Georgian Mythology

The mythology Georgian is made up of the belief systems of many cultures. The first myths go back to the Kartvelian peoples, whose first appearances are made in prehistory with the foundation of the kingdoms of Diauehi, Colchis and Iberia. That said, the consensus of scholarly opinion is that the proto-Kartvelians (perhaps to be identified with the Mushki) originated in ancient Anatolia, where their religious ideas are said to have come into contact with those of the Hattians, the Empire Hittite, the Hurrians, Urartu and Armenians.

Later influences include the mythologies of the Greeks ancients, Vainakh peoples and Iranians – the latter named including both the belief systems of the Scythians and Sarmatians nomads of northern Iran (still preserved to some extent in the mythology of their descendants the Ossetians ) and the Old Kingdom Zoroastrian religion Persian, who left such a lasting legacy among the nations of the Caucasus.

Georgian myths and legends are preserved mainly in the form of folk tales. Many of them eventually merged with Christian legends after the Christianization of Georgia seventeen centuries ago.