THE CONVERSION OF THE KARTLI KINGDOM TO CHRISTIANITY (REAL-HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC-LITERARY CANVAS)
Keywords:
Narrative sources, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Mtskheta, Saint NinoAbstract
The article presents an analysis of the conversion of the Kingdom of Kartli to Christianity. The study is based on two parallel strands preserved in national narrative sources: a real-historical line and an artistic-literary one.
In the real-historical narrative, attention is focused on the geopolitical situation of the 3rd-4th centuries and on the strategic relations of King Mirian and the royal court between Iran and Byzantium. The reconstruction of the accounts concerning Mirian demonstrates that the adoption of Christianity was directly connected with the kingdom’s new political orientation.With the aid of narrative sources and archaeological evidence, the religious background of Mirian’s era is analyzed, including the role of the Judeo-Christian community, the intensity of Mazdean influences, and their interaction with the new religion.Through literary devices in “The Conversion of Kartli” and in the work of Leonti Mroveli, the missionary activity of Saint Nino is conveyed. The narrative of her conversion of representatives
of various social strata is constructed according to a uniform scheme - through the miraculous healing of the incurably ill. It is noteworthy that these healings are also spatially differentiated: for ordinary citizens and Queen Nana, they take place in Makvlovani, whereas for the highest religious figure, Khvara, they occur in the royal garden, symbolically representing the defeat of the solar cult.The study clearly demonstrates how historical reality and artistic style are integrated into a
single narrative
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