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Christianization of the Kingdom of Iberia

Conversion of kingdom to Christianity

  • 10 min read
  • 4 chapters

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Per Socrates of Constantinople, the "Iberians first embraced the Christian faith" alongside the Abyssinians, but the exact date of the event is still debated. The kings of Georgia and Armenia were among the first monarchs anywhere in the world to convert to the Christian faith. Prior to the escalation of the Armeno-Georgian ecclesiastical rivalry and the Christological controversies, their Caucasian Christianity was extraordinarily inclusive, pluralistic and flexible that only saw the rigid ecclesiological hierarchies established much later, particularly as "national" churches crystallised from the 6th century. Despite the tremendous diversity of the region, the Christianization process was a pan-regional and a cross-cultural phenomenon in the Caucasus, Eurasia's most energetic and cosmopolitan zones throughout the late antiquity, hard enough to place Georgians and Armenians unequivocally within any one major civilization.

The Jews of Mtskheta, the royal capital of Kartli which played a significant role in the Christianization of the kingdom, gave a strong impetus to the deepening of ties between the Georgian monarchy and the Holy Land, leading to an increasing presence of Georgians in Palestine. This is confirmed by the activities of Peter the Iberian and other pilgrims, as well as the oldest attested Georgian Bir el Qutt inscriptions found in the Judaean Desert and the Georgian graffiti of Nazareth and Sinai.

Iberia was a factor in a competitive diplomacy of the Roman and Sasanian Empires, and on occasion became a major player in proxy wars between the two empires. The kingdom shared many institutions and concepts with the neighbouring Iranians, had been physically connected to the "Iranian Commonwealth" since the Achaemenid period through commerce, war or marriage. Its adoption of Christianity meant that King Mirian III made a cultural and historical choice with profound international implications, though his decision was not tied with Roman diplomatic initiatives. Iberia, architecturally and artistically rooted in Achaemenid culture, from its Hellenistic-era establishment to the conversion of the crown, embarked on a new multi-phased process that took centuries to complete, encompassing the entire 5th, 6th and early 7th centuries, resulting in the emergence of a strong Georgian identity.

On the eve of the historic Christianization, the king and the queen were quickly acculturated Georgianized foreigners, the physical fusion of Iranian and Greek cultures. Saint Nino was also a foreigner, as were the first two chief bishops of Kartli, who were Greeks sent by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. It was only in the first half of the 6th century that native Georgians permanently seized the highest ecclesiastical posts. Nevertheless, outsiders such as Greeks, Iranians, Armenians and Syrians continued to play a prominent role in the administration of the Georgian church.

Christianization by an apostle

Even though Iberia officially embraced Christianity in the early 4th century, the Georgian Orthodox Church claims apostolic origin and regards Andrew the Apostle as the founder of the Georgian church. This is also supported by some Byzantine sources. Ephrem Mtsire (11th century) later explained Saint Nino's role as Iberia's necessary "second Christening". Archaeological artefacts confirm the spread of Christianity before the conversion of King Mirian in the 4th century. Some of the third-century burials in Georgia include Christian objects such as signet rings with a cross and ichthys or anchor and fish, clearly attesting their Christian affiliation. These may mean that the upper-class Iberians had embraced Christianity much earlier than its "official Christianization" date.

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