The Historical Geography of Gareja: Past and Present

Multidisciplinary Study and Development Strategy April 18,19, 20, 2019, Georgia Tbilisi 2020 PUBLISHED BY: Georgian Arts and Culture Center/ country representation of Europa Nostra in Georgia National Agency for the Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia WITH FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG) [grant number: CG18_26] National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia SUPPORTED BY: Europa Nostra, European Investment Bank Institute, Creative Europe PROJECT LEADER Maka Dvalishvili, Director of the Georgian Arts and Culture Center Country Representative of Europa Nostra in Georgia ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Maka Dvalishvili Nikoloz Antidze Nana Kuprashvili Tamar Kiknadze Marita Sakhltkhutsishvili EDITOR: Ori Z Soltes CATALOGUE COORDINATOR: Marita Sakhltkhutsishvili DESIGN: Gega Paksashvili PHOTOGRAPHY ON THE COVER Davit Gareji Monastery. St. Davit’s Lavra, 6th C. (photo by Marita Sakhltkhutsishvili) © Georgian Arts and Culture Center/ The country representation of Europa Nostra in Georgia, National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia © Authors 2020 ISBN 978-9941-8-2198-1 Editorial Note: the publication has been published with the assistance of Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, and National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia by Georgian Arts and Culture Center. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the authors and in no way reflect the views of the publishers. CONTENT Foreword, Maka Dvalishvili .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Foreword, Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Conference bodies ........................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Preface, Piet Jaspaert .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 EUROPA NOSTRA/EIB INSTITUTE MISSION REPORT Europa Nostra and EIBI mission in Davit Gareji monasteries and hermitages (Georgia). Technical recommendations and some input. GAIANÈ CASNATI. Europa Nostra Council Member (IT) ..................................................................................... 14 HISTORIC, CULTURAL AND ART HISTORIAN ASPECTS OF DAVIT GAREJI MONASTERY COMPLEX The Historical Geography of Gareja: Past and Present GIORGI TCHEISHVILI. National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia (GE) .......................................................... 26 Archaeological Study of the Gareji Monastic Complex: Results and Prospects ZURAB TVALCHRELIDZE, NIKOLOZ MURGULIA The Medieval Cultural Heritage Centre of the Georgian National Museum (GE) .......................................................................... 32 Researching the Grave Found in the Chapel of the Natlismtsemeli Monastery DAVID LOMITASHVILI, LIA BITADZE, ELISO KVAVADZE, KETEVAN DIGMELASHVILI. Tbilisi State University, Georgian National Museum, National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia (GE) .............................................. 44 The Collection of Household Items Found in Davit Garejeli’s Lavra in 2017 NODAR BAKHTADZE, BACHANA GABEKHADZE, GIORGI KURTANIDZE Georgian National Museum; Ilia state University (GE) ................................................................................................................... 52 On the Earliest History of the Davit-Gareja Monastery: From the Anachoretic Community Towards Hybrid Lavra SHOTA MATITASHVILI. Tbilisi State University (GE) ....................................................................................................................... 60 The Davit Gareja Monastic Complex According to Georgian Hagiographic Texts EKA TCHKOIDZE. Ilia State University (GE) ...................................................................................................................................... 64 Identifying Neki and Daniel Nekis Dze (son of Neki), Authors of the 13th-14th cc. Scratched Inscription, made in the Davit Gareji Udabno Monastery’s Martyrium and the Scratched Inscription of the first half of the 15th c., made in the Annunciation Church NIKOLOZ ZHGENTI. Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts (GE) ................................................................... 69 The Portrait of Arsen I Kolonkelisdze Chkondidel-Mtsignobartukhutsesi (1170s) at the Kolagiri Monastery of Gareji: Historical and Source Study Analysis. TEMO JOJUA. Ilia State University (GE) .......................................................................................................................................... 75 Architecture of the Dodorka Monastery of Gareji DAVIT CHIKHLADZE. G. Chubinashvili National Research Centre for Georgian Art History and Heritage Preservation (GE) ......... 