POLITICAL MOTIVATIONS IN THE MYTH OF THE HOLY GARMENT’S JOURNEY TO MOSCOW
Abstract
Myths often emerge from political interests, shaping narratives that influence communities and entire nations. Sometimes, specific information is accepted as fact without scrutiny and is never regarded as mythology. Such falsehoods can lead communities towards misguided understandings of their political, religious, and missionary destinies. Therefore, political motives often underlie myth creation.
In Georgian history, the Holy Garment, also known as Christ's Chiton, has served as a cornerstone of the Georgian kingdom's identity for many centuries. However, following the abolition of the Georgian state by Russia in 1801, the Georgian Apostolic Church was subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church, regaining independent status from the Ecumenical Patriarchate only in 1989.
For over 21 centuries, the central symbol through which Georgians represented themselves to the civilized world has been the Holy Garment, believed to have been brought to Georgia by Jewish repatriates in the 1st century AD. According to Kartlis Tskhovreba (The Georgian Chronicles, 10th century), the Holy Garment was buried with a woman who embraced it and immediately died outside Mtskheta after meeting her brothers who had returned from Jerusalem. Since then, it has been believed that the Holy Garment lay buried beneath a tree that grew at that spot. In the 4th century, after Iberia (Kartli) officially converted to Christianity under St. Nino, the main temple, Svetitskhoveli, was built there. This temple became the place where the kings of Georgia were anointed and where Holy Myrrh has been produced since the 7th century, after the 6th Ecumenical Council recognized the autocephalous status of the Georgian Church.
In Sir Oliver Wardrop's Kingdom of Georgia – “Travel in a Land of Women, Song and Wine” (1888), he sought to draw British attention to Georgia, believing its importance equaled that of France and Germany. Wardrop highlighted the route to Russia, known as the Military Road, and the monuments of the Georgian kingdom. After visiting the capital, he traveled to Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia, where he observed Svetitskhoveli and described it briefly. He recounted the story of Georgia's conversion to Christianity, stating, "The sacred garment was preserved in the cathedral until the seventeenth century, when Shah Abbas sent it as a present to the Tsar of Russia, Mikhail Fedorovich. It was solemnly deposited in the Cathedral of the Assumption at Moscow, where I saw it last autumn" (p. 39).
Wardrop’s certainty about seeing the Holy Garment in Moscow intrigued me, and this led me to investigate the myth regarding its relocation to Moscow’s Cathedral of the Assumption. My familiarity with the story of Christ's Chiton, combined with my admiration for Oliver and Marjory Wardrop, inspired this exploration into the myth’s origins. This article seeks to uncover the basis of the narrative surrounding the garment’s supposed relocation to Moscow and to analyze the political motivations that may have influenced the story’s creation in the late 17th century and its revival in the late 19th century.
Keywords:Myth Creation; Political Motives in Mythology; Holy Garment; Christ’s Chiton Georgian History; Romanovs; Svetitskhoveli Cathedral; Ecumenical Patriarchate; Georgian Apostolic Church; Russian Orthodox Church Oliver Wardrop; Georgia-Russia Relations; Assumption Cathedral Moscow; Cultural Identity; Religious Symbolism in Politics.
