Astronomy and astrology in Georgia (short review)

Abstract

The article discusses astronomy and astrology in Georgia from the very first pictograms found in the Khvamli mountain, that present the initial point for the Georgian Era (5604 BC), till recently published interactive database “Astronomical Manuscripts in Georgia” (2015). The research deals with Georgian observatories, astrolabes, original writings that concern astro-theme (including medieval poetry and a poem that perhaps indicates to the zodiac sign of the queen Tamar), as well as translations from the Greek, Persian, Arabic sources, some of which are preserved in the Georgian repositories up to the present time, collections with zodiac sign descriptions, “brontologia”, lunar and paschal tables. The research concerns the kings David IV the Builder and Vakhtang VI, and Anthon I Catholicos-Patriarch with their major contributions to the astronomical and astrological sciences of XI-XII and XVII-XVIII cc., relates to the making of birth charts for princes in the XII and XVII cc., and by the king Vakhtang himself for his son, Bakar. It explores the unique poem composed as an epitaphy on the death of Anthon I Catholicos-Patriarch, in which, despite intolerance of astrology by the church, the merits of this high-ranking cleric are characterized by author being high-ranking cleric himself, relying on the features of astrological signs. The special attention is drawn to the lapidary inscriptions of the Lykhny church relating the apparition of Halley’s comet in 1066, to the cathedral Svetitskhoveli and Kashveti church, and their zodiac circle murals.