‘Land of Golden Fleece’: Georgia’s history and culture

Tbilisi (AFP) – Georgia on Wednesday is due to hold a second round of its presidential election, seen as a crucial test for its increasingly unpopular ruling party led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. 

Here are five points on the culture and history of the tiny nation nestled between the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountains.  

– ‘First Europeans’ –

Georgians jokingly claim the title of “first Europeans” due to the discovery of fossilised bones of early humans that are almost two million years old — the oldest found outside Africa — in the medieval town of Dmanisi, southwest of the capital Tbilisi. 

Before the discovery, there was no direct evidence that hominins — a term comprising humans and chimpanzees — had walked in Europe from the cradle of Africa more than 800,000 years ago.  

The well-preserved Dmanisi fossils revolutionised current theories of human evolution as they proved that early man was a single species with a wide range of looks — rather than several distinct species. 

– The Golden Fleece –

The early Georgian kingdom of Colchis features prominently in classical Greek and Roman mythology as the land of the Golden Fleece, a magical symbol of authority and kingship.

One ancient Greek tale describes the quest for the Golden Fleece by the hero Jason and his crew who sailed to Colchis aboard a ship called Argo. They acquired the fleece with the help of sorceress Medea, the daughter of the king of Colchis, Aeetes.  

Other prominent “Georgian” characters in Greek mythology include sorceress Circe, Cretan queen Pasiphae, her brother Perses, and children Ariadne, Phaedra, and Minotaur. 

– The queen and the poet –

Georgia traces its history back to at least the 13th century BC but was at the peak of its might between the 11th and 13th centuries, reaching its zenith under Queen Tamar.

The country’s first female ruler laid the ground for the establishment of a Georgian parliament and university, abolished the death penalty and protected the country from foreign invaders. 

She was glorified by Georgia’s 12th century national poet Shota Rustaveli in his epic poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” which is still considered in Georgia to be the preeminent masterpiece of the country’s literary tradition.

– Cradle of wine –

The world’s earliest evidence of grape wine-making has been detected in 8,000-year-old pottery jars unearthed in Georgia, making the tradition almost a thousand years older than previously thought. 

The ceramic fragments containing traces of wine — some decorated with grape motifs — were found at two archaeological sites in Georgia by an international team of scientists.

Early Georgians mulched grapes in their entirety — juice, skins, pips, stems and all — and left the mix to ferment in large earthenware vessels, known as “kvevri”, stored in underground pits to keep the liquid cool.

The technique is still used in Georgia and in 2013 was included on a UNESCO list of “intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”

– Nuts about walnuts –

Thanks to its sumptuous wines and unique cuisine that blends local cooking styles with influences from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Georgia became an emerging culinary tourism destination after it regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The most popular dishes include juicy khinkali dumplings, pizza-like cheese bread khatchapuri and a large variety of walnut-based food such as roast chicken in walnut sauce, fried aubergines with spicy walnut paste and pomegranate seeds, and garlicky spinach spread mixed with ground walnuts.