BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM AND THE CONSTRUCTION INSCRIPTION FROM THE VILLAGE OF KOSHKEBI

Abstract

Shida Kartli, as the geopolitical center of Eastern Georgia, has from antiquity determined the main directions of the country’s political consolidation and the formation of statehood. The cultural and economic space that emerged here was significant for both administrative and cultural processes, which turned the region into one of the pillars of the Georgian state tradition. Even after the formation of various feudal domains in the Middle Ages, it consistently maintained a hegemonic role, a fact attested by the numerous cultural, religious, and fortification monuments preserved in the area.

The Skra Valley is located in Shida Kartli, within the Gori Municipality, in the basin of the Medzleva River. Geographically, it lies on the northern slopes of the Trialeti Range, which determines its relatively moderate microclimate. Historically, the Skra Valley was an important agricultural and trade area, connected with the central routes of Shida Kartli and the strategic corridors leading toward Gori. Archaeological evidence indicates that the valley has been inhabited since ancient times; its agricultural conditions favored both the cultivation of cereal crops and the development of animal husbandry.

The Skra Valley is rich in cultural monuments. Preserved here are original examples of religious and defensive architecture (a tri-church basilica, a tower with a buttress, etc.), as well as inscriptions, epitaphs, and other materials. The aim of the present study is to provide a historical overview of one of the region’s monuments—the Church of the Virgin of the Towers—and to examine the biblical symbolism and the construction inscription preserved on it.

Keywords: Skra Valley, cultural monument, inscription, Church of the Virgin, biblical symbolism, Shalikashvili family.