Georgian Inscription in Ani

The Georgian inscription in Ani (1288) — inscription in the Georgian Asomtavruli script – is an epigraphic document carved on the southern wall of one of the Georgian Orthodox churches in Ani.

Scientific circles have known about it since 1910. The photograph and outline of the inscription, as well as the text in Asomtavruli script and deciphered text were first published in 1980. The church, on the wall of which the inscription is carved, is currently on the territory of Turkey. A photo negative of the inscription (N11653/1804) was found in the photo library of the Art Museum of Georgia, and three copies of the inscription text, which was heavily damaged and missing some parts, were found in the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, in the Personal Archival Fund of I. Javakhishvili – two with the autographs of N. Marr, and one with the autograph of I. Javakhishvili.

Through the comparison of the existing materials about the inscription, it was discovered that the inscription is written in 23 lines, the continuous text is readable only in the 16th–23rd lines; It is a document issued in the second half of the 13^th century by the famous figure of Ani, Paron Sahmadin (Samadin); The document concerns the payment of a loan or tax by the population of Ani, or part of the population; The date at the end of the text is – 1288.

The text of the inscription contains important information about the taxes common in Georgia and the South Caucasus during the rule of the Mongols, as well as terms, some of which can be found only in the text of this inscription among the Georgian written monuments

Literature: სილოგავა ვ., სომხეთის ქართული ეპიგრაფიკული ძეგლების გამოცემის შესახებ, «მაცნე». ენისა და ლიტერატურის სერია, 1980, № 2.

V. Silogava