80 The Newly Revealed Rock Carved Domed Church of Dodorka Monastery GEORGE GAGOSHIDZE. National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia (GE) ....................................................... 87 Vita Cycle of St Demetrius of Thessaloniki and His Holy Relics at Dodorka Monastery. MARINA BULIA. Giorgi Chubinashvili National Research Centre for Georgian Art History and Heritage Preservation (GE) ......... 93 Theological Content of a Mural in a Church of the Tetri Udabno Monastery of Gareji LADO MIRIANASHVILI. “Udabno” Science Fund (GE) .................................................................................................................. 106 Painted Icons of St. Davit Garejeli in the Georgian National Museum (Images of the Saint in Medieval Georgian Art) NANA BURTCHULADZE. Georgian National Museum (GE) ........................................................................................................... 112 CAVE MONASTERIES AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT Monastic and Artistic Bridges: Davit Garejeli and Niko Pirosmanishvili within the Georgian Ethos ORI Z SOLTES. Georgetown University (USA) ................................................................................................................................ 122 The Predecessors of Davit Gareji: The Monastic Habitat in Egypt, Sinai, Palaestina and Syria. JOSEPH PATRICH. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL) ......................................................................................................... 128 The Rock-Carved Basilica Church at Selime in the Peristrema Valley, Cappadocia VERONICA KALAS. New York University (USA) ............................................................................................................................ 137 NATURAL HERITAGE OF DAVIT GAREJI Terrestrial Fossil Record from the Territory of the Davit Gareja Monastery Complex MAIA BUKHSIANIDZE. Georgian National Museum (GE) ............................................................................................................. 146 Floristic and Ecosystem Diversity of Davit Gareji Protected Landscape NIKOLOZ LACHASHVILI, KONSTANTINE KERESELIDZE. Ilia State University, Botanical Institute (GE) ........................................... 154 Earthquakes on the Territory of the Davit Gareji Desert according to the Historical Sources DAREJAN KLDIASHVILI, MIKHEIL ELASHVILI. Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, Ilia State University, (GE) ............................................................................................................................................................ 163 SITE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION World Heritage Tentative List of Georgia: Davit Gareji – Challenges and opportunities TAMAR MELIVA, MANANA VARDZELASHVILI. National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia (GE) .................. 170 Keshikchidag Caves Complex MUSA MURSAGULOV. Head of the State Historical-Cultural Reserve “Keshikchidag”(AZ) .......................................................... 173 Fundamentals of environmental planning and management of the Davit Gareji proposed protected landscape. MZIA GABUNIA and JENTJE VAN DER WEIDE. Georgia’s Protected Areas Program, Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. (GE/NL) ........................................................................................................................................ 177 Instability processes affecting the rupestrian monastery complex area of Davit Gareja (Georgia). CLAUDIO MARGOTTINI, DANIELE SPIZZICHINO, GIOVANNI GIGLI, WILLIAM FRODELLA, MIKHEIL ELASHVILI, STEFANO ALBERTI, ANDREA VALAGUSSA and GIOVANNI CROSTA UNESCO Chair at Florence University; Maeci - Embassy of Italy in Egypt; ISPRA - Geological Survey of Italy; UNIFI – University of Florence; Ilia State University; University of Milano-Bicocca, (IT) ................................................................................................................ 185 Diagnostic Study and Emergency Stabilization of Wall Paintings in Church of St Demetrius of Thessaloniki at Dodorka Monastery NANA KUPRASHVILI, ALEXANDER RUBASHVILI, SALOME AKHALASHVILI, TAMAR LILUASHVILI Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (GE) ................................................................................................................................................ 