Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet

Overview

The evolution of Georgia’s written language has produced three alphabets – Mrgvlovani, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli – which all remain in use today. Mrgvlovani was the first alphabet from which Nuskhuri was derived and then Mkhedruli. The alphabets coexist thanks to their different cultural and social functions, reflecting an aspect of Georgia’s diversity and identity. Their ongoing use in a cultural sense, also gives communities a feeling of continuity. The alphabets Mrgvlovani and Nuskhuri are practised and taught informally predominately by the community of the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church. For example, the alphabets feature in texts used by church worshippers such as the psalms and hymns and on inscriptions of display items used in the church, like the icons. Traditional craftspeople (goldsmiths, embroiderers, icon-painters and sculptors) who create pieces for the...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: Georgia
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: Georgia
Countries: Georgia

How the System Works

Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

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Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuid232747e5-c738-4dc8-b90a-9482e1736ab5

ich_public_ref1205

inscription_year2016

title_enLiving culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet

title_frLa culture vivante des trois systèmes d'écriture de l'alphabet géorgien

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesGE

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/01205

concepts_primary_namesAlphabets, Calligraphy

concepts_secondary_namesElectronic publishing, Embroidery, Handicrafts, Handwriting, Manuscripts, Orthodox Churches, Painting, Religious art, Religious education

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/10613-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enStudents of the Graphic Design Faculty of the State Academy of Fine Arts in calligraphy of three systems of Georgian alphabet

main_image_copyrightNational Agency for Cultural Heritage Prservation of Georgia, 2015

main_image_authorZurab Tsertsvadze

videos

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Alphabets Calligraphy Electronic publishing Embroidery Handicrafts Handwriting Manuscripts Orthodox Churches Painting Religious art UNESCO representative list

Review and Corrections

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