Ketevan Ramishvili
Doctor of Art History
Curator, Glyptics Fund
S. Janashia National Museum
ORCID: 0009-0005-5510-1153
ketramishvili@yahoo.com
Elena Gyunashvili
Doctor of Philological Sciences
Researcher
Ilia State University
Tbilisi, Georgia
ORCID: 0000-0003-1271-8354
elene.giunashvili@iliauni.edu.ge
Depictions of Boars in Early Georgian Art Monuments
In Georgian archaeological materials, depictions of animals (such as the bison, goat, horse, ox, ram, dog, aurochs/pig, birds, and others) occur frequently. Among these, representations of the aurochs are relatively rare but are highly significant and interesting. This motivated us to focus on aurochs depictions and the cult associated with this animal in various historical periods of Georgia.
A review of archaeological and ethnological materials suggests that the aurochs cult existed in Georgia throughout all stages of its development, becoming particularly prominent in the Late Bronze Age. The cult of the aurochs gained further prominence during the classical period, coinciding with intensified relations between Georgia and Achaemenid Iran. The cult also remained relevant in the early centuries CE, when one branch of Zoroastrianism—Mithraism—took strong root in Georgia. Archaeological evidence indicates that after the Late Bronze Age, the close political, economic, and cultural-religious interactions between Iberia, Colchis, and the Achaemenid world likely facilitated the strengthening of the aurochs cult.
During the Christian period, depictions of the aurochs (or pig) almost entirely disappear, with rare exceptions such as the Cheremi Bowl, where a Sasanian aurochs and a post-Christian cross coexist.
Keywords: Aurochs, Pre-Christian and Early Christian Georgian Culture, Cult of Mithras.