While visiting the Georgian National Museum, we learned
of three ancient legends of Georgia, and the first two are connected to wine.
Saint Nino and Her Grapevine Cross
Legend says that the apostles Simon and Andrew came to
Georgia sometime after the death of Jesus to convert the country to
Christianity. However, they were ignored
by the Georgians. It took Saint Nino (a female), who came to Georgia in 337, to
convert the King and Queen. She did this
by making a cross of grapevines tied together with her hair. This linkage to the vine, which was always
important to Georgia, endeared her to the populace, and made the union of wine
and religion even stronger.
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| Gold Jewelry in the Georgian National Museum |
The Mystery of the
Silver Grapevine Tubes
Another unusual exhibit in the museum is a collection of
silver grapevine protectors. They look
like small silver tubes, and have been found in many graves with grapevines
inside of them – dating as far back as the 3rd Millennium BC!
No one is a sure what they mean. Some people think they were buried with the
dead so they could plant their favorite vines in heaven. Others think they symbolize which vines were
important to them in life. There is
another viewpoint that the silver tubes were designed to project the vines, and
were hidden away from marauders.
The invading marauder story holds some logic, because the
Arabs invaded Georgia several times, and in each case destroyed the
vineyards. We were told that the reason
for this was because grapes and wine were linked to the Georgian religion, and
the invaders wanted to stomp out their religion. In addition, wine is not
allowed in the Moslem religion (though it was in the beginning).
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| Unusual Silver Tubes Protecting Grape Vines - from 3rd Century BC |
As tempting as this story is to believe, there are a couple
of holes in it. The first is that Islam was not born until 600 AD, and some of
the silver tubes are from the 3rd century BC. Also, the Arabs did
not arrive in Georgia until the late 700’s, and remained for over 250 years.
According to our guide, “There are many stories about the
purpose of the silver grapevine tubes, but no one is sure what they mean.”
Jason and the Golden
Fleece
I still remember reading the story of Jason and the Golden
Fleece in Greek Mythology, and enjoyed it immensely. Imagine my surprise to learn that the land
where Jason sailed with the Argonauts to get the Golden Fleece was
Georgia.
According to a plaque in the museum, it was actually in the
mountainous region of Lechkhumi. This is a region in Western Georgia where
there are actually a lot of gold flakes in the streams, so the locals put sheep
wool hides in the water to catch the gold. They then hung the hides in the
branches of trees to dry. This was well-known at the time (around 1273 BC), so
the story actually does seem to have some credence.
Anyway, Jason landed in Georgia, and met the King’s
daughter, Medea, who fell in love with him. She helped him find the Golden
Fleece and slay the dragon that guarded them.
Though no direct linkage to wine in this story, I’m sure they must have
drunk some wine along the way.
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| Description of the Gold Particles and Sheepskin in Musuem |
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| A Gold Bowl from Ancient Georgia |
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