192 HIstorIc, cultural aNd art HIstorIaN aspEcts of davIt GarEjI MoNastEry coMplEx 28 Davit Gareji – Multidisciplinary Study and Development Strategy The Historical Geography of Gareja: Past and Present GIORGI TCHEISHVILI National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia (GE) The century-old investigation of the monastic complex of Gareji, the biggest center of Georgia’s spirituality and culture, has amply demonstrated both the universal significance of the site and the multi-aspected nature of its history, as well as the role of historical geography in the proper conceptualization of the key issues connected to Davitgareji. *** Archaeological excavations revealed that humans inhabited the area as early as the Lower Paleolithic Era. The region was particularly densely populated in the Late Bronze- Early Iron Age (second half of the second millennium BCE – first half of the first millennium BCE). The trace of inhabitation disappears in the Gareji desert following the mid-first millennium BCE. Natural and anthropogenic impact caused the area’s gradual desolation. The heat and aridity that became characteristic features of the Iori Plateau were, indeed, emphatically noted by ancient Greek authors (Strabo, Dion Cassius). In the Middle Ages, due to a landscape that seemed to resemble a biblical one, the semi-desert region of the Mtkvari Valley and the lower Iori became an important center of monasticism. In the sixth through thirteenth centuries nearly twenty monasteries were established here; the core were those founded by Saint Davit Garejeli and his disciples. This reality is reflected in the terms ‘three monastic hermitages of Gareji’ and ‘twelve monasteries/monastic hermitages’ documented in Georgian sources. Today there is no doubt that the beginning of monastic life in the area between the Iori and Mtkvari rivers is associated with the ministries of the Assyrian fathers St. Davit, Lukiane and Dodo. However, issues such as the descent, confession, time and circumstances of the arrival of the Assyrian fathers remain debatable. The Georgian manuscript newly discovered in St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai (N/SIN.GEO-50)1 brought greater clarity to these issues. It can be claimed that the Assyrian fathers, including Davit of Gareja and Lukiane, were Dyophysite Syrians, who arrived in Kartli in the 510s to consolidate Christianity.2 *** Another subject of heated argument is the ethnocultural identity of the monastic complex of Gareji. Resulting from the topicality of the problem, it is necessary to discuss several points. Scholarly literature has witnessed several attempts to explain the etymology of the term Gareji. Is Garejia tribal name or the reduced form of Garejvari (i.e. “outer/border cross”); does Gareji mean “foreigner,” “stranger,” etc? However, none of these assertions have become popular in the scholarly literature. Some claims even became subject to fierce criticism. The most acceptable version is the explanation of the anonymous author of The Vita of Davit Garejeli, according to which gareji is a term connected with asceticism.3 The toponym Gareji/Davitgareji can be traced back at least a thousand years – it is evidenced in the form of Garercha (comp. Merchule/Merjule) three times in a Sinai manuscript of the first half 1. The manuscript is dated from the first half of the tenth century (Aleksidze 2019: 7-28). 2. Aleksidze 2019: 79-120. 3. Detailed analysis of the term was conducted by D. Merkviladze in St. Father Davit Garejeli and His Monasteries, In Georgian,Tbilisi, 2012: 129-155; See also Aleksidze 2019: 125. Davit Gareji – Multidisciplinary Study and Development Strategy of the tenth century.4 The term Garesheta is applied in the Ⴀ redaction of The Vita of Ioane of Zedazeni’ (10th c),5 while the redactions of the Vitae of Assyrian Fathers more frequently apply Garesja Udabno (Gareja Desert).6 Garercha-Gareshja-Garesja is found in the redactions of the Vita of Ilarion Kartveli (St. Hilarion the Georgian).7 Garesja-Gareji is a common form in the narrative and documentary sources of the 13th – 18th centuries.8 Simultaneously, there occurs the phrase Garejis/ Udabnos Mravalmta (the Rolling Mountains of Gareji/Desert), as well.9 Davitgareji is largely applied to indicate the Lavra. St. Davit’s Tomb is the parallel form of the latter. Equally long is the history of the oronym Gareji Mountain, which is first mentioned in an early fourteenth-century source while reporting the mid-thirteenth-century events.10 The same source cites ‘the Country of Gareji’.11 Division by countries/lands is one of the aspects of Georgia’s historicalgeographical development in the High Middle Ages. Apart from the monastic complexes, the Country of Gareja comprised the monastic seignory as well. It is known from historical documents that the Gareji monasteries possessed rather vast lands, especially in Kakheti, on the northern and southern slopes of the Gombori Range. The villages belonging to Gareji were typically referred to as Tsinsagarejo, Ukansagarejo, Tsina-Ukana Sagarejo or just Sagarejo.12 It is remarkable that the Persian khans of the seventeenth century pronounced the toponym as Gareji/Davitgareji.13 A strong tradition of naming places after monasteries is also evidenced by the fact that despite the profound demographic changes that took place on the Iori Plateau (see below), almost all the monasteries maintained their historical names. Mta Tsamebuli, Tbilelis Khevi, Pshatianis Khevi, Natlismtsemeli Monastery, Kedi Tetri Udabno, Seri, Davit Gareji Monastery, Mta Udabno, Garejis-Tskaro, etc. are all marked on the Russian military maps of the 19th -20th centuries. If we look at these maps carefully, we can see that the monastic toponyms are ‘surrounded’ by Turkic geographical names, which perfectly demonstrates the viability of the Georgian forms, as well as the absence of alternatives both within the country and beyond its borders. The materials concerning the delineation of the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan (from the 1920s) cite Davit-Gareji, Udabnos Kedi, Udabno, Chichkhituris Series Kedi… Unlike Gareji/Davitgareji, the toponym Keshikchidaghi, which Azerbaijani scholars are seeking to establish to refer to the Gareji complex, is not documented in any narrative, or any documentary or epigraphic source at all. At least, this is the case until the first third of the twentieth century. *** All redactions of the Vitae of the Assyrian Fathers, including the Sinai version, straightforwardly state that they arrived into the “country of Kartli” (= Iberia of Classical and Byzantine writers) // the “country of the Georgians,”14 “settled down in Kartli,” and established monasteries “within the borders of Kartli.”15 K’akheti, K’ukheti, Zena-Sopeli, Gareji, Mtisa K’erdzoni, and Dvaleti are cited as the places in which they were active on their missions.16 4. Aleksidze 2019: 213, 223-225. 5. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, I: 207. 6. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, I: 207, 229, 247; III: 176; IV: 407. 7. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, II: 11; IV: 356, 358. 8. Metreveli 2008: 597, 612, 620, 623; Dzeglebi 1963-1980, V: 127, 128, 130; VI: 34, 191, 200, 205-207, 275; Muskhelishvili 2010. 9. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 125, 193, 381, 437, 477; II: 534. 10. Metreveli 2008: 597. 11. Metreveli 2008: 612. 12. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 14-15, 36, 49, 51, 53-54, 57. 13. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 95-96. 14. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, I: 196, 198, 199, 213; III: 90, 99, 105, 115-117. 15. Aleksidze 2019: 214, 220. 16. Aleksidze 2019: 213; 207, 229, 247; Dzeglebi 1963-1980, III: 106, 176. 29 30 Davit Gareji – Multidisciplinary Study and Development Strategy This is what the standpoint of Georgian authors was at least following the first half of the tenth century. Presumably, a similar historical-geographical situation was reflected in the archetypes that have not reached us, which, according to scholars, must have been created in the sixth and seventh centuries (I. Javakhishvili, I. Abuladze, Z. Aleksidze, M. Chkhartishvili). We do not possess any account that would cast doubt on the perspective of Georgian hagiographers about the lives and activities of Davit Garejeli and other Assyrian Fathers in Kartli. Armenian and Armenian-writing Albanian authors keep away from this fact. Apparently, they remained unaware of this phenomenon which took place beyond their native cultural-political world. The ecclesiastical geography of Kartli at the turn of the sixth century, as documented by the Armenian ‘Book of Epistles’,17 makes it indubitable that the Assyrian Fathers established monasteries in the kingdom of Kartli. *** In the Classical period, Gareji was situated at the conjunction of three historical provinces: K’akheti, K’ukheti and K’ambechani (Hereti). It is difficult to ascertain whether in the Early Hellenistic Period (3rd -2nd centuries BCE) the territory of Gareji was included in the borders of the newly formed kingdom of Kartli; however, the analysis of Strabo’s accounts provides a solid basis for confirming that by the late first century BCE the territory of Gareji belonged to the kingdom of Kartli. Specifically, Strabo’s ‘Geography’ asserts that the province called Cambysene was distributed among the Iberians, Albanians and Armenians (Strabo, XI. 3. 5; 4.1, 5; 14.4). Cambysene was the name of the area between the lower stretch of the Alazani River and the Mtkvari. It may be presumed that the Iberians owned the northern and western parts of Cambysene, Albanians were in control of the north-eastern part and its southern part belonged to the Armenians.18 Even in the case of such rough distribution, Gareji must be sought within the borders of Iberia. Strabo’s accounts also create certain impressions regarding the ethnic situation. We may even claim that, beside the political geography, his accounts reflect the ethnic situation, as well (e.g. Cambysene, where the Armenians border both the Iberians and the Albanians – XI.4.1.).19 In this regard, particularly interesting is the khoronym ‘Cambysene’. In