Assyriology in Georgia

Assyriology is a branch of oriental studies that, in its narrow definition, studies the civilizations of Babylon and Assyria. This term broadly refers to the study of cultures, languages, and people in the ancient Middle East that used the Cuneiform writing system. Mikhail Tsereteli, a well-known Georgian scholar and historian, founded Assyriology in Georgia. Already in 1912, in the anthology "Gvirgvini,” he published extensive work "Sumerian and Georgian." He also authored studies about the Urartian language, the history of the Hittites, and the translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh (published in 1924 in Istanbul).

Researchers A. Svanidze and P. Ushakov also worked in the field of assyriology in Georgia. Assyriological research in Georgia focused on sumerology, hittitology, hurritology, and the study of Urartu. It covered three main areas: 1. History of the oldest Georgian tribal unions based on Urartian and Akkadian sources (G. Melikishvili); the problems of the Hittite kingdom and later states based on Hittite Cuneiform and hieroglyphic sources (G. Giorgadze, E. Menabde, I. Tatishvili, and N. Khazaradze); studies on the economic and social structures of Sumer city-states (J. Sharashenidze); 2. Writing system and language: there are several publications of Urartu inscriptions and Urartu language corpus preserved in Georgian National Museum (G. Tsereteli, G. Melikishvili), a symphony-lexicon (V. Gvakharia), the Hurrian language lexicon and study of its grammar (N. Nozadze), the dictionary of the Hurrian language and research on its grammar (N. Nozadze), and there is also research on the key problems of the Hittite language (T. Gamkrelidze); 3. Literature and culture: there are several translations of the masterpieces of Sumerian and Akkadian literature (V. Gvakharia, Z. Kiknadze), and there are studies on Mesopotamian mythology and issues of spiritual culture (Z. Kiknadze).

Assyriological studies have been published in the "Caucasian-Oriental Anthology" (since the 1960s).

Literature: გიორგაძე გ., ძველაღმოსავლური ისტორიულ-ფილოლოგიური პრობლემების შესწავლა საქართველოში 1921–1980 წლებში, «მაცნე». ისტ., არქეოლ., ეთნოგრ. და ხელოვნ. ისტორიის სერია, 1981, №1. ღამბაშიძე მ., ხეთური დიპლომატია, თბ., 2012.

Z. Kiknadze