ABSTRACT

Georgian belongs to the South Caucasian (Kartvelian) group of languages, and is spoken by about 4 million in the Georgian Republic. It has been a literary language since the sixth century ad. The Old Georgian period extends from the beginnings to the twelfth/thirteenth centuries; this period is rich in translation, mainly of religious works, and culminates in the work of the greatest Georgian poet, Šota Rustaveli, the author of the heroic epic Vepxist’ q’aosani, ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’.