Skip to main content

The Testament of David the Builder



From 26 December 2016, the Georgian National Museum, has displayed the only surviving testament of David the Builder, written in Shirvan before he went into combat. There is also a copy of its glass negative made by Aleksandre Roinashvili in 1895.

The Georgian National Museum, National Archives of Georgia and Korneli Kekelidze National Centre of Manuscripts are exhibiting the Testament of David the Builder in the basement’s Treasury section.

The exhibition will also showcase paleographical blades of David the Builder's handicrafts created by Sargis Kakabadze in 1911, and the embellished gospel "Ceremonial" (Sazeimo) which may have belonged to Queen Tamar. Georgia is one of the first countries that adopted Christianity and recognized it as their national religion. Hence the exhibition includes Georgian Christian art, based on pre-Christian traditions, which eventually formed the nation of Georgia.

David the Builder is David IV (David the Fourth) – Davit Aghmashenebeli – who lived from 1073 to 1125. He was King of Georgia during the Bagrationi dynasty, from 1089 until his death. He is considered to be the greatest and most successful Georgian ruler in history and an original architect of the Georgian Golden Age. He succeeded in ousting the Seljuk Turks from the country, winning the Battle of Didgori in 1121. He was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

The Colophon (Brief Statement) of King David was written while he was visiting the Shiomghvime Monastery. The document had autographic inscriptions. It was preserved in its complete form of five pages of more than two metres in length, written in 165 lines.

In 1915, during World War I, the colophon was taken to Romanovsky in the North Caucasus together with other documents. In 1919, more than 3,000 documents were destroyed. A fragment of the colophon, and a fragment from the document of King Giorgi II, were rescued by Abram Evangulov, a local resident, and given to Sargis Kakabadze in 1923. The fragment is 26 centimetres by 28 centimetres in Georgian Nuskhuri Script and is the left part of the upper half of page 4 of the original document.


King David’s text, in cursive, begins ‘With the Lord’s help, I, David, began (to write).’ The end is ‘Lord, affirmation of all, (this) firm (will) turn into an immutable.’








MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more