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Davati stele

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Davati stele

The Davati stele (Georgian: დავათის სტელა) is an early Christian stone artifact from the mountainous part of eastern Georgia. It is a cross-shaped stela, carrying a bas-relief, depicting the archangels Michael and Gabriel, with one of the earliest inscriptions of Asomtavruli, the first of the Georgian scripts. It has been dated from the 4th to the 5th century. The stela was discovered in 1985 in a small church of the Virgin in highland village of Davati, Dusheti Municipality.

The Georgian scholar R. Ramishvili conjectures that the combination of letters კტწ corresponds to the number 5320 (5000 + 300 + 20, correspondingly კ [k] + ტ [t] + ჭ [č]), which may denote, according to an old Georgian calendar, the year 284 BC, the alleged date when the Georgian alphabet was taken, by the Georgian historical tradition, to have been created.

References

Davati stele Wikipedia