medieval sources it corresponds to K’ambechani//K’ambechovani, while the latter, as Z. Alexidze believes, “is a toponym derived according to the Georgian system and …it means the territory where a large number of buffaloes (kambechi) are bred or just live in the wild. The name is spread throughout Georgia. ‘Kambechovani’ does not exist in the vocabulary of any other language except Georgian”.20 If the ethnic composition of Cambysene-Kambechovani was Georgian, then, naturally, the same should have been true for the area west of Cambysene, as well. By the mid-first century CE, the entire right bank of the Alazani River fell within the borders of the kingdom of Kartli.21 The tendency of expanding toward the east continued through the following centuries and was completed by annexing Hereti (the left bank of the Alazani from Lagodekhi to Shaki) and Shaki.22 Simultaneously with these processes, there occured changes in the geography of the provinces situated on the east borders of Kartli. The Vita of Davit Garejeli vividly shows that Gareji is the area 17. Muskhelishvili 1982: 29; 2016: 58-59, XXI. 18. Muskhelishvili 1982: 19-20; 2016: 4-5, II. 19. Muskhelishvili 1982: 19. 20. Aleksidze 2019: 125. 21. Pliny, VI. 11. 29; Muskhelishvili 1982: 20; 2016: 5, II-III. 22. See Muskhelishvili 1982; 2016. Davit Gareji – Multidisciplinary Study and Development Strategy of governance of the eristavi (duke) of Rustavi,23 i.e. Gareji is a constituent part of K’ukheti.24 The same is indicated by the fact that Gareji was subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop of Rustavi. The ethnic composition of Rustavi and its country was Georgian, which is unambiguously demonstrated on the fifth- through seventh-century ceramic fragments with Georgian inscriptions recovered in the city and its environs.25 The epigraphy of Natlismtsemeli, also fits easily into this context. In the doorway of the church of the monastery, G. Chubinashvili tracked down a stone column that, according to his observation, must have been a fragment of a once existing monument. The stela depicts St. Stephen and there is a six-line supplicatory inscription placed below the relief. The inscription dates to the late sixth or early seventh century.26 As is known, in the Middle Ages, language was an important marker of national identity. It is also known that in early medieval times inscriptions in Armenia and Albania were rendered in their native Armenian or Albanian languages. This once again confirms that the inscription of Natlismtsemeli, just like those of Rustavi, was executed in a Georgian ethno-cultural society and that the donor and the monks (for whom the inscription was made) were Georgian. Taking the above-mentioned information into consideration, it can be presumed that the first followers of Davit Garejeli and Lukiane were Georgians too; the hagiographer of the eighteenth century directly reports that Father Dodo was ‘born in the country of Kakheti”.27 Ethnic geography had not been uniform. There were Armenians living among Georgians, which is indicated by the conversation between the eristavi of Rustavi and Davit Garejeli that went on in the Armenian language, as well as by the toponyms Nasomkhari (“former Armenian”) near Sabereebi and Khevi Somkhitisa (“gorge of Armenia”) at Cambysene, located adjacent to Gareji.28 Armenian sources say that in times of religious and political expulsion, it was in Georgia that the Armenians found shelter. We do not possess information about the Albanian population. At one time A. Shanidze expressed a reserved supposition according to which the three-line inscription made on the eastern façade of Ninotsminda Cathedral could be “Heretian” (resp. Albanian). Current scholars tend to claim that the inscription must be Greek, and they even suggest its possible interpretation (S. Mouravieff, T. Kaukhchishvili). *** The earliest account regarding the ecclesiastical subordination of Gareji Monastery is preserved in The Vita of Ilarion Kartveli, which says that Ilarion Kartveli (822-875) was consecrated as a priest by the bishop of Rustavi.29 Gareji would thus have been under the jurisdiction of Rustavi bishops before the ninth century. The Georgian book of law ‘The Blessing of the Myrrh and the Rule of Counselling,’ which dates to the mid-thirteenth century, refers to the bishop of Ninotsminda as the archimandrite.30 According to church documents, the bishop of Ninotsminda was recognized as the archimandrite of the twelve monasteries of Gareji.31 When and in what circumstances this change came about is unknown. Lordship of the Mtskheta Cathedtral is also documented in Gareji. The earliest accounts date from the first third of the fifteenth century. In 1424 and 1428 Georgian King Alexander I the Great (141223. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, I: 234-236. 24. Muskhelishvili 1982: 25. 25. Muskhelishvili 1982: 26. 