NIMROD AND “THE BOOK OF NIMROD” WITH GEORGIAN WRITERS OF EARLIEST TIMES

Abstract

Nimrod draws the attention Georgian writers of earliest times mainly as: a famous hero, the builder of The Tower of Babel, a kind of ancestor of Georgian kings. Apart from Leonti Mroveli, one of the old Georgian authors, the name Nimrod is mentioned by Georgian classical writers and the writers of Renaissance period: Chakhrukhadze, Shavteli, Teimuraz I, Teimuraz II, Besiki. It should also be noted that none of these authors mentions The Book of Nimrod anywhere. They only talk about Nimrod as a biblical character.

Especially interesting is “The Book of Nimrod” certified by Leonti Mroveli in "Conversion of Kartli", though some scholars consider is as the fruit of Leonti's imagination.

The presented paper discusses all the main points that exist about “The Book of Nimrod" and draws appropriate conclusion about the actual existence of this book. In connection with this issue, the Georgian philological science expressed the opinion that “The Book of Nimrod" did not really exist and it was a translation of one of the editions of the Assyrian works "The Cave of Treasure". (K. Kekelidze, Iv. Javakhishvili).

As noted, the apocryphal work entitled as "The Cave of Treasure" is a compilation of commentaries and legends of various episodes of the Bible (from both the Old and New Testaments). In our opinion, the episode about Nimrod in "The Cave of Treasure", can be an episodic part from “The Book of Nimrod” that existed a long time before. This view is supported not only by the analysis of the texts, but also some opinions expressed concerning these texts. In this regard, we consider important Zurab Avalishvili's opinion that “the Georgian translation of "The Cave of Treasure" can be derived from the version of "The Cave of Treasure", which contained this part of the text and nowadays no longer exists." "We consider that one of the sources of "The Cave of Treasure" was “The Book of Mobed ", which could have existed independently in the Georgian royal family. Its popularity is evidenced by the fact that King Mirian uses this book during the hard time of a choice for him. This book should have been a work containing both Zoroastrian and Messianic ideas at the same time. Their coexistence in one book further even more convinced King Mirian in the truth of Nino's faith.

Keywords: Nimrod, Georgian writers, Old, Bible, Book.