in the VII-III centuries B.C., or V c. B.C., or in the IV c. A.D., although, the Kolkhian kirbies may point to an earlier tradition of archaic Kartvelian writing. The old historical Georgian tradition presents king Parnavaz of Iberia (IV-III centuries B.C.) to be the creator of Georgian literacy.

The oldest Georgian written monuments that have reached our times belong to the V century; the first skin-page of the discovered manuscript books (a palimpsest) dates – to the VI century, the first Georgian book dated 1629.

The documents prove that the philosophical thinking and reasoning began in Georgia as early as in the III century. At that time in Kolkheti existed a school of higher education in rhetoric and philosophy (so-called Phazisi Academy), where not only local youth, but also the representatives of the Eastern Roman Empire studied. That famous school, called “A temple of muses” by a famed philosopher of the IV century, Themestios, existed till 529 A.D., when Yustinian, the Caesar of Byzantine, issued an edict to close the schools of Hellenic philosophy. Sh.Nutsubidze’s observation is quite correct: “The culture of philosophy does not begin with academies. It was bound to be developed earlier, and it had to pass a long way of evolution before there appeared a need to found an academy. To put it short, Georgia must have possessed initially a type of philosophical culture, in order to establish a center of philosophical education in the III century”(90, p.96). Thus, we can consider the Phazisi Academy a rightful successor of the Kolkhian philosophical culture that later (XII century) found its “heirs” respetable – then called “The other Athens”, “Second Jerusalem” or the “Second Rome” – the academies in Gelati (West Georgia) and Ikalto (East Georgia).

The VI-XII centuries were noted for the Georgians founding abroad great centers of culture and education (in Palestine, Greece and Bulgaria). Besides, churches and monasteries built within – and beyond the borders of Georgia after introducing Christianity in the country, were the major centers of national ideology and the objects of constant care of the official power. Not infrequently, the Georgian kings themselves were outstanding scholars and writers. Due to them, the cultural and educational processes in Georgia did not die – even at the most critical periods of its historical development, including the unlucky moments of the temporary loss of independence.

In the II millennium B.C., our forefathers already had a well-developed folklore art, with the differentiated types of lyricism, epics and drama. The narrative folklore was presented as myths, legends and fairy tales, while the lyrics and poetry included songs and poems dedicated to various activities and rituals in everyday life and in the household. One of the major ancient epics is “Amiraniani”, and its protagonist is the hero who brought the humans fire, and was punished for that by gods who chained him to a rock on the Caucasus – and who may be considered the double of the Greeks’ Prometheus, and a possible source of the Greek myth as well.
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K.Gamsakhurdia, in his evaluation stated, that “Over the centuries, the Georgians became famed essentially in three fields: wars, literature and architecture” (56, p.813).

And indeed, “It is impossible to find a single region, or a gorge or a village, where we do not meet any type of the remnant of the past – either an old church, or a belfry, or some ruins of a fortress, or a watch-tower” (51, p.7). In his description of Samtskhe-Saatabago, Vakhushti Bagrationi particularly underlines the fact, that “...There is hardly a place here – either a fortress, or villages or summer houses, without some chapel or church, built of masonry, one or maybe even two, whether big or small, and this is the way it is all over the regions and places of Georgia that we described” (23, p.620).

It is also interesting to note, that the number of the architectural monuments, existing on our territory, is more than 10 thousand, which – we must confess - is a very impressive number. Probably, we shall not make a mistake if we admit that this data may appear unsurpassable for any nation in the world with high cultural background (see pages 222-231).

As it is stated in a research, “On an exceedingly long way of its history, the Georgian architecture maintained its links with life-giving sources of the folk creative art; it always set the complex constructive and architectural tasks and never betrayed its high professional level. Not a few times it achieved the peaks of creativity. The Georgian architecture, which had always maintained permanent relations with the architecture of other nations, succeeded in working out its sharp and particular national features. In spite of natural changes in styles, the monumentality had always been its characteristic quality – but at the same time, the humanity of the scale was never violated; another characteristic feature of it was a cheerful disposition – even in expressing accurate and well-adjusted emotions; exaltation and mysticism are alien to it; even church buildings bear the temporal mood; the structure of a Georgian piece of art is always tectonic, classically clear and sharp: it is always rational, but poetic, at the same time. In the epochs of its flourishment, the Georgian architecture was always propagated progressive ideas. It has produced a number of architectural masterpieces and noticeably contributed to the treasury of the world art” (51, p.77).

Even a brisk list of wonderful samples of the Georgian architecture, gives a complete picture of its exceptionally high level and its exemplary merits: Vardzia, Vanis Kvabis, Uplistsikhe, David Gareja, Svetitskhoveli, Gelati, Alaverdi, Nikortsminda, the culture of Svanuri towers and a variety of the temporal constructions.

