Georgian Mythology

The mythology Georgian is composed by the belief systems of many cultures. The first myths date back to the Kartvelian peoples, whose first appearances were made in prehistory with the founding of the kingdoms of Diauehi, Colchis and Iberia. That said, the consensus of scientific opinion is that the proto-Kartvelians (perhaps to be identified with the Mushki) originated in ancient Anatolia, where their religious ideas would 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 ancient people, the Vainakh peoples and the Iranians – the last 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 Zoroastrian religion of the ancient empire 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.