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King David the Builder’s Coin– first time on display in Tbilisi, Georgia




The first-ever exhibition of King David the Builder’s coin with his image is currently being held at the Georgian National Museum from 17 September to 15 December 2019. The coin was minted during his reign and is on loan from the British Museum. 

The copper coin, preserved at the British Museum, is the most important among the coins minted by King David IV of Georgia (1089-1125) and will be displayed to the public for the first time. The coin is of enormous importance for the history of Georgia. It represents a remarkable historical record. The British Museum purchased the coin from William Willoughby Cole, the third Earl of Enniskillen in 1857. It is not known how the Earl gained the coin.

Minted in 1118, the 35 millimetre coin is 10.7 grams of copper. The inscription shows Kind David IV dressed in Byzantine imperial attire, wearing stemma, and holding a Globus cruciger. The accompanying inscription in Georgian refers to him simply as King David. On the reverse is an invocation in Georgian surrounding a cross that lists the extent of David's kingdom: 'Lord, aid David, King of Abkhazians, Kartvelians, Rans, Kakhs, Armenians.'

King David the Builder is from the Bagrationi royal dynasty. He ascended to the throne at the age of sixteen when his father, Giorgi II, abdicated as a result of a government crisis at a time when the country was weakened by the invasion of Seljuk Turks.

King David the Builder began to reform the government, church, and military to recover lost territories. On 12 August 1121, he won a “miraculous victory” in Didgori Valley. With a force of 40,000 warriors and about 200 heavily-armed Crusaders, he defeated the Muslim coalition of 100,000 soldiers and expelled the Seljuk Turks from the Caucasus.

After a reign of 36 years, he declared to his heir, “I am giving him my blessed flag and the royal title – [in the name of] Christ, King David of the Abkhazians, Kartvelians, Rans, Kakhs, Armenians, and have mercy on me.” His grave stone in the Gelati Monastery reads, “This is my resting place for eternity. It pleases me. Here I shall dwell.”

Also on display are images of King David the Builder. Despite his importance in Georgia, his image is scarce or badly preserved. There is one entitled “Joshua before the Archangel Michael” by T. Shevyakova and M. Sheybler, which is a copy of the 1096 painting from Iprari, Svaneti in western Georgia. Joshua, kneeling and wearing a helmet and armour, is considered to be an allegoric portrait of young David the Builder. 



Another image, entitled “Portrait of King David IV the Builder” is by Lado Gudiashvili, painted in 1961.



The Georgian National Museum, as part of the Science and Innovation Festival will deliver a series of workshops, educational programs and public lectures related to coins and other artefacts from the time of King David's reign.

The British Council and the British Embassy in Tbilisi is holding the exhibition as part of the UK/Georgia 2019 season of about 60 events. This exhibition was developed together with the Georgian National Museum, supported by Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia and Georgian Airways, with sponsors including Georgia Capital, Bank of Georgia, BP Adjara Group and Wissol.
















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 Sudan Curse (2009).

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