Cultural Interactions in Medieval Georgia

English summary: Situated between the mountain ranges of the Caucasus, the country of Georgia was constantly exposed to contacts with both nearby cultures and such far-away realities as the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Europe. Constant political changes, including relations to and occupations by the neighboring empires of Byzantium and the Seljuks, make the region a prime example for the investigation of the dynamics of artistic exchange during the medieval period. This volume...
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English summary: Situated between the mountain ranges of the Caucasus, the country of Georgia was constantly exposed to contacts with both nearby cultures and such far-away realities as the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Europe. Constant political changes, including relations to and occupations by the neighboring empires of Byzantium and the Seljuks, make the region a prime example for the investigation of the dynamics of artistic exchange during the medieval period. This volume re-approaches the impressive material legacy from the medieval period in Georgia with a variety of new methodological approaches. The ten articles in this volume discuss, among others, general questions of cultural interaction, analyze the relation of liturgy and artistic objects, reexamine famous monuments and present a wide range of unpublished material. German description: Zwischen den Bergketten des Kaukasus gelegen, stand Georgen stets im Kontakt sowohl mit benachbarten Kulturen als auch mit weit entfernten Gebieten wie der Levante und Westeuropa. Stetige politische Umbruche, darunter Beziehungen zu und Eroberungen durch die benachbarten Reiche der Byzantiner und Seldschuken, machen die Gegend zu einem Vorzeigebeispiel fur das Studium der Dynamiken kunstlerischen Austausches im Mittelalter. Dieser Band nahert sich den immensen materiellen Zeugnisse aus dieser Periode in Georgien wieder an, unter Verwendung einer Auswahl neuer methodischer Zugange. Die zehn Beitrage des Bandes besprechen, unter anderem, Fragen kultureller Interaktion, untersuchen die Zusammenhange zwischen Liturgie und Kunstwerken; unterziehen bekannte Monumente einer neuen Betrachtung und stellen eine breite Auswahl bislang unpublizierten Materials vor.