As for the Georgian literature, it has an uninterrupted history of 1500 years and doubtless, represents one of the oldest and the richest national literature. For the reason of mass elimination of the literary monuments, expressing the pagan views, the first monument of the Georgian literature dates back to the V century – a book of the hagiographic genre – “The Martyrdom of St.Shushanik”, written by Iacob Tsurtaveli. “It should be noted, that at that period of early Middle Ages, no nation of the Christian East had a poetry of the temporal type: neither Assyrians, nor Armenians or Byzantines had the belles-lettres at that period” (123, p.307); while the Europeans, their peoples and writers felt a taste of the Bible in their national languages only in the XVI-XVII centuries, owing to the work of our great translators and theologians, we had the privilege of having that book in the VII-VIII centuries” (57, p.441). Besides, “The Georgian literary language has a wonderful quality of being close to the folk language. The Georgians easily accumulate the highest cultural values and the most exquisite ideals even when they are presented in the purest literary form”(103, p.156).
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In the illustrious cohort of Georgian writers (see pages 238-243), a special place is occupied by the author of “The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin”, Shota Rustaveli (XIII c.), who was a thinker of the world scale and a symbol of the so-called “Eastern Renaissance”. A German writer, Arthur Zuttner (1850-1902) wrote: “Inaccessibility prompts us to call Rustaveli a genius, because he created a novel in the epoch, when the said genre of the epic poetry did not even exist in Europe”. Constantine Balmont presented a following formula: “The same as Homer symbolizes Helladic, Dante – Italy, Shakespeare – England, Calderon and Cervantes – Spain, Rustaveli signifies Georgia”, a Bulgarian critic, Velcho Velchev considers Rustaveli’s poem a major work of the world literature, and a cherished heritage of the Georgian people. It was a natural spiritual support at the times of the national misfortunes. In the XVII-XVIII cc. the poem became a code of the world outlook and civil gentility”. Indeed, along with the Gospel and Chronicles of Kartli”, it successfully played the role of an ideological armour, that reliably defended the ethnical body of the nation, already in scars – from a number of fatal wounds, and raised not a few generations of Georgians in the spirit of humanity and patriotism. It is also significant that the poem by Rustaveli was a constituent part of a dowry for Georgian brides. N.Berdzenishvili calls the poem “a hymn of the Georgian feudal culture”, “the ideological treasury of the developed feudalism”, “a political teaching” and “a moral code of the Georgian feudalism”; all that exactly applies to and corresponds with the “Golden Age” of the unrivaled revival of the Georgian feudal monarchy, when the famed and strong Georgia was spread “from Nikopsia to Daruband” and did no longer conceal its aim to “take from Byzantine its great mission of the Christian Empire”. At the same time, it is known that “No nation can be viewed as a creator of anything of definite importance, if it never considered itself to be a guardian of some great cultural mission” (56, p.813). And the beginning of the XIII century was exactly the time, when Georgia felt itself strong “and finally understood, that the idea of the creation of the Transcaucasia – had prospects, with Georgia - as a hegemony of the new regional union, when almost all the Caucasian nations and tribes were already under its political and cultural influence”. It is true, that the materialization of that idea remained unfulfilled, but “a serious attempt at building “the Caucasian House” irrevocably inculcated an opinion about the country, as the political and cultural leader of the whole Caucasus – the opinion, which, as a matter of fact, did not lose its appeal and weight even at the period of Georgia’s diminished authority and power in politics and culture” (72).

The Georgians possess the historical literature of quite long traditions. The collection of the “Chronicles of Kartli” is made of a number of old writings that had been collected over the centuries with great diligence. The collection implies the writings of various Georgian writers of the XI-XVIII centuries.

Georgian Fine Arts (works on gold, enamel and chased art, monumental paintings, miniatures and murals, etc.), also reveal the clarity and proper expressiveness, the independent features of the Georgian art and its artistic ripeness (see pages 232-237).

The roots of the Georgian music are to be searched 3 thousand years earlier. The originality of Georgian music is determined by its unique colourful polyphony, consisting of 1, 2, 3 and 4 tones and voices. Apart from it, Georgian musical folklore embraces many dialects – each of them original and resourceful, and of rare fineness and perfection. Starting from the VII century, Georgian spiritual music developed on purely national and completely original grounds.

Georgian folk choreography has the richest traditions, and deserves to be considered a world-class phenomenon, due to its long history, variety, deep content, beautiful and fine forms, amazing poetic dynamism – and the popularity it has achieved world-over is truly deserved.

The issue of the harmonious compatibility of the esthetic culture of the people - and the historical reality of Georgia should specially be underlined. “The Georgian art has never been alienated or unapproachable; the manner and quality of an inaccessible caste has never been characteristic of Georgian writers, artists and painters. Their art was generous like the sun of the South, equally generous to slaves and masters” (103, p.179).