Khachkar :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Khachkar 13 c․

Georgia / Javakhk / Akhalkalak / Bavra

Inscription, Georgian Mesropian, Engraved, Commemoration 13 — 14 cc․

A khachkar placed in the north-western corner of the older church bears an inscription in Georgian Mesropian characters:
†. ესე ს(ა)ფლ(ა)ვი მგ(ე)ლ(აის) | არს შ(ეუნდვე)ნ ღ(მერ)თ(მა)ნ და ვ(ი)ნც | შ(ენ)დ(ობა)ი თქ(უა)ს მ(ა)სცა შ(ეუნდვე)ნ ღ(მერთმა)ნ. Transl.: This is Mgela’s grave. May God have mercy [upon him] and may the Lord have mercy on those who will pray for his soul.

Published in: Ростомов И., Ахалкалакский уезд в археологическом отношении.– Сборник Материалов для Описания Местностей и Племен Кавказа, вып. XXV, 1898, էջ 39. Такайшвили Е., Археологическая экспедиция 1971-го года в южные провинции Грузии, Тбилиси, 1952, էջ 30: ბერძენიშვილი ნ., idem, p. 107: “ჯავახეთი. ისტორიულ-ხროთმოძღვრული გზამკვლევი”, էջ 55: Karapetian. Samvel, Javakhk, Yerevan, 2011, p. 98. Note: The authors of “javaxeTi. istoriul-xroTmoZRvruli gzamkvlevi” trace the inscription back to the 14th to 16th centuries. However, judging from its stylistic and composition peculiarities, and comparing it with other similar cross-stones preserved in various ancient sites of the region, we find it more reasonable to trace it back to the 13th to 14th centuries.

Type Copied Lapidary Inscription
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Source Graphical Drawing

Type Photo
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Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Photo
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Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1988 — 1989 yy․

Type Copied Lapidary Inscription
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Author Samvel Karapetyan