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Svaneti: Some Ancient History
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Author: By Tony Hanmer
The Svans are justifiably proud of having been mentioned by no less than Strabo in his Geography, which he began writing in Greek in c. 20 BC. In this part of the world, a pedigree of more than 2 millennia is important.
Equally significant to Svans is the estimate of their total available fighting force of 200,000. Those icons of warrior angels aren’t just pretty pictures! Neither is the patronage of St George, famous early Christian dragon killer, a minor fact. Below is Strabo’s quote in full, with a bit of context, from Chapter 28 of Book 11:
“Among the tribes which come together at Dioscurias are the Phtheirophagi, who have received their name from their squalor and their filthiness. Near them are the Soanes, who are no less filthy, but superior to them in power,- indeed, one might almost say that they are foremost in courage and power. At any rate, they are masters of the peoples around them, and hold possession of the heights of the Caucasus above Dioscurias.
They have a king and a council of three hundred men; and they assemble, according to report, an army of two hundred thousand; for the whole of the people are a fighting force, though unorganized. It is said that in their country gold is carried down by the mountain torrents, and that the barbarians obtain it by means of perforated troughs and fleecy skins, and that this is the origin of the myth of the golden fleece - unless they call them Iberians, by the same name as the western Iberians, from the gold mines in both countries.
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A Royal wedding cake… with a Georgian soul
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Author: By MJ Riquelme del Valle
A copy of Prince’s William and Kate Middleton’s colossal wedding cake was recently made in Tbilisi, almost exact outside but with a Georgian heart in it.
A mix of culinary and craftsmanship delicacy, the cake was ordered to Tbilisi Marriott for the wedding of a young Georgian couple. Thousand eggs, thirty kilograms of sugar and twenty five of strawberries and raspberries were used in its preparation and five people worked on decorations full time for a month to meet the deadline.
“The challenge was not just in its size, despite its eight tiers and seventeen parts… it was about every detail, every little thing… this was an art piece where good taste was everything”, says Maka Shamugia, the Hotel’s Food and Beverage Director.
In the original version, Kate Middleton herself chose 17 different blooms and foliage according to their symbolism: myrtle (love), daisy (innocence, beauty, simplicity) and Lavender (ardent attachment, devotion, success, luck) were among the sugar paste flowers that decorated her wedding cake.
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A think tank initiates assistance for non-Georgian speaking youths
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Author: By Tamar Khurtsia
Aimed at assisting integration of non-Georgian speaking population into Georgian society on the basis of full protection of minority rights, the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), a local public policy think-tank specializing in the broad field of democracy development, has launched a new project.
The project, entitled Fostering Integration of Youth from Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti through Educational and Cultural Initiatives concentrates on extra-curricular activities, intercultural exchanges between schools and regions, civil awareness raising and social-cultural engagement of youth.
“The tolerant civic awareness for the integration of minorities must be formed from the school age and with our project implementation our schools should provide a firm basis for multicultural education and religion together,” said Gia Nodia, the Chairman of CIPDD during the project’s presentation ceremony at the Exhibition Hall of the Georgian National Library on June 27.
According to the ministry of Education and Science, about 72, 000 pupils within the Georgian public schools come from minority groups and 67, 953 of them (approximately 94%) go to non-Georgian schools.
Nodia said that the project focuses on youth groups in two parts of Georgia, including the Bolnisi district in the Kvemo Kartli region in the south part of Eastern Georgia and the Ninostminda district in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, the southern part of Georgia which borders Armenia and Turkey.
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