26. Chubinashvili 1948: 31-33. 27. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, IV: 415-416. 28. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, I: 234; Muskhelishvili 1982: 25-28. 29. Dzeglebi 1963-1980, II: 11-12; Chubinashvili 1948: 17. 30. Dolidze 1963-1985, II: 48. 31. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 74-76; Dolidze 1963-1985, III: 843. 31 32 Davit Gareji – Multidisciplinary Study and Development Strategy 1442) donated “two monasteries of Gareji and all the domains of Gareji” to the patriarchal cathedral of Svetitskhoveli in Mtskheta.32 From the beginning of the 16th century, half of the revenue of the domains of Gareji had to be handed over to Svetitskhoveli, and the other half to Gareja. In the 17th -18th centuries the economic destruction caused by foreign invaders affected ecclesiastical geography as well. Documents straightforwardly say that because of the destitution of the bishop of Ninotsminda, from the 1630s Natlismtsemeli Monastery fell under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Sameba.33 In the mid-eighteenth century, a certain Ioane was “the bishop of Nekresi and the father superior of the holy monastery of Davit Gareji”.34 When he was transferred to the Bodbe bishopric, Ioane was granted the title of the father superior of Davitgareji, too; “all the further bishops shall be designated as father superiors of Gareji and shall mention their bishop following the patriarch of Georgia” – says the charter (25 April 1753) of King Erekle II (1744-1798) and Catholicos Anton I (1744-1756, 1763-1788).35 In ecclesiastical documents Ioane is referred to as ‘the bishop of Bodbe and the father of St. Davit Monastery’.36 The jurisdiction of the bishops of Bodbe is apparent in Dodo Monastery as well.37 *** The united Georgian kingdom disintegrated in the late fifteenth century. Gareji Monastery was brought under the ownership of the Kakheti Kingdom, but the border section remained the subject of dispute between the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti. In 1700 King Erekle I (1688-1703) donated the disputed lands to Davitgareji Monastery and in this way, he tried to deal with the border conflict.38 The original modey of territorial dispute resolution did emphasize the transborder significance of Gareji Monastery. Another document of Erekle I (1697) offers evidence of demographic and economic changes taking place in Gareji – settling semi-nomadic Turkmen, turning the lands of Gareji into passive winter pastures and the emergence of Turkish toponyms.39 Despite the ethnic and economic changes, the political geography did not change. Territorial integrity came under threat only after the Georgian kingdoms lost their independence. As early as in the first half of the nineteenth century, Russian officials started the administrative distribution of Transcaucasia by ethnicity and religion. In the following century, Soviet leaders applied ethnographic principles to the process of marking boundaries between the forcedly Sovietized Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Following a long-term dispute, on 18 February 1929, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of Transcaucasia assigned the ownership of the disputed lands of Davitgareji Monastery – an area of 2000 desiatinas – to Georgia, and marked the border from Shikhli-Caravan – Eli Pass along the Udabno and Chichkhituris Seri ridges.40 *** Divided into two parts, Gareji Monastery retains its transborder significance up to the present day. Above all, it is a cultural heritage site of worldwide importance whose preservation and protection requires the joint effort of both sides – Georgia and Azerbaijan. 32. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 13-15. 33. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 413-414. 34. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 366, 373, 387. 35. Dolidze 1963-1985, III: 835. 36. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 389. 37. 1704-1714 Act of Zakaria Bodbeli - Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 156. 38. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 120-121. 39. Lomidze et al. 2008-2011, I: 105-108. 40. Mirianashvili 2012: 202, 230. Davit Gareji – Multidisciplinary Study and Development Strategy Bibliography Aleksidze, Z. “Sakmeni ioane zedaznelisani” da “mart’vilobay abibos nek’reselisay”. Sinuri redaktsiebi (“Acts of Ioane Zedazneli” and “Martyrdom of Abibos Nekreseli”. Sinaitic Redactions, In Georgian, Tbilisi, 2019). Chubinashvili, G., Peshchernye monastyri david-garedji. Ocherk po istorii iskusstva gruzii (The Cave Monastery of Davit Garedja. Studies in Georgian Art History, In Russian, Tbilisi, 1948). Dolidze, I., ed., Kartuli samartlis dzeglebi (Monuments of Georgian Law, 8 vols., In Georgian, Tbilisi, 1963-1985). 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