ONE PRE – CHRISTIAN MYTH – RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF ST. NINO'S LIFE (FOR PARADIGMATIC FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ROYAL MAID WOMAN SHROSHANA)

Abstract

The present study examines one passage containing the pre – Christian myth of the medieval Georgian hagiographic works – "The Convent of Kartli" – namely the place where the female person is referred to by the word "woman."    

In Georgian hagiographic works of the early Middle Ages (V-X century), female people are referred to as "mother," "queen."

The word denoting the female person in Georgia today is "woman," as well as "lady."

In the article presented, a detailed analysis of the sources of various classifications and scholarly works examines the ethno – mythical and Christian etymology of the term 'woman'. The study suggests that, according to pre – Christian Georgian religious consciousness, the term "woman" meant only the female representative who headed the pagan temple (in our opinion the Lunar Temple). In pre – Christian Georgia, the worship of the moon (represented by a white goddess) was widespread, which, in the earlier Georgian hagiographic writings, except for the passages we have identified and studied, do not refer to this term as female.

Keywords: History, Ethnology, Archeology, Cultural Heritage.