THE MENTALITY CONVEYED BY THE EPITAPHS (ACCORDING TO THE MATERIALS OF WESTERN GEORGIA)

Abstract

The epitaphs found in several communities of Western Georgia and brought out for discussion by us reveal the ethnos's worldview, specific personal and general humanity approach-characteristics, way of life; The definition of Georgians' "very distinctive humanity" is being written.


By complex ethno-historical research it is also determined that:


  1. 1. About man's responsibilities in God-given life (Minute World): "You have to build with love to be able to boldly present yourself at the last trial; Grateful to have the freedom to ask God for forgiveness. The ground felt like a mother's care.

The term’ turning into land(losing one’s life) has not only physical meaning, but ‘also being received by land according to the nature’.


  1. 2. The cross, the church, and the candle, a symbol of faith displayed on the graves of the elderly and infants, indicate that those who “flew to God” were baptized.

The first thing a Georgian man would think of for a deadly doomed was christening. The myrrh-receiver would pass away, approach God. The human soul, nurtured by Christianity, joins God.


Death is a fear of disappearing "without name and surname. Death brings not fear but grief.


  1. 3. „The word of kindness and truly human being“ is also dedicated to the deceased person in Georgia.

  2. 4. The personality of the deceased, sometimes too positively expressed in a sense of calmcontentment beyond the "left behind" "is a sign of the right way of life."

  3. 5. Serving for those who died outside, rules to bring souls home. Emotional expression of human nature.

  4. 6. One word carved on the tombstones - the Daughter (raised, exalted) reflects the cultural-social identity of the Georgians, that she was a woman, is an executor of the national mission. "Woman is the guarantee of equality, dignity, purity, earthly motherhood, and being an angel of the house in Georgia."

  5. The cases of usage of old Georgian names of month and among them names describing religious signs appear in XX century epitaph, as well as in epigraphic and written monuments.

8.. In the middle of the XX century, the custom of dedicating tombstones "painted" with a photograph and an "enlarged inscription" as a sign of respect for the deceased was common.


 Keywords: Epitaph; Western Georgia; The worldview of the ethnos; Ethno-historical research; Daughter; "Fruitful life"; Death and passing away; Angelic dignity; Love and bearing the cross.

Published
2022-07-05
How to Cite
SHAVIANIDZE, Davit. THE MENTALITY CONVEYED BY THE EPITAPHS (ACCORDING TO THE MATERIALS OF WESTERN GEORGIA). HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, [S.l.], n. VII, p. 322-335, july 2022. ISSN 2449-285X. Available at: <http://sciencejournals.ge/index.php/HAE/article/view/235>. Date accessed: 29 mar. 2024.
Section
SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES - SECTION OF ETHNOLOGY